272 The Truth About Consistency and How it Leads to Success
Did you know that your energy and charisma are essential to your success as a small business?
In this episode, I'm being interviewed by my brand new friend and fellow Canadian Entrepreneur Leah Yard!
Leah and I hosted a 'Podcast Swap' where we each interviewed each other. It was so fun, and a great way for us share our audiences.
This episode originally aired on Leah's podcast called Voted Least Likely and in it we chat about...
The word 'Visionary' and what it means to me
Why I started the Visionary Life Podcast
Creating The Visionary Method
Why consistency is my best friend and main success strategy
How to overcome imposter syndrome
Using your intuition as a strategic business owner
Building a life that FIRES YOU UP rather than Burns You Out
& MORE!
To connect with Leah:
Access the transcript for this episode:
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You're listening to the visionary life podcast. I'm your host, Kelsey Reidl. Each week, I'll bring you conversations with the most visionary humans on this earth, in hopes that you'll be able to absorb their wisdom, avoid their failures and feel less alone on the roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurship.
This season, I'll be chatting with creative thinkers, masterful marketers, brick and mortar shop owners, brand builders and people just like you who have a story to share or a vision that inspires. If I can share one quick secret with you before we get into the episode. It's that we all have a little bit of visionary inside of us, you know, that spark that nudges us to pursue our full potential in this lifetime.
But perhaps somewhere along the line, it got covered up. I'm here to tell you that it's never too late to explore that inner voice and access the brilliance deep down inside of you. It's in you. It's in all of us.
Let's dive in. Hey, visionaries. Welcome back to the show. This week, we are doing something a little bit different. And my virtual friend, my digital friend who I met on Instagram, and who we did a podcast swap together Leah yard. You might have listened to her episode a few weeks ago on the visionary life podcast, while she interviewed me for her podcast called voted least likely.
So I thought, wouldn't it be cool if I could share that conversation so that you could hear Leah interview me. And not only is Leah yard an amazing interview, but Interviewer I don't think people can be an interviewer anyways. But in addition, she runs an incredible jewelry business called Leah yard designs. And she hosts a podcast called voted least likely. So we get into a lot of great conversations around my origin story.
We talk about the highs and lows of running a business. And I share some stories with Leah and some just insights and wisdom, if I could call it although I don't know that. Can you call yourself wise in your mid 30s?
Regardless, I just really enjoyed this conversation. So I reached out to Leah and I said, Would you mind if you sent me that amazing audio file that we recorded together and she was gracious enough to send it over. So really excited to dive into this one. And as always, I just want to take a second to say how insanely grateful I am for this podcast community and for all that it has brought to me and all that I've been able to give to you. So when people are telling me while I'm out on a snowshoe with them that they listen to a recent episode or when somebody emails me and they say, Hey, I just wanted to ask you a marketing question. By the way, I just tuned into this podcast episode and it inspired me or when I see some of you who were in the 2023 lead programs, snapping screenshots and telling me you're binge listening to some of the solo episodes or you found an interview with a founder, a Canadian entrepreneur that just wildly inspired your business journey. I just can't tell you it's so cool. I mean, five years into this, I've spent more hours than I can count more hours than I've spent with a lot of friends more hours than I spent doing a lot of things in my life I've spent on this podcast and so it means the world that is why we are a top 2% podcast and it's all thanks to you guys.
And you know what I make very little money from the podcast. Yes, we have sponsors. Yes, we get brand deals. But at the same token, it really is just a value add I want to share episodes each week because I hope that it adds value. In the same way that there are hundreds and hundreds of podcasts that have added value to my life. I have learned so many of my skills I have been inspired on the days when I was low. I have felt connected in the times when I was just the loneliest person like thinking back five years ago.
I was biking around Toronto going to co working spaces looking for connection and I found it in so many ways but in those in between times in the commutes while I was getting ready and Dave had already gone to work while I was winding down at night and doing you know some last minute cleanup or prepping meals for the next day. It's all of your podcasts that kept me feeling good that kept my energy vibrating right and you know what I'll be the first to admit I'm not great with quiet alone time and as you guys know because I started my meditation journey back in December.
