EP104: What Paradise Got Wrong — and Why It’s Costing You Clients

In this fiery breakdown, I unpack why the show Paradise blew it in the final episode—and draw a sharp, necessary parallel to how too many women are showing up in business: as the rando killer. You can’t expect people to care about your offer, your voice, or your leadership if you’ve been hiding behind surface-level content and calling it strategy. If you’re tired of doing “all the right things” and still not being seen, this episode will challenge you to go deeper, get visible, and lead with clarity. Spoiler alert: it starts with knowing who the hell you are.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Business Blasphemy
• 1:26 The Paradise Show Plot Twist
• 5:43 The Rando Killer in Business
• 10:59 Presence vs. Surface-Level Content
• 14:35 Finding Your True Identity
• 18:04 Conclusion and Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:30

Welcome to the Business Blasphemy Podcast, where we question the sacred truths of the online business space and the reverence with which they're held. I'm your host, sarah Khan speaker, strategic consultant and BS busting badass. Join me each week as we challenge the norms, trends and overall bullshit status quo of entrepreneurship to uncover what it really takes to build the business that you want to build in a way that honors you, your life and your vision for what's possible, and maybe piss off a few gurus along the way. So if you're ready to commit business blasphemy, let's do it. Hello, hello, blasphemers. All right, look, I just finished watching Paradise. I don't know if you've seen it yet or if you plan to see it. So, yes, there are going to be some spoilers here. I don't want to tell you not to listen to this episode, obviously, but if you're intent on starting or you haven't finished, then maybe just kind of pause this episode, save it, come back to it later, but if you're still here, all right, paradise.

Speaker 1: 1:26

Paradise is a show that we were watching on Disney+ Fantastic show. Seven solid episodes, strong character development, layers upon layers of tension and suspense, real emotional investment. And then episode eight, episode eight. Episode eight was a total. What the fuck we finally get the reveal of the killer who offed the president in episode one, and guess who? It is A total fucking stranger, what I like to call the rando killer, a character with three lines five episodes ago or something like that. Like no character development, no emotional stakes. Everyone wants to call this a massive twist. Oh my God, didn't see it coming. Yeah, because it wasn't a twist, it was a cop out. It was lazy storytelling that made the whole journey, the whole journey of investment, feel super empty. There was no emotional payoff and honestly, I'm kind of mad. Can you tell, because I wasted eight hours watching this show. Like I don't have that kind of time.

Speaker 1: 2:34

How are you going to get us invested in these incredible characters like Sinatra, who had a fantastic backstory right, that really helps you see how someone can start out with super good intentions, even if they're rooted in fear, and evolve into this monster because of that fear. And you've got Collins, the Secret Service guy who lost his wife in this massive tragedy and has to contend with, like, his guilt and all of this stuff, and he still did his job even though he resented the guy who he was born to protect. And then you've got Billy Pace, who was a really interesting character, a great backstory, and then, you know, he was almost redeemed before he was killed by another character who, polly Pocket Jane right, the Secret Service lady, who was super innocent and sweet and we thought she was, but she ended up being this cold-blooded sociopath who was super obsessed with Nintendo Wii, which you know, kind of super weird, but I've also played the Wii and it's actually not that weird, I guess. But like there were so many characters that we invested in, there was so much work that went into making us connect to these characters and those are just the four that I mentioned off the top right. Like there were other characters that had way more screen time, more lines and just felt like more of a natural fit to the story and we could have been taken in so many directions with this show. That could have been absolutely amazing, but instead the killer was the fucking librarian, like some super rando who had zero backstory until episode eight where it was rushed Like, honestly, it didn't give us enough of an emotional connection. I mean, on the face of it, yeah, if I look back I can connect the dots and go. Yeah, I can see how he might have been driven to kill the president. If I jumped through enough mental hoops and do enough mental gymnastics, you give me some ridiculous montage of a pseudo friendship that he made at work and I'm supposed to believe that that was enough to drive him to kill multiple people to get access to the president, I don't know. Like there was no, no build-up, he was an absolute rando character. And even how he got into the white house, like I get the cameras, like which is there was so much, there was so much. And the cheese fries lady you're gonna throw to throw that at us. Like giving her three stupid lines of conversation with one of the main characters and suddenly that makes her a viable whodunit. Like I get it.

