OLIVIA MANCUSO - Empowering Artists With The Elevated Frequencies Podcast

Olivia Mancuso is an ex-TV journalist whose passion for house and techno music inspired her to start a podcast and interview artists about what it takes to succeed in the music industry. Her insightful interviews cover not only business topics but also the mental and emotional side of the artist journey.

Subscribe to the Elevated Frequencies podcast:
https://www.elevatedfrequenciespodcast.com

And follow Olivia here:
https://www.instagram.com/oliviamancuso__
https://tiktok.com/@oliviamancuso__
https://www.instagram.com/elevatedfrequenciespodcast

And visit my site to join the mailing list, book a free coaching call or get in touch:
https://www.nikcherwink.com

Transcript

olivia: 0:00

People always think for some reason you need to develop more skills to succeed at business or whatever it is you're doing. But the real thing that you need to do is you need to get people to like you. And you need to be trustworthy can't be fake. Some of the most, popular artists you see today, I guarantee. And not just artists, influencers, whoever. They're not probably the most technical skilled, but they have charisma.

Nik (Detached audio): 0:38

What's up everybody? Welcome to the Headliner Mindset podcast. Today's guest is a fellow podcaster. She runs a podcast called Elevated Frequencies, where she interviews house and techno artists about what it takes to succeed in the music industry. She's also an entrepreneur, social media influencer, and a freelance host for Insomniac Radio. This is Olivia Mancuso.

olivia: 0:59

Hi. It's so nice to be here on the other side of the microphone.

Nik (Detached audio): 1:04

Yeah, right. Isn't it kind of weird when you're, when you're not the host after hosting all the time?

olivia: 1:09

Yes, it is very strange to have to like flip on that part of my brain to answering questions for sure.

Nik (Detached audio): 1:15

I mean, you would think it's not that much different, but it, it literally is like a whole totally different part of the brain. It's like this whole other part of you.

olivia: 1:22

It, it is, I, I kind of liken it to, because I'm very introverted, I liken it to like my hosts. role is like a persona that I can put on and it's like, you know what I mean? Like, I put this on, this is a job and then I can retire from it. So this is a little different because, you know, it's just, I guess it's the true me.

Nik (Detached audio): 1:41

Yeah. Well, I'll be easy on you today. We're we're, we're gonna have some fun. Uh, I'm so excited to talk to, not only just another podcast host, but like, I just listened to a couple episodes, literally right up until we got on, and as I was listening, I was like, holy shit, this is like my sister podcast. Like, we are so aligned in what we're doing because not only are you talking to artists and DJs, you know, you're talking about the business side, but you're also talking about mindset and manifestation. And I was just like, oh, yeah, that's, that's my girl. We're gonna have fun. So, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm pumped to have my first like, collaboration with somebody, you know, like, like artists get to collab all the time. Now it's our turn to collaborate.

olivia: 2:24

That's such a good point. Yeah, and it's, I love that this, um, that these topics are starting to penetrate the electronic music industry, and people are open about having conversations about this stuff because it's so important, to have the right mindset, to, to believe in yourself and manifestation. We could talk about it as, as much as you want to, but I'm just glad that more and more artists are willing to have those conversations. So thank you for, for what you're doing as well.

Nik (Detached audio): 2:51

Yeah, yeah. Likewise. So tell me about Elevated Frequencies. what's it all about and what inspired you to start the podcast?

olivia: 3:00

Yeah. So, um, my, my background is in journalism, so I've always kind of had that storyteller mindset. I was a TV reporter, um, covering crime and politics and everything horrible that you could imagine, and got out of that business and, you know, always been a house in techno fan. I mean, literally since eighth grade, like listening to like, I don't wanna say Euro trash, but I guess I just said it, so like euro trash type of music all the way to, you know, graduating to like the dubstep phase everyone was in and like the, you know, early 2010s to like. Going back to my roots of like house, you know, music from Europe, whatever. And I, um, originally started elevated frequencies with the fan in mind. I was looking for other fans like myself who were aging in the scene a little bit. Couldn't necessarily stay out till, you know, three, four in the morning anymore, but still wanted to feel connected to the music. And while that's still, you know, a, a big part of who I am, I quickly realized with releasing these episodes that. Artists are, you know, entrepreneurs, whether they know it or not. And as an entrepreneur myself now, I found so many connections between like how we approach our careers, both mentally and, you know, like, you know, logistically. And my show quickly began to resonate with other artists, um, from bedroom producers all the way to, to more established. And so, you know, I quickly pivoted, the concept of the show to, to offer artists like resources. And that just felt a lot better to me, um, because I'm, you know, thinking about my business 24 7. And I thought, okay, well, you know, maybe I'm the right person to help, you know, bring these other artists' perspectives on business to life.

Nik (Detached audio): 4:54

Yeah. Yeah. I love, I love that you're doing it because similar to me, when I started, I was a little bit more like I, I really am like a life coach at my

olivia: 5:05

Mm-hmm.

Nik (Detached audio): 5:06

help people with like their emotions and their mindset. When I started the podcast though, it only took me two or three interviews with artists and each one of them said. I treat this like a business and something in my, mind went off, the light bulb went off and I was like, oh. that's the big missing gap for a lot of artists is that they're, they love the creative process, they love making music, but there's this whole other part that a lot of'em, first off, don't even see themselves as business owners. Like you're an entrepreneur, you are a self-employed entrepreneur. All of the same business principles that apply to any other business apply to you too. So you gotta learn them, right? And so it's, uh, and there's, there's not a lot in that space. So I think it's really cool that we've both found this lane to, to help people with this.'cause it's really important. And, and I love how, um, you know, you have a really good, like, you offer just a lot of really good practical advice from what I've seen, you know, like as a business owner yourself. But I really like your approach of just how you, how you break it down. You're just a, you're a really good teacher. You really get it across in a, in a powerful way.

olivia: 6:07

Yeah. I, I, I want to demystify a lot of the, um, the business aspects of, being an artist because you are like, you need to, first of all, you need to treat your artistry like a business. And that may seem counterintuitive, of course, to the term artistry itself, but if you want to make this a sustainable, full-time career, you have to treat it like a business. And I have a broadcast journalism degree and, and a criminal justice degree. I never thought business or entrepreneurism was like in my future whatsoever. And so the fact that I figured it out and it became, you know, simple for me, I feel like you know, it's my responsibility to take what I've learned and to break it down for people and demystify it for them as well.