I've really been working on the solitude and enjoying that quiet space. But honestly, most of my life I've preferred to have music on and when podcast started about 15 years ago, I dove right in. And you know, for me, it was the Rich Roll podcast that completely changed everything, I would listen to his long form conversations, and just feel rooted and grounded. And like there were other people who had the same curiosity who had the same grand visions in life. So all that to say podcasts have changed my life, they've made my life exponentially better. And I'm so grateful to you for tuning in. So enjoy this podcast where I am interviewed on Leah yards podcast called voted least likely, go subscribe to her show as well. Thank you, Leah, for allowing me to share this episode. And I will catch you guys soon.When you're starting a business, you are your spokesperson. And as much as I want the product to be in the spotlight, like I don't want Kelsey to be the spotlight. I want the visionary method. It's the product that I want to shine a light on.
However, unfortunately, I am the spokesperson because I don't have money to hire Beyonce to be myspokesperson, not yet, not yet.
So it becomes so imperative to actually work on the energy that you're bringing to your sales department or your marketing department. And you're right, like it's something that's really hard to pinpoint. It's like why, let's use Instagram for an example.
Why are we so attracted to following certain people when we watch their stories, but then other people, we probably just tap right through and there's no inclination to ever watch their stories again? Well, perhaps there is something to the charisma, the energy that they are bringing to the work that we do. And, you know, I'm sure a lot of your listeners can resonate with the fact that everything is energy, right? So if I'm out and about, and I see one person on the sidewalk to my left, who has their head down, they're walking, and they're dragging their feet.
And then I look to my right, and there's somebody who has their head up, they're smiling, they're already putting up their hand to wave to me. Which person do you think I am feeling energized or feeling magnetic towards? It's going to be the person who is walking with that charisma with that confidence. And I think this is such an important trait for founders and entrepreneurs to cultivate because when you're the person responsible for sharing your offer or your product or service, it's also your responsibility to bring the charisma and to create energy around a product. That right now people don't care about right.Welcome to the voted least likely podcast, I'm your host, Leah yard. I'm a high school dropout who accidentally became an entrepreneur.
After spending over a decade working minimum wage jobs having a complete mental breakdown, and losing all confidence in myself. I somehow started a successful jewelry company, I am the least likely person to have ended up in the fashion industry, the least likely person to have overcome crippling anxiety, and the least likely person to have ever had the confidence to share my story. And I know if you are here, you've likely felt something similar.
This piece of internet real estate is a place for us to share how we overcame our own obstacles and found a place to thrive. Even if it was the last place we ever thought we would end up. We're talking all things related to failure with a little sense of humor on the side. It's time to expose the narratives we tell ourselves and the ones the world places on us. This is the voted least likely podcast. So welcome, Kelsey, to the show. Thank you so much for being here. If you could just give a little intro on who you are, what you do and how you got to where you are now.Amazing. Okay. It's such a loaded question. Always concise. So I guess to zoom the lens back a little bit, I graduated high school and decided that I wanted to become a human resource professional. So that's what I went to school for.
And at the end of my four years, all of my peers were applying to desk jobs in the corporate world. And I was like, I don't know that this is for me. I've always been a little bit rebellious. I've always had weird creative ideas that I'm like, I want to make a mural out of Smash tiles, and I would just go do it.
And I feel like my friends always thought I was a little bit weird and just marched to the beat of my own drum. So it did kind of make sense that I wasn't interested in applying for a regular HR job, nothing against it, it just didn't feel aligned with me.
So I set off on a traveling adventure, I lived for two years in Switzerland. And I tried to find myself. And through that, I decided to actually come back to Canada and go to nutrition school. So I became a registered holistic nutritionist, and I absolutely loved it, it was so neat to learn about the foods and the supplements and the lifestyle that could be very supportive of somebody feeling their best. And so when I graduated, again, I kind of watched what my peers were doing a lot of them were actually going to work for wellness clinics. So you know, renting an office space, and sitting with clients, one on one counseling them.
And this is about the time when social media was taking off about 10 years ago, this is about the time when people started using this phrase called online business. And I was like, You know what, I don't think I want to see clients in person. I don't mind doing that. But I see this potential in creating these online programs and online courses.
And I had been following a couple people who were real pioneers of the online space. And I thought, if they can do it, I can do it. So I launched my very first 30 Day nutrition detox program, I think I had about 20 people go through it. And I figured a lot out along the way, how to run a program, how to host the resources, how to host a webinar, how to collect payments, how to send emails to remind them about our calls, how to get them to fill out surveys that gathered data on how they were feeling before and after all these things that now seem kind of common sense to people who are working in the online space. But a decade ago, people were like, Kelsey, how are you doing this.