Speaker 1: 4:40

I am probably disproportionately angry about this, but I am really annoyed. I'm so annoyed in fact I made a TikTok about it. I don't really ever go on TikTok barely it's an afterthought, but that's how annoyed I was. And here's where we are and I'm sorry, I'm not. Am I sorry? I'm not sorry. This is where we are. And if you're still here, yes, there are parallels to business and I think this is why I'm so annoyed. But I had to share my frustration first so that I could set the context, because there are so few shows these days that get it right, like there are so many shows that have that emotional payoff at the end.

Speaker 1: 5:16

You invest in these characters Severance is actually a really good example of this, but I'm not going to get into that. But, like there's build up, you invest in these characters, you go on their journey, you feel for them, you relate to them and then there's an actual emotional payoff for all of that investment. And it reminds me of something I see pretty constantly in the online business space. It's what I call the rando killer in business. So let me set the stage for you.

Speaker 1: 5:41

Okay, you post consistently, and when I say consistent, I don't mean that there is a specific number that equals consistency. Consistency means showing up in whatever way you are able to do that. Your audience can rely on you to show up Once a week, five times a week, once a month, it doesn't matter. But they know you're going to be there consistently. But a lot of the time, consistency isn't the issue. What you're posting is the issue. You're posting memes, funny reels, sharing things about your life, but it's always surface level stuff like here's where I'm going today, here's what I'm doing today highlight reel stuff, saying you never post fun, random things. People need to see that side of your personality, but what happens is you tend to weigh that much more heavily because it's easier, right, it allows you to play safe.

Speaker 1: 6:36

So you recycle quotes, you recycle tips, you post surface level content and what you're hoping is that will get people to see how brilliant you are, how relatable you are, how wonderful you are and invest in you. And that's all it's going to take. And I get it. You're brilliant, you have credentials, you have credibility, you've built a business. People know that, but you never want to go deeper. You like to hide behind your clients, your resume, your quiet season. You keep all the juicy stuff hidden and then one day you drop your big announcement your new offer, your new program, your event, your mastermind, whatever it is, and you launch it. And then you're shocked when it lands with crickets or worse, confusion or a handful of polite likes, but overall, little to no buyers. It's because you made the exact same move as Paradise. You are now officially the rando killer.

Speaker 1: 7:19

You think, and we are led to believe, that all of this surface level nonsense is what's making you relatable. That volume somehow equals value. But the truth is you've built zero real connection. You haven't showed up with presence. Showed up, shown up. You haven't shown up with presence. Right Consistency doesn't equal presence. You didn't give people a reason to care. You tried to be the main character in a story you never claimed.

Speaker 1: 7:45

Now, I'm not saying you have to spill all your dirty secrets online or be super inappropriate or prance around in your underwear. I'm not talking about all of that. Your dirty laundry, your 47-part tell-all on Instagram. That's not what's necessary. That's not what I'm asking you to do. By any stretch of the imagination, please don't. But you do have to tell us why we should give a shit about what you do, because we don't do that part, do we?

Speaker 1: 8:07

We've been conditioned to believe that we don't really have to, and this is especially true for multi-talented, multi-faceted women who are also incredibly capable and can do a lot of things. Too many of us have been trained to believe that it's better to be excellent, but behind the scenes, invisible, to keep your head down, produce results, be dependable, be low maintenance and believe that your work will speak for itself. So just stay humble, just stay the course. I mean it kind of worked, I guess right, like you had a good job, a good career, although if you left your job because you weren't getting the recognition or opportunities or support that you deserved and you became an entrepreneur, I'm going to say it probably didn't work. In fact, because now you're trying to build something of your own, you're trying to lead, whereas in corporate, you were a silent leader leading from behind.