Nik (Detached audio): 6:52

and it's so cool that you have been able to create. something for yourself that's in alignment with your passion. Right? And so, you know, I'm curious about how you went from just being, you know, as a, a self-proclaimed house music super fan to now. This is something that like you really get to do professionally in your carving out your own lane, in your own space there.

olivia: 7:14

Well, I might get into dangerous territory here with people who, who don't believe in astrology. However, it's, it's relevant because I, I just had a full birth chart reading and, Essentially what this astrologer said was how the planets were aligned when I was born. There's a lot of emphasis on, um, having a career that I am super passionate about and having it be a creative career. So, you know, I guess the planets were aligned in such a way that I needed to like, marry these two things in my life in order to feel fulfilled. Now, that's not to say I don't make money in ways that I'm not passionate about. You know, I work with some industries as an entrepreneur that I, I'm, I don't, I won't call'em out, but let's say they pay well, but I don't really have like, interest in pursuing like crypto or, you know, like I work with cybersecurity companies that are fantastic people. and you know, they have great budgets, but that's not like my passion. But I've Always sought out to, to find a way to marry, you know, what I love and how I can make money. And there's, there's a boundary there. I have to have the boundary of, you know, there's gotta be some parts of my passions that I don't monetize because I think that's like a creativity killer, but it just feels really good to me to be able to, you know, marry those two aspects of my life.

Nik (Detached audio): 8:36

Yeah, and I do wanna talk about that in a little bit, about your presence on TikTok specifically. Like you've got a hundred and something thousand followers on there. I see you're doing like brand deals and partnerships and I think that's a really cool business model. And just talking about branding in general. I know you and I both share a similar passion and I for branding, so we can, we can definitely get into that. Um, it's cool to see you, you know, monetizing on that and I think there's a lot that we can share with the listeners about that. before we get there though, I do wanna, I, I, I want to hear a little bit more about the podcast because I did see that you and I have had a few of the same guests. Biju probably one of my favorite guests ever.'cause I had never met the guy, but, um, we hit it off so well, like one of the coolest dudes ever. You got one of my really good friends, Amanda, Malcolm Brown was on

olivia: 9:23

Oh yeah. She's great.

Nik (Detached audio): 9:23

of, uh. Colleena Xanders is like my home girl from LA and I'm gonna have her on in, uh, like a week or two. So it was just really cool to see some of those familiar faces popping up. I'm curious about like, if you could have anybody on the podcast who would be your number one guest And we're gonna, we're gonna, I'm saying this so that we can speak it out loud and manifest this shit. That's the intention. Who are we getting on your podcast? Really should be the

olivia: 9:47

I love, I love this question. There are, um, two people, and it's funny because I, around Christmas, I did like these 12 magical nights. Like, it's like this little ritual. And two, two of the 12 wishes that I had, were for Green Velvet and uh, for Armand Van Helden. so those are my two Armand Van Helden. Uh, I Want Your Soul was one of the first house tracks that I ever heard, and I swear it was like a portal in my brain opened up when I heard that at like 14 years old or something. And then Green Velvet, you know, my musical tastes, uh, go all across the spectrum. But every green Velvet show I've ever been to, I've never felt more alive in my life, like. His energy, the way that he presents on stage, how he's dancing. Then of course, I'm from Chicago and he's from Chicago, and just like his, his amazing story, uh, you know, having, I think he has an engineering or something in science. I know he has a degree in science from the U of i. I mean, he's just, his brain is so beautiful and I can't believe I get to exist on the same timeline as him. So I'm laying out a little thick, but, but that, that's my answer.

Nik (Detached audio): 11:01

Hell yeah. Well, it, it's been cool to see that. I have not only, you know, some of the younger up and coming artists that are listening to the show, but also there's a lot of established artists out there that I'm finding out are listening to the show. There's a lot of managers that are, there's a lot of people that are deeper into the industry. So I'm talking to all of you all out there that are in the industry that I know one of you knows Green Velvet. I know one of you has some random connection to, um, what was the other guy?

olivia: 11:30

Arm and Van Halden.

Nik (Detached audio): 11:31

to Armand Van Helden. So go work your magic. Go first off, subscribe to elevated frequencies. Make sure you're following, make sure you're subscribed. Go check out some of the episodes. But for those of you that have that connection, go, shoot our shot for us. We're getting these dudes on. It's

olivia: 11:49

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I can't wait to look back at this moment. Right. And then, you know, when I do have those interviews and say, well, it was because of your show, so thank you so much.

Nik (Detached audio): 12:02

This is the cool thing. And I was thinking about this coming into this conversation because collaboration is such an important part of the DJ world, the electronic music space. I mean, it's an important part of, of the world in general, but specifically in our scene and in our industry, right? And I've talked about this before, but this, it's about one artist remixing another artist. Uh, when you dj you're playing other people's music. When you go on tour, you're taking other people out there to open up with you. Like the essence of collaboration is just so infused into the DNA of what this whole scene is about. So, one, it's just really cool to actually be collaborating, but there also really is a ripple effect. You know, I can't tell you how many people have been, you know, like. They've seen this show and they pass it to their friend and they send it to this person, and then this person circled back, and it's just like the, the spider web of connections and really just energy that comes with just collaborating and sharing your energy with other people. You never know what's gonna happen. So I'm convinced that doors are opening literally right now as we speak because of this ripple effect.

olivia: 13:07

I, I, couldn't agree more. And I know you know this, you know, being a life coach, one, one thing that I've learned, and this has to do with, you know, scarcity mindset versus abundance mindset. When I had a scarcity mindset, you know, years ago, before I became the person I am today, I didn't see the value in having conversations if it didn't immediately lead to an end result. Like I wanted that instant gratification. And what I've learned now, shifting into abundance, is that every conversation that you have with somebody, whether it's on a podcast, whether it's just meeting with someone who's, who's also in the industry, and you have like, whether it's a, a casual encounter or you just have a conversation about, oh, this is what you're doing in this business. This is what I'm doing. Yeah. Maybe in the future, who knows, we can work together. I'm finding that somehow it always comes back. You know, like I'll talk to somebody who works for a PR agency, and then a year later it's like, oh, hey, they're sending me work, or I'm sending them something. And I really believe in like the power of a network. And one of my favorite things to do you know, in the music industry and just anywhere is someone asks me something and they're like, Hey, do you know a, you know, insert job function here? And I do. And I get to like connect them. And I always know that that's gonna come back to me tenfold.