And I was like, I don't know, I'm pretty tech savvy. I love marketing, I had spent many years working marketing jobs, both experiential and community marketing based. And that was kind of when a light bulb moment went off that I thought, You know what, I'm really good at this whole online marketing thing. I had this keen interest and continuing to learn how to grow my online business. So fast forward, I started to put together some frameworks to teach others how they could do the same thing, how they could transition from in person, service based practitioners to more of an online practice. And as I did that, I decided to advance my own learning to and I was taking these courses and a lot of them were very, I'll call it harsh or bro marketing, they were telling you to build these really complicated Click Funnels and spend 1000s of dollars on ads.
And all of a sudden, I started falling into this world that I was like, this is weird. And they were giving me scripts, you need to read this at the end of your webinar, and your copy, like make these crazy claims about what you can do. And everything in my body just said, No, Kelsey, like, this is not what you know, to be true about building community and creating something in the online space. That's a direct reflection of who you would be if you were in the real world hosting these programs. So as I started to coach and mentor more people about online marketing, I really had to get clear on what am I here to teach? Am I here to teach this whole bro marketing being somebody you're not being kind of like sleazy for lack of a better word? Or am I going to teach them the way that has worked for me the way I know to be true about building relationships.
And that's when the visionary method was born. Today, the visionary method is private business and marketing coaching as well as group programs that teach people how to set up and run their online business, but it's all rooted in real relationship based marketing building communities in the online world that are, you know, that they feel like they're just an extension of who you are. There's nothing fake about them. There's nothing that is salesy, or using tactics that you would never use in the real world. So we aim to equip people with the tools and the templates that they need to succeed in online business.That is amazing. I love that. There's a few things that came up that like really stuck out to me one is how did you have the confidence to just learn as you go like, it sounds like he really did just learn by doing which I think is phenomenal. But a lot of people don't have the either intuition or faith or just they're too scared to fail. So did you always Have that just like undying faith that you would figure it out? Or are you just a risk taker? Or is it a natural skill? Or is that something that you kind of had to develop more?
Hmm, I really do think it's a bit of both. Like, there's certainly part of me, I don't know if it's just my genetics, but I am more of a risk taker, whether that's, I'm okay with going snowboarding on the backside of a mountain where we're not supposed to be taking a risk with putting myself out there when I don't know how people are going to judge me or what they're going to say about something that I put out on the internet. However, there's also a part of me that has gotten more comfortable with this idea of taking chances, and making leaps, knowing that failure is a big option. It's inevitable, especially. And you know, this too, like when you become an entrepreneur, you might as well accept the fact that failure is going to be more common than success, like, yes, we like to glamorize the wins and the successes. And we tend to embellish what it is to own a business. It's like I had a five figure month or a six figure year, but what had to happen on the back end, how many times did you fall flat on your face? How many times did you put yourself out there only to receive a horrible comment from a follower or to actually get no feedback at all, like you get excited to put something out there.
And then, you know, for lack of a better word, it is a failure, because you're like nobody said anything, nobody bought it, I thought this was going to be this big thing. And so, you know, I think for somebody who does feel like, they're not sure if they can build up that risk tolerance, you can, you just have to continue to put yourself out there and treat everything that you do as an experiment and experiments could go horribly wrong, or they could succeed. So it's just knowing that there is the possibility of both outcomes. And it's not a failure. If your experiment doesn't succeed, it just gives you data that, okay, we got to try something else here, and being willing to get up and try again,thank you so much for sharing that. I feel like that is such a misconception. Because you know, you go on social media, and you all you hear is ridiculous things like, Oh, I made six figures in three months and quit your day job and all of this, that's glamourizing, this entrepreneurial journey that I just think is so far from the truth. I'm sure there are unicorns out there. And that happens, but it is very few and far between. And honestly, I'm such an advocate for slow growth. Like I think it's so much better. And like what you're saying it's all experimenting.
