Navigating Distractions, Thriving During Challenges, & Finding Balance When Advertising your Photography Services with Brooke Littlebear

Today we're joined by Brooke Littlebear (@brookelittlebear), making her fourth appearance on the show! In this episode we explore strategies for eliminating distractions and forming good habits, staying organized during busy periods, reflecting on adversity, finding a sense of home, and effectively promoting photography services without overwhelming your audience.

You can check out her website: https://littlebearwildlife.com/
You can check out Think Wild Expeditions here: https://www.thinkwildexp.com/

Thanks to WhiteWall for being our lead sponsor this episode! They're the top choice for photographers who want high-quality prints, with a variety of material options, and who want their work delivered fast in 9 days or less! Use code MINDSET15 for 15% off your order.
https://www.whitewall.com/us/

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Thanks for listening!
Go get shooting, go get editing, and stay focused.

@sethmacey
@mantis_photography
@thephotographermindset

Transcript

INTRO:

00:01.38
smacey
Welcome back to another episode of the photographer mindset podcast I'm your co-host Seth Macey. What do we do on the show if this is your first time listening Aaron? 

00:03.63
aaronmannes
And I'm your co-host Aaron Mannes


00:25.72
aaronmannes
We talk through our experience mistakes that we have made wins that we have gained ah talk to many guests That's pretty much the gist of the show.

00:34.50
smacey
We had a great guest today didn't we fourth time on the show brooke little bear. What do you think of? today's episode quickly before we get into it.

00:43.75
aaronmannes
I'm a big fan of Brooke. She was one of the I think pioneers of in my just journey in terms of looking at wildlife photographers ah just completely blown away in the beginning. She was very encouraging of of. My photography as well. So that really got me going so I have a special place in my heart for brooke. She's just always so well spokenken lots of insight lots of vulnerability the ability to share and and and be real and be who she is I always find it impressive and um.

01:07.64
smacey
And.

01:16.37
aaronmannes
Just captivating So that's what I got from it.

01:20.10
smacey
Yeah, an open book very authentic which sees what you get and I think that's you know, partly? Why? um you know she's so likekable and why her career is where it's at so let's not talk anymore about it. Let's get into it first away from the sponsor and then rate into the episode.

INTERVIEW:

01:37.94
smacey
Thanks for coming. It's exactly the fourth time.

01:48.24
aaronmannes
Um, wow.

01:49.30
BROOKE____
Um I look forward to a hundred more? Yeah, no okay, social media. My career. What do I do who am I um so one of my gigs right now that I spend about half the year doing is my bear guiding stuff. Um, for the most part with that social media doesn't got a thing to do with like my success because.

01:59.52
smacey
Okay.

02:08.31
BROOKE____
I'm working as just like a day guide like a bear guide who's there specializing in keeping people safe from brown bears I'm working for a different outfitter. So I'm just kind of like working for a lodge specifically so they bring in the clients I don't have anything to do with you know what? their scheduling looks like how many clients I get per day or even per summer. It's a really reputable lodge. They've been in operation for a long time. So this summer you know we're booked out till the end of the season same goes for next summer and then onwards from there. So social media has got nothing to do with that career so you know in that regard. It doesn't matter but over the last few months. Me and my friends Arthur John and Tiffany we have been pushing our own little guide operation as well. So when we're not doing bear season because all 4 of us are bear guides up in Alaska nowadays when we're not doing bear season. We are now offering.

02:54.12
smacey
M.

03:04.70
BROOKE____
Photo Workshop tour Adventure Thema Jigs So I got a little bit. Yeah, this is why this is why I started the company with a team because if it was just my company. It would be on fire.

03:07.56
smacey
Um, is that how you market it to workshop then Thingama Jigs is that the official wording right.

03:18.62
aaronmannes
Yeah, come do clicky pictures.

03:22.41
smacey
Um, right? So you're not in charge of the copy per se you.

03:22.80
BROOKE____
Shambles I'm not in charge of anything and it's really quite nice. Um, thank you? John Arthur and Tiffany for doing everything I just show up. Um, yeah, so for for I got a little bit lazy with social media stuff. Not lazy, but just like. Starting to feel like I was in cruise control you know over this last summer because I was having a lot of success with my bear guiding I didn't have cell signal most of the summer which really helped a lot and I was able to just kind of like yeah log on see things are going well on social media I haven't lost all of my following. Can toss up a picture or a video or a random story about just what's going on in my life and everything's fine. But since returning from Alaska and really starting to work hard on think wild which is the name of our company all of a sudden I'm having to put more brains into social media again and i'm.

04:01.90
smacey
Um.

04:16.97
smacey
Really.

04:17.47
BROOKE____
Have a hard time with it also because I'm in I've been in New Jersey now for two months with the exception of like a yeah quick jaunt out to Colorado for a couple days um over the course of which I got broken up with which is why I'm back in New Jersey um so it's just been a very uninspired.

04:24.30
smacey
Um, New Jersey will do that to you own it.

04:30.76
smacey
Oh no.

04:31.70
aaronmannes
Oh now.

04:37.80
BROOKE____
Couple of months to say the least when it comes to like personifying myself Excitedly and happily on social media.

04:43.95
smacey
Well I'm sorry to hear that now I feel really bad about my New Jersey comment

04:46.10
aaronmannes
Um, that it. Yeah.

04:50.13
BROOKE____
No, it's good. It's actually honestly being in Jersey right now has been really fun because this is where my whole family is so getting to like spend time with family. It is really nice to have amenities like it's been great to shower every other day. It's been great to have like heat. Um.

04:53.76
smacey
Right.

05:05.37
aaronmannes
Um, yeah.

05:06.38
BROOKE____
And not just be in like raw survival mode all the time. So it's it's like not inspiring from a social media standpoint but from like a life standpoint. It's been great. Comfortable here.

05:06.55
smacey
Um, yeah.

05:12.91
smacey
Cool You know I kid with you.

05:15.90
aaronmannes
Yeah, comfortable comfortables comfortables kind of nice, especially when you're out Seth and I both read ah the comfort crisis about an Alaskan Caribou hunt um oh cool, really cool. Um.

05:21.62
smacey
Um, good book.

05:22.62
BROOKE____
Oh it's one of my favorite books Donny Vincent's a a buddy of mine. Yeah music it.

05:28.26
smacey
Um, really.

05:31.89
aaronmannes
But you know you you go for a hike in the freezing rain even two miles and you you step inside to your heated house and it's like oh this is nice. There's an appreciation to it so I can completely understand that.

05:40.94
BROOKE____
Totally and I I'd spend enough of my life. You know out in the struggle and the sufferer this is something I talked to Arthur a lot about actually because Arthur Leho Spends half the year working up in Alaska with me and then the other half the year he's based in Denver which is obviously a massive city and we kind of just. Connected on like man. It feels good after months of like extreme exposure to wilderness to like kick back a little bit and be comfortable and like enjoy all the little amenities that we deprive ourselves of so it's not I don't know it's nice having a balance. We'll see how long this phase lasts. I'm already starting to get itchy feet I think it's only a matter of time before I hit the road again and throw myself right back into the wild state of being. But for right now this is like been an awesome place to be never thought I'd say that.

06:27.97
smacey
Core now.

