Shay Rowbottom: How to Discover Yourself and Become An Influencer | The Authors Unite Show #958

Everyone, welcome back to another episode. We have Shay Rowbottom. Welcome to the show.

Oh, thank you, Tyler Wagner. Thanks for having me.

Of course. Grateful to have you on. So, I mean, we were just in flow, but before we dive deeper into the conversation, Tell us a little bit more about you and what you do.

Sure. Yeah. So I own a digital marketing company. I got into video marketing a few years ago after I learned that there was a lot of money to be made in video. I was actually, I was a musician. I was a rapper and a singer songwriter in Milwaukee. What?

I didn't know that.

Yeah. No, I didn't tell you that.

No.

You didn't know this? No. Emmy, you never told him? No, I'll just show you. Yeah, no, yeah, it's a super, super funny story. Like, I always knew I wanted to be famous, like, ever since I was a little girl. I had this, like, you know, just, just dream of, you know, I want, um, to be admired and I want to be adored. And, and I later learned that that came from, um, a lot of, uh, insecurities, like, core deep, deep wounds, which we can get into. But yeah, like, I mean, nonetheless, like, it was, it was my dream and I I did end up going to college for a little bit. Like, I did the whole, like, oh, my parents want me to go, I'll go thing, and, uh, realized, no, I just want to do music. I want to do music. I want to do music. So I dropped out and I started to really pursue my songwriting. And I had always, you know, written songs, but this took it to the next level because now I was recording them, now I was performing. And then I eventually got to the point where I needed, like, some music videos shot. But I was so naive, like I had no business acumen. I was just, I was, I was unwanted. I felt unwanted in me, which Immy taught me recently, that's the source of demonic possession is feeling unwanted. So I got possessed by a few demons in the music space. I was not in a great position and I was taken advantage of regularly. And then I like wasn't making any money. So I decided once I saw these videographers shooting music videos for me, I was like, wait a minute, like, maybe I should, maybe go on the other side of the camera and see what's up and like learn video because they were making money and I was still waitressing. So I quit and I started working for a guy that I was dating at the time. He had a video company. He taught me how to edit. Soon enough, we started editing videos for Facebook pages, like large blogs on Facebook. And yeah, like It's funny looking back at that moment in my life, I had no idea what I was getting into. Like I knew, okay, I'm learning a trade, I'm gonna make money on my own now. I can quit my serving job. I did. And, um, I was making videos, but what I didn't realize I was also getting was this insane knowledge from all of these top page owners on Facebook. Mm-hmm. Like everything that they knew about like how to grow a following and how to monetize, they were, they were teaching me, you know, they kind of had to because I was their video girl. So we were constantly in communication and I realized like just the formula for growing online, the formula for videos that get a lot of reach, go viral, are edited and optimized for the newsfeed on social media. And I realized not a lot of people had this knowledge base yet. Um, I ended up getting an investment when I was 24. I scaled it. I, um, at my peak was doing a billion views a month on Facebook for that first agency.

That's crazy.

Thank you. So, so then I sold my shares. I got into this whole tiff with my investors and I decided, you know what, I'm out. I got this LinkedIn thing going now because at the time of my last agency, during my time at the Facebook agency, I had started my LinkedIn blog and I'd started posting and getting a lot of traction and leads. And I just realized, like, you know what, I want to do this on my own. So I sold my shares. I moved to Miami, Florida, and I started another video marketing company focused solely around LinkedIn and helping businesses create video content to attract their target market on LinkedIn. And that's pretty much where I've grown. That's, that's where I got back into my creative side, not necessarily music, but just making my own content again. And I have, uh, almost half a million followers on LinkedIn now. And I started that blog in May of 2018. Gotcha.

All right. So yeah, I want to talk about that, but let's go to the deep wounds.

Let's go. Yeah, the deep wounds. I didn't really touch all that. That's just my marketing stuff. Hit me up if you need help with marketing, guys. But now we're going to go into all the deep, the childhood trauma and everything. Yeah.

So tell me more about that.

Well, you know, I think for a lot of people, business will force you to find yourself, you know, because everyone has this experience in business where they they get going, they start the entrepreneurship grind, and then they kind of realize like, oh shit, I have limiting beliefs about making sales, or oh shit, I'm like too reactive in front of my employees. I'm not being like a supportive boss, you know? Like, I kind of just like got faced with all my unhealed shit through growing a company. I mean, I was literally managing a floor of like 30 people at age 24 with no— yeah, with no awareness around my own bullshit. No, you know, I, I didn't even really remember a lot of my childhood at that point yet. I had repressed a lot of it, hadn't worked on myself. I was just smoking pot all the time, like drinking, muffling. But, but I was like that dysfunctional— or I was that functional boss, you know, I was like able to pull it off, but also hurt a lot of people, you know, also like was just really met with my own shit. And that's what us as business owners get to face is like, okay, you want to be in charge, you want this responsibility, work on yourself, you know, because that's really how you're going to be able to provide the best life for not only your employees, but of course your clients. So I went down the path of business, made a ton of money, realized money is not the answer, was still miserable. And I— this was shortly after I moved to Miami. So this is especially when I knew something was wrong. I had always struggled with depression, anxiety in my adult life, addiction. Like I knew there was some issues there. But I would say it like really hit rock bottom when I moved to Miami because I had all the money, I had the business acumen, I had the knowledge, and I'm in a beautiful sunny place that is a dream to us Wisconsinites. And I'm still not happy. It's like, why am I not happy? You know, I was miserable. I literally used to think about jumping off my 19th story balcony.

Like, really?

Oh yeah. Oh yeah, yeah. I, I never actually attempted suicide. The closest I ever got was planning. Yeah, never did it, but I totally resonate. Anyone out there who's, uh, been there, who's depressed, who feels like, what is the point? I totally, totally fucking get it. And that was the rock bottom place I was in once I moved to Miami. And I was with my ex-boyfriend who I wasn't seeing yet at that point. That relationship was very toxic as well. So I'm in this place of like rock bottom, total surrender. I'm just like, what the fuck, God, like help me, or, or what? And I met this guy through LinkedIn actually, who introduced me to this idea of this plant medicine called ayahuasca.

Here we go.

