ZEITGEIST Enter The Conversation (Episode 9)

If you’re not part of the conversation, you’re not part of the decision.

In this episode, Kyle Hosick and Kim Fitzpatrick explore the idea of the zeitgeist and what it actually means for your business and your brand.

Most people are watching. Consuming. Observing.

Very few are participating.

Visibility is not just about being present. It’s about being relevant, discoverable, and consistently showing up in the places where decisions are being made.

Because if people can’t find you, they can’t choose you.

Listen, Watch and follow LegacyLive!

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/legacy-live/id1887380705

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

And we are back with another episode of Legacy Live. This is episode nine. I think we've decided we're dropping the keywords. You've heard enough of these that you know what this is about. And today we're going to get into something really unique. I'm your host, Kyle Hossick.

SPEAKER_00 0:15

I'm your host, Kim Fitzpatrick.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

And let's take it away.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Let's do this. So we are starting with a really cool topic today. In fact, so much so that I can't, I don't want to say it first in case I mispronounced the name.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

So the word, the word you may have seen if you clicked the thumbnail, if you you dropped in here from our website or YouTube, the word is Zeitgeist.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

And it is a German word that basically it's a summary of the cultural goings-on around you. So it's like the topics that are on everybody's mind at one time. Um, and it would it would be like the weather if you were talking about news and stuff and culture and um it's it's a not commonly used word, I'll say that. Um but I heard it this week and was thinking, Zeitgeist, yeah, you know what? Every business strives to be part of the zeitgeist, and this is a podcast topic. Um and so you used an interesting word when we were talking through it before we started. Now what now what does zeitgeist mean to you, Kim?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

That's it's see, I was excited for this question because I was like, oh, let me be profound. And then I realized that I don't need to do that. So, firstly, zeitgeist to me, right? It's it's exciting. I like hearing different words that actually pull me, especially from a business perspective, that pulled me into a different level of awareness. But where I really wanted to talk about it was thinking about visibility. And, you know, so because when things are going on, what comes across your sight line, what comes across your social media, what comes across what your feed is showing you is visibility. It is, it is the goings-on of the world, whether it's your competitor, your own business, your own brand, your own personal, like heartbeat and DNA. It is about also the visibility of what you're seeing.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

That's right. It's what's going on around you. Yeah. And like I said, um entering the conversation as a business is really what everyone is striving for, which is why zeitgeist was such an easy, weird word to use to summarize. You know, most likely a lot of you are business owners. Some of you are listening just to improve your life in general, but Zeitgeist can still apply because I I use the example uh in the last 18 months, I've worked with four different PR firms um for another business to pay to enter the zeitgeist. Right. That's what you're trying to do. You want to be part of the conversation, and it's tough, it's tough, and we're gonna get into choices you make, things you put into action to attempt to become part of the conversation with the ease of entry and the lowest cost to you, because that's a good place to start always. Um, but in the case of that PR work that I did, three of the attempts I would say were not as successful as I wanted them to be. Right. One of them was terrific. Yeah. Uh was it worth doing all four to get to the one to try to enter that conversation? Yes, a hundred percent. And I chat I'm gonna challenge each business owner listening or watching. What are you doing to enter the conversation? It's I don't think these days it's enough to be posting Instagram reels. And I know that's the most popular place. TikTok, Instagram, you're posting content, and there are others that will tell you, you know, post 10 times a day, it's all you need to do. Yeah, I I'm a traditionalist still. You're gonna have to drag me kicking and screaming to only exist on Instagram as a business. I mentioned the PR firm, like we had classic exposure in the Financial Post, the Toronto Star. That's right. It was revenue brands, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:28

Um so fashion, high-end fashion.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Yes, but so you know, we'll get into the importance of story to visibility. Um, but in this case, yeah, like you craft the story properly and you can enter the zeitgeist.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Yes, it is, and I think one of the things as well, it's like you said this earlier and we were chatting about it. It's like if no one sees you in the conversation, then you're not in it. And that really struck me. The other thing that struck me too is, you know, meeting the people. You've said that before in other episodes. It's like this also reminds me of like those conversations you are in or the conversations you're not in absolutely determine the success of where you're going, you know. And one of the things you said was important is I love Instagram, I love LinkedIn, I love Facebook. My kids think I'm such a dinosaur. Actually, it was the best, you know, we've gone through this stage with our kids where it's like, can I post this on Facebook? Absolutely, no one's on there. You can post whatever you want on there, right? To them, no one's on there. But I would argue, you know, I we created our first seven-figure business on Facebook with no ads. Like it was meeting the people, connecting, really being visible, um, having the conversations, not always just going to sell, but also sharing the story and like really knowing who you are. And that's important. The other thing I would say that you've again, we've really been talking about a lot, and I've always been a proponent of it, is like meeting people for lunch or getting in the conversation or meeting and in-person, you know, getting to events, being visible. Like that is crucial. If you're not in the room, and again, there that's a whole other thing too, because there's a lot of that I don't want to call it propaganda because I believe that investing in events and being in spaces are is super important. Networking is super important. However, there are people that are curating the rooms that are telling you to be in the rooms, but you need to choose the room that you want to be in and who you want to be surrounding yourself with and what that's gonna look like.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