06:32.33
aaronmannes
That's very cool but it's ah it's an interesting sort of path I think social media and it's you can get ah it can get away from you if if things are good because it is all about the highlight highlight real right? like it's fun to show. When things are going really well and life happens sometimes whether it's a breakup or you lose your job or like whatever it may be and it kind of really just changes the attitude or the mood of social media because it's tough. It's tough to it's tough to just like keep promoting like.

07:02.80
BROOKE____
Totally.

07:08.12
aaronmannes
The highlight highlight real if that's not reality.

07:09.38
BROOKE____
Right? Yeah, and it's also just like I don't know when I'm doing things that I find really exciting. It's obviously easy to post about them because I'm like look here's a bear or like look here's a treacherous snowstorm or like a beautiful mountain range. It's a little different when I'm like spending all my time with my parents I don't necessarily want to be like look here's my dad here's my dad again here's my dad a third time It's like it's just not as relatable and it's not as um I don't know entertaining. So I've lost just a big piece of the like fire for right now to. Put my life out in a very visible place if that makes sense.

07:46.34
aaronmannes
And that's it's probably good and it's probably like a rebirth like a sort of a let's put this chapter down and we'll start it pick it back up at some other point when whenever that may be.

07:55.31
BROOKE____
Totally exactly and I mean you know I have to say too. Um I feel as though I've discovered something about the algorithm it likes when you don't post as much because I've been quieter than ever on social media the last two months and yet.

08:08.37
aaronmannes
Yeah.

08:14.48
BROOKE____
My engagements the best It's ever been. So maybe this is a technique that will stick like I feel like every time I post something especially now that I'm paying a lot of attention to my metrics just because of trying to figure out how many clicks we get per link when we're announcing trips coming up or just gauging how much interest we have in different photo workshops.

08:17.50
aaronmannes
It's trying to get you in.

08:34.20
BROOKE____
Um, realizing as I'm posting these announcements my engagement like my story views have tripled. Um, So maybe it's something to be said for like not oversaturating people and like coming in with quality over quantity I don't know if that's the algorithm favoring things or just. You know we live in a world where people have short attention spans so they kind of forget about you for a little bit and then you post and they're like whoa Holy Crapp you're back Exciting. So I don't know it's been an interesting little experiment I've been fascinated by that change in engagement I didn't expect.

08:57.78
smacey
Um.

09:01.40
aaronmannes
Yeah, one of my biggest boosts in in the social media world was when I gave myself a break Seth I don't know if you remember that early on I just stopped for like two or three weeks I erased the app and that's when magically. I got all these features on posts and like it was like begging me to come back in like I was getting emails about it like hey you haven't been on Instagram in a while and it's like whoa like it was begging to come in and I don't I don't know if they're like all right Let's give him a little juice like let's give him a little bet. He'll get back in eventually.

09:23.70
BROOKE____
Yeah.

09:26.93
smacey
Um, yeah.

09:38.49
aaronmannes
Um, but I think there is something to that. But yeah, yeah, manus left Manus is not active. He deleted it. He actually deleted it ah boost his engagement.

09:38.60
BROOKE____
Yeah, if it's like a little um.

09:38.72
smacey
Um, I think you were on Zuckerberg's desk your name came across his desk a couple times.

09:46.81
BROOKE____
Freaking back. We bought a runner and.

09:51.20
smacey
Defcon 4

09:56.10
aaronmannes
400% it worked yeah and now I'm back. Damn it they got me. But yeah, that's interesting though.

09:56.71
BROOKE____
Ah, it worked and he's back. They got you. They always do.

09:57.63
smacey
Be a great little reel. They didn't get you so what are the hats. Are you wearing Brook you gave us about 3 out of the 7

10:09.91
BROOKE____
Ah, okay, yeah, all right man it's a lot so I am obviously I do my own thing right? So I've got my own little print sales that I'm always working on is just making sure I'm still selling my passive income which is my fine art photography sales. So that's 1 thing. Um. Working on. Well actually we just completed a pretty big project for om system formerly known as olympus. Um, yeah, a new camera was launched last week oh got it. It feels like.

10:32.64
smacey
Um, saw that at amazing price.

10:39.86
BROOKE____
Feel like I'm doing something wrong by talking about it because I've been under an and nda about this camera for quite a while because you know we filmed the commercial for it before the product launches and it's like super top secret and you have to be like hey I'm going to Scotland but I can't tell you why and now that I just went live and I'm able to talk about it every time I mention it I feel like I'm breaking a rule. But yeah, it's a sweet.

10:46.40
aaronmannes
Yeah, yeah.

10:46.27
smacey
And.

10:59.15
BROOKE____
Camera Um, it's not like a big new flagship camera. It's just the upgraded and updated version of their most recent flagship which was the O M one which was a great camera to begin with and I'm shocked that they managed to make something that was already amazing Even this much better and for the price it's it's bonkers. Um.

11:15.51
aaronmannes
Um, and yeah.

11:18.37
BROOKE____
That's one thing I was working quite a bit on was just wrapping up the project associated with that launch now as of starting tomorrow I've got another project that's going to be coming out and that'll be really excited to talk about more on social media once that's live so that's been occupying a lot of my time. Um. I am obviously like I mentioned during my summertime Alaska Bear guide stuff and even though we are by no means even close to bear season yet. It's been a pretty active offseason because we've got some interesting conservation battles unfolding in the area where I guide we're seeing a. Of a development with a mining track that isn't too dissimilar from the dreaded pebble mine. So it's called the johnson trackt so there's been a lot of time the last few months spent organizing an eventual organization to oppose or. At least monitor the developments in that mine. So that's been a lot of work and quite busy. Um, then obviously think wild the operation that Arthur and John Tiffany and I started together our little guide service for workshops and photography. We've been just. Going crazy getting our business above board. So you know getting all the Lss and insurance taken care of making sure we're properly permitted to operate in all the areas where we're leading tours partnering with different lodges in different regions and now different countries so that's been really cool and time consuming and then.

12:51.39
BROOKE____
Um, I am addicted to money I don't know if you guys know that I haven't talked about that much here I'm like completely obsessed with money and I just want to make all of it all the time. So I am doing just like a little basic girl work from home job on top of all this where I just answer customer service phone calls. For the guide operation that my former partner works for so we were still on. You know, fine terms in that regard. So I just answer like phone calls people call in and they're like hey I want to go snowmobiing on Sunday. Do you guys have availability I'm like hell yeah, we do brother. Let's book you reservation. So it's big. Cool. There's a lot of. Ah, this in my life right now I feel like there's more to oh I'm working on a video project like an editing course that's being really time conssuming now because I'm learning how to um, like make a video.

13:43.86
smacey
Cool This all begs the question Brooke I'm starting to interrupt I know that you could go and then and then and then and then and then yep, so.

13:46.85
BROOKE____
And then yeah.

13:53.29
BROOKE____
I don't have any lemonade stand on friday.

13:54.46
aaronmannes
And then yeah, yeah.

14:03.50
smacey
Would you consider yourself an organized person like are you kind of helter skelter and you do things when you find the time or how are you sectioning days and weeks to tackle all this fun exciting stuff.