Nik (Detached audio): 14:22

Oh yeah. being a dot connector is one of the best practices and skill sets that you can have and, and I think this is really good for artists as well, where. It's so easy to be only focusing on like your own stuff. Like I wanna send my song to the record label, or I want to try to get this manager, but like, hey, if your friend has a really good song or somebody that you've come across, send that song to the record label too. Right? This is, this is a funny thing because then you actually get seen as somebody that's not just there to take and is only looking out for yourselves, but how can you add value? Right? And, and, and just connecting other people, especially in the music industry is, um, a lot of times we, we think that that's only managers that need to do that, right? But as an artist, you should be doing that as well. Like, don't just, you know, share your music with other DJs. If, there's a song out there that you think a DJ would rinse in their set, send that song to them, even if it's not yours. You know, little things like that. But it does come back on a karmic level.

olivia: 15:17

Yeah. that's such a great point because it is the, the karmic level and the practical level like you are then establishing yourself as a person, you know, who is community oriented and not just all in it for yourself. And I think, one theme that I talk a lot about on, on my show that gets brought up a lot is the level of competition now. I mean, there's so many amazing, um, house and techno music artists out there, and so. People do tend to, you know, and not anyone I interview on my show, but we're talking about the industry as a whole. People tend to shift into scarcity and feel like, you know, by sharing someone else's song or whatever it is there, that means less resources for themselves. But when you are, when you're in abundance mode, you know that, you know, a slice of pie for someone else doesn't mean that your slice of pie got taken away.

Nik (Detached audio): 16:07

I like to get a little woowoo on my podcast. I think my followers know this by now, that I, I try to go, I go down the rabbit hole sometimes, but I really see that as being the difference between operating from your ego and operating from your spirit, right? Your ego is there for survival. Your ego is the part of your brain and your mind that is just there to make sure that like, I'm gonna survive. I'm gonna protect myself, and I'm gonna survive. So I can't give away all of my secrets. I can't give away my contacts. I can't give away. I need this stuff. For me, there's, it's coming from scarcity, right? There's a limited place, but when you see yourself as the entire universe is just this infinite universe of infinite abundance, infinite possibility, infinite opportunity. And when I'm living in my spirit, my spirit is infinite too. And I'm just like, yo, I am a, an unconditional giver. you know, I have boundaries, but I also just, give without any expectation. And, you know, from like a almost spiritual, energetic level, you really get tapped into. The abundance that's actually around you and, and it comes back tenfold, like, just fucking try it out. You know what I mean? If you don't believe me, try it out.

olivia: 17:07

I, I could not agree more. I couldn't have said it better. and the one thing I'll, I'll add to it is when you're in abundance and you're giving, you know, like, okay, the, let me give you an example. I do branding for mostly B2B. Those are those industries that I'm talking about that are not as exciting, but they have nice budgets. I do a lot of branding work for B2B businesses and other entrepreneurs. The other day, uh, somebody was ta having a conversation similar to this, just about, you know, what they wanna do in the industry. I'm talking back in the music industry. and they were asking me for my advice. I sent the branding workbook that I charge clients upwards of$6,000 for. I sent a blank version of that workbook to this person because I one wanna give away my knowledge and help help people out. But two, I know at the end of the day that branding's not necessarily their specialty. they can work on this, but they need me to be able to like truly help them take it to the finish line. And I said, Hey, you know, text me if you have any questions. Whatever happened to help you out. I'm not, you don't have to be my client. But when you're in abundance, you know that like there's no secret that you can give away that someone will be able to do it just as good as you. You know, so like, you are the secret ingredient. If you believe you're the secret ingredient, it is very easy to like, give away because they'll, they'll come, they'll come back. I've had so many people who, you know, businesses who have passed me out.'cause like, oh, we can get it, you know, X, y, z done for cheaper. And then guess what? They come back because they realize cheaper isn't better. And, And, so I think that's like the, that's why it's so easy for me to give so freely

Nik (Detached audio): 18:51

Yeah. And when you are giving freely, you know, this is the universal law of reciprocity, right? When you're giving freely, you're living in a certain energy, right? Where you're, you're actually proving like, Hey, I can, I can give this stuff away. I don't need to hold onto it. When you're holding onto it, there's this like, tight energy that you're holding onto with that, right? you're living in fear. Ultimately, deep down you're like, I'm scared if I give this away, I'm not gonna get the money. I'm not gonna get the client. I'm not gonna get the, the relationship or whatever. So really, you are affecting yourself by that. I don't wanna live in fear. I wanna live in pure openness and freedom, you know?'cause that's where I'm gonna be creating the best results for myself. It might not be in that situation, but the next situation that comes along, I'm rolling in the room, being like, yo, I'm, I'm good. I'm flowing, I'm cool. I'm not holding onto anything. I'm not living in fear. So, yeah, it's just the way to operate. It's just the way we gotta do it.

olivia: 19:44

Yeah, and, and I always tell people too, um, the big thing that people miss out on, and this is like kind of back to business from a logistical standpoint. It is, and it isn't. People always think for some reason you need to develop more skills to succeed at business or whatever it is you're doing. But the real, the real thing that you need to do is you need to get people to like you. And you need to be trustworthy and you need people to trust you and you need to be trustworthy. It can't be fake. Like I have worked with people who are more technically skilled than me, but the client prefers to converse and operate and work with me as the conduit because they trust me. And so that's like the big thing too. I feel like, you know, people get a chip on their shoulder'cause they're like, you know, if it's an artist, well I know how to, like, I'm a masterful producer. I know how to do X, Y, and Z. It's like, yeah, but your personality sucks. that's usually people who are operating in scarcity and they're operating from like, you know, well this isn't fair, life isn't fair. that energy is so like, nobody wants to be around that. And it's like. Some of the most, it, it is so repelling and some of the most, popular artists you see today, I guarantee. And not just artists, influencers, whoever. They're not probably the most technical skilled, but they have charisma.