The room should prove itself to you as well as much as you need to prove yourself to them.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Absolutely. That's it. Like you're anytime you're interviewing someone or someone's like wanting to go into business with you, you are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you, or you know, in that proposal to etc. Like that needs to be a match. Yeah, that's super important.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Well, you said meeting for lunch. Like, that's the best thing about zeitgeist is it's what other people are saying to other people, too. I you know, I talked about PR first and newspapers, and it isn't just that, it's like word on the street and like your reputation preceding you, and Bob saying to Doug, Have you met Kyle? Because he can do you know what he does this crazy thing, and that's zeitgeist, and that's why it's my favorite to have this word represent this episode is it means so much, yeah, but it's just one little word that I want you to think about as a listener or somebody watching. Remember zeitgeist because I use this example for you too. Like, I still go to Google, yeah. Google is the measure of zeitgeist, whether anyone likes it or not today, is you've got trending searches, they've had those for 15 years where it's predicting what you might be searching. Yeah, that's the zeitgeist in action on display. Right. So another challenge for each listener is when you are Googling yourself, what's coming up? That's that is your one sentence, two sentence, three sentence in the cultural conversation. And there are things you can do immediately to have a stronger, louder voice in the conversation, and that will always be better for you, and it will always be better for your business.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

And that would be like articles, podcasts, uh content. Your, you know, your like Instagram posts show up of mine or things like that, or the new magazine I was just in, or whatever that is, or a podcast. Perfect. You know, those are those are some ideas of where you show up and also to be volunteering. Like I still, I actually had this question where someone's like, Do you still do like free speaking? And I'm like, all the time. What do you mean? Do I still like of course you want to get yourself in the room, you want to be there, you want to be visible. I'm I've got a um Brad, one of who's one of our guest experts in Lumina. I'm presenting tomorrow, you know, on this amazing mission and purpose, you know, workshop for his group of rewired students. Like, and we and I was like, a hundred percent, I'll do that. So it's like, are you allowing yourself to be an like you know, offering of your services? No, get on those podcasts, be those guests, you know, create those events, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:11

I these are tiny little things that when you compound them and add them up, zeitgeist becomes very easy. Very easy.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

I feel like I can't say that word properly. I feel like I'm gonna be I feel like I'm gonna be inappropriate.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

There was something in there when you first read it off our page this morning. Um, I want to speak to one other piece of zeitgeist. Like last year I wrote a book. Yes, not to enter the zeitgeist. I wrote it because I felt I needed to, and it was a topic that I was like, I got this. Like I got I got 250 pages on this, easy, and I published it, it's on Amazon. This isn't a plug for it. That became my most important piece of the zeitgeist in Google's mind because Google sells my book, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:00

So Instagram you now became very valuable to me.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

I became very valuable, and if you Google me, you're gonna see over on the right hand side, like author Kyle Hausick with a little bio there and stuff. I didn't even try, I didn't know that's how you got those, but I'm doing and creating and not consuming so much. It's like put myself in the places I need to be where that zeitgeist becomes tangible in ways you're not even planning to utilize.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

One of the things, too, and this is really, really important as someone who is either a business owner or, you know, even if you just have a career and you're wanting to move up the leadership ladder, it's like, are you publishing or are you scrolling? Right. A lot of people spend so much time scrolling and consuming and rather than creating. You know, I really think about that. It's like for every piece of, you know, published material, sure, if you want to go and veg out or scroll or zone out, you can do that. But that also will that also will tap into your energy of what you have that that visibility and that zeitgeist of like, how are you actually? She said it. She did it. I was not scared and I did it.

SPEAKER_01 11:13

But I thought we were gonna have to cut the no, it's gonna be good.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

But it's like, are you reacting or are you leading? Like all of this comes into that in your business where you get to say, like, am I an active participant in my business, in my life, in my how I want to show up, in my reputation, in the rooms I'm in, in the conversations I'm willingly engaging in. You know, that is so important. Or are you being an observer? Like, are you just are you an are you an active observer or are you an active participant in your life and in your business and contributor?

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Now listen, I scroll.