14:17.26
BROOKE____
I am organized believe it or not chaotically organized. Um I section times to do things geographically. Actually this is the only thing that's worked for my brain. So right now the bedroom that I'm sitting in is my brother's.

14:21.28
smacey
Okay.

14:34.60
BROOKE____
Condo which is about an hour from my parents home which is where I've been staying the last couple months and I'm here specifically in this condo because I decided that since I have this project to work with om system on and then I have this editing video project. That's what. Eddie my big brother's condo is now is my office for working on these 2 projects that are very ah video oriented because this is like a wide open space with lots of blank walls. Good lighting. Um, when I'm doing the phone calls for this psych work from homeg girl job I just worked at a little desk in my parents' place. Um, when it's time to talk to Arthur John or tiff about think wild operations. Um I go up to my childhood bedroom and I'm like physically you know in a space that's surrounded with a bunch of my photography prints and like like physical photography inventory. So I'm like looking. Exciting photo subjects while planning exciting photo workshops and obviously the sense of organization that I have right now has been amazing. The last two months because I have this luxury of being able to be geographically sectioned like when I am in this place. My tasks are these things when I am in this place. My tasks are these things. It's going to be a whole lot more difficult once I head back out west in a few weeks. So um, yeah I don't know how I'm going to manage things then.

15:51.10
smacey
No, that's amazing that speaks to ah ah a useful tactic for building good habits which is sectioning off pieces of your home for certain tasks For example, bed is for sleep and reading the chair.

16:02.11
BROOKE____
Um, vision.

16:05.61
smacey
That I sit in is for responding to social media messages the breakfast bar that I sit at in the morning is for eating and talking with my partner. It's a very unique and I think effective strategy. So it's cool to hear you say that you're sectioning your tasks based on where you are.

16:23.43
BROOKE____
Yeah, it hit me because I read this book at the start of this past fall like right at the end of bear season to kind of help me like reintegrate into a life with a lot more focus other than just wake up. Go look at Bears go to sleep and the book talked about forming good habits.

16:23.71
smacey
In the world or locally that's kind of cool.

16:40.76
BROOKE____
And 1 of the pieces of advice that they talked about was like say you have a task that you need to do? um, don't say this afternoon I'm going to sit down and submit these photos for this deadline say that this afternoon after I take my shower I'm going to sit down at the desk by my window and submit these 5 photos that are due for this specific deadline. And having those like parameters not necessarily saying like today at two thirty Pm or at three thirty Pm but rather being like after I complete this smaller task I'm going to go to this spot and that's going to signal to my brain like okay I did the thing before now I'm in the location time to do the objective. And I found that it's been super helpful for for me like the advice was given in that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, when he was talking about like working out like say I'm going to do five pushups after I eat my breakfast doesn't matter what time you eat breakfast doesn't matter what time you wake up, you just at your breakfast. Did you have pancakes. Did you have yogurt who cares time to do five pushups.

17:23.77
smacey
Um, is this Atomic habits. Yeah.

17:37.25
smacey
Um, right right? You're modifying the cue to to trigger a certain behavior. It's an excellent book I wish I just had it beside me like 10 minutes ago before we started recording. Um, so.

17:38.63
BROOKE____
And it's been so helpful. The location part of that for me.

17:45.86
BROOKE____
Right. I Got that piece of advice from it and I was like man that's such good advice I've done this whole book I can't this is too much now I could only take one good advice at a time. So yeah, sweet.

17:55.21
smacey
Yeah.

17:59.67
smacey
Um, yeah, Atomic habits. Awesome book. Really awesome book. That's cool.

18:04.58
aaronmannes
There's also a phrase called segment intention which I talk about where we have talked about before where you you step into whether whether it's you're stepping into your car. You set the intention I'm going to focus on the road I Want to drive safely I'm not going to be distracted I Want to get to my destination. Step out of the car. You know, Um, even the smallest little segment of time I'm going to walk into the building with a smile on my face like whatever it is um, you can do that with each individual physical room place that you're in time period you're in what's the intention of right now and I think that's a good way to like.

18:21.83
BROOKE____
Is it.

18:41.12
aaronmannes
Look at it because everything changes I go upstairs. It's ah it's a different sort of environment I come downstairs different environment I go to the car different environment I'm in the woods different environment and you can kind of set your intention versus just kind of floating around and not doing anything or doing a mix of things and getting all jumbled up.

18:59.32
BROOKE____
Totally yeah, that's that's exactly it.

19:00.17
aaronmannes
So sounds similar to that.

19:02.99
smacey
Yeah I mean you have to have good habits if you're going to have that many projects on your plate. Um were there Any were there any good habits that you intentionally said I want to establish this exact habit because I want x.

19:08.59
aaronmannes
Um, tes.

19:19.95
smacey
Or I want to get rid of Bad Habit X because it's providing this consequence was there any more nuanced elements to that brook.

19:29.86
BROOKE____
Yeah, a little bit I mean 1 thing that I really had to crack down on doing so I know you guys relate to this. It's something that we've talked about before and and I feel like gets brought up by a lot of people in our creative industries where there's this fine line between. Social media being used as like a research or inspiration tool where you kind of use it to gauge what people are interested in use it to get ideas for what you can produce and then making excuses to just waste a whole bunch of time so I was like very late to the Tiktok game I didn't have Tiktok downloaded. For any significant period of time up until about gosh September of this year and I downloaded it because I was like man I gotta get more like in the know about tiktok I don't necessarily have to be using it a lot but I just want to understand because this is relevant in my industry and I don't want to date myself by any means I just want to learn more about like all right? who the how what what? the hell is going on here. Downloaded it and of course because it's Tiktok I became addicted but because I'm chaotic and stubborn I couldn't admit to myself that I was addicted just wasting time and I would say like no I'm watching Tiktok for an hour because I'm researching things and yet I'm watching videos of like.

20:38.77
smacey
Right? right.

20:45.17
BROOKE____
People dancing and like babies falling over so like how is that research relevant. Um, so so yeah, 1 1 thing that I had to be like really intentional about was telling myself no more time wasters. So I removed tiktok off my phone I found myself trying to supplement that.

20:46.13
smacey
Um.

20:50.19
aaronmannes
It's important.

21:02.60
BROOKE____
Waste of time by like all of a sudden I was scrolling on Twitter a whole bunch and then I was like hey wait a second you deleted Tiktok. But now you're on Twitter so then I have to delete Twitter um, and yeah, so just just I'm one of those people where like if I'm finding something that's distracting me or getting in my way. Have to like ah completely eliminate the temptation in order to get myself in a better habit I can't be like k you can only use ticktok at this time of day or all right girl you can only check Twitter after dinner you can only check to Twitter on the weekend I have to be like goodbye thing. It's good habits only from here on out.

21:37.97
BROOKE____
Think Seth Died there he is

21:38.22
smacey
Sorry I don't know what happened weird jump right? back in Tiktok you found yourself deleting it. You said you deleted Tiktok.

21:39.27
aaronmannes
Seth died oh there he is hey Seth you're you're fine. You're back.

21:46.70
BROOKE____
Yeah, and it it I deleted tiktok I deleted Twitter I deleted anything that was a time waster just to get myself back into good habit realm which I don't know if I was like forming a good habit but I was eliminating a bad habit.

