1. The Power of Being Unapologetically Yourself in Business

Say hello to our brand new podcast! This is something we have both wanted to do for quite some time, and now we are finally doing it!

In this episode, we introduce ourselves and talk about how authenticity shapes brand visibility, client attraction and confidence.

We get a little tongue-tied about our Wild Words of Wisdom at the end, but that's to be expected when you talk unscripted and without apologies.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Wildly Intentional, the podcast for business owners who refuse to play small.

SPEAKER_00 0:05

This is where we have bold talk, honest conversations and dig into what it really takes to create big breakthroughs in business and life.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Replick and verity, two business owners who've built, broken, rebuilt and grown businesses in our own ways.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

And we're here to share the lessons, the mindset shifts, and the unapologetic decisions that helped us to level up.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

So if you're ambitious, growth focused, and ready to do business on your own terms. Thank you in the right place. Let's get wildly intentional. Oh! Hello! How are you? I'm not too bad. I'm not too bad. It's um I'm excited to be doing this with you because this is really exciting. This has been a lot so for those of you listening, this has been a very long time coming. I think this is it's a natural thing with us, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

It is, it is. It it has been in the works for probably about five years.

unknown 0:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

So I think um, you know, I think we we're gonna start with you know a bit of an introduction to us so that you guys who are listening, you can um get to know us a bit better. Um, we do have topics that we're gonna talk about each week. Um, but this is you know, this is me and Varity, and we very often go off topic. Um and it gets a little bit wild, which is why we're called wildly intentional. We've set the intention, but it's gonna go a little bit off piste.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

It is, it is. It's never gonna we're never gonna stick to topic 100%. It just won't happen. We're gonna try. We're gonna try. Yeah, you know, it won't happen, but we'll try. It's like the 30-minute calls we book in and we're still sat there three hours later. It just it just doesn't work, but we'll try. Yeah, similarly, we're gonna try and stick to times as well, but that's um I mean I don't know. I think if it all goes to plan, that will be the wild part.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Yeah, if it goes to plan, that will that will definitely be the curveball for us. Yeah. So Verity, um, do you want to introduce yourself? Do you want to start?

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Okay, so I'm Verity. I am the owner of Blue Giraffe. So I have been a coach and trainer for many years. I've had several businesses. Um, I've been in business for about 13 or 14 years now. Um, built a successful social media agency. Um, we did that for about seven years, which is how I met the lovely Flick. Um got really bored of that. I'm gonna be really honest. I really like learned to hate what I did, which is never where you want to be in business. So we stopped the business, we stepped out of it, and then I ended up in Blue Giraffe, um, where I am now a coach and trainer and work with business owners and neurodivergent business owners. And Nigo and Babbling already. We're what, like three minutes in? If that.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

If that, if that, no. Um, yeah. So I suppose, you know, uh it's only fair that I now introduce myself. So I am Flick. I am the business founder for the Social Dragonfly, a social media marketing agency. Um so gosh, where did I start with with businesses? I had so many ideas as a kid, um, you know, and and teenager and young adult of like I was going to start this business and I was gonna start that business, and then it all got really scary, and I went, no, I'm just gonna go into you know corporate jobs, make life easy for myself, um, and sort of bounced around a bit until um I was working in admin, and they told me now we needed to do social media um and websites and all digital marketing, and then I met Verity, who was at the time uh running IMC Social, offering training um and guidance, and so I got a lot of training from Verity. Um, and unfortunately, she's she's never got rid of me since because uh I then went to work for her for a number of years until IMC Social closed its doors. Um, but that was the opening for the Social Dragonfly. I've been doing that for a number of years now. I do uh similar things, I do training, coaching, mentoring for people levelling up their business through social media marketing, um, and doing it with fun and joy and a bounce of my step.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

So you can tell which one of us is in marketing now because your pitch there was so much more refined than mine.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Mine went out the window halfway through. I didn't feel like it was. If that's any consolation, I was like, it's just me and you chatting, like we know each other's story. Like, why are we we're doing this? So I suppose we we should really say why we're doing this. Why, why, why a podcast? Why now?