Yeah, now here we go. Ayahuasca. Isn't it funny that it's becoming so mainstream? I had a client the other day ask me about it. He's like, "What is that jungle thing? Ayahuasca? What are you talking about? Ayahuasca?" I'm like, "Oh, even you know about this now? Okay, cool, cool, cool." So yeah, like for those listening who don't know, ayahuasca is a psychedelic medicine. You know, it can cause hallucinations, visions, but it's also very, very healing. And it's really, really next level, at least for me. I'll speak for myself. Like I had done mushrooms in my past. I had, you know, done ecstasy and I experimented with these drugs, but nothing ever like in a respected ceremonial, like medicinal setting. Until the ayahuasca. And I just, I wasn't scared anymore. You know, you hear these crazy stories like, oh, ayahuasca, like you'll die or you'll shit your pants. Yeah, the purge. Yeah. I mean, you can definitely shit your pants. You won't die. You might shit your pants, but I didn't care anymore. And that's actually like the beauty of being at rock bottom. A lot of people don't realize, like rock bottom, like you feel like you're going to die and like, life sucks. It's like, that's good. That's like your turning point. If it can't get any worse, Good, because a lot of times people who are in that place surrender to healing more. They're more open to listen to coaches and listen to people they might previously have been like, "Well, who the fuck are you?" Because they're just like, "Okay, I'm desperate now. I need answers." And that was my trip with ayahuasca. I made the decision to go do it very quickly. I think it was the same week I decided was the week I was on a plane to go to this ceremony. It was a 2-night ceremony, ayahuasca and then San Pedro in the morning and then ayahuasca and San Pedro in the morning. And I knew something big was coming. I just had a feeling that I would remember something that had happened to me as a child because I had started to— I wouldn't say I like had memories come up quite yet about my own molestation, but I had started to consciously remember the months leading up to the ayahuasca. And remember, I was going through a lot of triggers too because I left my company, and that was like my baby that I started. My investors, they actually like demoted me. It was this whole Steve Jobs thing. I don't want to get into it, but I was triggered, right? They were hitting me in all my triggers and all my not good enough, I'm not good enough wounds. So I started to like just have these memories come up about my childhood friends, like little girlfriends, like little, I'm talking like 5, 6, and we were being sexual with one another. I was playing sex and I had these memories come up and I was like, what the fuck? Wait a minute. Yeah, there's always the argument that kids explore organically and it can be natural for children to do that. It doesn't necessarily doesn't necessarily mean anything. But I felt something was really off about that. I was like, wait a minute, why would I have been doing that? And it was like me, the instigator, not my friends. Yeah, yeah. So I just thought like, well, maybe I was molested, you know, this actually makes a lot of sense. I've been in therapy for so many years. I was extremely sexually compulsive in my late teens, early 20s. Actually was a prostitute at one point, and I go into that on my own podcast, The Shave Row Bottom Show. Yeah, but, um, all the therapists I'd ever seen, you know, had said that to me, kind of like, are you— do you remember being molested? Because you seem to have a lot of the signs. And it was always just like, nope, I don't remember anything. Nope, I don't remember anything. Um, but then 2017 hit. This is the end of 2017 when I, when I got demoted and decided to leave and move to Miami. That's when all the triggers came up. And that's when I think my body allowed me to remember some of the things that went on with my girlfriend as a little kid to make me question, like, wait a minute, maybe something did happen to me and maybe I repressed it. You know, I had heard of that. I kind of knew it could happen. I didn't understand all the way. So I was just open to the idea of like, well, whatever I'm ready to see or ready to remember, I should say, I trust God, you know, I trust God and I trust this process. And I didn't know, you know, I had no idea what to expect from the ayahuasca. So I get there, I lay down, I do all the things that they tell you to do, like, you know, how to lay, how to breathe, you know. I quit coffee a few days before, which is, you know, like, I'm committed. Like, I did not have coffee today. I am doing— I am respecting this ayahuasca right here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um, Yeah, I took a cup and I took another cup about an hour later, and once the medicine really, really started to hit me, one of the first things I remembered is being molested by my grandpa. Like, really, really— yeah, like, really, really remembered, and I was only 3. So that, for anyone listening, like, is a good illustration of the power of this medicine. Like, how much do you remember from when you were 3? Can you remember anything? It's like, hell no. But I was so clearly remembering like my little shoes, my little Shannon, you know? And yeah, it was just the most painful fucking thing to face. I remembered just details about my grandpa's house, things I had forgotten about for years. And I was like, okay, you know, this fucking sucks, but also I'm grateful that I'm getting some answers. And this actually makes a lot of sense why I've been so hard on myself and why I've had these insecurities, these trauma bonds, this codependency, this addictive behavior, this self-sabotage, like all of it, all of it. It was like, oh, of course I'm depressed. And then it went on and, you know, I was curious. I was like, well, what else happened? And when you're in the medicine, I think something people don't always realize who've never experienced plant medicines is like you can ask the medicine questions. You can ask, you know, what else? You know, show me more. I want to remember. And I was in that space of surrendering and being very open, and I was shown more memories of molestation by my other grandpa, this one on my mom's side. And then the final finale, which came to me night 2, was sexual molestation at the hands of my own parents.

Oh my God.

Yes. So this had been going on, and I, for the life of me, just could not believe that I could have forgotten all that. Like, it just made no sense. I was like, wait a minute, like, holy shit. Like, this, this is— I almost felt like a mad scientist, like cracking some sort of code, you know? Like, how, how— if I forgot this, how many people also forgot? And how many children can't remember their own abuse because it was at the hands of a close caregiver? Where the closer the the closer the person is to you, the more likely you are to repress it because you're also dependent on that person for survival, right? So I started talking to the shaman about it. He said, you know, children do what they have to do to survive. And a child in that environment cannot simultaneously hold the belief, oh, my parents are unsafe and unloving, and also believe, oh, my parents are safe and loving. They can't— they cannot coexist. For that child. So we compartmentalize, we idealize the parent, say, no, I'm gonna block out all this horrible shit I see going on that I feel violated by to project this perfect image of, you know, my mom loves me or my dad loves me. And I'm gonna bury it down because I'm a small vulnerable child and I depend on them for survival. When you grow up, that doesn't go away. You know, that's the thing. It doesn't go away. It stays with you. It comes out in the form of not trusting yourself, attracting narcissistic partners who just abuse you all over again. And oftentimes we don't know why. And a lot of people, even as adults, aren't ready to face the truth, the harsh truth, that it was your parents. You know, it was your own parents. I'm not saying like everyone was molested, but I do believe that all of our traumas and darknesses and hardships that we struggle with as adults, the source is always going to be where did we come from. Where do we come from? What did our parents teach us? What did they model for us? And I do think that the world needs to start to get really real about a conversation of how prevalent repressed memories are and how many of us actually have them. And this is not, you know, a diss on all parents. I happen to think parenting is the hardest job in the world, and I truly do believe parents do the best they could. Even mine, as sick as that sounds, they were molested. They were just carrying forward what they never got to heal. So, the beautiful thing is we are moving into a world where people are owning all this darkness and starting to face in their own family line, "Okay, we've had trauma and it needs to stop." But we do need to start to get real about the possibility of repressed memories in childhood, because I know for myself, until I located that source, I never really healed. I never really healed. I was all surface healing. And that's why I arrived at age 26 in Miami, a millionaire, successful, and still wanted to jump off my 19th story balcony. How many people who are depressed actually pulled the trigger because they can't actually remember what happened to them in childhood?

Yeah. Wow. I have, Like a million questions.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's all, that's it.

Um, I've tried to organize them. Yeah.

Um, I guess my first one outta curiosity, like we're gonna get this sponsored by QAnon too. Just, just, just point it out. I'm just kidding.

