S2 Ep27 Why I Broke Up With "Expertise"

Today I'm getting into something that has been circling for me for a long time, expertise. What it actually means, why so many of us have clung to it, and why I think the whole hierarchy of it is collapsing. This is an ego death episode if I've ever recorded one. Let's get into it.

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Transcript

(0:00) Hi and welcome to The Mirror, the podcast where conscious business owners learn how to practise (0:06) marketing that is conscious, enjoyable and a true mirror of the brilliance of their service. (0:13) This isn't another generic marketing podcast, this is where you learn the deep psychological (0:18) principles that create effective marketing, where you can quiet the noise of the business world and (0:24) tune in to how to do things that are a true reflection of you, where you can learn how to (0:29) finally have the impact you know you are capable and worthy of having. I'm your host Emma, a (0:36) marketing expert of over a decade.I truly love what I do and I'm bursting with knowledge to (0:41) share with you all, so sit back, relax and let's dive in. Hi and welcome to another episode, (0:50) one that is going to kind of be a follow-on from last week's where I very much spoke about (0:57) this real shift that many of us have been sensing for quite some time now but it feels like it is (1:03) coming into fruition in ways that are very strong and can no longer be ignored and in a way are kind (1:11) of making their way mainstream. I know for many of us it feels like we've been sensing this deep (1:17) misalignment and this need for a better way for a long time whilst it kind of felt like the world (1:23) was still very much rooted in the old way and now it feels like these scales have tipped and (1:30) if you listen to last week's episode I speak on actually why that is, like what is going on with (1:35) in astrology, within human design, with these systems that we can kind of look at to recognise (1:41) patterns and shifts and changes, why we are very much unable to deny these shifts anymore (1:48) and something that really has been circling for me for a long time now and I've actually tried to (1:53) write on it multiple different times and it wasn't coming out in its expression and then it really (1:58) just landed for me the other day.I think it was something like it was really inconvenient the (2:03) timing of it, like I was maybe just like falling asleep or something, it's always the way and then (2:07) I was like yes that's it and I wrote on it and knew that I wanted to sit and record on it and I (2:13) share about this process a lot within my writing and how actually I think this is very important (2:18) for visionaries is to kind of rebel against the rush that is always like we need to be pushing (2:26) forward and we need to be getting things out and I spoke about this a lot in last week's episode (2:32) and the funny thing is is the piece that really ties into this is this concept of expertise (2:39) and the reason that this started to channel through more clearly for me is as I spoke in last week's (2:45) I was listening to a podcast by Richard Rudd who is the founder of Gene Keys and in part of this (2:50) episode he was talking about him and I'm so sorry I'm really used to remembering names but him and (2:56) somebody else, I'll share the episode so you can listen to it, they were speaking on how they've (3:04) been in their industries and their studies for over 20 years so Richard Rudd has been studying this (3:11) and he is insanely knowledgeable like if you listen to anything he knows all the gates of the (3:16) Gene Key systems like he can speak to them he has so much stored in his mind and it's incredible (3:22) and he was talking on how they came together and really like collapsed this idea of being experts (3:29) for a moment so that they could actually come at Gene Keys in an entirely different way and see it (3:39) through a completely different lens and he very much speaks about this new paradigm of where these (3:44) hierarchies of expertise are collapsing and I think we have been feeling into that for a while (3:51) now I know I have and I know there's a lot of talk in the mainstream around like this guru culture (3:56) dying and the influencer era being over and how people actually don't want to seek out the highest (4:04) expertise in the way that we have perhaps known it to be before and this has been like for want of (4:12) a better phrase a real ego death of mine because I am somebody who in all honesty has kind of clung (4:21) on to my expertise and it feels uncomfortable to say that but it feels like I've kind of been a (4:27) little bit self-righteous I want to say in terms of me being like no but I'm actually a marketing (4:34) expert and even as I say that I'm like oh the ego but the reason I've kind of been rooted into that (4:40) is actually fair in some regards and I like to bring this nuanced balanced take to these topics (4:46) in that I do feel like the world went through a bit of a shift where suddenly everyone was a (4:53) and I joke about this with a client the other day it's like everybody read an Alex Hormozy book (4:58) and then was a marketer or everybody studied a business course or worked with someone in their (5:04) marketing and then suddenly they were a marketer and I actually think that a lot of people blame (5:13) you know kind of like the old ways of marketing myself included that you know kind of built on (5:20) practises that we as like deeply embodied empathetic humans don't resonate with (5:26) but I also think like quite a big shift of