SPEAKER_00 11:47

Oh, I do too. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

That is this that's me looking at the zeitgeist. Yeah, like because I want to know what's going on. And I think my algorithm's pretty balanced and it's good. It brings in some music, it brings in some of this podcast type content. I've got content from pop culture that's outside of music. I got my own stupid stuff that I once had the queen who uh wanders around Disneyland in my algorithm for like 10 days for some reason because she's nasty, maybe. I don't know. She lives on the dark side with me. Anyhow, it's okay to figure out what's going on in the zeitgeist by consuming a little bit, but the difference between the consumption and the production needs to be like 20, 80, 40, 60. Like, I couldn't live with myself if I was just consuming. Like, that's I'm not wired that way.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

But there's a lot of people that do. They yes, and that and that's a real to me, that's always like such a gauge of like, if you feel like you have low energy, if you feel if you feel defeated, if you feel like I have no creativity, question yourself how much you're consuming.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

That's an easy way to let the zeitgeist beat you up. Oh, 100%. Make you feel like you're worthless because you're not part of it. Yes. And I think the point here today is like, it's very easy to become a part of it, uh, especially if you have a business. You are offering something, you have a service, you have a product, there's a way you're marketing it. And I think the challenge in this topic from my side is like maybe rethink how you're marketing it so it can become at least a small part of the conversation. Yeah. Where one person says to another, not in your presence, have you seen this service? Because it's perfect for you.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

And there's screws you can tighten and knobs you can turn to make that a either a better story to share or popular.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

I think one of the things that's so important when we're talking about stories and your own brand story is really understanding your deep purpose. And I think a lot of people are trying to figure out like, can I manufacture my purpose? Your purpose will literally find you if you're open to it. And that's really key. And when you can perfect your story and understand your story and why you do what you do, that like purpose, I believe purpose is where it starts, right? Purpose is where it starts. I have an idea. I have this idea. And then it goes to desires. And you're like, okay, I desire to be visible. I desire to be in the conversation, I desire to be on that stage. For example, that might be somebody that wants to become a speaker or a published author, et cetera. You know, then it ties to mission. So what's the mission? Like, and and you said something really important when people are feeling that they're maybe you're pulled too far into the scrolling world. That is when you can also start gapping on your service. And service is everything. Service is service will bring you energy, service will bring you sales, service is money, right? Energy and service go hand in hand, right? The more service you prepare you provide, the more money you will earn. That is just reciprocity. And, you know, so when you can perfect that story, you understand that, and then you've got your purpose, you've got the desires, you understand your mission. That is when you really have that deep action and you can act on it. Yeah. It's the question of what are you willing to do? And, you know, you need receipts. You need to show receipts that you're investing, you're there, you're trying, you're failing, you're losing, right? But you know, the world won't know you if you don't show up in it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Honestly. Well, for me, that that Google page one is those are my receipts.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Yes, right. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Like I don't give them to my bookkeeper, but they live there on Google. And, you know, you said service and mission. This this comes back to the story because that's what's shareable. Yeah. And I find most people, like in my agency business, when I challenge someone, what's your story? What's the story behind this? What is the shareable unit that might have potential to make you part of the zeitgeist? Yes, they cover it up because they don't think it's good enough. But most people's stories, there's a nugget hidden in there that is the true reason they started the business or are offering the service that you can pump up and you can do your best with shaping it without making it untrue. Like this is what marketers do is shape stories. So I challenge the listeners to shape their own story and lean back into it. If you're avoiding it to the point where you're not using a story at all, that's why you're not part of the zeitgeist.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Yeah. And I think it will also represent back to why things are not feeling as successful. If you're not consistently showing up, and you know, one of the things I'll say too, like Instagram told me the other day, it's like, congratulations, you've been posting for 500 567 weeks. Wow. Consistently. For 567 weeks. That's crazy. That's receipts. Yeah. Like and I, you know, it's commitment, it's receipts. Like, I giggled when I saw like an old video from 11 years ago, Jamie and I working out in our garage, right? Like on YouTube. And I was like, this is the coolest thing. I love that I see this from 11 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Picture of showing up at all times. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

Like it was, it wasn't messy. It wasn't perfect. You know, we were trying on YouTube 11 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Well, and you didn't see it now and think, I gotta get this down. I got to delete this. Look at them. I'm like, this is part of the story.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