So if you fail sometimes, when you starting in the beginning, and you're failing, if nobody knows who you are yet, that's kind of good, because they don't see all of those blobs, right? Like, there's so much stuff that in the beginning, I thought, you know, it really derailed me. But looking back, it's like, oh, I'm really glad I didn't have an audience at that time, because I needed to learn those lessons and grow and get better. I'm definitely not as good as you are at putting yourself out there.
But I really appreciate you saying that you, you know did still feel unsure. And you did still feel like that failure was going to be a possibility. Because I think so often, it's just you have to feel the fear and then do it anyways. And I think that's what stops people is when you again, you look at other people in the industry, it doesn't look like people are scared. And nobody knows what they're doing. For the most part, do you know what I mean?
So yeah, and I think collecting data, as you say, that's really what it is, and just being able to pivot and when it doesn't work, you know, try something different and not taking it so personally, which again, easier said than done. But I think it's really the practice that allows us to gain confidence in ourselves for myself anyways, that's what it was, is just doing it and yeah, there's there's a lot of failure. But you know, that's how you how you get better. Something that always stands out to me is the way people use language and the one thing you said was the experience and then also just visionary.
You've created a whole brand around that word. I love that word so much. And I would really love to hear what that means to you and why you landed on that.Hey, visionaries I'm interrupting this episode because I heard a really alarming statistic recently, and that's that 98% of business owners don't know how to turn their social media followers into paying clients. That's crazy, right? Because there's all these ebooks and digital courses and marketing agencies that are telling you, we're going to help you grow your following.
But what is the point of just growing Following if these courses and agencies and ebooks don't teach you that vital next step, which is how do you turn your follower count into a profit into revenue for your business? And that all comes down to having a strategy and a lead generation funnel so that, yes, you're getting new people to look at your content at the top. But then what are you doing to nurture them? How are you turning them into paying clients, if you don't know these techniques, if you're like, Kelsey, I'm posting all of the time, I feel like I'm constantly recreating content. And I don't even know if it's working. Well, then visionary social media is for you. If you're not familiar, this is going to be a live four week course, starting on Friday, April 14. So we're going to meet for four Fridays in a row for 90 minutes. And there's going to be a ton of live access to me to ask questions for me to review your strategy.
And I'm going to be spilling the beans when it comes to all of my templates and tools that I use to sign 1000, multi $1,000 clients simply through Instagram and simply through a few techniques.
So if you feel like you want to know everything you need to know to make more sales through social media, then I'd love to see you inside of this course, the best way to get more info to enroll yourself, and to be part of this four week experience to get in on the party of coaches and consultants and freelancers, and Etsy shop owners and podcasters, who are going to be sitting in this room with you head to Kelsey rydell.com. And then click on the big banner at the top. And then you can read all about visionary social media, you can check out and enroll yourself, or just send me a DM on Instagram, that's a super easy way for us to connect.
So just send me a DM on Instagram at Kelsey Reidl. Again, this starts April 14. So you really don't have too much time when it fills up, it fills up. And I think this is going to be the most powerful 30 days in your business.
So we'll see you that this is going to rewind us actually about seven or eight years, back to a point when I so there's a few gaps in the story that I didn't fill in, in my initial intro.
But essentially, after I started teaching people online business, and I kind of shifted away from my nutrition practice, I decided you know what I should level up my marketing skills and my business growth skills.
So I actually entered into the corporate world for a few years. And I really wanted to legitimize like if I was going to teach people about marketing and business, I wanted to make sure that I understood it from working for a big organization so that I could take those big concepts and bring that down into working with individuals and small businesses. So I went on to work for a few of Canada's top health food companies more in that corporate structure as a marketing manager. And it was really, really wonderful. But I did hit a point where again, I was like, I don't think this is me. I felt like I was going into work downtown Toronto each day in these clothes that I didn't feel comfortable in. I was sitting in on meetings where creativity was not valued. It was kind of shunned, and they just said, You know what, no, we just have to do things the way things have always been. And so I found myself after a few years craving to get back to that entrepreneurial life. So at that time, I decided I need a break, I'm going to go on a trip to Peru and hike to Machu Picchu.
And so while my husband and I are on this trip, this is when Justin Bieber had just dropped his album called children. So this was probably about seven or six years ago, and I was hiking up to Machu Picchu all day long we would hike and the song children came on and I was just listening to it. I was jamming to it. And he said the word visionary. And I knew that what I wanted to do when I got back was to really boil everything down that I had learned in the corporate world and create a very precise framework that could teach people how to build their online business.