Um, what is your relationship like with your grandparents and your parents now? Or is there—

Well, yeah, so that, so actually I'm, I'm glad you asked that question cuz I do wanna put out a disclaimer to the audience that's like, When you go do plant medicines, even if you do have repressed memories from childhood, I wanna be clear that just doing the medicine alone doesn't guarantee it's gonna come up. Like you can have repressed memories, go to a ceremony and like you're still not ready for those memories. So spirit's not gonna show you those memories. I was ready because I already didn't have a relationship with my family. You know, I had cut the cord before I remembered the sexual trauma because, um, just more surface obvious things like, okay, my parents are clearly alcoholics, they're clearly victims who can't take responsibility for anything in their life, you know. Uh, I knew I did not want to model after them. And the great travesty is that a lot of people will agree that when you meet someone who's miserable and unfulfilled, probably don't take advice from that person. But when it's our own parents and we can clearly see our parents are unhappy and miserable fucks, It's like, why are you letting them dictate? You know, don't, you know. So I was just pretty smart about that early on. I just said, you know, fuck this shit, I'm out. I remember the years, years prior to the ayahuasca, I had like blocked all my sisters on social media because I was so done with like their judgments of my videos and everything. And like, I just wanted to be alone. I just wanted to be alone. I realized, you know what, I'm gonna achieve more not interacting with any of these people. Um, and that was a very hard decision to make. It was like a very tough pill to swallow. But I had been figuring it out early on because I also, during my time being a musician, realized through that whole thing, um, that I didn't have support from my family. You know, I was pretty alone in that. And so I attribute a lot of my success today to cutting out my family. Not that it's easy, you know, you can make the right decision and still be sad, like, it sucks. But, um, I will say that I don't I don't talk to hardly anyone in my family anymore, and I like to keep it that way because I consider myself, I consider myself a lot more able to attract the energy of true love and acceptance and support of me if I'm not trying to hang on to some energy of narcissism, which is what my family is. So it's just a personal choice. You know, I think that there's a quote, something like, True, true enlightenment is being able to go back to your family and have dinner with them and then stay enlightened, you know? And I don't think that I'm there yet. I don't think that I'm there. I don't, I don't wish to talk to them. I don't want to be dragged back down. I don't want to be sucked back into that toxic energy. And I think it's the most beautiful thing. I really do. It's hard. Yeah. Like, it sucks. It's not an easy decision, but it was the right decision for me. And I do think there's a lot of people out there who actually would be happier if they cut out their family.

So with the, um, when you were planning, I know you didn't actually like attempt it, but planning the suicide, like what was— I'm just like, do you remember the mind? Like, were you like ballistically like crying at, or was it actually like actual, like you were sitting there and you were planning step by step and it was methodical? I'm curious like what, how that was.

Yeah. Um, well, it's funny because actually the, the time I was really suicidal and at rock bottom when I went and did the ayahuasca shortly after I moved to Miami. And I talked about like my 19-story balcony in this. And that's what's so fucking funny and like cliché about the whole thing is like I had this beautiful fucking apartment in Miami that was brand new that no one lived in, like wraparound terrace balcony, like view of the water. And it was like, I just wanted to fucking jump off. I was just like, fuck this. It's like not funny, but it is.

No, it kind of is though.

It's like That's why people laugh. That's why people laugh at America. Like, that right there is why people laugh at America, because we have all this money, we have all this privilege, and like, we're so unhappy at large. But I will say, like, I didn't really have a plan then. I was more— it's, it's more what I refer to as like passive suicide, where passive suicide is not like actively planning. It's more like, I wouldn't mind dying. I wouldn't mind if I just happen to step out in the street tomorrow and get killed by a bus. Like, that's passive suicide. And that's actually what I was doing in my younger years when I was a prostitute. I would let strange men pick me up online like that. Like, I knew the risk I was taking. I fucking didn't care. Like, I would literally like rather die. Like, well, maybe I'll make $500 today, or maybe I'll die. All good, all good. Either option works for me. But I will say, I will say, the one time in my life— I love it.

Yeah, right, right.

But I will I would say that the one, the time that I actually did plan, the closest I ever got was planning was a few years earlier. Actually, this is when I had first started that Facebook agency. Um, but I was going through a rough time back then because this is like a whole nother podcast, but, um, I had asthma, so I used to have asthma really bad. Bad. Everyone who knew me knew that. I would have a chronic cough all the time. I was put on 2 inhalers a day. One was a steroid inhaler, one was albuterol. I got sick all the fucking time. I could not breathe. I was put on actual steroids, rounds of steroids every year, and I just could not get my breathing under control. And that is one of the worst feelings in the world. Anyone struggling with asthma, hit me up. I have actually a free template, a free healing asthma guide that I hand out to any of my followers who you want it. Um, that was the most suicidal I'd ever been in my life, was when I had asthma really, really bad. And I remember I was in Hawaii again, beautiful fucking, like, living the millennial entrepreneur dream, like backpacking around Hawaii, working online, but I couldn't fucking breathe. And I couldn't breathe, and I tried everything, or at least I thought I had. And, um, I at one point was emailing a company about getting surgery on my bronchioles, which is insane looking back on it because I, I was just so like fed up with not being able to breathe. And that was the one time in my life I really Googled, okay, like, how do you kill yourself? I Googled it. How to kill yourself. There was actually a ton of results, as it turns out. But, um, but I didn't, you know, I stuck with it. And shortly after that trip to Hawaii, I ended up finding— thank the Jesus— this was like, this was like years, years prior, way before my path to spirituality. This was just like me trying to address my physical health. I didn't even realize how mentally unhealthy I was until I actually healed the asthma. Because the asthma I did heal, and we can get into that. But then I was still suicidal. So I knew it wasn't just the fit. Like, I always blamed the asthma. Like, I can't breathe, so therefore I want to die. Like, why would I live like this? Then the asthma was gone. I healed it through an Ayurvedic doctor who I was fortunate enough to cross paths with in Milwaukee. And yeah, long story short, she just gave me breathing exercises. Straight up. I never had a Western doctor tell me that. It was always meds, medication for allergies, all this stuff. This woman was just like, no, you're gonna go on an elimination diet. You're not gonna eat any inflammatory foods and you're gonna wake up every day at the crack of dawn and do this breathing regimen for an hour. And I was committed and I did it and my asthma was gone within 2 weeks and I have not used an inhaler since. Wow. That's incredible.

So pure natural, like—

Purely natural, free. It's been 3 and a half years and I have not touched an inhaler. Wow, that is awesome. Yeah, thank you. Fucking amazing. I fucking love it.

Yeah, well, it was mainly because of my allergies actually that I would have asthma, and then I didn't really use them for the inhale, like inhaler part. I would just smoke weed out of them.

Ah, you smoked weed out of inhalers?

Yeah, that I did.

Damn, that's crazy.

That's another podcast.

Well, and it's funny.

He has a guide on his website.