22:01.39
aaronmannes
Well Brooke Seth talked about this a lot I think last time maybe maybe 2 episodes ago the the dopaine dopamine rush is never enough. It's it's more more and more and again back to that book. Um.

22:04.55
BROOKE____
Set myself up for success.

22:13.37
BROOKE____
Yes.

22:19.40
aaronmannes
Comfort crisis something that hit me when he was talking about the reward of a fatty ah Sunday or ice cream or or in the wild finding a bunch of nuts and berries like you eat as much as you can like you you need those calories like you get a man because you don't know when you're going to find that again. And I find that with my own like healthy nutrition and and dieting practice if there is a bag of chips in the house like I will crush it like I I almost it's almost like like the brain is taking over like that is a good resource like get that. Especially if I'm working out and I'm tired and. And like oh that's a high caloric high-density food like do it get rid of it like don't even buy that stuff. Don't there's no moderation for me and I'm not saying that's for everyone but like there there is none so you can't you can't just like look at Tiktok a little bit. It gets you.

23:14.42
BROOKE____
A.

23:15.49
aaronmannes
So getting rid of it I think for people is is sometimes the best thing and the only thing to get past that sort of that feeling that addiction to whatever that feeling may be and I like that you do that.

23:25.48
BROOKE____
And there's another this.

23:27.57
smacey
Um, I Think what we can forget we could forget too that you can be wildly successful at say Tiktok as a creator successful being tons of followers and brand deals and stuff and still be pathologically addicted I think there's this notion that people who are. Really successful on social media kind of have their their shit together in terms of being able to walk away and stuff like that you can be downright miserable and addicted to something that you're really good at.

23:53.69
BROOKE____
Yeah, yeah, and to go I love that you guys are reading comfort crisis because Michael Easter you might have seen just came out with another book scarcity brain where he goes way deeper into that concept of when we are in the wild. Biologically once you see a good food source.

23:56.46
aaronmannes
Um, yeah.

24:11.00
BROOKE____
Your brain goes into scarcity mode which is like this is the last time I might see blueberries for months eat all of them now and so we have this adaptation as we move through life to continue having that scarcity brain that feeling of like I have this good thing in front of me I don't know when I'm going to have it in front of me again. So I must consume as much of it as possible right now.

24:13.25
aaronmannes
Yeah, yeah.

24:30.26
BROOKE____
And I'm suffering from that big time just because once I get back out west and I get to my homestead that I started this year or that I guess this past year this last fall I don't have wi-fi I don't have electricity I don't have cell signal. Um, then I move on to bear season come june and I'm in the alaskan bush and. Have some wi-fi and some electricity but it's minimal and I'm spending 12 hours a day in the field. So I don't have a lot of time to sit around and look at social media so that was a big thing with the tiktok and with Netflix and all these other social media and like time waster apps was this thought of like well. You know I've only got six months out of the year to be on these things less than that actually now when you factor in the amount of time I'm at my my homestead property now. So I was like I have to watch all the Tiktok videos I can right now before I go off the grid again but I caught myself I didn't realize at first that I was being scarcity brained about that. But when it it really dawned on me. Was in December um, I went to Toyota dealership to look at a new truck and the guy was like do you want to trade in your current truck I have a 2009 Tacoma right now. It's got over two hundred thousand miles on it but it's a great truck like it's in scream in good shape. It's been really well cared for.

25:38.50
aaronmannes
Yeah, it'll last forever.

25:42.66
BROOKE____
Yeah, it's a dream truck. It'll go forever I don't need another one but having gone through a breakup recently and losing that person that you depend on like when you have a vehicle problem you're like well it's not that bad because my partner going to just come pick me up when you're kind of going it alone especially when you live as remote as I do I got that little paranoia of like if something happens to my truck. Have no backup plan so I have to go buy another truck and now I need to and it sounds like such a good plan in theory but like then it just kind of dawned on me all all the words from scarcity brain the book just started playing in my mind of like I don't actually need this truck I'm just doing that thing of where i'm. Psyching myself out and saying like well what if someday I have less I need to acquire more more and more things right now. So that on the crazy. What if I have less down the line I'm prepared for that moment. And like it starts with just watching a whole bunch of Tiktok and then it could end with you buying an entire vehicle that you don't need and I'm better off using those resources to like build my cabin or save that money so that if my car does break I can rent a vehicle right? Do something rational. Rather than just like diving into that animal instinct of like oh no I'm in danger I'm threatened let me make crazy decisions and like god pump the brakes a little bit.

27:01.52
smacey
Um, yeah I was going to use the exact turn pump the brakes. What's your indicator to press them.

27:03.50
aaronmannes
Um, will pop. Yeah.

27:06.87
BROOKE____
I don't know Seth if I knew I wouldn't be me I wouldn't be chaotic right? I don't know my indicator is like if I if I start thinking about doing something. Ah.

27:16.30
smacey
Um, she's annoyed.

27:18.42
aaronmannes
Yeah, do.

27:21.22
BROOKE____
I Don't know I'll start thinking about doing something and then my brain literally says bitch. You're being crazy. That's usually my indicator to pump face. Ah.

27:27.00
smacey
Um, okay, that's a that's a great answer. Great answer. We'll take it.

27:31.54
aaronmannes
Yeah, yeah, it is and like listen this this isn't everyone. This is just psychology. Ah female brain and male brains typically are a little bit different and females tend to think of and again. There's a spectrum here but females tend to think of a thousand solutions to the 1 problem like all the all the solutions that are possibly able to and men can be a little bit too linear and sometimes and of course you know again the spectrum but.

27:51.10
BROOKE____
Right.

28:04.91
aaronmannes
Ah, in either way, there's There's a whole balance of that. So It sounds like that kind of can happen to you of this sort of circular like what if this happens what if this happens what if this happens How can I fix it and then you kind of slow down and go like all right? Let me. Let me sort of analyze this a little bit deeper and where do I need to go what direction do I need to take in whereas. Yeah.

28:23.72
BROOKE____
Yeah, it's like get it out of your system like play The what if game for a little bit but also know after a certain point like okay this is you're you're now sounding crazy. Let's dial it back.

28:33.43
aaronmannes
The what if game I do it a little bit. Yeah set that.

28:34.39
smacey
The what if game that's cool, never heard that.

28:37.58
BROOKE____
Um, yeah, yeah.

28:40.38
smacey
Do you tells about this property you bought. That's a really cool 2023 milestone congratulations Brooke that's really cool. Let's hear it we got time. Don't we.

28:50.36
aaronmannes
Yeah.

28:50.48
BROOKE____
Thank you! The story is wild I have a yeah here we go all right I'm gonna plug scarcity brain again? Um, ah so um, yes, part of it.

28:59.64
smacey
Should I set my watch see how see how quickly or long you get through it.

29:02.24
aaronmannes
Yeah, it's it's scarcity brands. It's brook going like I need land I need land.