Nik (Detached audio): 21:06

Yeah, a thousand percent. Like it's, getting out of the, a lot of that technical knowledge that lives in your, it just lives in your mind. Like that's great that you're, you're really smart, you've studied it, you've got the technical knowledge, but do you have the, the personality, the heart, the soul, the energy, you know, and I'm around somebody. It's like, I want, I want to feel the person there. Not just their mind and, and the, the skillset. And the intelligence, you know, like at least that's just for me, maybe not everybody's that way. Maybe in other industries it's different too. Like maybe if you're in the, in the tech industry, it's like, okay, cool, who has the best technical skills and package? But, you know, we are in the music industry because music is connected to our, our hearts and our souls, and we love this shit. And like, we wanna do, we wanna have fun. That's like the only reason why we would really do this, you know, that I think is'cause it's, we're passionate about it. And so we want to be around other people that we have fun with, that we're passionate about that, that we enjoy working with. So you gotta be one of those kinds of people.

olivia: 22:01

Absolutely. Absolutely. And there, there are a lot of people in this industry who tend to operate from their ego, and, you know, it, it can only take you so far.

Nik (Detached audio): 22:10

Yeah. Yeah. So, you have interviewed quite a few artists now, I'm curious about what are some common things that you hear people talk about? What are some of the common themes, whether that's, you know, challenges or, you know, just issues and topics that you see come up in your dozens of conversations so far?

olivia: 22:34

I feel like we've beaten this conversation to death, but it's something that a lot of artists like to talk about, and it's the marketing side of, uh, you know, being an artist and how a lot of them hate it. And I've interviewed a lot of artists that have succeeded at it and who do really well. And then I've interviewed a lot of artists who are doing well, but they don't enjoy it. And, you know, the conversation revolves around like, well, I'm an artist. I should just be focusing on my artistry. I I shouldn't have to like, you know, do TikTok trends and, you know, do all these Instagram posts and whatever. And while I agree, um, it's not going to change. And so it's something where we have these, you know, conversations about, well, how can you make this work for you rather than against you? Like, if it's a, if it's a, you know, just a fact of life, um, and a fact of being an artist in 2024, how can you make. A marketing strategy sustainable for you? And it's something that I struggle with as an expert, expert. I say in air quotes in this field, it's something that pains me on a daily basis. There's some times that I post something that'll get like seven likes on Instagram, and I'm like, what the fuck is going on? You know, like, my last post just did 300, like this makes no sense. And it's, it's this weird like dopamine, like overload, and then all of a sudden it gets taken away from you. And so I know that it really affects artists like deeply because they're so used to being the vibe curator in front of people who are having a good time for the most part. Right? Of course, you don't want people to be negatively responding to you DJing, but so for them it's just, I think, a hard, hard thing to deal with. And so that topic comes up a lot. And some of the guys that I've interviewed, like Destructo, he, you know, he's an OG and. he has the opinion of like, well, I don't give a shit like about about Instagram, like I'll post because I have to. But he's gotten to a level where that's okay for him. But then there's some of the artists that you know are around like the 10,000 follower range and they're getting gigs, but they're still like doing opening sets at festivals and they're like, this is just exhausting. I'm over it.

Nik (Detached audio): 24:51

it brings up a good point around who you are looking at and modeling yourself after. Like, it's not fair for an up and coming artist that isn't even full-time yet to look at Destructo, right? He has been in the game for so long. He started hard. He sold hard. He's probably sitting on fucking a couple million dollars in his bank account. Like, don't compare yourself to that dude, right? and even just like the strategies, a lot of times you're looking at your favorite artists and be like, oh, I, and, and, and you should be, you should be studying social media, studying marketing, what's working. But if you're looking at. John Summit, right? Who's touring and playing in a different country every single day, and he's got an entire team behind him and is putting tens of thousands of dollars into, into his stuff, living a completely different lifestyle. It's not the one to model after, right? So you gotta look at other artists that are at your level. What are the, what's the 20 k artists doing? What's the other up and coming artists doing? Also look at some stuff that's not, like, stop looking at artists too. I, I was having this conversation with a client the other day where it's such an echo chamber, right? It's like all, all of the artists, all of the DJs are following the other DJs and seeing what they're doing, and then they're posting what they're doing and then, all right, how many iterations of that can we do? My suggestion is go look at some other. Directions. go follow some architecture accounts. Go follow some, you know, some, some other forms of art. Go follow some painters. Go follow some, you know, I follow like cinematographers and stuff, and like creative directors and shit. That's just like my feed is starting to look really cool. And it's not just a bunch of DJs, basically what I'm saying. If your feed is just a bunch of fucking DJs, you need to expand that.'cause you're gonna gonna be living in an echo chamber. you're not gonna come up with any really cool ideas there.

olivia: 26:31

I can totally see the cinematography influence in your content, by the way. It's great. Your content's amazing, and I love that it feels like, it seems like it feels really authentic to you.

Nik (Detached audio): 26:42

I am the worst. I'm not, I'm not the worst. I've gotten really lazy since I started this podcast because I'm like, oh, I can just take a clip of the podcast to post it. And it's been, it's been cool, it's been working for me. it is what it is. I definitely, I. You know, I have a plan to start creating more of my own content. Um, right now I'm sitting down to make a program. So pretty much all I'm filming a like, hours and hours of content, you know, specifically for like more long form lessons and whatnot. Um, I could be a lot better about posting my own original stuff, and, and I would love for us to talk about TikTok because you're crushing it on TikTok. So maybe you can give me some, some tips. but yeah, I'll be the first to admit I, I, you know, I'm in a different position, where, and maybe, you know, maybe artists can take away something from this, but having long form content is a great way to then create micro content. I'm like, great, I've got an hour episode every week. I, I could be posting 10 clips every week if I wanted to. so let's talk about TikTok though,'cause you have, you have grown a really great. following there. So what are, what are some tricks and tips that, that you can offer for TikTok? That's, that's another area like I've, I've, I've barely posted anything on TikTok yet, so it's a whole different beast for me.