Yeah, but it's funny. It's funny you bring up the weed thing too, because like I always smoked weed my whole life and that was a big thing that I struggled with when I had the asthma. I was like, I can't smoke. I remember I switched to edibles for a while, and I had a feeling it was the smoke. I was like, okay, let me just quit smoking. Maybe that's why I have asthma. Yeah, didn't help. No, I quit for like almost a year, um, and then I just fucking started smoking again. I'm like, fuck it, I gotta smoke weed. But yeah, no, it definitely didn't help. But, but so yeah, you know, that was the closest I actually ever got to, to, to planning a suicide was actually a few years prior when my asthma was really bad. So I— that's why I really am passionate about helping people with asthma. I don't wish that feeling upon my worst enemy of not being able to breathe. I mean, it's just the most suffocating feeling in the world. And again, it came from my unprocessed, unconscious childhood trauma. And that healing the physical, healing the asthma, was kind of the first step for me down this spiritual path of like, okay, well, why did I even manifest asthma in the first place? Because that's anxiety. That's really what it is, like not breathing from your belly and And then I started doing all this soul searching and yeah, then we got to the, to the iOS.

So while all this is going on, so you have musician, then Facebook agency, then LinkedIn, right?

Yes. That's the— okay.

So tell me a little bit more about the music. So like, yeah, I'm just like, yeah, yeah. What happened? And then how did you, or why did you leave the music to then do the ad agency?

Oh yeah, for sure. Well, that's a tale of narcissism. Domestic abuse. We got Emi in the room for it. He knows all about this. I mean, like, here's the thing, here's the thing, here's the thing. There's always a silver lining and a blessing in everything, in everyone you come across. Like, I swear to God, if you, if you can really, really look at it from the higher perspective, you walk outside and get punched by some asshole in the street, there's still something you learned from that guy that day. There's still something positive you could take away from a negative situation. And for me, that was my ex, because, um, again, I had not dealt with any of my childhood trauma. I really, really hadn't even, like, remembered how bad it was with my parents. And what do we do as adults? We attract, we manifest romantic relationships that are our parents if we haven't cleared that, you know. So, um, when I was 23 and I was, uh, uh, transitioning from music to video, it was because I met a videographer who ended up becoming my boyfriend. But he was totally a manifestation of my father, of both my parents really. But like, he was a lot like my dad. And I wasn't realizing at that time how toxic my dad really was. And I was modeling 100%, like, ugh, it gives me like the heebie-jeebies even to think about, like 100% I was my mom in that relationship and like he was my dad. And the same way that I watched my dad walk all over my mom her whole life and she allowed it, I allowed him to do the same. And so obviously I was very easily influenced by this person because I was in a space of just needing so much validation. It's why I wanted to be a musician. It's why I wanted to be famous. And as Amy said, you know, when you're— when you feel unwanted, you open yourself up for— he used demonic possession, but you can just say anything like People can sense when you're insecure and feed off that if they're predatory types, which my ex definitely was. And so that whole transition from music to digital marketing was actually kind of me getting manipulated, but I'm happy for it. And this is why I brought up the example of like, there's something good in everything because he had worked, my ex, he had worked for musicians for so long shooting music videos that he actually had some pretty solid, uh, perspectives on musicians and why they mostly never make it and always stay broke. And he started to share with me his perspective, and it really scared me, you know. It really made me realize, like, oh shit, like, I'm 23, I've been doing this music kind of like heavily for 3 years, and I haven't really gotten anywhere. Like, is this me that he's talking about? And I don't want to be that. And, um, he had a successful video company. I mean, not much. It wasn't until I came along that we really blew up together, but like he was making his own money. He wasn't waitressing, he wasn't answering to anyone but himself. So I just said, you know, maybe I could learn something from this guy. And like, he wanted to teach me video and I wanted to get out of my waitressing job. And so that's what we did is like, I quit music and I left it behind. Um, and then I focused all of my energy on business, like 100% of my energy. Just like I went from like in my feminine all the time, creative, dancing, singing, to like masculine, like, okay, I need to learn business and I need to learn video and all these trades and all these skills, which I'm happy I did because I needed to balance myself. I needed to learn all of that. However, um, it was totally sucking my soul, you know? Like, I, I get the whole, like, we want what's best for our partner, and if you truly feel like your partner being a musician, they're, they're going down the wrong path, you have every right to communicate that to them. But there's a difference when it's, like, something you know that your partner really, really loves. How do we maintain that balance? So me just quitting music completely, like cold turkey, to learn video, um, was not a healthy choice for me in the end. I grew very unfulfilled. I didn't have a creative outlet. Um, I felt like a sellout to myself. And that's why when LinkedIn came along, it was so easy for me to get inspired again because I was actually creating my own pieces of work, pieces of content again. Um, but yeah, I will say, you know, um, credits to my ex. He really got me out of music and into video. I just, I wanted to be like him. I looked up to him so much. He wanted my energy, you know, he wanted me to pour all my energy into him and his dreams. And that's also what narcissists do. My friend Yitz Epstein has a podcast about how narcissists hijack your dreams. Um, so, you know, and, and it all worked out in the end because now he's gone. And, uh, I'm a way, way, way, way more balanced individual. I would not have blown up on LinkedIn, um, without that extensive knowledge I gained on Facebook about video marketing all of those years. So, um, while I don't agree with the lack of balance I had all those years, I am grateful for the way things turned out in the end because I'm still creative, still able to get on camera and present and have confidence, but now it's merged with the aspects of digital marketing of like, okay, how do we actually apply it? And get reach here.

Yeah, I was gonna say, it seems like you landed at like a perfectly balanced situation. Like, LinkedIn's very like businessy, but then you're— you come in with more of creative side of it. So perfect balance. You went to both extremes, landed in the middle, so it's perfect.

Yeah, exactly.

Um, so, you know, obviously I don't know if I call it a formula, but, you know, it's worked for you in Facebook and now LinkedIn. So if somebody wanted to go viral, let's just use that word, Like, how do you help people? I know you have a course and then you have like consulting or done-for-you services and stuff, but if somebody wanted to grow their Facebook or their LinkedIn, is it very similar strategy or are both very different?

Oh yeah, man, it is an interesting time for us digital marketers right now because like I don't really know what to say about any platform at any point now because it's changing so much. It's getting so censored. It's like I almost just feel like coming on here telling everyone don't grow on any platform. Like, it's— I mean, it's really, really, really, really become, um, not a democracy on a lot of these platforms. It's not a democracy anymore. It's like, you know, you're being hand-fed whatever the platform's private interests are. And I think that's why we're seeing such a surge of these decentralized alternative social media platforms that are, you know, promoting free speech again. But I will say that Facebook is very different than LinkedIn. Definitely it's not as easy to grow there anymore because it's so saturated. LinkedIn has become more saturated, but still a lot less competition. And at the end of the day, when it comes to going viral, you know, there's a couple different things I could say. A lot of people ask me that question, like, how do you go viral? How do you go viral? And I think it's Gary Vee who has a quote where he says, like, you can't plan to go viral. Like the whole, The whole nature of viral content is it's viral and uncontrollable in nature. Like we don't predict it, it's just whatever it is. But I actually have a different theory because I licensed so many videos on Facebook over the years and I saw so many things go viral and I had so much data. So I could see patterns and I could see trends and I could absolutely plan to go viral. I've done it many times on LinkedIn, but I will say the core underlying way to get there is just to connect to people. Like, that's it. Like, how can you connect to your audience? Leave them with an emotional reaction, something raw, something genuine, something authentic. So, you know, that, that's what gets humans to respond. That's what a lot of great sales trainings are taught, you know, play into the emotions, play into the emotions. So A lot of the viral stories would be things like a veteran coming home and surprising his mom. You know, we've all seen that video, like it's a tearjerker because we can all relate. You know, we see her emotion and we feel that emotion and we feel happy for them and then we click the share button. It keeps going viral. So, you know, that I would say is the core, the core is, you know, connect with other humans. Human beings want to feel connected. And then there's the whole technical aspect of going viral, which is of course like, well, how do you edit it? And is it fast-paced? And is there a headline right away to catch attention as people are scrolling through the feed? So what I do is like mainly a balance between teaching people how to be authentic, how to not be scared to be authentic, because that's like 90% of the coaching, right? People are like, I can't really share that. I'm like, yeah, you can, and way more people will relate to this. Than you just being like vanilla and trying to be liked by everyone. So my work is really like balancing the authentic side of content creators and then teaching them just how to share who they really are so that they can build a brand that's really them, that they won't want to burn to the ground in a few years when they realize they're tied to some image or some brand that's not really authentically them. So it's balancing that with the technical side, the editing. Okay, let me help you write copy, help you write headlines, help you with the script, that sort of thing.