29:10.41
BROOKE____
No, if you guys if you end up reading that book. Um the same way that comfort crisis follows Donny Vincent um scarcity brain has a chapter devoted to one of my best friends her name's Laura Zara she's a really cool individual who just lives life to like it's screaming. Fullest and just doesn't care what people think about her she is wilder than the wildest animal I've ever met in my life. She spends more time in the woods than I do um, she's really into survival skills and wilderness skills so she's got this ultimate knack for I mean the way I've heard people describe her is like Laura could live. On mars without oxygen because she's super resourceful and just very capable and innovative in finding solutions to survival questions in the wilderness so she spends a lot of her time in this area of the rocky mountains um shed hunting looking for elk and deer antlers. And last spring she was hiking in this area looking for Elk Antler's and she saw this wooden sign and the sign said land for sale talk to dock and then it like had an arrow pointing towards doc's cabin and Laura went and she knocked on the door of the cabin and she would tell the story way better than I will but long story short. This man opens the door and he is like this old-school trapper like something out of a wild western film that you just don't see anymore in this day and age he's wearing a buckskin jacket. He's got like an old cowboy looking rifle and cowboy hat on and he answers the door and Laura's like I'm interested in buying that property that you have for sale tell me more about it.

30:45.14
BROOKE____
And he's kind of like okay girl scout like what do you mean you're interested in buying this super remote mountain property like he points up at the mountainside and he's like yeah the land is up there hike on up and tell me what you think and so Laura does and it's still. There's still tons of snow on the ground when she does this so she's. Cannot feel like 6 feetish snow gets up there looks at the land decides she loves it comes back down and talks to this man in the cabin and 1 thing led to another and she ended up buying her plot of land up there I went out and visited her there in may and she's living in a wall tent right now because the property has no structure is nothing. It's just big. Pieces of acreage so I slept on the the porch of her wall tent and like for 2 nights in a row I would stare out at the stars after the sun went down and just cry because I was like this is the most beautiful place I've ever been in my life and so. Told Laura like dude I'm I'm obsessed with your land. This is magical like this is exactly what I want someday then I left ah right after I visit I went up to Alaska I'm halfway through bear season Laura Texts me and she's like hey doc wants to sell the other parcel of land. There was an additional twelve acres available she's like he wants to sell it to you are you in and I was like. I guess but then things got kind of complicated because doc is a like I said he's a mountain man from a different time and he doesn't have a bank account so like it can do it like the traditional way of like going through a realtor or a title office or getting alone. It was all cash and I'm in Alaska.

32:16.38
BROOKE____
And Doc is in the lower 48 and doc doesn't have a cell phone doc doesn't have email doc doesn't have a mailing address so I had to get the money to Laura transfer it she had to get it and then get it to Doc and it just became this crazy thing where all of a sudden. I had my friend hand over a massive amount of cash to a man that lives in a cabin in the middle of the woods and just pray that this is going to work out for me and all summer long I felt sick with anxiety I was like what have I just done like this is the ultimate scam I'm so stupid this is insane but I'm in Alaska I can't do nothing about it. So I'll just pretend it doesn't exist. Got back from Alaska it took a couple weeks for me to get up to where the property was but I got up there Doc was pumped to see me. We went to the courthouse got the deed transferred and it's official. So yeah, now I have twelve acres of property in an undisclosed location somewhere near Idaho and Montana up in the mountains.

33:03.91
aaronmannes
What they call.

33:13.70
BROOKE____
We got wolves we got bears. We got mountain lions I saw a bobcat my first day on the property and it was chasing a Fox I don't got water I don't got electricity I have a road depending on what your definition of a road is.

33:27.47
aaronmannes
Away You have a way up. Yeah.

33:28.95
BROOKE____
It doesn't You can't drive up there in win through time you have to take a snowmobile up in the winter. Um, and it's it's like a a bit of a harrowing drive up the mountain to get toy other the land is but it's freaking sweet and my property connects to Lu's so like everybody talks about buying land with our friend one day and building the homie commy and While. Fucking Did it me and her are right there next to each other in the middle of the wilderness. Yeah, the long term plan is to build a cabin I picked out my build site this fall got some excavation work done have a bit more dirt work that I still have to do.

33:51.63
smacey
So cool. What's the long-term plan.

33:51.83
aaronmannes
So sick. Yeah I was gonna ask that.

34:07.60
BROOKE____
And then I'm gonna build a small 2 wo-bedroom dry cabin um solar power electricity I've got my full solar system up and ready to go my rv is sitting on the land right now. That's my current structure for a house there. What's nice though is Laura is also building a cabin and if things go the way I'm hoping she'll build hers first. So I get to learn.

34:25.44
aaronmannes
Are.

34:25.92
BROOKE____
Trial and error of her project and then hopefully have an easier time with mine. But yeah I mean it's it's a low pressure operation for me right now because I do have my rv up there and she's perfectly comfortable to be lived in for the long term I've been living in the thing since 20 anyway, so I'm not in any big rush. Um, also it's. Challenging because I'm very rarely there I travel you know seven and a half months out of the year but it's just nice and this is where the scarcity brain ties in again I've been um I've I've had housing fall out from underneath me a lot in this life I've had you know houses that I was renting. Sell I've been through other breakups before where you're living with a partner and then all of a sudden you split and you have nowhere to go I've had huge changes in income circumstances or I've had jobs come up that required me to move really abruptly and I've had a lot of housing insecurity. So. It's really nice now to know that like no matter what happens in this life. No matter what. I go through I always have somewhere to put my stuff. Super cool. It's a great feeling. It takes off so much pressure. It's another reason why I'm really happy to be taking my time and kicking it in New Jersey right now is because I don't feel this overwhelming urge of like god I got to get back out there and.

35:27.91
smacey
Um, that probably relieves a lot of pressure.

35:41.53
BROOKE____
Establish myself somewhere and like once I leave New Jersey I don't really know where I'm going like this time around I know exactly where I'm going and it's so.

35:46.78
smacey
Do you find that you performing performing for lack of a better term better in other areas of life and your career and now that there's a massive weight off your shoulder in a sense.

35:59.90
BROOKE____
Totally I think this is why I'm able to take these strides to move forward with think wild with Arthur and John Tiffany we've been talking for years. The 4 of us as a friend group about starting a guide operation and now that I finally feel like I have a place to call my home base. All of a sudden I'm just down with every travel every expedition. Every new thing that pops onto my schedule because I I know where I'm leaving from and I know where I'm coming back to and it takes so much logistical stress off so this is definitely. You know that book a room of one's own.

36:34.60
smacey
Um I do not.

36:35.77
BROOKE____
It's ah it's an old-timey classic I believe it's by Virginia Woolf and it talks about how in order to be a writer. It's important to have like a room of your own. It doesn't necessarily mean like have like a nice office but you have to have a space you have to have like a home and once you have that space and that place and that home. Frees up takes a lot of pressure off of your mind so that you can let your writing flow and that's how I feel like I feel like I finally have a room of my own like I have my place to put my stuff and so many worries are just off my plate and I can focus on more growth now since I'm not just trying to get a roof over my head.

37:09.98
smacey
Right? So like relieving a chronic stressor allows you to approach the other challenges of life with a lot more clarity and drive.

37:11.40
BROOKE____
All the time.