SPEAKER_00 4:30

I think for me, I think we both wanted to do a podcast, but the bottom line is we chickened out and we just just too scared to do it on our own. So then we just came together and thought, do you know what? We work really well together, let's do it together. And we have some really funky conversations, so why not have those funky conversations and actually let other people in? That's wild. Um, I'm not quite sure what we were thinking, but no, it'll be good. It'll be good.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

Yeah, definitely. I mean, it was something that I was I was considering, you know. I listened to a lot of podcasts, um, and it was just that I'd love to do it, but like talking to myself for 20 minutes each episode and like keeping up with that momentum and coming up with ideas of what to talk about, and and it can be really, you know, strange and like you say, scary um to to think about okay, I've got to oh I've got to set this time aside. Um, but when you're doing it with somebody else, particularly somebody that you bounce off so well, because we do, um, you know, it it just seemed it just fit so naturally. And it was a it was an offhand conversation, wasn't it, between us for those 30-minute jump on a quick call and we're there three hours later. And it's like, yeah, well, we really want to do a podcast. What are you on about? I want to do a podcast. Shall we do one together?

SPEAKER_00 5:46

It was. I think the universe was at play a little bit, if I'm honest. I think it was very much that conversation was meant to and the really funny thing about that conversation, which I think is gonna set us up in terms of anybody who's listening, this is how it's gonna go. Um, that conversation started with let's do it together. And then it was okay, so let's set a time and date to actually come onto a call and decide, you know, what we're gonna do. And actually, by the end of that call, we had it all bolted down. It there was no other call needed because once we started it, we're excited puppies, right, Vic? Excited puppies. We are gonna mention.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

I think the other reason why we went with wildly intentional for our name of our podcast is because we're gonna mention animals throughout.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

We are.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Um, so again, I'm just gonna like explain to other people what the excited puppy uh comment is that Verity's just said. Um, so when I worked for Verity um and her her sister-in-law Alison um at IMC Social, I would often describe them both as two very different animals as business owners. Like Alison was very that sort of serene, sort of you imagine the aristocrats of like the the cool mum cat who was just like slowly going along with grace and with purpose and and and she'd really like that description. And Verity was like, you know, um like Oliver from Oliver and Company, like a little excited puppy that was just running after cars and dodging out of the way of things and and chasing something that was shiny. Um and we still use that analogy now to this day. Like it's it's never a thing, and we we sort of message each other, don't we? And go, Verity, are you in excited puppy mode or are we in serene cat mode?

SPEAKER_00 7:21

Yeah, absolutely. Uh things have calmed, I think, over the years, but we've like since discovered, you know, there is newer divergent there. So I have got ADHD, so it's you know, everybody, everything is off the charts, and I get really excited about something. But it was always really funny when I got a call with you because it got to the point that you knew me so well that you would start the conversation, bearing in mind that you worked for me at the time, you worked for me and Alison, and you would start the conversation with, right? Before you start, is this excited Peppy Mode, or are we actually going to do this? Because I would always come with a really good idea and I'd be really excited about it. And a week later I'd email you and go, No, Flip, we're not gonna do that anymore. It's just not working.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

And meanwhile, when the conversation started in that week, I'll have done like so much work, so much research to get it all sorted, and then it's like, okay, I might so it yeah, it was never like an it was never said as a bad thing to be an exciting doctor. No, it wasn't. And now that I'm going through my own ADHD diagnosis, which FYI, if any of you have ever gone through that, ADHD is we struggle with forms and stuff because there's no dopamine. What's the first thing that your doctor says when you go through? Oh, here's a form, fill it out. And I'm like, but there's no dopamine attached to that. There's no there's no excitement, there's no I know.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

So it's still my to-do list. I think though, right? Yeah, go first going off topic. I think they do it deliberately. The diagnosis process for any kind of neurodivergent condition pushes you so far out of your comfort zone, and I think they do it to see how you cope with that process. That's how I feel about it. Because if you don't cope with it, you know, you're there that they know, and it is the forms, it's just like, why does anybody want to fill out a form and just have a conversation with me?