Gotcha. So you almost like coach them to become more of them and like be okay with it?

It is, it 100% is. Like, my video program is healing. I didn't even realize it at first. I've been doing it for a few years now and I'm like, oh wow, this is actually just a program for people to like find their voice. And yeah, so it's been amazing.

That's awesome.

They think they're signing up for a LinkedIn course and actually, and actually, because I even had this discussion discussion with my team on like, should we change the marketing? Should we promote it as like a confidence course or like a finding yourself course? And it's like, nah, dude, these— this is like the demographic I'm reaching, which is funny that I'm being so transparent about this right now, but I do feel that my demographic has largely been busy professionals who don't allow themselves self-help. You know, they're, they're kind of in that, in that camp of like, I can't take an hour off to go to therapy, I got too many responsibilities, but they'll take an hour off to go to a video bootcamp call that's all about marketing, and I'm gonna get my ROI. No, no, no, this is business. I'm here for the ROI. But really, it's healing. It's their self-help. I mean, half of my clients, when I get on the phone with them, it's a therapy session about, you know, okay, what's coming up for you? Oh, I hate myself on camera. I don't like my voice. I can't do this video. Oh, my colleagues are gonna, I don't want, like, it's all therapy. That's all it is. I'm like walking them through their triggers. Okay. What would be the worst thing that happened if your colleagues saw this? What would be the worst thing they could say to you? And then what would that outcome lead to? And it's just like kind of making people realize that life doesn't need to be so serious, that we can lighten up and we can be our true selves. And trusting— this is a big one in business— trusting that being your true authentic self, even in business, even on a business platform like LinkedIn, will actually garner you not only more attention and more business because you're again connecting with people on a human level, But it will garner you clients that actually align with you energetically, that actually feel your mission and want to be a part of it. And then you no longer have to go to work and hide to your clients who you are, hide what, you know, like I've literally come forward and like said that I was a prostitute. Like, did I lose money? No. Are clients on the phone like, you know what, I was gonna hire you, but those things you did as a 19-year-old, like, I'm not— it's like you just lay it all out there. I have nothing to hide. And so my clients, to me, it's just like hanging out with friends. It's just like a joy. We just have a conversation. They trust me, I trust them. And that's really a big part of the coaching is teaching people like, look, just get on camera, be yourself, and trust that the right clients are going to find you.

Yeah, I think that's big right there, because if somebody were to decide not to hire you because of that, well then that's—

it was meant to be. Yeah, exactly.

Perfect.

I completely agree. I think, um, You know, the people who are really scared of getting rejected and who hide their true selves all the time think that they're being accepted by everyone, but they're really just being accepted for the fake them. Yeah, because they're so scared. Yeah, they're so scared of rejection. It's like, no, I want to get rejected. I want to know right away if people are assholes. And that's why I agree with Jordan Peterson, this whole—

I love—

yeah, like, let's talk about the free speech thing because he blew up. Okay, so Jordan— so, uh, Dr. Jordan Peterson blew up, um, got really well known because of this Bill C-16 or something. Was that the Canadian? Yeah, where he, he didn't, he didn't agree with, um, uh, mandating speech for the transgender community so that it would be illegal not to call someone by their preferred pronouns. Okay, right, like in— like on the surface looks good, looks like yeah, we should respect people's wants and needs and it's no big deal, legalize it. But what Jordan was arguing, which I agree with, which I think got like heavily misconstrued and, oh, he's a white supremacist and that whole rabbit hole, is he's simply saying it's a slippery slope, you guys. We're going to mandate this now, you're going to mandate how people talk. And to anyone, and I'm not trans or anything, so I have been asked in a few gay clubs if I'm a man, but it is not the case. I am a woman, ladies and gentlemen. So I don't know any, I don't know, I cannot I cannot speak for them, but I would say that if someone did not want to call me by the name I want to be called, let's just actually, I'll use a real example. Not because I didn't change my gender, but I did change my name when I was 18. My real name is Shannon. So I changed my name to Shay when I was 18. It was part of my whole like escaping from my childhood and wanting to become a rapper and all this thing. So like I knew right away the people in my life that respected it and were like, oh, you want to be Shay now? I'll call you Shay. And I knew right away the people who didn't. That's good data. I want that information. I want to know who's really on my side and who's like held back by this just basic personal choice I made that's not harming anyone. Like, just call me Shay. That's what I prefer. And, um, what, what the free speech or the anti-free speech mandate or whatever you could call it in Canada was doing, it was taking away that transparency. Why wouldn't you want to know if someone is such a dick to not call you by your preferred pronouns? Yeah, I for one would want to know. I wouldn't want a law that hides assholes.

Yeah, I agree.

So, you know, that's just the part that people aren't seeing when you really dive deeper. It's about personal accountability. If you get triggered by something, that's on you to address. And creating this whole movement, which we see now mainly from the liberals, is like all about you, or this thing, or this person, or this organization outside of me, you are responsible for my needs. You need to make me feel comfortable. You need to make me feel safe. You need— it's like, that's you, that's you. And I'm not like super like concerned, like I'm not against social programs, and like I'm all for like whatever works works, and we can talk about things and where people need support. But the overarching theme that I'm seeing becoming heavier and heavier is just this lack of personal responsibility, this insane, "I will be happy when you," "I will be able to live a fulfilled life when you," "I will be successful when you." That is so disempowering. And my message to a lot of these young people who are getting caught up in this sort of liberalization of the universities and everything that's being poured into our school system now is like, nobody is gonna make you happy but you. And the more you focus on other people to bring you happiness, the more susceptible you are to being controlled, because that's essentially what you're asking for, is you have power over me, so now you have control over me. So what are your thoughts on that, Tyler? I wanna— because I know this is the part of the conversation you wanted to get into.

Oh yeah, I was just about to drop into it.

Yeah, what are your thoughts?