And that's when it all kind of hit me that the brand is all about empowering entrepreneurs. To think on that visionary scale, anything is possible we very much are limitless in our potential. And I just kind of got this download of I need to create content around this concept. And so I kind of got to my tent that night I wrote down the word visionary. And that was the start of the visionary life podcast. That was the start of me really polishing up the visionary method framework and putting it into a course that people could purchase and self study from
And, and it just became this guiding principle for me as an individual to remind myself that we are very limitless, but society tends to kind of constrain us into boxes. But I really wanted to pass that along to my clients too.
Because as I was starting to work with individual clients, again, I noticed that people kept wanting a prescription it was like, just tell me what to do to build my business or, you know, how do I get my Instagram to 10,000 followers and it's like, okay, I can give you a step by step process. But what you need to do is to sit with how this works, and ask yourself, How can I use my unique brilliance my magic that nobody else has to actually create something that the world has never seen before.
And that's literally the definition of entrepreneurship is creating energy where there has not been energy before. It's using our ideas and our intellectual property to infuse a product or a service with something that is new, that the marketplace has not seen yet. And I think without that visionary energy, all we're doing is implementing and, you know, kind of copycatting what maybe somebody else has done. So it was a word that just anchored within me. And I kind of wrote out the manifesto for it. And everything I do now, I kind of asked myself, like, what's the visionary energy that I can bring to this, that thing that, you know, is outside of the box? Or is beyond what maybe we think we're capable of? And always asking yourself, like, how you can sprinkle that little bit of magic dust on everything that you do?Have you always been that intuitive?
Hmm, that's a really good question. I think, yes, like, I didn't have the language for it, maybe up until five or so years ago. But I think I have always had this quality of just being decisive. And that's whether you call that your gut feeling or just being decisive as a character trait. But I think that's a really important quality of entrepreneurs, because we have to make decisions to move our business forward.
So whether you call that your intuition or your gut feeling, like it's such a habit that you want to cultivate, because without a decision, nobody is stepping in to make those decisions for you, when you're an entrepreneur and running your own business.Totally, and how you were talking before about not fitting in certain places, I think so many of us just kind of stuffed those feelings away. Because on paper, it looks good. Or maybe we were told to do something when we were younger, or we just don't have the trust or practice of, you know, listening to your gut, which I think I mean, I didn't for years, I'm very much the way I run my business now is very much based on intuition. If it doesn't feel right, doesn't matter what it looks like on paper. It's just not the right thing for me. But I think it's interesting how I love when I listen to you talk and I get this when I listen your podcast to it's like, that's what I think about when I think of you so much is just like really leading with intuition. And it gives other people permission to do the same.
Because when I hear you talk about something that you're doing, you're excited about. It's like, yeah, I should feel like that, too. Like, that's how I should be talking about what I'm doing. I need to be bringing that same excitement and that same like, Heck yes, sort of feeling. So I really hope that people hear that because that is so it's one of those things. It's so nuanced, and really hard to pinpoint. But it is so important. I yeah, I don't know if you have any tips on how to lean into that more.I don't necessarily have tips, but I do think that it is important for every founder to work on their charisma. And this is a word that I feel like we don't often use, like when I think of the word charisma, I think of drama class, or somebody who's e centric, per se.
But what I've really been thinking about lately is when you're starting a business, you are your spokesperson, and as much as I want the product to be in the spotlight, like I don't want Kelsey to be the spotlight. I want the visionary method. It's the product that I want to shine a light on. However, unfortunately, I am the spokesperson because I don't have money to hire Beyonce to be my spokesperson, not yet, not yet. So it becomes so imperative to actually work on the energy that you're bringing to your sales department or your marketing department. And you're right like it's something that's really hard to pinpoint. It's like why let's use Instagram For an example, why are we so attracted to following certain people when we watch their stories, but then other people, we probably just tap right through and there's no inclination to ever watch their stories again?
Well, perhaps there is something to the charisma, the energy that they are bringing to the work that we do. And, you know, I'm sure a lot of your listeners can resonate with the fact that everything is energy, right? So if I'm out and about, and I see one person on the sidewalk to my left, who has their head down, they're walking, and they're dragging their feet. And then I look to my right, and there's somebody who has their head up, they're smiling, they're already putting up their hand to wave to me, which person do you think I am feeling energized or feeling magnetic towards, it's going to be the person who is walking with that charisma with that confidence.