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Yeah, you'll spot it within like three minutes of it. You know, I met somebody, um somebody else who has ADHD, and and I, you know, ADHD is you just click with each other, and and I think it was somebody else who went, so when are you going through for your diagnosis, Flick? And I was like, I don't give over. I'm I'm just quirky, I'm just I'm just full of energy and and they were like, What hyperactivity? I was like, Oh, shut up. That's that's okay, fair enough. Yeah, yeah. So what are we gonna talk about in Wildly Intentional? I'm gonna try and bring us back onto our intent. Okay, you do that, you do that.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

You be the sensible one in this duo. Okay, so we are gonna talk today because I think it's a nice little introduction to kind of what this podcast is gonna be about, but we're gonna talk about the power of being unapologetically yourself in business, because this is a lesson it took us a long time to learn.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Oh, very much so, so much so, and I think again, you know, not to make that if we're not making this a podcast about neurodiversity and the ADHD stuff, but it's gonna come up naturally because it's me in verity. Um, but that that holding yourself back, you know, masking, um, conforming to what somebody else wants, we see all the time, and it took us so long to break through it ourselves to go, do you know what? No, I'm not gonna apologize for who I am and what I'm excited by and and you know what I do. Um, and we really want to help you guys who are listening um to this bit of chaos to have a bit of fun. Um we really want to help you to actually see the the value in actually when you are unapologetically yourself in business, um, you attract people who you want to work with.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yeah, absolutely. I think as well, it's it's really interesting what you just said, particularly around the masking, because even when I had the social media agency, the one thing we used to say to people, because when you're marketing, it's very much you know, show up as yourself, be and be authentic. You know, you need to be authentic, that's how you sell. I hate that word. I know, but it is, isn't it? It is the buzzword in marketing, and it's I don't hate it actually. I don't hate that word.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

I don't I don't hate the meaning behind it, I just think it's overused and and it's lost its meaning because everybody's like, be your authentic self, be be authentic.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Could be worse, thick, I could say pivot. That's a word that makes me cringe. That's like the word moist, you know, it's just don't say it in in my vicinity, it's just not gonna, it's not gonna go down well. But I think when we had the agency, you know, we would go out and say to people, be yourself, you know, you need to be, sorry, I'm gonna use it authentic, you need to show people who you really are. And then sat behind the the computer, we weren't doing that at all. And I think the problem with that is that's why I fell out of love with it because I wasn't being me. I wasn't really doing what I wanted to do, I wasn't being the person I wanted to be. I wasn't the business, I was always looking at other people thinking I want to be like them. And actually, I should have just thought, do you know what? I just want to, I just want to do me. Because if I'm me, that's where success happens. And it's a breakthrough, you've got to get to a point. And imposter syndrome comes into this massively as well, I think. Because we know working with business owners, imposter syndrome is it's just everywhere, everybody's got it. And I think while you've got imposter syndrome, you find it really hard to be yourself. But actually, when you're really true to yourself and you start running your business your way, entirely your way, without apologizing and saying, actually, this is how I do it, you can either come on board with it or you can go and find somebody else, and that's okay too. When you start working like that, that's when you really start to love what you do.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Yeah, and it's not being rude, and it's you know, when you say to people like, well, this this is my boundary, this is this is who I am and what I do and how I do it, if you're not on board with that, you know, there's other trains you can get on board with. And and I've tried very desperately tried not to use an animal reference there of like, you know. Oh, come on. But you know, there's there's other things that you can, you know, there are other people out there, and I think that's that's such a powerful thing. I mean, I don't think, you know, when I say I had all these ideas for different businesses, I don't think I'd have actually taken that step if you guys hadn't closed the business um and and left me in that position where I could go and work for somebody else where I knew I'd be shoehorned into being their worker. When I worked for you guys, it was very much you were like, so what do you want to do? Like, what do you want to do for our business? Um, and I was allowed that freedom and I was like, I'm never gonna find that with somebody else. Or I'm probably not gonna find that with somebody else. Um, you know, I didn't go and look, I just went, do you know what? I can go and be me and I can go and be awesome, and I can go and do all the things that I want to do and um all the things that bring me joy. And and people who are my clients now, they're like, you know, you you're so excited by what you do. And I'm like, why wouldn't you be as a business owner? Why don't you do what you love?