37:18.64
BROOKE____
Yeah, totally a lot more independence too. I don't feel like I have to lean on other people as much as I have in the past which you know without getting into the details of the breakup that I'm going through I think 1 thing that's always been a difficult to with me in relationships. Is that housing insecurity I'm often dependent on a partner for a place to lay my head and it was a nice feeling when this relationship came to an end to not have that little voice in the back of my mind saying like oh but now where am I going to go like I have somewhere to go. Um I'm good like I can stand on my own two feet I can focus on all the things that I need to focus on now to keep on moving forward in life and not be hung up on a dependence on another person.

37:58.38
smacey
You know what's interesting though is that you could have ease your brain could have easily learned that that's normal if that makes sense like me bouncing around from you know, not necessarily having my own place and having housing insecurity as you call it that could your brain could have.

38:09.10
BROOKE____
Yeah.

38:18.10
smacey
Translated that to this is normal but you still went out and made a change for you know, something that you really wanted for the better which is interesting just wanted to note that no question really? but.

38:28.57
BROOKE____
Yeah, no, it's a good thing I think for a while I did think it was super normal until I started wanting to grow even more and then all of a sudden I was like we crap in order to do these things experience this stuff I have to tick this box and this box being a.

38:28.57
aaronmannes
Um, yeah.

38:44.39
smacey
Um, right? um.

38:47.51
BROOKE____
Home base.

38:48.56
aaronmannes
Yeah I mean people can be super free spiritrited and I I would I think I would qualify you as that you you're doing a lot of things you're all over the place. It's like where is your home base. No one knows um, you're very mysterious.

38:56.13
BROOKE____
Um, yeah.

39:04.90
aaronmannes
And you're flying around and there's always new things that come out of seemingly nowhere I'm sure there's planning but that's that's the that's the vision. Um, and then there's people that are super grounded and rooted and and I've never left the state. You know like that's and that's fine too. But what's interesting in hearing you is By. Becoming a little bit more grounded or having roots. You're able to be more free spirited which is interesting.

39:26.87
BROOKE____
Yeah, it kind of goes into what you guys talked about a couple episodes about that dopamine thing like happiness comes from the moments in between the achievements and that's something that I took me a really long time to realize on my own I had this weird like. Frustration with why do I feel great when I'm working towards a goal and then I feel amazing when I achieve the goal but then I fall into these depressions for lack of a better word for weeks after the achievement is finally like said and done and it was that realization that I was addicted to the dopamine and it was just defining happiness as that. Achievement moment and forgetting that like the real happiness comes from coming down off that high looking back with that sense of like accomplishment and pride in what you did and then getting excited for the next accomplishment that you want to chase and I'm such a geographically minded person like how I was talking about how my organization comes from being in a. Certain place at a certain time It's hard for me to feel able to reflect and like ground myself when I'm constantly in motion, you're basically just going from like 1 achievement to another I call it survival mode. You're just like doing everything that you have to do to stay on whatever track it is that you're trying to be on. But now having a place I get to take those moments to be like right? I'm done take a step back and like sit back and relax and focus on chopping enough wood or installing a wood stove or doing dirt work digging a septic well building an outhouse and like little.

40:56.58
smacey
Bright.

40:59.13
BROOKE____
And moments in between that are actually really really, really magical.

41:01.35
smacey
Right? I was going to ask what those moments of reflection looked like are they turning your brain off just doing trivial tasks like cutting wood is it writing things down. Is it just making mental note of it is it celebrated for 5 minutes for a week is it does it differ.

41:17.90
BROOKE____
It's um, it's enjoying the fruits of those accomplishments for me so like being on my property that I bought with my money that I got from these projects that I'm striving so hard to do a good job with like walking around my property and looking at every tree and being like man I.

41:21.11
smacey
Okay.

41:35.42
BROOKE____
Earned the right to be here to some extent um looking around my ah Rv. You know she's ancient. She's not perfect. But I've worked really hard to get that rig to renovate the rig to keep it well kept and to get to like just lay in my bed and cloud my rv and look around and be like I did this like I got. All of this for myself. Nobody helped me well I mean people supported me and like cheered me on right? but like nobody did the projects the work. All the things that went into making this all happen for me so those are my moments that I'm like damn this is really a super happy feeling.

41:58.10
smacey
Right.

42:10.77
smacey
And it's cool moments like that. Also you can you can sit there and reflect and celebrate the the fruits of your labor as you call it. But then you can also remind yourself the current thing that I want the the next thing I'll be working on I have you know. Inarguable evidence that I can achieve great things I think that's the other important part of reflection is not just celebrating the achievement of the win but allowing it to also remind yourself that the next milestone is very reachable because look at what you've already done.

42:32.97
BROOKE____
Um.

42:47.32
BROOKE____
Um, yeah, totally that's a really good point like that. Ah.

42:49.15
smacey
You know if you can almost phase those into phase a and phase B of that space between accomplishment and the next dopamine rush for your next to your next future outcome or accomplishment right.

43:01.22
BROOKE____
Yeah, yeah, that's exactly that's splan.

43:06.26
aaronmannes
Brooke I'm curious because you I consider you a wordmi. Ah I have this have this weird hang up with happy versus satisfied or content and to me what you're describing is like ah a complete satisfaction. Like a really healthy meal. You know like I feel satiated I'm good I earn this It's here to stay. it's not changing it's not ah it's not ah it's not a real that goes viral like that's happy like oh cool. But then it crashes and you're like ah like back to. Back to this back to that like happy to me is a little bit fleeting and and usually ends in a crash and it might be semantics but I just get stuck on this word being content and content to me is just like ah a slow burn of a ah, a little minor happy like a. Just the feeling of I'm content. It's not screaming and jumping but you sit and you look at the stars at night and you're like this is freaking beautiful content.

44:11.29
BROOKE____
Yeah, you I was listening to that. Ah, that episode where you described you were like to happiness is a cake with icing. It's great in the moment and you're you're really happy with it and it's delicious, but then contentment is like your broccoli and your chicken. Um I don't really agree.

44:19.20
aaronmannes
Um.

44:25.19
aaronmannes
Um, yeah, ah good night. Can I guys.

44:28.93
BROOKE____
I Have a thing you're wrong, You're not wrong I you know I get into this debate a lot I don't know if it's a debate I've had this discussion a lot I don't I think it's all it all comes down to semantics because to me if I'm content or satisfied. It's just like yeah I'm fine.

44:41.40
aaronmannes
Yeah, yeah.

44:48.91
BROOKE____
Like yeah, nothing's wrong. That's it. But when I'm happy I'm like grateful and introspective in a way that doesn't hurt I'm able to look back at the past without feeling nostalgic but I can look back at the fact the past and feel like stoked on. What I've experienced and then I look at the future and I don't feel like an obligation towards it of like the future looks bright I've got to make sure I'm laying the foundation to keep it bright. It's like this level of like holy shit I get to be alive for another fifty years that's insane that's so cool. It's like. Happiness to me is like a feeling of feeling energized um and feeling energized keeps me going like that's what energy does content contentment or um, like feeling satisfied is almost like a stagnant feeling for me. Which eventually turns into restlessness which eventually turns into dissatisfaction which is like an unhappy emotion. So maybe it's part semantics and just part my chaotic brain and view of life. But yeah, when when you mention that in the other episode I was like this is so interesting I've had this conversation.

45:57.61
aaronmannes
Yeah, that's fine.

46:06.28
BROOKE____
Ah, few times recently with folks.