And I think this is such an important trait for founders and entrepreneurs to cultivate. Because when you're the person responsible for sharing your offer, or your product or service, it's also your responsibility to bring the charisma and to create energy around a product.
That right now people don't care about. Right? Like, you know, your jewelry is amazing. But if I'm not tuned into it already, I need somebody to get me hyped up, I need them to be like this the best jewelry, you're gonna look incredible on New Year's Eve. Have you tried it with a cute black outfit, and until like, enroll me in the idea. And so I've been thinking about the concept of founder charisma. And I don't necessarily have tips of events, per se, it just takes time and practice. Like, if I listen back to my podcast from five years ago, my voice is drastically different. I'm it sounds like I'm a sloth. I'm literally like, hey, visionaries. I did this this weekend. And and I'm almost like, Who is that girl?
But I noticed that like, the more I have just put myself out there, I think the easier it gets. And the more I'm building a business in alignment with who I am and what brings me joy. I'm actually lit up. So that should be reflected in my voice. So it's certainly an interesting topic. I'm not the expert on it. But I think there's definitely something to it.I love that I think you are, you may be an expert not realized I know exactly what you're saying when you like podcasting is very new for me. And I'm a very expressive person. So when I talk, my eyes are big, I use my hands a lot.
And so I didn't really realize because when you just record audio, you can't see all the nonverbal communication, right? And so when I really listened to it, it was like, Oh, my God, I sound so bored. And I had to ask a friend, like, I'm an expressive person, right? Like, just just clarify. And she's like, oh, yeah, totally. But again, when you take away all the visuals, and it's just the voice. And it's funny, because I find that I have to really over exaggerate when I'm talking for it to sound like what I think I sound like in my head. It's just, and it's so it feels so uncomfortable to do it like to just really, I sound so annoying. Like, as I'm talking now, I feel like this isn't how I sound. But I know it's gonna sound more like how I think I sound but you have to just push that little extra bit.
And you don't know until you do it, like you really don't. And I find things like I was kind of late to the game of doing videos on social media, same kind of thing, you think that you're being very concise and so clear. But I say um, and so and like and all that so much, but until you start doing it, you can't kind of critique it there or see again, but it's just funny, like, it just takes time. But I'm really glad you said that because again, people listening and they're listening to you now. And you are such a pro and you are so good at it. But there is a learning curve. And I just want again I want people to look to you and learn from you because you're an expert but they also don't want them to be intimidated to learn from you or write you off in the sense of like well she's just always been like that because I think that's an easy fallback. Because we just kind of let ourselves off the hook by being like well I'm not naturally like that so I can't do it. So there's always learn to grow are always room to grow. And I just really hope people don't miss that lesson because it you just got to start before you're ready. Tell me a little bit about you said something that I loved it was bringing the most embellished version of yourself. Tell me what yeah.
Yeah, that actually kind of plays off of what we're talking about of just kind of needing to turn up that energy and I think you know how I see that concept is number one, if anyone listening is building an online business or is going to use social media or a website or an email to try to sell their offers right or to add value to what they do, it is important to recognize that anything digital or two dimensional is very different than if you walk into Costco. And there's a demo rep who's literally in the physical realm with you. There's energy between human beings when we're shoulder to shoulder, but as soon as we're through a screen, a lot can get lost.
So I always advise clients, like anytime you're going to show up to a zoom call, or a podcast recording, or you're gonna flip your tic toc and record a video of yourself, bring the most embellished version of you like literally turn up that dial. Because if you can imagine that 10 to 15% of that energy is just gonna get lost in the internet waves, it's really important to just bring it up a little bit to 115%, knowing that not everything translates through a screen. So that's the first kind of reason to bring the most embellished version of yourself. The other kind of concept that I think about when I use that term, is that there are so many days when life is happening in the background of our business, you know, we are navigating grief, or we had somebody say something mean to us, or our health is suffering, or maybe our partner is going through a very challenging time at work, and life never stops, unfortunately, and there are so many days when it's just like, I would love to take the day off today, or I would love to take the week off, you know, I want the month off. Because, you know, maybe something tragic happened in my family, or I'm dealing with somebody in crisis, who is very close to me. However, anytime I show up to a commitment, and I'm going to, you know, do a client call or get on a podcast recording, I really believe it's important to bring my whole self and to leave my business at the door. So I step into this office, and I want to be 100% present, to turn up my light because I love what I do.