SPEAKER_00 13:57

And that's key. And I think we get really bogged down when we start businesses. We we start, we say yes to everything because we're terrified of saying no. We say, say no, we're gonna lose people, it's gonna damage our reputation. And actually, it's gonna do the complete opposite of that. We need to stop fearing the word no. But we start saying yes to everything, and then we get really bogged down. And we've seen it many times with our clients that people are working so hard in their business, they've forgotten that they are actually running a business that they did because they wanted to do something they loved, they want freedom, they want to do something that brings their passion out, and they lose that down the way. And they lose it, I think, because they get it's ironic because most business owners won't go into or set up a business because they don't want it, they can't fit in the box that employment gives them. Yet what we do is fit ourselves into another box. It's a trap that we get caught into because we think we should look a certain way or behave a certain way, go on LinkedIn and be all suited and booted and professional. How many times have you heard that? That's not me. I'm terrified of LinkedIn. I just go on LinkedIn and sit selfie on it and say, Here I am. What's the worst thing that's gonna happen? It is going to attract clients because you're gonna attract, and it says, you know, it's client attraction, it's it's about confidence. You're showing it's when you gain your confidence, when you start really being you and you stop apologizing and you stop saying, I'm gonna do it your way, I'm gonna do it mine instead. That's when your confidence comes. I have never been more confident in business as I am now. I know I am good at what I do, I know I am working with clients that I really want to work with, and I'm okay with saying no. And it's not rude, it is saying there is someone out there for you, it's not me.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that always comes back to me is when you know, when we had that conversation, when you were closing IMC Social and Um, I you know, um, my story or the full details of it, it was actually Varity who turned around and said, Well, why don't you do it yourself? Um, because it was something that I'd thought about, but it was always that, oh well, it's a nice thought to have. And I remember I phoned up my dad, we got off that that Zoom call. I was in tears, you know, I knew I was gonna be losing my job. Like I at that point it was. At that point, I thought I was also gonna lose some of my friends as well. Because, you know, you, me and Alison, we were all really, really good friends, not just people who worked with each other. Um, and I phoned up my dad and I was like, look, this this is the the situation, I could I could do it myself. And his words of wisdom, um, and he'll never listen to this podcast, bless him, because he just doesn't do um any kind of media in any form, but um, he just turned around and he said, Can you do the job? Can you do the thing? Can you do do you love doing the thing? Will you get up every morning and think, I can do this? And I was like, Well, yeah, I'm brilliant at it. I'm I'm amazing at what I do. And he was like, Yeah, we'll do it then. The rest of it you can figure out, you know, there's so much support out there for, you know, if you're considering starting a business or if you've just started a business and you're feeling overwhelmed, there is support out there. There are, you know, there are coaches galore, there's there's training galore. Um, and there's you know, there's people who you can outsource to. I mean, outsourcing is the best thing in business when you go, I don't like this thing, I'm gonna pay somebody to do it for me because then I get to do more of the things that I love. Yeah. Um, in just that moment, and every every time I have a little bit of doubt in you know, in business, because those happen, those moments of doubt come when you go, can it can should I just go and get a job somewhere? And you know, and they come and I just sit there and go, Do I still love and am I still brilliant at what I do? And the answer is yes. The answer always comes back as yes. Um, and it's just like, okay, so if I love what I do, do people know that I love what I do and that I'm brilliant at it? If they don't, then I need to possibly change my marketing tactics, I need to shout about it more on social media or start a podcast, or you know, whatever I need to do, do more into my emails, put more one-to-ones with people, have a catch-up and really, you know, show my passion. Because we get we get that as well. It's like, you know, I can't be really passionate about that because people all think I'm weird. Like, you know, so many people hate social media and they're like, I just don't get flick why she loves it.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

I'm like, because I do, it's what what I love. Going back to one of your points, though, because it's really relevant, and this is a marketing thing, because obviously we experienced it in the agency and you're experiencing it now. So many people hate social media because they're terrified of showing up on social media, they're terrified of being themselves on social media, they're terrified of selfies, they're terrified of sharing their story. So, what advice would you give them? I know what I'd say, but what would you give them? You know, you're doing it every day. Because that happens all the time, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:47

It does, and you know, people, you know, people have criticized me of like, why do you post so many sh selfies? Why do you post so many selfies? And I'm like, because it's me, because do you know what? The people who don't who don't want to work with somebody who is quite confident in in posting a selfie, um, and even now I post some selfies and I'm going, God, I look awful. I'm I'm like, you can tell I need like three cups of coffee before that, but like I just post it anyway. Um, is lean into that fear. It is leaning into that fear because the people who don't like that aren't your aren't your people, right? They're not the ones that are going to work with you. Um, lean into it because you know, when you when you what's the phrase? Um I'll get my brain switched on in a minute, folks. Um, you know, when you lean into the fear, that's where the magic happens. That's where the real, you know, your passion, your drive, because finding your people is just such a magical moment when you realize that of, you know, they are out there. Sounds like a little bit of an alien conspiracy theory, but it's right though, you're absolutely right.