olivia: 27:54

well, I'm gonna be completely honest. So TikTok, my TikTok growth was, I don't wanna say a fluke, but it was definitely, so if you look at my TikTok versus my Instagram, my Instagram's a lot more curated, but that tends to be everybody. You know, we have curated feeds. You're kind of seeing everything all at once. My TikTok is the place where I kind of fly off the handle and I just say whatever's on my mind. And when I say fly off the handle, I just mean being very unedited, raw, and you know, as authentic as possible. And what I've loved about TikTok, even though it. We are now in this era where it's not a new app anymore, so we're facing the same algorithmic challenges as we are on the other ones. Um, but what I love about TikTok is it's actually forced me to show up more authentically on all online platforms. And maybe this is also coming with age, but like, I don't feel like I need to like, wear, like makeup and like get, you know, get, like, it doesn't need to be overly produced. So that's the great part about TikTok is like you can just kind of jump on there and say what's on your mind and it can do numbers. and that's how I, that's how I originally groove just from kind of everything that we're talking about right now. These themes, when I have a thought, I just put it on there because at the end of the day. If it doesn't do well, no one's going to know because we don't treat, like the TikTok feed is not the same as Instagram. Like, you can go on Instagram right now and you can go see, and this is me speaking from my ego, like completely transparent. Like you can see all of the, the posts that flopped on my Instagram, right? It's there for everyone to see. And I'm sure people do look at it because, you know, we're human and we're curious about what others are doing. But TikTok is just kind of like, there's no consequence. And so that's what I would say for someone who doesn't know where to start, just start posting and see what works. There's very, and you can be so like, it doesn't require the sophisticated editing that TikTok or that Instagram does, where you need to like make it look aesthetically pleasing with the rest of your feed. And you need to, you know, have all this B roll and whatever. Like the majority of my TikTok videos are me just. I don't wanna say bitching about something, but like, it's either that, like jokes, like I made a video about, uh, living in Chicago the other day that's like doing crazy numbers, or it's talking about like getting real, about manifesting like manifestations a really popular topic on TikTok and there's a lot of like, kind of those hokey like write down your wish a hundred times in your journal and then put it under your pillow and that's how you manifest. And, you know, just giving real takes, like having these real raw conversations. But I guess just with myself on TikTok and, and you know, I don't put a lot of, I'm a big, like don't be attached to outcomes or things or whatever, so I don't put a ton of stock in it. If I have something to say, I'll say it on there. If I don't, I don't stress about it. And that's like my approach to social media as a whole. Now. I definitely challenge myself to come up'cause I have a lot of stuff going on in my brain. It's getting it out, you know, in a, in a format where it's digestible, um, to others. That's the challenge. So I challenge myself to do that across all social platforms, but I am not going to force something if I don't have something to say. Sometimes I just don't have shit to say and so I'm not gonna put something out there just for the hell of it, you know.

Nik (Detached audio): 31:21

Yeah. Well, I love to hear that your TikTok has been a bit less curated and is kind of inspiring you in general. And I think just your, your personal brand and content to be a little bit less curated as, as well.'cause for me personally, I, I just, I have no choice but to just fucking do me and be me and be authentic. Like, I, I probably could get a little bit more strategic with, with, with how I show up and, and do bigger numbers. But I think there's something to be said for that, especially for maybe some of the artists that are out there that are struggling to show up online. Like try, just showing up as yourself. Try showing up without this big, yeah, without some big, huge production behind you or feeling like it needs to be anything other than just you. Now with that being said, there's a different direction you can go and I think if you have an idea. For your brand and maybe even like a, like a character or a per persona that you really wanna show up as, as an artist, and you have a vision for that and you're pulled in that direction, cool. But if you don't just fucking show up as yourself, then see what happens. You know, like, I think that we resonate, like we were talking about before, of just like connecting with people. We, you know, we connect with people that are authentic. We connect with people that are genuine. We connect with people that have a certain personality and vibe and energy. And so when you just show up as yourself, the right people are gonna find you and connect with you. And that's a great place to start. maybe it evolves from there. Maybe it becomes more of a curated brand at some point, but at least get out and just start showing up.

olivia: 32:54

Yep, that's, that's exactly it. Like, it's almost like. Like my Lazy Girl approach to branding is everything you just said is just be yourself. And I did a whole episode on branding recently that, um, people really liked, and I don't know if you've heard, have you ever heard of Story Brand?

Nik (Detached audio): 33:12

Yeah. Yeah, I've

olivia: 33:13

so so it's a great book and I recommend it to all artists, all entrepreneurs who don't know where to start with branding. But what it essentially does, and there's two conflicting ideas here that I explain in my episode, is, number one, you need to make your audience the center of your brand, not yourself. You need to, like he says in StoryBrand, you need to position your, is the hero and you as the guide. So your audience is Hercules and your. The Danny DeVito little goat man. I forget his name, but, but you're him, right? and then the other thing that what artists tend to struggle with and what I believe in is you need to create art for yourself. You're not creating for other people, but what you just said, right? If you show up as yourself. others will come. Well, think about it this way. How are you helping others? Because in some way as an artist, you're helping them get through, you know, a stressful commute to work. You, um, could be helping them because you, you love to share your production advice. You could be helping them because you're sober and they're sober too, and they look for other, you know, sober artists to fall. Whatever it is, you are being you, but you're also serving people in some way. As an artist, you're going to serve someone. So you have to kind of look at it that way, and then it becomes really easy. So for me, for example, my brand, it's really easy for me to, I'm very passionate about sharing the things that I've learned about business, about manifestation, about mindset. And so that is my brand. And my brother made a joke the other day. He's an artist. And, um, I tend to, I tend to get a lot of, I don't know if this is true for you, having this position in the community as well as a, as a podcaster, but I get a lot of. Sometimes artists, sometimes there's other people connected to the scene, like kind of dumping on me a little bit. Like they'll send me unsolicited messages like griping about like who got booked where, whatever. And I'm like, what the fuck? Like, I have nothing to do with this. But my brother was like, well, Olivia, you give off Guru energy and so you should expect that. And I was like, oh damn. I guess, I guess that's like, like I'm flattered in a way, but that's kind of how I'm showing up and it's, and it's easy for me.