And life is never gonna stop happening. And crappy shit is gonna continue to happen to you, too, I to every business owner every single day. But I don't want to bring that into my work, at least not for the most part. And so for me, bringing the most embellished version is showing up in the state that is unaffected by all of the other stuff that might be happening in my life, and to really show up in service of others and to bring my best self and to be all in on the work commitments that I do agree to for myself.I got goosebumps when you said that. I love that. You are so consistent like girl, I don't know how you do it, you are consistent. How How do you do that?
That's one of the words that I hear most associated with people who are describing me and it's so funny because I didn't start cluing into how consistent I was until people mirrored it back to me. Yeah. I believe in the power of consistency. So one of the very first business books that I read was called The Slight Edge.
It's a very popular personal growth book. And I'd highly recommend it to anyone getting started in business. And it's not because it's a revolutionary book. But the author, he talks about how to gain that slight edge over your competitors. And a lot of it boils down to the compound effect, which is show showing up or doing a task day after day after day or saving today, saving money tomorrow, saving the next day until all of the sudden the compound effect takes place. And you skyrocket to success or you have that hockey stick growth. And I really believe in this concept and not only because it has worked for me, but because I see it work for a lot of my clients too, that we don't have to be the smartest, the most talented.
The people putting the most money into Facebook ads, the ones with the biggest email lists the ones with the you know the best team working for them. We can avoid all of that if we decide to be the most consistent, because consistency breeds trust. So when people see you showing up consistently or they see you producing content consistently or they hear you talking about a product that you sell consistency, eventually they start to really trust in what you're saying. They see that you're not going anywhere. You're not in As to make a quick dollar. And when they're ready for an investment, like your product or your service, they're going to think of you, because you're the one that's always showing up, you're the one that's always adding value. And it's usually the most valuable entrepreneur that will get the sale.
And so I guess, you know, I think for everybody, it's going to look different on how they implement a practice of consistency in their life. But if you set a goal, like I want to launch a podcast, first of all, make sure you love it. Like if you don't love what you're doing, it's really hard to be consistent. And then just make sure you have a reasonable schedule set out for yourself, right, don't say you're going to publish a podcast every single day, if you really don't have the bandwidth for that. But if you can commit to weekly, and carve out that time, and make sure that you have everything in place, the time in your calendar, or, you know, the resources to be able to get this thing out, then it's just about like, keeping the promise that you make to yourself and not letting yourself down to many times.I love that. I think there's there's two parts in there too, because you're consistent, but you're also congruent. And I think that's something people don't always think about, because you can show up every day. But if you're showing up every day, and it's kind of a different version of you every day, you know, it's still not going to give people that sense of trust, they're going to feel uncomfortable, they might not even know why they feel uncomfortable. And there's people you know, I'm sure you've experienced this, where online, they're one version, and then offline, or maybe say on an Instagram Live or something where you kind of really peeked behind the scenes, they're a very different person. And it makes people uncomfortable. So I think I'm really glad you're recognized for your consistency, but I also really appreciate your congruence See, like you are you all the time doesn't mean you're, you don't go through things and that your mood isn't gonna change or whatever, of course, but you are always Kelsey.
Like, it's not, you know, and that makes people feel at ease. And that I think just comes down to being authentic, which, I mean, there's just no way to, you just have to, I think know, really what your values are. And I just think you do such a great job at that. So I hope you're celebrated for that part as well. Because I think that's a key because even consistency, people can schedule that out. But same thing if you're not providing that level of congruence see that level of comfort and people can just be at ease around you. You're not going to gain that same traction.
But I 100% agree that consistency beats out talent all day, every day, all day, every day. Like it's just there's so many talented people that just don't make it because ship gets hard and then they stop and that's it. And it's devastating. And yeah, I there's people in my life that they're so skilled and I just want them to, you know, pursue something and just see it through to the end. But again, easier said than done. So do you burn out with all this showing up to you burn out?I mean, I saw no I don't and maybe this will come to bite me in the butt someday. I have so much energy and I build my day around my workouts. I am an adventure queen. I love mountain biking. I love trail running. I love paddleboarding down the river in my backyard. To me, a life without outdoor nature.