SPEAKER_00 19:51

And I think what you just said about leaning into the fear, it's really funny because I used to go with this theory. I remember writing a LinkedIn post on it once, excuse me, saying, Why does everybody tell me I have to come out of my comfort zone? What's wrong with my comfort zone? Why can't I just stay in my comfort zone? I'm losing my voice. Hang on. It's great for a podcast. Yeah, edit that bit out. Um yeah, I remember writing the whole did you just apologize? I might have just apologized, yeah. Yeah, that's one thing that we're gonna do on this podcast is we're we're gonna try not to ever say sorry and we're gonna we're gonna count up when the other one calls. I coughed. It is what it is, I'm not apologizing. Um but yeah, I remember being really passionate about it and saying, why are we pushing people to come out of their comfort zones? You know, what's wrong with it? We're in our comfort zone for a reason. And do you know what? I have never been more out of my comfort zone than I am every day right now. And now the business is flying. Now I'm getting the clients I want, now I'm doing the dream job because I am stepping out of that comfort zone every day. So I'm really sorry, folks, if you want to stay in it, it's just it's not where it's gonna, it's not, it's not gonna show you the magic. You gotta come out, you have to step out of that comfort zone because that's where the magic really happens. It's true.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

When I go back to like, you know, so I do a little bit of psychology and and um so I I really got a bit nerdy, ADHD hyperfocus, can we spot them? Um, into you know, the psychology of the human brain. And it's it's that caveman thing of actually, you know, if we stayed in the cave, the cave was safe and and uh but there was no food in the cave, there was no water in the cave, there was no fur blankets or or wood that would actually, you know, but we were protected in the cave. And if we don't, you know, that's what we mean when we say step out of your comfort zone, it's not go and you know, go face to face with a saber-toothed tiger necessarily, it's just step out of the cave and find the things that you need. Kept throwing them all in today. Um, but you know, it's finding the things that you need to thrive. You know, if you're gonna go find firewood to bring back to the cave, like we can still come back to that comfort zone, but we're never gonna build the fire. Or find food or find water if we step out of it. And you know, it's our caveman brain saying, no, no, stay safe, because then we can't be attacked. We can't possibly be attacked if we're if we're hidden away in a cave. But we can't find the good things.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

You can't. And you know, I'm coming from when you said about psychology, I think, you know, it's laughable, really, because I am a somatic trauma-informed coach. So coming out of your comfort zone, I know what that's going to do to your body, I know what that's going to do to your nervous system. But there are things you have to do when you come out of your comfort zone. You know, you do have to learn to ground yourself, you do have to learn to manage your nervous system, be aware of it. But oh my God, especially if you're ADHD, that dopamine hit you're going to get when you're out of your comfort zone and that magic starts to happen. It's just worth every single second of it. I wish I could say stay safe, but it's just it's it's not where it works. If you really want to thrive, and this podcast is about people who really want to grow, really want to thrive, it's not always going to be comfortable. You are going to have to get uncomfortable to make it, you know, to where you want to be. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

And and that's that's such a powerful thing when you when you get uncomfortable, when you go and kind of go, you know, I mean, I'm I'm uncomfortable about launching a podcast. I'm like, you know, the imposter syndrome thoughts that it's flying through my head of like, oh, there are other people who are doing podcasts about this kind of stuff, and and who's gonna listen to it. It's like, but no, this is something I really want to do, it's out of my comfort zone. We'll find out how good our editing skills are after we've recorded all of these because you're saying cut that bit out. And I'm like, No, I'm not sure we're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

I'm sure you won't, and even if you could, you probably wouldn't, just despite me.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Yeah, because we're we're not apologizing, right? We're not editing ourselves. This is you know, this is unedited. This is me and Verity having a chat with you guys who are listening, you know. And as much as I do hate the word authentic, you know, it's it's us being us, it's us being our authentic selves, and you know, mistakes happen, but we embrace them, um, and we learn from them. You know, you can't learn if you don't make mistakes, you know.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

I know that's a whole new podcast. Because we've made a few of those we can talk about.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