Speaker 1: 8:55

But the kind of leadership that you want to build now and that you deserve to build now demands visibility. It demands clarity, it demands people knowing exactly who you are, what you stand for and why your voice matters. If you want people to buy from you, if you want people to follow you, if you want people to refer you, you need to stop fading into the background and waiting for your work to speak for itself or for people to just see that what you're saying makes sense, for them to connect the dots. Look, I'm talking to myself too, right? Don't get me wrong. This is not about just being loud and being out there and being intentionally controversial or whatever. It's about being truly known, about being present and clear and being someone your audience can track over time, like they can track your journey, because that's how you build trust. That's how momentum happens.

Speaker 1: 9:40

You can't just drop into people's lives with a high ticket offer or really any offer and expect them to throw money at you because you finally worked up the nerve to sell something. You can't make an ask without people understanding why the ask is important. If your audience doesn't have a story to attach you to, they're going to scroll past. Not because they don't like you Of course they like you but because you've never actually asked them or told them why they should care. Now I hear you. What do you mean, sarah? How do I ask them to care? What story am I supposed to be telling?

Speaker 1: 10:13

Well, here are a few places to start. Why are you here? What made you turn into an entrepreneur? What made you turn to entrepreneurship? What made you want to take this leap? What is your hill? What do you want to be this leap? What is your hill? What do you want to be remembered for? Who are you doing this for? What's your mission? What are your values? What kind of impact do you want to make and why? That's the big question why? Why are you here? You have to get clear on that. Everybody talks about that. I get it. Most of you probably do understand what your why is Like. Why do you get out of bed every day to do this?

Speaker 1: 10:41

I remember years ago, when I wanted to be a speaker, I used to think that I had to have some rags to riches story or some horrible trauma that I overcame that made me stand out or that made me different from everybody else. And when I finally started getting traction as a speaker, yeah, my why was clear, but it was really just for sharing my own story, my own experience as who I was right, helping people see how it shaped how I became who I am and why I do what I do, and doing it with my own flair. That's when I started to get clients and opportunities. And I mean I spent too many years thinking that my three degrees and my 20 certifications and my 25 years of experience were the thing that people actually gave a shit about and that would make them say, oh, I want to work with her because she's qualified. Like, yeah, people definitely appreciate the credentials and the credibility, but they relate to the story, they relate to my journey, they relate to why I am who I am, how I got to this point. They understand what I went through and the story that I was trying to tell them and, yeah, it was hard, especially for someone who was conditioned, raised, socialized, to quote unquote not talk about your business outside the house.

Speaker 1: 11:51

There is absolutely a right way to do it that feels right for you, I promise, and you have to find it. And the best stories don't surprise you with sudden discovery. They earn their arc right. Your audience has been with you every step of the way. They've watched you shift and transform and lead and when a big moment hits, they feel it in their bones. They're like, yeah, absolutely, I can see why she is who she is. I can understand why she's the one I need to work with. That's the kind of presence you need to build in your business, not the viral reel or the one hit offer, not the cartoon villain, right? The cartoon villain being the person who just intentionally posts controversial shit to get likes and comments or whatever. It's about being consistent with the part of you that is really you. So your why is still surface level, but it's a good place to start.

Speaker 1: 12:39

But you need to go deeper than that. You need a strong narrative, a pattern, a presence that's been built and reinforced with the majority of your posts. The issue is not that you don't have anything to say. You absolutely do, but you're waiting for it to be perfect before you say it. You're waiting until you have a polished offer or a polished story or a complete framework or perfect branding before you stand up and take space and, honestly, by then, the moment's over. It's past. Yes, strategic visibility absolute power move. Showing up before you feel ready. Absolute power move. Being known before you launch power move, treating your presence like a leadership asset and not a nice to have power move.