Nik (Detached audio): 35:21

I think an important piece of that as well is really focusing on the quality of your fans and your relationship with them, rather than the quantity. It's so easy to get caught up in, how do I get. 10,000 followers. How do I get a hundred thousand followers? And it's like, well, how, how do you get a thousand that actually just really fuck with you? how do you get a hundred that are like super in alignment with your vibe and your message and your personality and like you actually have a real connection with them? Because that hundred will be a really strong seed and foundation that will grow into like a true fan base, right? There's a difference between having followers and having fans and also having super fans. Like I want super fans. I don't have the biggest numbers on social media in the world, but I'm coaching so many fucking people and I'm changing lives, like behind the scenes. You know what I mean? Like, I don't care about having a hundred thousand followers. I got less than five, but like almost every single one of them I've touched and impacted in some way. Like I'll take that. You know what I mean?

olivia: 36:22

That is the most important point that I always try to get across to, you know, people that I work with on, on branding and marketing. And, and the other thing to think about here too, right? I don't know if you ever see this, but I'll come across like someone on TikTok and I'll see a video and I'll go to their profile and they'll have like 5 million followers. And I've never heard of this person in my life. In this day and age of social media, there are so many quote unquote famous people that you'll never know. Like there's so many influencers out there that I've never heard of and that you'll never hear of. So numbers truly don't matter at the end of the day. Sure, you might have 10, 20, 30,000 followers, but like it's almost comforting in a way, like we're all like truly insignificant at the end of the day in the grand scheme of things, because there are so. Many of us. So what you just said, having those a hundred dedicated, you have 10 dedicated people who just like go crazy after you drop a single piece of content or a track or whatever. That is so much more meaningful. Like I'm sure you've had this happen too, but my friend shared with me the other day that her friend that I've never met before shared my episode on her story. It was about like dry January and she just wrote this really nice message of, just found this podcast and wow, this resonated. This is such a cool way to look at like, you know, being low alcohol in the scene and like that, that made my whole day. So I was like, that's what one person that like took their time to share and talk about how it resonated. And I will take that over a million followers any day.

Nik (Detached audio): 37:57

totally. You know, I've, I've been so blessed to have, have worked with a lot of people. I've been coaching for six years now, so I've, over that time, I've, I've worked with a lot of people and to me there's nothing more fulfilling and rewarding than getting a text message or a DM from one of my, you know, old clients just, you know, celebrating a win or, you know, revisiting some conversation we had years ago. And, and, and so I've, I've had a few of those come in lately and that's gonna be my new metric. How many. Text messages do I get from my clients, you know, sharing some sort of love and gratitude or celebration, right? That's what I'm gonna measure. And I, and I invite every artist out there as well, fuck the followers, right? How many dms are you getting from your fans saying that they love your song or, you know, your song helped them through a tough time, right? Like, I, I always, I always tell artists like, the ultimate goal, the ultimate milestone one, is when somebody gets a tattoo of your logo, right?

olivia: 38:52

Yeah.

Nik (Detached audio): 38:52

the real milestone. But also when you, when you literally save somebody's lives, because I have so many, you know, past like clients that I used to when I was a manager that, that I used to manage and just friends. And, um, that at some point somebody has hit them up and has said, I was thinking about ending my life today, and I decided to go out for a walk and your song came on and it convinced me to stay here. You know, a a a lot of artists have had that experience and I think like. that's the metric you should be aiming for. You know, fuck your million views on TikTok.'cause you're doing a stupid ass a dance. Go save somebody's life.

olivia: 39:30

and I think what scares people is how real that is. Uh, that's a much bigger respon, I don't wanna say responsibility, because it's, at the end of the day, it's not your responsibility to, you know, uh, change a life. But it's a great, it's a great goal to have and it's a great thing to aspire to. And, uh, that's way more real, right? Like, like numbers are inflated. They're, they're not, they're not real, but impacting someone's life. And even on, you know, a small scale, like someone, we're so busy and we're being pulled into a million directions every single day. So think about the fact that someone took time out of their busy day to send you a DM or to write you an email or whatever it is. The fact that they said, you know, this slice of time, even if it's five minutes, is dedicated to telling you how much I love something you're doing. Like I put a lot of stock into that. Like anytime I get a message like that. It sticks with me forever.

Nik (Detached audio): 40:28

And this is where the whole mindset shift around social media gets to happen is when you're looking at it as fuck, it's this annoying thing that I have to do and I have to make this content and I hate this so much, and all I wanna do is make music. And I wish I didn't have to be a influencer and a content creator and like, okay, if that is the mindset that you are choosing to have, that is going to be a reality. That is gonna be your experience. But when you start to see social media as an amazing opportunity to connect with other humans and and an amazing opportunity to really develop real. Relationships and, and, and real influence. and real impact. Like, it, it, it can shift. So hopefully that just starts to crack away at, some of that, that fear and that resistance that a lot of people have to social media.'cause it can be a really beautiful thing when you open yourself up to using it.

olivia: 41:20

Absolutely. I, I couldn't agree more. and and knowing that it's cyclical and that there will be times where you feel like, you know, your content isn't reaching people and it's frustrating. It, it can't be all roses all the time. You can't, that's not how you grow. You know, you grow from, from learning. And even if it's not your fault, because the algorithm is just acting up that day, it's, it's still character building at the end of the day.

Nik (Detached audio): 41:45

for sure. And, and you can take some breaks. You can take a week off, you can walk away. We don't have to be on it every day. I think that's a good, part of the process too is like, have some social media detoxes and when you are feeling the, the burnout and all of it, all right, cool. Take a week off. Nobody's gonna fucking miss you. Like, you know, you're good. They'll be there when you get back.

olivia: 42:06

one, 100%. And I'm a huge advocate of boundaries. Like I don't check my phone for an hour when I wake up in the morning and my phone goes on, do not disturb at nine o'clock. Sometimes earlier, like my husband works nights sometimes, but the nights that he, he's off. Like my phone's on do not disturb at like seven o'clock. And it's just no checking notifications, no nothing. And in the beginning it was hard'cause it's an addictive behavior, especially if. Your job is obviously to show up on social media. It can be super addicting, but putting the reps in and just staying away from my phone, like it's amazing and it's amazing how much more productive my mornings are, how much happier I am overall, staying away from my phone the majority of the day.

Nik (Detached audio): 42:55

It's so cool you said that. I literally just today started my own version of like 75 hard, uh, it's like the, the 75 hard is this challenge where you have to like. Workout twice a day, read 10 pages, drink a gallon of water. There's all these things you're supposed to do. And I was like, I don't really wanna do those things, but I'm gonna make my own version of it. And two of the things that I'm doing is first hour of the day, no phone. And also the last hour of the day. I'm pretty good with the first hour'cause I'll just wake up and do my little morning routine, go straight to the gym. That one's kind of easier. It's the last hour though, of like, can I, can I actually shut the phone off? So that's my commitment for the next 60 days is to really ingrain that as a habit, basically. Book ending my day, first hour and last hour. No phone. Just like commit that. So cool

olivia: 43:40

that Yeah. That's awesome. And I will say it's definitely harder at night. I have gotten really good at not checking social media. However, I have two addictions in this world that I'm working on and one is shopping and the other sugar. And I tend to somehow fall into like my Etsy app, you know, right as I'm going to bed and figuring out what little trinkets I can buy for my office. So that's, it is harder because, you know, we're relaxing. It's the end of the day. And we've like kind of learned that like, oh, like being able to just scroll and be on your phone is almost like a reward. And it's not, but our brains have like been wired that way. So it definitely is harder at the end of the day. But that's awesome that you're doing that because I think as a coach you'll just learn so much, and be able to apply it to your, to your practice.