Yeah, we have got a plan for these podcasts. That's why we we've setting the intention. I'm sure I've said I'm gonna repeat myself because but yeah, it's it's such a a powerful thing to lean into that fear to to. I mean, one of the things again, you know, that I love to say to myself, you know, if I'm gonna go and talk on a big stage or something like that, like fear and excitement, they're the same drug in your brain. It's adrenaline. It's how you choose to respond to it. Of are you are you choosing to say, actually, I'm excited by this? That's why the adrenaline's pumping in my body, that's why my heart's beating faster, my my breaths are, you know, I'm drawing in more oxygen. Are we going, I'm excited by this, or are you saying, I'm afraid by this? And that that very subtle shift can make such a big difference to what the world sees.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

Um I watched um it's such a really that's such a good way of putting it. I I was I I'm a bit obsessed, right? Because uh of ADHD, like I I what's the word I binge watch loads of things, and one of the things that I binge watch is Yellowstone. I don't know if you've seen it, um, but I see I'm on my third time around with Yellowstone. I've seen so many clips on like Instagram and TikTok of well, just you know, going off topic completely. If you're gonna watch it, you've got to get past like episode six, because until then, you're not hooked. But once you get past episode six, you are so in. Anyway, I'm completely obsessed with it. And one of the characters in it, she's an amazing actress. Um, and she she doesn't fear anything, and it's her whole thing that I don't and she said something the other day that was just I can't remember the exact phrase, but she basically said, There's a lot of things that will stop me in life, but fear won't be one of them. I will never not do something because I'm scared. And I thought that is just such an amazing way to look at things because that's where all the nothing happens, it you know, like you said, you stay safe in your comfort zone, but actually we're here to live once. And you didn't set up your business to be safe, you set up your business to achieve something. So don't let this was fear for us. The reason we're doing it together, and we found a way around it, was because we were really scared of doing a podcast on our own. For me, it was the tech side, because we all know I'm a huge technophobe, but you know, it's we found a way around.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

We'll learn that.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

Well, they will learn it, yeah. But I know that you know, I absolutely know in a couple of months' time we're gonna listen back to this podcast and we are gonna cringe like hell because this is gonna sound horrific to us. But I'm okay with that because everybody's got to start somewhere, but you've got to try before if if you don't try, then you'll never get it ever. I don't know if I'm back to the case.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

If you don't try, you'll never fly. Like, you know, if a bird never leaves the nest, yeah, absolutely, it will die in that nest, it will never experience what it feels to feel the the wind beneath its wings. Just another animal reference I'll throw in there for us. Absolutely. Um, but yeah, it's it's just you've got a you've got to leap um to to try and see what what happens. And you know, yes, okay. So for me, starting the podcast was more about that that consistency of actually having um, you know, setting aside time where I'm going to record a podcast. Because, you know, as with a lot of business owners, when you first start out, I mean, I've been going for three years now, so I wouldn't really call myself as a first start out kind of person. But you know, you'll block book time in your diary for like say working on your business plan or or your accounts or whatever it is that you block book out of time in your diary. But then if a new client or a potential client says, Oh, can I have a one-to-one in that time? So many business owners that I talk to, that I speak, that I was myself, was I wouldn't, I wouldn't safeguard that time. I wouldn't, so it was like when I'm recording a podcast, it was like, Well, I know I'll, you know, I can do it and I I could do all the technical stuff and things like that. But I know that there are times where I don't safeguard my own time, whereas doing it with somebody else, having that that accountability, oh, that accountability. I love somebody else to just yeah, go through it and be like, no, come on, Flick. Well, you know, let's let's set a time in the diary, let's record some podcasts and let's let's get them out there. Because if we don't, if we don't do it, we'll never do it. We'll sit on this idea and then somebody else will come and do it, and you go, Oh yeah, I had that idea.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

Um which we've experienced so many times over the years. Because there's always somebody else who is feeling the fear and doing it anyway, and they're gonna do it first if you don't do it.

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Yeah, oh absolutely, and we we've as you say, we've experienced that. We we we can name names, we're not going to, but not both. But there's always that, you know, that thing of, oh, I'd I'd like to have done that, oh, so and so's doing that, or I'd like to do that. And it's like things like you know, look at other people in business and yeah, okay, so they're doing it, but there might be 700 other people who are doing it, but there's only one you, yeah, you know, being unapologetically yourself, doing it your way, yeah, um, is so so powerful, is is that it's the be all and end all.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

It is, that's the impact, isn't it? Because I know that you know, when I was doing what you do, that the one thing I would say to people, I don't believe in the term saturated market, right? It's controversial to say that because lots of people do, but I believe it doesn't matter how many other people there are out there doing it, nobody is you. But if you're not out there presenting yourself unapologetically as yourself, then nobody gets to see that version. So how you win clients is and how you build your brand is by being completely unapologetic. You that's why people come to you. Some people will go to other people, but the right people will come to you every time. It doesn't matter how many people there are out there doing the same thing as you, people will be attracted to you, your unapologeticness, your confidence, your passion in what you do. And if you don't give them that, then you're almost be you're almost giving a disservice not only to yourself, but to your potential clients too.