Speaker 1: 13:26

But you got to go deeper than the why. Because if you're sitting there and you're thinking, okay, I have all of those things and I need to now maybe hire a marketing strategist, please don't, do not hire a marketing strategist. A marketing strategist's job is to develop data driven plans, right, and those plans are meant to attract, engage and convert ideal customers through targeted channels and targeted campaigns. If you've hired a marketing strategist, by the way, they're not doing any of that. They're not a marketing strategist. And PS, social media, not a marketing strategy. Social media is a tool, okay, social media I'm going to say it again is not a marketing strategy. If that is what somebody is peddling, they're not a strategist, but I digress. If you're thinking, okay, then maybe what I need is not a marketing strategist, maybe I need a branding professional. No, you don't need a branding professional. A branding professional's job define the shapes and the visuals and the verbals and the emotional identity of your brand to make it recognizable, consistent and aligned with its values.

Speaker 1: 14:25

But you have to have all of those things in the first place, right. First, you need to know what your emotional identity is, or at least the story behind it. You have to understand the who and the why before a branding person can come in. Yeah, like they're going to help you pull it all together and make it a cohesive story, but they're not going to develop it for you. So you're like okay, sarah, well, where do we start? Well, you have to have clarity on your story. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 14:50

But in order to have clarity on your story, the very first thing you need to get clear on is who you are, your identity, because here's something that a lot of people don't want to admit. Most of us in the entrepreneurial business space have very, very similar whys. I've been doing this a long time. I've asked a lot of people what their why is, and it's very similar to everybody else's. They have very similar stories from being in corporate or in the traditional workplace. They have very similar stories to being stay-at-home moms. They have very similar missions. They have very similar reasons for wanting to be here. So, yeah, your why is important, your story is important, and if that is all you take to a marketing professional or a branding person or whatever storyteller, whatever, you're still going to sound like everyone else, even with a polished story.

Speaker 1: 15:36

So the key is to get clear on your identity. You may be thinking I know who I am, sarah. That's not what I'm talking about. If you're an ambitious woman by any stretch of the imagination, a high-achieving woman, a multifaceted, multi-talented woman, if you're a woman who's been in service for a long time, if you're a woman who has a service heart, if you're a woman of color, you probably don't have a connection to your true identity, like who you are at your absolute core, the essence of who you are. You've probably had inklings, but everything that we are socialized and conditioned to believe and do is orchestrated to keep her quiet. But she is at the absolute root of everything and this is the work that very, very few people want to do, because they don't realize that it's got to be done, and that's the work I help support. Identity work is about who you are underneath the credentials, the accolades, the titles, the jobs, the experience, the conditioning, everything, everything the world told you that you had to be, and because that is the most aligned work you can do, it is the best place to root any strategy, to anchor strategy, storytelling, branding, marketing, anything.

Speaker 1: 16:47

Now, as an aside, if you're curious to learn more, hit the show notes book a call, or just head to the show notes and send me a text message. There's a link right at the very top. It goes direct to my phone. Send me a text, we can chat there. But the bottom line is you cannot be the hero if no one knows who the fuck you are and why they should care.

Speaker 1: 17:05

And if that feels like a call out, yeah, it is, but it's with love. I know you're not waiting on permission, you don't need permission, but you're waiting until everything is perfect because you think that's what people are waiting for. They're not and it's costing you power, real power. So stop being the rando killer in your business. Let's get really, really clear on who you are and why people should care and if you're ready to commit to success without the BS. You know where to find me. I'll see you next week. That's it for this week. Thanks for listening to the Business Blasphemy Podcast. We'll be back next week with a new episode, but in the meantime, help a sister out by subscribing and if you're feeling extra sassy rating this podcast, and don't forget to share the podcast with others head over to businessblasphemypodcastcom to connect with us and learn more. Thanks for listening and remember you can have success without the BS.