Nik (Detached audio): 44:27

and, and I learned the same thing about my morning routine.'cause I, I, for years I wanted to become a morning, morning person, but I also, since 2011, I haven't had a job that I've had to be at, at like nine in the morning. Like anything, I, I've always, it's like maybe like come in at noon. So I've had the opportunity to just sleep in and I did for a long time and I really wanted to become a morning person. And what I realized was I would set my alarm and then I would get up and then I would just, I wouldn't know what to do. And so it wasn't until I got really, really clear of like, okay, when I get up. what's the protocol? What am I doing? Otherwise, I'm just gonna like, walk around in a circle and probably just go right back to bed. Right? And so I think it's the same thing at the nighttime. It's like, all right, you can shut that phone off, but then what are you doing instead? how do you wanna wind down your night? And so that's what I've been really trying to figure out and dial it in as I was like, I, I have to have like a, an actual protocol of like, all right, this is exactly what I do. And I'm like, you know, drinking a cup of tea and read a book, or do a meditation or something. It's like, okay, what am I, what am I replacing the, the vice with basically?

olivia: 45:29

100%. That's, that's so key. And um, it's the same for me in the morning. I've developed, you know, my, my skincare, my stretching, whatever. And at the end of the night too, yeah, reading has taken. A really big place in my life again, and I know it's not for everybody, so I don't, I don't think that that's like a good blanket recommendation because like my husband, he listens to like so many audio books. He blows through them, but he won't, he won't sit down and read. And that's just because that's not the way he prefers to take in that knowledge. but definitely finding something else you can do. And I talk about this all the time, having, you know, hobbies you don't monetize. so for me, I do like, I was in Michael's, you know, the craft store the other day. I. And I was just in there in the middle of the day.'cause I'm like you, I don't have a job where I have like a schedule and I'm just with like a bunch of old ladies in there. It's like me and all the old ladies. And I was like, oh my God, this is so cute. Like, I feel so at home and like I was stocking up like on my crafts like supplies because um, for my birthday the other day I just wanted to paint canvases. And so having like some sort of hobby you don't monetize could be anything. and better if it's not, you know, like tech focused, uh, like gaming or anything like that, but something you could do with your hands or engages your mind. It's so helpful.

Nik (Detached audio): 46:47

Yeah, definitely. Wait, so was your birthday yesterday? I

olivia: 46:50

It was yesterday.

Nik (Detached audio): 46:51

Happy belated birthday.

olivia: 46:53

you.

Nik (Detached audio): 46:55

And I think that that is so important that you have other things that, that you do for fun. And, and I know it's hard as, as an artist, especially if you're working a full-time job, you got a nine to five, there's not that many hours left over. but to have something, even just, you know, once a week on a Sunday, one, you need to take a day off, like don't work every single day, you will burn out. It's not sustainable. You need to carve out that time in that space. But, but yeah, that brings up a really, just a really good point of like, what else do you do besides just like. Working on your business or working on making music, you know, and it's, uh, maybe a little count counterintuitive to David Goggins or Alex her Mozy, who are just like, no days off fucking work every single day. But as an artist, you have to replenish your, your soul and your, your internal inspiration and your creativity. So having something, you know, even for myself, I'm, I, I gotta figure that out.'cause I'm like, what do I actually do for fun? I have a, like a social life, but do I have like hobbies and stuff? I don't really do that much anymore,

olivia: 47:55

Yeah, and you know, when I, um, first started my business like it was 24 7, I get that there's periods of time where you need to really dial in and be focused, but. It, it's a season. Exactly. I, you know, I did this like thing on, on TikTok the other day, like 32 things I've learned in my 32 years that have made my life better. And one of'em is the more that I play and create and rest the more money I make. And you can replace that last part with, you know, the more tracks get signed to labels, the more whatever, the more gigs I get booked. but it's really become such an important component because just like you were saying of like when, how you check out other industries, social media feeds to help inspire your own, that is true of like the hobbies that you have and the lessons that you can learn and having a hobby or doing something unrelated to music. Like you will find connections there. Because when you're so close to something all the time, it's really, really hard to come up with new ideas sometimes. Like people are surprised when I tell them this, but I've gone through like two rebrands of my business since I've, since I've started, because I've changed my offerings and whatever. And both times I've done that, I've hired other branding experts to help me, even though that's what I do. I do branding and it's like I need someone else's perspective here to, to draw the, the expertise out of me and, and show me where I might have blind spots. And so if you're an artist, like I really encourage you to, like, I don't take up knitting. Whatever you might like hear, you might hear in the knitting needles a sound that you wanna put, you know what I mean? That you wanna put into Ableton. Like, it's really like that dumb and simple and granular, but it, it makes a huge difference.

Nik (Detached audio): 49:39

yeah, that's, that's a great point. I always say that monotony is the antithesis of creativity. If you're just doing the same thing all the time, and, and I could see this even from like a neurological level, if you're, neurons are just firing in the same direction all the time and you're always doing the same thing. You're always seeing the same. Ableton, and you're seeing the same studio and you're seeing the same people and, and you're just going through the motions like that, well then when do you ever actually have a chance to be truly creative, which is creating something new? You need to start creating new neural pathways in your brain, and you do that by trying new things and, and getting some different flavors out there. So that's a, that's a really, really great point.

olivia: 50:21

Yeah. And, and your life just becomes better when, when, you know variety is the spice of life.