misalignment was that everybody claimed themselves (5:32) as a marketer teaching the most basic principles and using these copy and paste tactics because (5:39) that's all people knew because it's all they had learned their kind of depth of expertise (5:43) only really went that far and I think that's what contributed to this like mass misalignment (5:49) because if you return to marketing at its core as I speak about all the time on here (5:53) it is behavioural change and unless you've studied the psychological principles that go with that (6:00) you're essentially just doing this really like standard form of marketing that we see of like (6:04) create this a to b transformation create the shiny cell like make these promises paint it as clearly (6:11) as possible and you know sell your work and as I say like that either worked for you or it was so (6:17) deeply misaligned for you that you couldn't do it or it just didn't work at all and the reason (6:23) being as I speak to here in regards to change makers is that you know your marketing needs (6:27) to create a behavioural change it needs to not just speak to this a to b point but people's (6:34) awareness of their a to b point how they feel about it what is genuinely limiting them and (6:40) the resistance that they have and what they're being told to do and the energy they want to be (6:46) met with and how well they can receive a message even if it is perfectly true for them like there's (6:52) so many layers to this which I do dive into all of the time as you know and I kind of got a little (6:58) bit on my high horse about it which is always funny in hindsight isn't it and I was like these (7:04) people are not marketing experts they don't really know what they're talking about and everybody that (7:10) I worked with in the marketing sense like support me with my own work was telling me like oh but (7:15) you're you're genuinely like a marketing expert you really need to lean into that expertise (7:20) I remember one of my clients left me a testimonial that was like Emma's the real deal in an industry (7:26) of bullshit and I think this kind of like went to my head a little bit and I was like yeah (7:31) guys I'm a real deal I'm an expert and like I said I do think there is some importance to that (7:37) like I do actually feel very grateful for the fact that I genuinely have knowledge and it is feedback (7:43) that I get all the time of like you really know what you're talking about and you're good at what (7:47) you do and I appreciate that because it's like been a decade of study and working in the industry and (7:54) questioning the industry and like I'm very devoted to the understanding of marketing (8:00) and I do genuinely consider myself to be somewhat of an expert in it but this is where it gets (8:07) interesting because I'm also the kind of expert that would not get a job in marketing like my (8:13) friend and I were joking about this the other day like we're totally unemployable because a lot of (8:19) the way that marketing is recognised and a lot of what you need to be considered quote unquote good (8:24) or an expert at marketing is not within my skill set like if I was to sit in a job interview now (8:31) like guaranteed they would ask me something about social strategy and growth and usage of AI and (8:36) all the stuff that is as I've been fed back from friends in the industry like very much (8:41) bog standard now and I wouldn't have a clue I wouldn't have a clue about any of it a story I've (8:46) shared on here before is when I went for a job interview and there were thousands of applicants (8:51) because it was just after the pandemic when a lot of people lost their jobs and I made it down to (8:57) the final two and I was like this is amazing I didn't get the job because they were like we just (9:03) don't feel like you're an expert in TikTok and I was like that is so fair I don't like TikTok (9:08) I'm not an expert in it but this is kind of a wider problem within marketing and I'm sure many (9:13) of you feel this within your industries in some capacity like you are expected to be across the (9:18) board and everything and like the good at things that maybe don't come naturally to you or even (9:23) that you don't believe in and so you know in terms of the wider marketing world I would not be (9:29) considered an expert at all as I say I'm very unemployable that's not me being self-depreciating (9:35) that is absolute truth I actually had a look for a job a couple I think about a year ago I was (9:40) gonna say a couple years ago I don't think it's even been that long just because I was you know (9:44) having one of my business wobbles as we do and I was like oh my god like I can't even fill out the (9:48) application like I don't know any of this stuff like it was things like how would you use AI to (9:54) improve the efficiency of you know and I was like I don't know I don't want to use AI so (9:59) it was like yeah this stark realisation that was actually really empowering for my own work (10:04) that I am very much not considered a marketing expert but still I was kind of holding on to (10:10) this title like I say because I felt like I guess that I needed some sort of edge and this is what (10:16) we're we speak about a lot right I did a post on this the other week about the fact that like you're (10:20) not original because the whole world has conditioned us to really find this competitive (10:26) edge and this thing that sets you apart and makes you stand out and I had a whole episode on this (10:30) about like maybe you don't need to stand out in your marketing in the ways that we have been taught (10:35) and I think it's the same with expertise I think these episodes go hand in hand because I think (10:40) many of us have like kind of run with this in a way that it's almost given us imposter syndrome (10:45) because like I say in a way of considering the wider marketing concept I wouldn't be considered (10:51) an expert at all and do I need to be and I think this is really what I have been sitting with (10:57) recently is like I actually feel like for me this encouragement from others and within myself and (11:02) my ego and all these things to really position myself as the expert like the go-to industry I (11:09) fell into that trap for a little while after I'd worked with a particular mentor and I was like (11:13) this feels gross like I don't want to be the expert that you go to and like the person you (11:20) know the one who knows what they're talking about because I just again thinks that positions in a (11:27) hierarchy of like I know better than you and something I have said so many times on this (11:32) episode I reckon it's one of my most used phrases is that you are the expert of your own business (11:37) you know if we even want to use the word expert you know your work better than anyone you know (11:42) your clients better than anyone you know how you want to express what you do and what is going to (11:48) work for you better than anyone my only role here is serving as a reflection of that asking you (11:55) questions that you know we all as humans have blind spots to getting deeper into your work (12:00) yes like considering the client and and my knowledge of like the psychology of that kind of (12:05) stuff but ultimately it's not this hierarchy where like you come to me as the guru we are talking (12:13) about your work you are the guru of that like you are the one who knows that and I actually think (12:20) that this positioning for me in terms of expertise was just leading me further and further away from (12:26) the truth of my work because when you start to fall into this hierarchy it does kind of present (12:32) me as the fix and the solution and the one who has the answers I don't have that I'm never going (12:41) to claim to you that I have that and I think like unknowingly because it is what a lot of (12:47) marketing mentors were peddling for a long time many of us have kind of put ourselves on that (12:53) pedestal and then felt uncomfortable with it of that like I can fix I can give you solutions I (13:01) can solve your problems and what it really does is it takes away autonomy from the people that you (13:09) are encouraging so that's also when a lot of people say that they start to fall out of love with their (13:14) business like it starts to feel draining people have come to them with all of this expectation (13:20) and this pressure in a way for certain results and for them to be the one that has all the answers (13:27) and knows all the solutions in a way where it actually becomes very disempowering for everybody (13:33) involved it becomes disempowering from the clients who are outsourcing their wisdom and kind of (13:41) putting that on you in a way and then of course that does become disempowering for you because (13:46) you don't have that capability no one does and I think it ties into a lot a larger picture of like (13:53) I was saying what we're experiencing with this collapse of these hierarchies and this guru and (13:58) influencer and even celebrity culture where we think that people outside of us know more (14:08) and have more authority and greater expertise and of course as I was saying there is nuance (14:16) within this because I'm very much a fan of learning from others and being supported and mentored (14:23) and really taking on others wisdom and having space where I can have myself reflected back to (14:31) me and I think that's so beautiful and I'll always invest in that and I'll always encourage investment (14:36) in that because I think that you know we as humans very much live inside of our own stories and (14:42) sometimes place limitations on ourselves that aren't actually there or follow things that we're (14:48) seeing and it's hard to tap into our originality and I think support is so powerful in that but I (14:56) also think that there has to be this collapse of hierarchy around that and I think many of us I know (15:04) what myself did like thought that we needed that to be worthy of investment thought that people (15:10) needed to see us as you know ahead of them or in worse case scenarios maybe even above them to be (15:19) worthy of investment and I just think maybe that was even true for a while maybe people would only (15:27) invest in people that they thought you had solid expertise and I do think that actually a lot of (15:32) that came off of the back of people kind of being burnt by others who were claiming to maybe be (15:38) an expert in something that very much weren't but I think now we're entering into this economy where (15:45) it needs to feel more reciprocal you know something that we said on the retreat a lot is (15:50) like that around the kitchen table vibe where it's like having friends over around the kitchen table (15:57) and just bouncing off of each other and supporting each other and I think that this hierarchy of (16:05) needing gurus as a way of you know I guess validating us and telling us what to do (16:14) is really dying a very fast death because as I say many of us have been either burnt by it or become (16:23) really disconnected and misaligned within ourselves because of it and I think we're (16:27) entering actually what Richard Rudd speaks of that is coming in in this new paradigm (16:31) of reciprocal energy he calls it interdependence where it's not codependent on you being like (16:39) right you're the authority tell me what to do show me the way validate me it's entering into (16:45) this interdependence where we're like oh okay you're knowledgeable in this reflect that let's (16:51) share on this what do you think of this you know this kind of like very much community-like (16:56) supportive energy and of course there is still the exchange of money within this (17:02) currently I mean who knows where the world's gonna go in that regard like anything can happen at this (17:07) point but at the moment it is still the energy exchange but it's coming from this place of like (17:12) I'm actually paying you to be in support of me and I love this shift I feel like this feels really (17:20) really empowering I've noticed a huge difference within my own investments when I have invested (17:26) from that place I spoke on how I invested in somatic support from a therapist that very much (17:32) had this energy on her sales page of like I am not here to fix you you don't you don't need to (17:37) be fixed like you are the one with the wisdom and the knowing and the ability to like hold (17:45) yourself in this is just that sometimes you can benefit from support in that and I made my first (17:49) like big big investment in that a couple of years ago and I feel like it's really shifted the way (17:55) that I now invest my latest investment was just literally me wanting to share my ideas with (18:01) someone who could reflect back on them and be like that's cool this that and a lot of the girls in the (18:06) retreat we had our reunion call the other week and we're very much like let's hop on calls and (18:11) you know generate ideas together and offer feedback and actually just be in support and I (18:20) very much built my service around this over the past couple of years like it feels like a place (18:24) where you may go off and rewrite your entire marketing and it may you know give you a lot in (18:32) terms of output but it's not from this place of like do what I say you know like I'm the one with (18:39) the wisdom do what I tell you what to do and then it will all just work it's very much from this (18:45) place of me turning up the volume on your own inner authority me reflecting back to you what (18:50) you already know and me championing your creativity within that and I think for a long time (18:57) I didn't believe that that was worthy of investment I thought that if I actually channelled into that (19:04) my business would just collapse and in fact the opposite has happened like people find my work (19:09) and feel such a deep resonance that they sign up and then when we work together it just it (19:13) feels amazing I used to feel quite drained by my work even though I loved it and now I don't feel (19:18) that at all I feel so energised and I hope and I get the feedback that people feel this but they (19:25) then feel empowered walking away from me and they don't feel like they need me either I don't feel (19:31) like they're like okay well you know I'm gonna have to invest in you next week as well and when I do (19:35) this when I do that like it's given them their own knowing and that is so powerful to me and (19:43) yeah it's like what I only what I can do now but I do think that takes like such (19:49) sitting down with yourself and being like okay where is my ego running the show here like where (19:54) do I not believe that what I have to give is enough what have I attached to my value (20:00) where perhaps it feels like I need to give x y and z and I need to be in a certain hierarchy (20:06) and I think when that starts to dismantle we do see this reciprocal way of working that (20:12) is so empowering and it's liberating it's so so liberating and I would love to hear on your (20:19) experience with this you know if you've kind of been in that place where you've invested in things (20:23) that I guess kind of felt like they robbed your authority what it's been like coming home to that (20:28) investing from that place I am really keen to have deeper discussions on this so I would love to hear (20:34) from you and if you do want to sit and share some reflections with me in regards to your marketing (20:40) or hear some of my own reflections in regard to marketing I am opening up my free 30 minute calls (20:45) for a very limited time as I say these go pretty quickly but yeah sometimes I just think we need (20:50) to sit in these spaces and be heard and share and be seen in those so these are very important (20:55) to me these spaces I have to keep them quite limited for my own energy levels but when I feel (21:00) like I have the capacity and I share them they honestly fill up my cup so much and I hope that (21:05) they offer something to you too so yeah thank you so much for listening to this episode thank you so (21:11) much for listening to this episode I really hope that it was helpful for you and if it has made (21:17) you want to find out more of the ways you can work with me all of the information about one to one (21:24) my resources my programmes are all listed below in the show notes if you found this helpful (21:32) I would really appreciate if you could take a moment just to write a review this helps other (21:38) creators just like yourselves find this podcast and have an even greater impact from their services (21:46) I would really really love to hear from you please feel free to get in touch with me over (21:52) Instagram or via email both of which again you can find below thank you so much for being here (21:59) and until next time