Well, I think the mask is in complete alignment with this shit, so I think it's a cult. I think it's bullshit.

What do you mean cult?

Like, I think— I think the mask, the way that the media and all of them have positioned it, is in a way where like, you wearing the mask is to protect me. So if you don't wear a mask, then you want me to die.

Yeah.

And that is insane, right? That is insane. The mask doesn't even work anyway. Okay, let's be clear about this.

It's— yeah.

Um, so, and if you want to wear a mask and you want to take a vaccine, if you want to do all that stuff, that's great. I think you should go do it. And because of that, you should be protected from me sneezing all over the fucking place and not taking a vaccine because you're protected. So I just think it's, it's a slippery slope. As Jordan Peterson would say, it's the same thing as being forced to use words. Like, I don't think you should be forced to do anything, right? Like, never. Now, you can be forced to not do things, like to murder somebody. Like, do not— like, that you should get in trouble for if you do that. But do not force people to take action on things.

Yeah.

And that is a problem. So I think the words, terrible. I think the mask is terrible. And I think like Jordan Peterson said, it just, it's a very slippery slope. The mask is just the beginning. Now I just saw the Chicago mayor the other day just tweeted they're doing another forced lockdown in Chicago. Like you can't leave. So it's like, okay, you have to wear a mask everywhere you go. You can't leave your house. You want to run on a treadmill, you have to wear the mask. Like you're breathing in your own fungus. Yeah, like this shit's not healthy.

It's not. And it's indoctrination. It's a mass awakening. You know, this, this whole year is about— to me, I mean, this is my interpretation of what's going on— is we are exposing the media. That's what's happening. The media is being exposed. It's programming. It's programming. What happened when they stopped talking about COVID for a few weeks started talking about George Floyd. Oh, riots everywhere, protests. It's like, well, where's COVID now? The news isn't talking about it, so it's not real. I was sharing with Tyler Wagner Wagner before we started, I don't know one person who's gotten COVID. I know it's real. I'm not saying it's all like made up. Like, sure, there's a virus out there, but like, if it wasn't for the news, me personally, I would never have had an idea that there was a pandemic this year. That's just me personally. I get it. I don't work in hospitals.

I don't—

but straight up, like, I wouldn't know if it wasn't for the news how often is our reality just handed to us through this television, this programming.

Literally, what is it called?

I mean, and, and, and it's, um, it's really, really inspiring, Tyler, to see all of these like decentralized platforms pop up, people taking a stand saying no. Um, the, the problem with it still is not everyone is seeing the corruption of it because some people just happen to agree with every message that's being pumped out by the media. So when they're— when the media is only sharing what you believe in It's going to be a lot harder for you to be objective and discern, like, are they being objective though? Or is the news being objective? You know, because you're in such alignment with everything that's being spun out that you're not going to question it. Same thing with the election. People saying like, oh, there's voter fraud. Of course everyone who's president won is like, there's no voter fraud. It's like, you know, you're not being objective. Yeah, it's in your favor now. What's going to happen when the narrative is not in your favor? You're going to wish you would have fought for justice, democracy. Democracy and free speech.

Yeah, that's— well, I just think if you're not going to be objective, then you need to be open about that. And that's why I like Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. I like them because they are right-wing and they're open about it. And then they broadcast through that channel.

Yes.

Whereas like CNN is still trying to put off that they're in the middle. Oh, this is just madness.

Yeah, it's not in the middle.

It can't be.

I—

if it is, then I'm the crazy one. And I'll accept that, and I need to work on myself.

I think it's shifting. I think people are waking up. I do love what you said about the masks and the individual sovereignty of each human, because again, that's what this whole thing is. It's— I love that you use the word cult, because that's what it is. I can break it down in narcissistic lingo, but basically, like, one thing that you'll regularly hear when you study narcissism is like narcissists will like project onto you, you know. So like a lot of the things that narcissists say about other people is them, you know. Oh, they're a liar, they're, they're a cheater, they're— but it's usually actually them.

Yeah.

And that's actually what's happening with the masks. And the more, um, I mean, we don't have to make it a left-right thing, but it is, but it is more the left who's in favor of the masks, the lockdown. And so what's happening is the people who don't agree with the whole everyone mask up, everyone get a vaccine, they're being called— we're being called narcissists. This is the disease. This is the manipulation. We're the ones being called narcissistic because it's, oh, you don't care about my grandma. You're so reckless. You don't have respect. When ironically, that person is being very narcissistic in, again, putting the power outside themselves, saying it is your responsibility to take care of mine and my grandma's needs. That's no, that is narcissism. That is, I mean, it's just this very, very narcissistic behavior where I saw a meme the other day on social media and it said like, if you're complaining about having been locked down the past 7 months and staying home, just remember just one life saved is worth it. I was like, that is the sickest shit I've ever heard in my fucking life. I'm like, what the fuck? Should we all stay locked down for 7 months So no cars drive on the road, so no one dies in a car accident. Like, is that living? Is that living? And the majority of people that die of COVID are already over the expected age of living in the United States. I mean, it's just complete narcissism, this whole like, you're responsible for me drawing out my life to live in a quarantine home because it's just, it's really like exposing how immature we are about death, honestly. It's just like, oh, you're suddenly so fucking afraid of death. Really? You got— I see people outside going to McDonald's, pulling down their masks to smoke cigarettes, and then 2 seconds later they got hand sanitizer, they had their mask. I'm like, oh, so healthy. You know, that mask is really keeping you healthy. It's like, you guys wake up. If the media cared so much about health, why is there no outcry about the 60,000 people a month that die in this country of diabetes? You know, why is there no outcry about the 1 in 2 children in this country now who have a chronic illness? It's a joke. It's, I mean, it really is to me just a joke. And if you personally are scared of COVID or threatened in some way by having an immune deficiency or someone in your house that is elderly, you, it's on you to take your own precautions, make you feel good. It is not my responsibility. Those of us who are healthy, who are brave, who want to get out and work, we should have the right to go out and work. You have the right to stay home and order everything online. That's your choice, but telling everyone to do it, including healthy people, is not quarantine, it's house arrest.

Yeah, agreed. And that— did we talk about the story of the Japanese gardens? Yes. We were at the Japanese gardens yesterday and we— Emmy was maybe like, you were 2 feet away from the guy and my mask was off and the guy didn't even say anything. Like, if somebody actually nicely near me says, like, I might just abide just because be like, all right, just, I'm fine with it, let's just get through this.

Wait, you might— I'll try it.

Like, I'm uncomfortable. I don't agree with your uncomfortability, but that's also like your feelings, so whatever.

Again, putting it on you. You're making me uncomfortable, therefore you—

yeah.

And you make a good point, there is a balance. Every day we make choices to make those around us happy and comfortable, but yeah, it's still on killing me to the point where I'm like, uh, well, yeah, but I also, I agree, I strong opinions about that.

But no, no, I, I think I agree with you. I just sometimes don't want to deal with having a, like, debate with the person every time.