I need people to see that you have to start from somewhere. And you know, like it's so funny. There's that whole thing that goes around that like if you don't have something that you're cringing at, you didn't start and you didn't start in time. It's one of my favorites. You didn't start in time. Like, no, you're not meant to be perfect all the time. And you know, that's that's one thing. I was just in a uh a magazine, which was such an honor. And I remembered thank you so much. And I was asked to be a contributor, and I I really did. This is what I thought. I was like, how the fuck am I gonna get that many words down? And I know, okay, what how much time do I have to do this? And I was like, relax, you know your story. Yeah, and what it did is it gave me an opportunity to actually slow down, think back to all the loss. It makes me emotional, like because we don't I believe that as business owners, we're just so like in it sometimes. You don't give yourself permission to be out of the business. And what I found when I was able to be in this process of writing, much like what you experienced with highway to sell, such a great book. I'm gonna plug up. Uh, you know, because it's all about we go tit for tat here. It's so good. Uh, but I was like, okay, this was cool. Like I actually needed to sit down and and and value what I did and the stories and the hurt and the scars and everything that edged in and wedged in. Like I was really, I was really proud. I was actually like crying as I sent some copies out. You were one of them, where I was like, okay, I need you to proofread this before I submit this, you know, and I was proud of that. And unless you're willing to take time out to create your own content that actually feels really good to you, you know, you won't ever get there. But sometimes, you know, just being uncomfortable is what is part of the lesson of the growth is I was so uncomfortable writing that. But, you know, I remember I was, I was literally at a test at a competition in BC. It was like three in the morning P EST, and I got up and I just started writing. And it was like five hours. And I was like, I can do this. I have time for this, I can do this. And I think that for anyone's listening that's a business owner that's really like, but where do I start? Start with one line, start with a journal, start with a note put, start with sticky notes, and just start getting away.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

Well, challenge yourself to tell your story. If you're not good at doing it yet, yeah, start. Yeah. We always say just get started.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Like, yeah, okay, uh, you know, what do you want to be known for? And here's a beautiful thing: like, if your business were to close, my a business of mine closed in September of 2024. It shut down. My mission and purpose went harder. I was like, oh, digging my heels in. I am postured to serve. I want to be doing this. Like, and then, yeah, was it messy? Oh my God, so messy trying to calibrate and recalibrate and refine. But my purpose never deviated.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

We've talked about giving yourself the time to do that too. When that something gets stripped away from you, there's no time limit to recovery.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

100%. And you know, so it's like you have to make your story actionable. You need to be actionable. One of the things we all saw in the world, Coachella.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Yeah, Bieber, yeah. So he that's Zeitgeist. Okay, that's Zeitgeist right there. He's in the talk of the town.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

Will you or I or anyone watching or listening have that kind of opportunity? Potentially not. Well, it's only at that scale. Yeah. You have that opportunity today at the scale that's suitable to what you're trying to do.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

You're right. And I mean, you never know. People might want to see my YouTube videos from 11 years ago and see me working out. I'm just kidding. Exactly. But this is what it really struck me. And I remember messaging you, and I was like, okay, I was like, Bieber, Justin Bieber just completely brought me back home to connecting with my inner self, looking back at you in the eye. Like that was emotional. So if you haven't yet watched that interaction, go back and watch that where he literally was playing from his YouTube and everyone was loving him. Like, and he went through it because that was not the reality for him.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

And he's to speak to your gym video in the garage, he went through all of what would be embarrassing content and leveraged it to use in the current day.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

And then he sang to himself, and that was the thing that that's vulnerability. That's awake vulnerability, right? There's this whole notion of naive vulnerability where I'm gonna post this up and people are gonna love me and this is gonna be amazing. That's naive vulnerability. And I think as business owners, there are you can see the people that are naive vulnerability. This is the way it is. I'm gonna put whereas awake vulnerability is what Justin Bieber did. He showed his vulnerability. He was not everyone's gonna like this. It's Not going to resonate with everyone, but this is what feels good to me and transparent. And it broke the internet. And and then Rhodes, he also Rhodes, his wife, Haley Bieber. I was so impressed with Rhodes. Do you know who the main sponsor was of Coachella? And this was interesting to me because I thought one of them would have been Rhodes, and it was Neutrogena. And I did not see anything Neutrogena pastored all over. But what we did see was Hailey Bieber, Rhodes, like in the drinks and in the stuff. And they made $10 million in sales in Coachella with Rhodes. And that was again zeitgeist, being in the conversation, being visible. You know, she deliberately kept Justin out of their or um is it Justin Bieber? Yes, Justin Bieber. I thought it lost his name for a minute. But she kept him out of the marketing because she's like, I gotta make this mine, it's gotta be my story. Like it's very fascinating. Anyway, we can we can go down this big spin of it. The point is that that was legendary visibility. It was a masterclass in in authenticity.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

I want to authenticity, but also simplicity. Because if another artist was given 10 million bucks to perform at Coachella, their head probably would have gone to lighting, visual effects, um, the stage show, building the stage bigger. And the best thing he did, and this is one of the lessons in my book, is how fucking simple can I make this? Yeah, and how authentic will it be when I simplify? And sitting there with my laptop going through old videos of me as the choice he made. So I encourage you, it doesn't take spending more to enter the zeitgeist, it takes being smart and keeping things simple, and that is a perfect example.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

I love that.