Nik (Detached audio): 50:26

Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So tell me about your, branding services, coaching, consulting, like what do you do on that side of things? What kind of services do you offer?

olivia: 50:38

Yeah. So, um, I. My books are closed now, and I did that so I could actually focus on the podcast, which was a scary step for me, to say that I'm not, you know, going to take on any more clients in this space because it is, it is great money. but I essentially as a branding consultant, I use kind of like the StoryBrand framework that I've co-opted with my own twist on it. It's the step before you even have a marketing strategy. So a lot of people just think, like, especially businesses who feel like, oh my God, I need to be everywhere on social media. They think they just need to jump into a marketing strategy. Well, first you need to find your voice. You need to figure out who your audience is. You need to get really specific and very simple. Like you have, in your bio, like a great, like, like when I go to your bio, I know exactly who you are, what purpose you serve and what you do. And a lot of businesses just don't have that. because it's hard. It's hard to think about when you're running day-to-day operations. And so for the branding stuff, I'm really helping people get a grasp on who they are, who they serve, um, and keeping it simple, like, simple, easy, repeatable, everyone in the organization understands and can fire it off. You know, when a customer walks through their doors. Um, so that's what I do on the branding side, and I've been really, really fortunate to have clients that I just like connect with, like literally on a spiritual level. Like they are just awesome. They get me, they trust me, and it's, um, it's allowed me to focus on growing this other part of my business, which is the content creation, the podcasting, and it's great. And I, I don't know, you know, I'm very, I have goals, but I kind of let life flow and see where life takes me. And what I love about being a service based entrepreneur is I can be flexible. Like I can create programs on the fly. Um, if somebody, you know, needs something from me and I haven't necessarily like, done that exact program before, I can tailor it for them. And this is something that I always, always. You know, uh, preach to my audience and to, to artists that are like newer and kind of asking me for help is whatever you're good at you, you can monetize it. Like, you know, if it's, if it's production, if it's like, I don't know, like, you know, just organization like how to, how to organize like your day-to-Day as an artist. Like you can monetize that and it's just opened up a world of possibilities. So that's kind of like a non-answer I feel like, but, um, I make money in a lot of different weird ways and, and I love it.

Nik (Detached audio): 53:16

I know that you are big on Yeah. Manifesting and visualizing. I'm curious about, as you've closed out these books, you're focusing on the podcast, like, what's the vision that you see for what's next and what it is that you wanna call in and create?

olivia: 53:31

Hmm. That's a, that's a very big question. And my, my most current vision board is like just to the left of me. I do them quarterly, um, because I like to have big overall goals, but I think focusing on smaller chunks of time actually helps you get to that goal sooner. And, you know, I, um, I would really like to, this is a funny example. I don't, do you know who Bethany Frankel is?

Nik (Detached audio): 53:59

No.

olivia: 54:00

So I don't blame you. She, she was a real housewife. Um, but she has this amazing story of kind of coming from nothing, building herself up and using, uh, the Real Housewives to launch her brand. Maybe you've heard of Skinny Girl Cocktails. Have you ever seen that before?

Nik (Detached audio): 54:18

yeah. yeah. I've seen that.

olivia: 54:19

So she's this person who, she has multiple businesses and the umbrella is her, like she, everybody, she doesn't have to pick a niche or pick a lane. Because like she is the personality and I have a lot of different aspirations. I have, uh, you know, I wanna develop a mocktail brand. Um, I wanna host retreats, for entrepreneurs in the music space. Uh, I have an event that I'm producing, um, which I can't announce anything specific yet, but, but for entrepreneurs in the music space, uh, and I, and I, I just wanna, um. Establish myself as a, as a media personality. We don't, I, I'm sure you realize this, we don't have like, media personalities in the electronic music world like they do in Europe, like defected in the uk. Like they have people who go out to festivals. They, you know, Amazon is a big sponsor of like, a lot of festivals in the UK and Europe and like, we don't have that here yet. And so I feel like you and I and other podcasters in the space are like the pioneers of it. which it's never a fun thing to be a pioneer, right? Like they always say in business, like, uh, you know, to validate your idea, like see if it's been done before, because then, you know, there's a market for it. so we're kind of like believing in this dream of, you know, people want to hear what we have to say and they look to us to, you know, to be the curators of these ideas and topics in the industry. But, I would love to envision myself as that Bethany Frankl and, and have all these other. Are, you know, these other ventures under the brand that is me. And that's, that's a hard thing for me to say. I can say it in my head all day. but to say it to somebody else, even as somebody who practices manifestation regularly and believes in putting things out there, you know, easily, someone could say, well, what makes you so special? Why do you think you should be the person to do this? So thank you for drawing that out of me. And also I'm giving you the middle finger under the table right now.

Nik (Detached audio): 56:16

Well, I, I wanna ask even one more question, which is what makes you so special and able to do this?

olivia: 56:23

That is, that's the million dollar question. Um, you know, this sounds corny, but, but at the end of the day, I really, really, really fucking love helping other people. And I love, this goes back to my journalism roots. I love giving people a platform to tell their stories and to guide those conversations and to, and to extract the value out of them. We're really missing. And I'm not the only person who's doing this. You're doing an amazing job. So many podcasters are, but as you know, like the, you know, trendy, like the, like the gotcha moments, like the low hanging fruit podcasts, you know, crap that's out there right now. There's so much of it and I'm trying to cut through the noise and I feel like I have the chops to do it. And so, um, and so I guess that's, that's my answer.

Nik (Detached audio): 57:13

Well, I just wanna say hell fucking. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that vision with me. I encourage you to continue. Speaking it into existence.'cause it is who you are and I'm very, very excited to see what you create from here. If I can help in any way and be of service and, and continue to support you and, and collaborate, I'm in your corner and I'm officially claiming you as my sister podcast. So we're in, we're we're in this shit together. Now let's fucking go. But I really appreciate you, Taking the time to come on and like this, this is just such a very, very special episode for me because you're the only other podcaster out there that I've, that I've met that like really is kind of in this same space and, to me it's really exciting. So I just, I'm glad that we got connected and like I said, I'm really excited to, to see what you create from here.

olivia: 58:05

Thank you and I feel like you, you should send me an invoice'cause I think I just got life coached a little bit. And so thank, thank you for that session. Uh, I needed that today and, and I'm so excited to have you on my show and, and to hear more about your story. This is so cool and, am so happy to be your sister podcast that I feel very special. So thank you.

Nik (Detached audio): 58:28

Yes, everybody go subscribe to Elevated Frequencies. I will be on her podcast soon as well. So we have a lot of great stuff coming up. Thank you all for listening and love you all.