46:07.45
aaronmannes
Seth's just make sure you cut that part out. Thanks.

46:09.19
smacey
This is our show you either agree or you get cut.

46:12.80
aaronmannes
I I will not I will not be disagreed with yes and out and when I win I will I will scream how content I am that I sch murdered.

46:12.10
BROOKE____
Ah, Aaron do you want to? um, do you want to know I have a suggestion. Do you want to fight to the death.

46:19.70
smacey
Air will probably lose.

46:32.40
aaronmannes
Brook a little bear without showing one ounce of happiness. There's a soundb bite for you? Yeah, no way hold on hold on.

46:36.68
BROOKE____
I Can't even argue with that. That's a good answer.

46:44.41
smacey
Um, that's amazing. Ah, let's let's talk about oh hold on. We can't move on. We can't move on. Okay, he's not you really struck a chord with him.

46:49.56
BROOKE____
Um, if.

46:51.38
aaronmannes
No, we can I No no, you didn't I listen I said you're a wordsmith to start and I hear you I do hear you I think personality comes into it a bit and and your personality your brand of whom you are maybe you need that drive that excitement to keep going. To me and this is me ah the level the levelness of life allows me to keep going I feel like I get distracted with this I'm over the moon Happy I Like to stay like I don't know like a hunter I'm not getting like.

47:17.52
BROOKE____
The.

47:30.48
aaronmannes
Freaked out by the shins and and and cool and new and exciting feelings that's going to distract me from keep moving keep moving So I'm on a wordsmith in my own. That's how I see it listen agree to disagree. We're no longer friends I am blocking you right.

47:38.25
BROOKE____
Here.

47:49.28
BROOKE____
No no, here's how I see it because I have to put everything in animal terms because all I love is animals. You're like a canid you're like in a straight line on the same mission every now and then you'll see like a wolf or Kayo stop and have their bout of Playfulness Miss But overall.

47:49.59
aaronmannes
Now.

47:55.30
aaronmannes
A.

48:08.18
BROOKE____
Like their existence is a lot more like linear ah linear consistent straight like I don't know there's more words but I don't speak English Um I'm like a must of lid I'm a freaking weasel I'm always just like zipping and zooming around and popping up and disappearing and popping around again and.

48:14.92
aaronmannes
Like that like that description.

48:27.45
BROOKE____
I'm going in a million directions all at once.

48:28.58
aaronmannes
Got you? That's hilarious because I was like Seth we're having that weasel on again.

48:33.64
BROOKE____
Brook with a result.

48:36.50
aaronmannes
Ah I kid I kid no I like that but I I appreciate I appreciate that description anyone that wants to call me a wolf or a big cat I'm I'm game for it.

48:38.81
smacey
He did not say that for the record.

48:47.43
smacey
It's not happening look what you've done brooke. He's going to milk that now he's good time Brook Loer said I was a wolf and I say now.

48:49.20
BROOKE____
I Unterm created the friendship. We're friends again.

48:51.60
aaronmannes
Yeah, we are we are good East Coast

49:00.34
BROOKE____
I Didn't say a wolf I said a canid he could be a coyote. He could be a dindo I didn't define.

49:01.53
aaronmannes
I'm not going to bring in. Yeah yeah, that's right, but I went wolf so cool I'm stick with it all right? Let's move on I'm good.

49:05.28
smacey
There it.

49:12.84
smacey
All right, fair enough I want to talk I Want to talk a bit about these trips you and your your newly formed group. It's fair to say newly formed I Know the idea has been in motion for a while? Um, ah yeah, well I Want to.

49:23.71
BROOKE____
Yeah I don't even know how to describe it.

49:30.84
smacey
You're selling really cool trips I've seen them often and this is partly this is in part to do with my question I guess it's more of a marketing question. How many times. Do you think you need to get? let's say a trip that you're promoting in front of somebody or post it out to the world before it makes. Ah, significant impact for people are definitely aware of it isn't there that rule in advertising roughly I'm going to but Tripp but like people need to see something 7 times before they really really notice. It. What's your kind of approach to that with selling expensive trips right.

50:00.13
BROOKE____
Um, and I.

50:04.70
BROOKE____
Yeah I think about that all the time and I think you're right I was just researching this about a month ago I think it is something like you need to see a product 7 times before people make the purchase or desire to make the purchase or another one to the way to.

50:17.20
smacey
Right? Give or take.

50:23.90
BROOKE____
Fast track that process is to get the product in someone's hand physically. So that's why when you go to a mall. The guy at the mall kiosk is like feel these sunglasses put them on because having the thing in your hand connects you to the product a little bit faster than just like viewing advertisements. So yeah, there's definitely truth to that.

50:36.94
smacey
Ah.

50:41.98
BROOKE____
Would definitely say when I am paying a lot of attention to how we market these trips. Um, when we're announcing something a trip. We haven't done before like a week ago we announced our upcoming expedition to look for snow leopards and Himalayan Brown bears something that neither Arthur nor I have ever done. We were announcing it via social media using materials that were provided from the lodge that we're partnering with so. It's not our photos. It's not our videos It's not our experience to be like look at how cool this is going to be but because of the repetitiveness of like posting like I have huge announcement this is going to be amazing. But another slide this is the trip of a lifetime every time I make an Instagram story advertising a trip I do 5 slides minimum because the first one grabs them second one gets them thinking the third one either loses them which is fine or makes them retain the information and then the last 2 1 or 2 slides is. Link click it's like where they finally are like all right? Let me read a little bit more about this I have found though that in a similar vein to circumnavigating I don't know if it's the word circumventing skipping the process of having to put information in front of people a certain number of times. Um, kind of like the social media. Version of putting the product in someone's hand is getting to try to sell something that you're showing people all the time organically and consistently so we announced a bear viewing expedition for next summer at the lodge that Arthur and I guide at and a lot of folks that have been.

00:27.73
smacey
Are you considering each of those slides for lack of a better term first impression second impression Third impression fourth impression fifth impression I was more so saying I was more considering. Let's say that as one that's the the person's first exposure to it and then a couple days later. That's their second third.

00:40.61
BROOKE____
Are.

00:47.38
smacey
And follow up question I guess and these are just I'm not expecting you to have it the answer This is just opinion you have opinions on the show. Um, when you're selling something like a trip. Let's say or a preset or whatever. How do you not.

01:06.57
smacey
Post about it too many times to the point where it almost seems not attractive, almost equating it to like a house that sits on the market for too long right.

01:16.69
BROOKE____
Yeah, good question I have 2 perspectives on that because it's different when we're talking about these think wild trips versus when I'm talking about like my print sales because I have to be completely honest with you man these think wild trips are flying off the shelves like we we actually have to be kind of mindful about like.

01:26.19
smacey
Um, right.

01:35.49
BROOKE____
Not over announcing them because we're booking out so fast. Um, and then you get into this uncomfortable situation where you know you told 4 clients from your last trip that you have something really cool up and coming and then you announce it and then it sells out and those clients never had a chance to get on it. So. We have like a really I mean I Hope it always stays this way I'm sure it always won't be the case but as of right now we're like hotter than hot every time we drop a trip so we have to be mindful of not overpromoting it and thus decreasing people's chances of being able to join. Yeah, but when it comes to my print sales.