But well, yeah, just real quick, I do want to touch on that because it's really important what you said about, like, I just wanted him to be comfortable, it's 1 minute, whatever. But that's also the manipulation. I know, it's getting, it's, it's getting so intense and regulated to the point where even people like you and I are like, fuck it, I'll just put on the mask. I mean, I went to Target every day the other day and like, I didn't have a mask. I don't wear masks anywhere for the record. And if someone approaches me, I just say I have a medical condition and they're not even allowed to legally ask what the condition is. And in the beginning of quarantine, that was actually pretty easy to get away with. It's gotten harder. Like I went to Target the other day. Now it's not even employees. It's other customers like tattling on me and being like, she's not wearing a mask to the point where I'm like, oh my God, I'll just fucking put on a mask. Then I'm like, no shame, then they win. Like, that's the manipulation. That's the dumbing down. Not dumbing down, what's the word? That's the, I can't think of the word. Basically like— Giving in? Kind of. It's the indoctrinating. It's a step further along in the process where there's so much collective pressure now and so much collective shame built up now that even the people that were the most anti-mask and know I believe in this, I'm gonna stand for it. Even they are starting to question, is this worth my own discomfort now of being approached all the time and shamed? Like, okay, I'll just fucking put it on. But I say no, you know, I tell my girlfriends, don't wear a mask. They're like, oh, Shay, that's not really my fight. Like, that's your fight. I'm like, no, it's all of our fight. When people see me without a mask, yes, I do get some people who look at me with shame and disgust and all, look, look at that narcissist, you know? But I also get people who look at me and say, wait a minute, she's not wearing a mask. Maybe I don't have to wear a mask. And that is what I want to normalize. I want to normalize again not wearing masks. And how many people see me without the mask and then they get inspired and they come up to me, hey, how are you doing this? Well, actually, I got a doctor's note. And there is actually a doctor— you can get doctor's notes for it. But, you know, I've been on 4 different airplanes, no mask.

Really?

Yeah, no. Yeah, I refuse to wear a mask. And Here's the thing, Tyler Wagner.

Which airline?

I'm so confused. American Airlines and Delta.

American was gonna take me off the plane. Yeah.

Oh, really?

Yeah, they were.

What did you say? You had a medical condition or what did you say?

I can't even remember. Like, they— I was like, I don't want to wear it or something. And then they pressured me and they were like, well, you can't fly on the plane then. And I was like, well, I have to get to my fucking destination.

Right, right. I do, I do believe the only way to like legally get around it as of now is the medical condition, but to me it's also a vibe because I actually hardly get approached. I went on 4 different airplanes and I got approached twice. The first time was in May, so it was less strict then. I just said, look, I have a medical condition. Okay, no big deal. They let me through because I radiate the energy of like, come tell me to put on a mask. Yeah, yeah. Come tell me that I'm doing something wrong. I don't look guilty. I don't look like I'm doing anything wrong. And people look at me and just assume like, well, obviously everyone is seeing this woman without a mask. Someone would have done something, so there must be a reason she's not wearing a mask. I also had a friend in a wheelchair I was traveling with at one point that I think maybe helped. Don't fuck with her, she's already pushing a wheelchair. Let the woman breathe. But yeah, no, I only got approached one time by the security person, said, did you have a mask? I said, no, I have a medical medical condition. She just let me go, no questions asked. No one on the plane even asked me. And then the second time I flew was the end of July, where it was more strict. And that— it happened right away when I was checking my bags. He's like, you can't— cannot fly without a mask. I'm like, no, no, I can, like, I'm medically conditioned. And then that was the only time I actually had someone ask for a note. And I have a note, so I showed him the note, and he was like, okay, well, just get ready because everyone's gonna be asking you for this note throughout the duration of Travels.

That's fine.

And no one did. No one ever did. I got in. Yep. No mask. I never, never again. So yeah, I mean, that's just, um, that's, that's what I choose to do is normalize not wearing a mask.

No, I like that. I need to be more like that, honestly. Cuz it, what happened at the Japanese gardens full circle is, is the guy actually then decided to leave, which I thought was the appropriate move. So he freaked out and—

wait, wait, which guy left? The guy that you put it on for? No.

Yeah, yeah. So what happened is, I can't— he, he got so disturbed. Like, he didn't like ask, just like, hey, can you put the mask on? Or like, hey, can you move over a little?

It—

you could— I felt his energy just building up. Afterward, I realized what had happened, and he moved away, and he was like, I have a 100-year-old grandma at home and you can't 6 feet distance, and you have your mask off, and just like lost it, you know? So it was like building up for him for a while.

So go home.

Yeah, exactly.

It's like, why the fuck are you out?

Meanwhile, we're in a line, like a huge line, and we're We were the only people 6 feet— he was the only one 6 feet. Yeah, everybody was very close. Like, this is like a park that you pay to get into, like, so the line's like close. And either way, like, they were probably then like 12 feet behind us for the rest of the time. And then as we got right to the point of entering, and then they both decide to leave. Yeah, I was just unhappy with shit.

And it is like, uh, true that in like the spiritual community And a lot of these people who are actively working on themselves, who understand personal accountability, I am source for everything, it's no one else's job to meet my needs, I'm not a little kid anymore. And if you are, but for the record, if you are still depending on outside sources to meet your needs, that's mommy daddy issues. That's just unhealed shit from your childhood because most of us grew up with mentally ill parents who had no idea what the fuck they were doing and they did not meet our needs. And at one time we really were a victim, but now you're an adult and it's your responsibility to learn how to grow up and take personal accountability. Um, so where was I gonna go with that? You were just talking about the, um, the guy who left the gardens. Yeah, but what was I gonna say about that? The— I can't remember now.

Oh, it's all good.

Yeah, it'll come back to me.

Okay. No, I wanted to jump to though, uh, all kind of on this.

Oh, I know what it was.

Go ahead.

Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is what we were talking about before, actually. This is the one you— yeah, no, no, this is the one. This is the one you told me to bring it up on the show, so now I'll bring it up. Okay, okay. It was, um, why no one in the spiritual community has gotten COVID. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay, this is where— this is where we're at now. We're on frequencies and vibrations, Tyler. Frequencies and vibrations. So this is what it is, is like, I have so many friends down here in South Florida, um, who are very similar to me in their beliefs about COVID You know, this is This is not that— I wanna be clear, 'cause a lot of people will misconstrue this as the virus is real. It's like, yes, I'm not saying it's not real, but we determine how impactful and big it really is. And that's why I say the media has such a strong play in this. Like the virus is real just as any common flu strain is real. But why this year is the media focusing so much on it, putting up the new case numbers every day, telling everyone to be scared, mandating masks. That's new. So we need to pay attention to how much of that is actually warranted or not. And I don't believe much of it is. I do believe that the virus is real, but I think they're blowing the virus out of control and using it as a means to gain more control. You know, they're kind of taking advantage of the virus and of the fear, which anyone who's also done sales— fear is how you sell people, you know. So that is what's going on, is the people in the spiritual community kind of see through all that lens and they're like, oh, this actually isn't that deadly. 99.9% of people survive. It's, um, it's one of the healthiest things that you can do to interact with other human beings, to touch, to hug, to get outside and stand bare feet on the grass. I mean, these are all things that help our immunity. And, um, none of my friends or anyone in the spiritual community down here is social distancing, wearing masks. We don't use hand sanitizer because again, we understand immunity. You need to touch dirt and get the microbiome built on your— oh, you got Ben coming next, so I'll leave that to him. He can break all that down. But, um, yeah, I was telling Tyler before the show, it's like, I don't know one person personally— I'm not saying people haven't gotten it, I'm saying I personally do not have one friend that's gotten COVID. Now, how is that possible if it's so contagious and so deadly that all my friends who follow none of these protocols have not gotten sick? Well, I'll tell you. And at another date, you can have Dr. Bruce Lipton or Dr. Joe Dispenza back to like scientifically break down how to do that. Yeah, yeah. Or Imi could do it. Yes, Imi could do it. That's so right. He's so scientific. I forget that. But basically, why is no one getting COVID? Okay, it's because a virus is a frequency. Viruses vibrate. Everything's frequency. You and I sitting here, you're vibrating at a certain frequency, I'm vibrating at a certain frequency, this mic has its own frequency. So the virus is a frequency, and in order for the virus to attach, it has to find someone that is vibrating at the same frequency. And that's why fear is actually the last thing you want to do to protect yourself from this virus, because it's vibrating at the frequency of fear, and that is what attracts the virus. The only person I know, or person of a person that I know, who's gotten it is my friend's mom, who's been glued to CNN for 6 months, who is fucking terrified of this virus. She got the virus, you know. And I'm not saying that, you know, spiritual people or whatever who are of a higher vibration can't dip down and still catch it in a moment of, you know, that getting in a moment of, um, going down to those lower frequencies. But I do believe that it is a frequency, and I think this is, um, where we just are so, so disconnected from nature that we actually think living in a world where we tell everyone to be afraid, we tell everyone to cover their smile with masks and stay inside and not gather in groups and not have social interaction, we think that that's actually better for our health in the long run. Um, than allowing people to be free and happy and touch one another and see each other smile. I mean, to me, it is just a complete illustration of how disconnected we are from nature, that we actually think that's more healthy. This hand sanitizer, this mask, all that. It's like, you guys, like, come on. Like, our bodies were made to heal. God's not stupid. And again, I'm not saying this virus isn't real, but I'm saying when you're afraid of something, you manifest it. When you constantly focus on something, you manifested. When you constantly tell yourself you're a victim of racism or sexism, you manifested. And that's a whole other conversation people ain't ready for, but it is the truth. Like, um, when you focus on COVID and how afraid you are of it, chances are you're gonna get it. And on top of that, if you're actually stupid enough to follow all the orders they're giving you about health and hand sanitizer and all the things that it's actually weakening your immunity, if you're following all of those things and you're afraid You're most susceptible to it. I mean, think about, think about it like this, Tyler. There's people who are genuinely scared, been locked up in their house for 6 months, not building any immunity because they don't go outside. They don't go to the beach. They don't touch other humans. They're using hand sanitizer, Lysol. They're wearing masks. They've killed their own immune system. And now what are they going to do? They're going to finally go out and get shot up with the virus in a vaccine. Really? I mean, that to me is just like, I feel like we're in this survival of the fittest where it's like, if you're stupid enough to still believe the mainstream Western doctor narrative and not see that our country has only gotten sicker and sicker for decades at the hands of these experts that you need to listen to— Shay, if you're dumb enough to still believe all that, it's survival of the fittest. And I know I sound harsh when I say this, but it's like, I, I do believe that a lot of the people who are dying are people that are following orders that they don't realize are actually causing them pain and suffering. And there's, there's a greater design to all of this. So that's it. But super, super controversial, but I do believe that. I do believe people that take health into their own hands in 2020, who look for naturopathy, who look for alternative sources, those are the people who are gonna survive. And the people doing spiritual work on themselves and taking accountability for themselves and not putting the power outside of themselves to make them feel feel a certain way, those are the people that are going to thrive in the pandemic. Those are the people who are not going to fall victim to victim mentality and to all of these things we see surfacing this year. So I say this with love, guys. I know it might be a harsh message for some people, maybe someone who's lost someone from COVID and this and that, but I do think it's a perspective that is not shared enough. And I'm okay with actually being a little polarizing and on this other side with it because I see how important it is to start to pull people to the center more and get more grounded, um, as opposed to just, um, listening and believing this one narrative that has come out. Mhm.

Well, I think that was incredible.

So, okay, Tyler, Tyler approves.

I don't know, what does that mean?

I might have, I might have lost some people here. And that's the other thing is like, you notice how many influencers have like lost people from this? Like, there's so much of that going on. I don't follow you anymore. If you're, you know, if you're, it's like there's so much polarization going on.

So, well, and I think too, if I can't remember what book I read this in, but basically your subconscious doesn't know the difference between positive and negative. So if you are like focusing on something of the negative, you will attract it. So if you wake up every day, watch CNN all day, and you're afraid of the virus, even though you're taking all the protective measures more so than people on the other side, let's say, you will definitely— like, it's not even on my mind most of the time. Like, I, I really don't believe it is valid, right?

I believe it's outside, and I'm like, oh, this is the reality. I feel like I'm in my own bubble, and then I'll like go somewhere, I'll be like, oh yeah, this is happening. Like, what the fuck? It's this like Orwellian, weird dystopian world. Um, but yeah, it is, it is changing. I think it's, I think it's good, you know. At the end of the day, like, healing is ugly. Healing. The reason so many people don't do their own healing work is because it's painful. Definitely painful to look at yourself. And I think like coronavirus is kind of like a manifestation of us wanting to heal. It's like, let's look at ourselves. Let's, let's, let's manifest this virus and this whole pandemic, whether manufactured or not, just to like start to see and bring to light all of the polarization, all of the giving away of power, all of the injustice, because there is injustices and stuff going on. And I think like, and like any purge, like you, you throw up, but then you feel better after. This is like, this is like the world like throwing up right now, and we're just seeing a lot of ugliness. Yeah, but we'll be better on the other side. I do believe that.

Yeah, this throw up is fertilizer, right? For the better world.

So funny. So funny.

Um, so Shay, thank you for coming on. Please tell us like everything— website, social medias, where to follow. I know LinkedIn, and, you know, everywhere.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. So you can definitely check out my website. It's just shayrowbottom.com. I do help businesses with their marketing on LinkedIn and on any platform, really. I'm a video trainer, so it goes across all platforms. But definitely check me out there to learn more. I do also have a podcast and it's called The Shay Rowbottom Show, and it's not about marketing. I actually talk a lot more about this, like with the conversations we were having. It's about healing. I interview a lot of amazing people who understand trauma, who understand narcissism, who understand manipulation and what's, what's really going on in the world here. So definitely check that out. And then if anyone wants to get in contact with me, you can just email me at me@shayrowbottom.com. And lastly, yeah, definitely follow me on LinkedIn. It's linkedin.com/in/shayrowbottom and all of my original original content, uh, goes out there first.

Beautiful. Thank you again for coming on the show.

Yes, thank you for having me.