SPEAKER_01 30:25

Yeah, and I speak see, I speak to so many people, and I see so many people doing this. Try to say the two at the same time did not work for me. Um, as they go, like, well, I can't put that on on socials because nobody's interested in the fact that my dogs had to go to the vet, for example. And it's like, but actually, I know somebody else who um she posts regularly about her dog, like it's nothing to do with her business. But then when she's had client one-to-ones, like people have suggested, should we go for a dog walk together somewhere? And it's like because they're, you know, they know that about her personally, and they they'd like the fact that that's part of who she shows up as. If she shows up as herself who is a dog owner, like she'll go for a walk with them.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

Um, and that's really relevant because people would go, but that's not professional. And we're here going, do you know what? Your business, your way. I mean, when I had the tribe, the membership, that that was the whole thing about it, wasn't it? It was do business your way. Nobody gets to tell you how to run your business. You don't have to do it because Bill Gates says do it this way. You can do it your way, absolutely your way. So if you want to go on dog walks and you want to go walk in, networking, you want to meet your clients with dogs, absolutely do it. It's a professional because it's the way you do it. Your business your way.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Your business your way.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

How yeah, that's if you tell me that that's the first time you've heard it, I'm gonna be really offended. It was literally the Tower Tribe tagline.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

No, I know it's not, but it's just you know, and sometimes you hear something and you've heard it like 20 times before, but sometimes it suddenly lands and it just hits you in the chest, and you go, Yeah, that's that's what it's all about. Is your business your way? You started this business to do things your way and be who you are, like not to be somebody else's view and and not like Joe down the street or Bill Gates or by anybody else, is to do it to fit you, your lifestyle, your your family situation, whatever, whatever reasons behind starting your business were, you did that because you wanted that from life, from business, from work.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 32:29

How are we doing for time? I think we're around about half an hour.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

Are we? So we actually had a second time refers. Wow. All right then. Well, let's end it then. Are we gonna do like a wild intention or a wild wisdom wise word? You got stuck up the W's there. I did, I did. Www dot.

SPEAKER_01 32:54

Oh gosh. Oh, that's another topic for another day of like the things that we used to say in marketing way back when. Um yeah, no, words of wisdom for the end of our wildly intentional podcast. So, what what have you known what would you say that have been your words of wisdom or or my words of wisdom that have resonated with you?

SPEAKER_00 33:12

For me, I think it's very much don't let fear stop you from being an apologetically you.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

Yeah, the the feel the fear and lean into it and do it anyway. That's you know, if we could give one bit of advice from this this you know, this first podcast. Um, and there will be more. We're gonna uh we're gonna be releasing these weekly.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

Um so yeah. And these are lessons we've learned, by the way. So we're not here being perfect because we've done it right all the way, we've learned these lessons all along.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

No, not I'm not claiming perfection in any stretch of the imagination.

SPEAKER_00 33:48

We've done it so wrong so many times, and this is just things that we've learned along the way. And if we can make somebody else's life just a little bit easier so they don't make quite as many mistakes as we did, then you know, happy days. That's wild.

SPEAKER_01 34:00

Or even like you say, just that alignment of other people when they're sat there thinking, oh my god, I've made this mistake, this is like the worst thing, and you listen to this podcast and you go, Oh no, here are some other people who've made these mistakes, and and you're not alone as a business owner, as though sometimes when you're a sole trader, you know, it can start happening, feel very lonely, and you're not alone. We're we're here. Absolutely. But yes, I feel feel, oh gosh, I'll put my teeth in, shall I? Feel the fear and do it anyway.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

Absolutely. There's the wild, what is it? The wild words of wisdom. Wild words of wisdom. We'll get better at this. We will, we will. All right.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

See you next time.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

See you next time. Thanks for spending this time with us on Wildly Intentional. If this episode sparked something for you, take it with you and act on it. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and come and say hello online. And remember, bold talk leads to big breakthroughs and no apologies.