02:06.25
smacey
Um, good problem to have.

02:07.95
aaronmannes
Um, yeah.

02:11.47
BROOKE____
That's when I have to tread those waters of like. Okay, yeah, what point am I advertising and then at what point am I just sounding like a desperate annoyance and it turns people off from buying I don't know I don't know what the balance is. It's hard. That's a tough one to navigate I feel like it's always changing too like depending on the time in the year

02:17.81
smacey
Right.

02:25.58
smacey
Do you think it's as simple as do you think it's as as simple as I feel like I'm being annoying I've done it a lot.

02:37.60
BROOKE____
Yeah I feel like it's as simple as that just based on the feedback I've gotten from people. Um I've gotten messages from folks being like ah I used to love your content. But now you're just trying to sell me things so I have to unfollow and I'm like well good written. So I don't want someone like you following me anyway. But.

02:51.30
aaronmannes
Could riddance so polite.

02:52.72
smacey
This is how I live.

02:55.40
BROOKE____
Also it does make you kind of think twice as to like shit am I being really heavy handed and am am I posting about this too much and are people coming to my page because they just want to escape life and yet here's another angle of someone trying to take away their money. So yeah I don't I don't know how to balance all of it. I like to be most annoying around the holidays because that's when people could probably be in their best interest to buy something because they're gift shopping anyway and then throughout the rest of the year I like to kind of tone it back and unless I'm dropping a new product or have a very specific sales goal that I'm trying to raise money for something. Um. Then I try to keep my advertising to a minimum.

03:34.13
smacey
It's it's tough because you have to be careful when you get a message like that right used to follow you. You ah not no longer following you because all you want is my money It's easy to spiral and say well if this person's saying that there must be maybe like a thousand people thinking that what am my however, many audience which. He that person may be n of 1 right? It might not be the case at all and it can be It can be alarming to change your whole potential strategy around. Maybe an outlier comment right.

03:54.46
BROOKE____
Um, and.

03:54.75
aaronmannes
Right.

04:07.27
BROOKE____
True. Yeah yeah.

04:10.67
smacey
Something just to be aware of. Maybe maybe maybe that's ah, a representation of a larger sample size. But maybe it's not I think we can have the tendency to assume that that message is is a um representation of a larger sample size just because I think we can be as humans.

04:15.42
BROOKE____
Yeah.

04:29.86
smacey
More negatively primes right.

04:33.50
aaronmannes
Yeah, of course and I I think actually thinking it through any of us going onto our Instagram and having to explain to someone why we're unfollowing for such a ah minor thing like that right there categorizes you as someone special.

04:41.53
BROOKE____
2

04:50.42
aaronmannes
That's probably not the the use you know like go ahead and unfollow if you don't like.

04:53.40
BROOKE____
Yes.

04:53.53
smacey
Right? Or are they just brutally honest and maybe like do they know what they're talking about or do they not. That's something I ask myself myself a lot not necessarily in a situation like this but just with maybe people I don't know so well when they offer an opinion. It's what do I feel. Their level of credibility is and that's often a gut sense.

05:15.74
BROOKE____
Yeah that's true I think I overthink these things a lot too. This is one realm in social media that I worry a lot about because I'm balancing a couple different entities like it's 1 thing if my oververtising gets people to tune out from my print sales because then you know I'm really only affecting my own bottom line and I can. Cope with that and understand why that's happening but then I also have the obligations to like olympus ohm system where if I start oversaturating my feed to where I'm always trying to gain hype for a specific product or launch or sale or event then I'm also detracting from. Oh um, systems's ability to use me as an ambassador to get the word out about things. So I'm always like kind of strategizing in my head I'm like okay this week I have an om system product launch. So I can't advertise my own trips because I don't want to detract from their launch and then I don't want their launch to detract from my trips. So it's like this constant mental gymnastics and balancing act that I definitely have not perfected yet. So I'm super oversensitive to people's feedback on like if I'm being too pushy or like inauthentic in my advertising. Yeah.

06:26.42
smacey
Um, right? That's what I'm saying right? Yeah ah Aaron thoughts.

00:00.00
aaronmannes
Oh he got it I hear your claps out. Do it again there we go there. It is all right to wrap things up Brooke we like to ask this question. We want to know.

00:10.14
BROOKE____
I can hear you.

00:17.75
aaronmannes
And I think this is a good question for the listeners out there I think we have ah a good percent of our listeners are beginning or starting off photographers videographers content creators. What have you? you've been through a lot. You've seen a lot of the world. You've done a lot. You've listed off 6 to 7 careers that you've made from your experience in photography in guiding in wildlife in living in the woods if you could go back to the younger version of yourself. That's just starting off what piece of advice would you give yourself what pivot would you have made what. Path would you potentially change what things would you tell your younger self to maybe give yourself the courage to continue or do more or do less as you are now speaking to younger Brooke Littler Littler Bear yes

01:26.46
BROOKE____
All right? We're gonna get real here as I have been thinking about this a lot because I'm in a part of my life right now that's bringing about a lot of reflection and introspection and I've been just looking back. You know whenever something happens in your life you're always like it's the decisions that I've made in life and it's the path that I chose to follow that brought me to where I am right now. So I've been looking back a lot and um I've also you know like I hit a new decade this past year like I'm in my thirty s now. So I guess hitting a new decade makes you look. Back a lot of the past too. So yeah I've been thinking about like all right if I could transport back in time to little brook little bear. What would I tell her. There's like a big part of me this is gonna sound a little demoralizing but there's a big part of me that would say don't do it just don't freakin. Do it just. Finish get your college degree which I did do get your 9 to five day job um and just be normal and like find contentment. Don't always be chasing happiness. But I think that thought process just comes from the fact that I am in kind of a hard transition period of life right now. And so it's easy to feel demoralized and be like I just wish everything in the world was different. So with that being said, it leads into my better piece of advice which is don't let anything or anyone stand in your way including your own self. Don't let fear of bad things happening.

02:57.12
BROOKE____
Stand in your Way. Don't let fear of rejection or failure stand in your Way. Don't let impostor syndrome stand in your way. Um, if you really want to do this if you really want to follow this path. Whatever this path may be obviously this is the photographer Mindset. So. I'm thinking in terms of people who want to pursue a career based around professional visual arts like photography. But I think this applies to everything in life and anything that's like you know dream chasing oriented. Yeah,, don't let anybody stand in your Way. Don't let anything stand in your Way. Don't let yourself stand in your way.

03:28.50
aaronmannes
Um I Love that. Thank you.

03:35.80
BROOKE____
And just keep on blazing forwards because that's all you really can do Thanks guys So great at hanging out with y' all.

03:38.92
aaronmannes
We're for. This amazing that would be an amazing pace. Let's do 400 in a row this guest brooke little bear episode 392.

03:53.14
BROOKE____
400 I hope

04:00.40
aaronmannes
Never now I'm um I'm up I'm up.

04:01.22
BROOKE____
Forward with.

04:12.20
BROOKE____
I Think we're already there.

04:16.83
aaronmannes
Thank you.

04:23.21
BROOKE____
Um.

04:29.63
BROOKE____
Till next time keep it up dudes.