Adventure is a life that I don't want to live anymore. So I have to have my one hour nature adventure every single day. And that truly does fuel me. That is priority and I kind of build my whole schedule around it. So I'm willing to work, you know, 12 hours in a day if I've had an amazing one hour paddle down the river that completely fills my cup. So I've personally never experienced burnout. I know it's a very hot topic. But I do really focus on honoring my personal needs my health needs. I know that my business doesn't grow if I'm not in good health and well being.
So having little habits and routines in my day that are supportive to my energy levels and to my creativity. It's kind of essential so I don't feel like I burn out I know people think I work a lot but I just I love what I do. But I'm also equally passionate about living life outside of my office and off of my computer.This show is sponsored by our very own company Leah yard designs. Lea designs is a jewelry brand in Vancouver, Canada that specializes in unique semi precious pieces. The designs are meant to be mixed and matched to celebrate the wearer. We love fashion juxtapositions which is why you will usually find me in ripped jeans and a ton of gold jewelry. Our goal is to add glamour to every day.
Our most popular design is our zodiac necklace, which was created to celebrate what makes you uniquely you. 5% of all profits in the jewelry collection are donated to the D WC, a local charity that helps vulnerable women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. You can learn more and shop the full collection at WWW dot Lia, your designs.com. I love that I Yeah, it really shines through that you love what you do. Tell me what it's like to work with you. Maybe just tell me a bit about the visionary method and just what? Just yeah, I just would love to hear don't give all the secrets away. But just a little, a little peek behind the scenes of what it's like to actually do go through the program with you.Yeah, so we have the most incredible community that has formed over the last five years of entrepreneurs building online businesses in their first one to three years, who have amazing goals and visions, but they need the support the community and the mentorship in order to actualize those goals. So not only does this community meet up, every single Wednesday, we have a mastermind call, we bring in guest experts, we talk about the current state of business and marketing. But a lot of these people are also inside of our private coaching program. So we take a handful of clients on each month. And we work with them for a four month period. And we basically do a full audit of their business. So I assess, what are you selling? How have you positioned it? What is that funnel that is bringing people in at the top? How do we nurture them in the middle? And how do they eventually become paid clients? And then we do this full marketing breakdown. So essentially, we see what have you tried, that's working? What have you tried, that doesn't work. And then we introduce a lot of new marketing efforts to experiment, we start tracking everything, we see where you're having great success. And then we essentially create what I call a marketing playbook. So it's a book filled with all of the strategies that are going to work for years and years to come. Because we have proof that as soon as you start posting in a Facebook group three times a week, and you share this link, you get 10 applications or you get you know, 400 visitors to your website. So that is what the visionary method is, we also have group programs that run three to four times a year. So for people who are looking for a community of people to start their online business with and to really make sure that they have the foundation set up, and that they get introduced to a really good marketing plan.
We have group cohorts as well. But I think the main magic is really that no matter what version of the visionary method, you do the group coaching or the one on one coaching, we have those meetups every Wednesday, and it's just such an incredible community knowing you can plug into a group of people who understand you who celebrate your successes with you, who hold space for you, when you say, guys I'm having a week and I just want to quit, like what can you offer me in this moment. So it's been really neat to see how that community has formed, and to see the partnerships and the connections that have formed. And to just know that there is a group of people out there who are equally as inspired and motivated, and who will also navigate the challenging times of entrepreneurship to connect with each and every week.That's amazing. What would you say to somebody who's not sure? Because I get asked this a lot like, when is it the right time to join that kind of program? Or get a coach or a mastermind? How do you know when the right time is the right time?
Hmm. It's so funny because like, I hesitate to say there is a right time, because I think it's always a good idea to try and claw your way through as many of the ups and downs as possible in those first couple of years. Like if you have that willingness to just go at it yourself and try your hand at business and marketing even if you have no experience. Just do it right. Don't wait for somebody else to tell you what to do. However, if there's part of you, that's like, I am not going to start this business until I put money on the line until I invest in a program or a coach that is going to help me and like give me that little boost of confidence to say Alright, now you can go out and do this, then that's okay, too. So for some people, it's at the very beginning of their journey because they want guidance right from day one. For some people. It happens at about the one to three year mark when they feel work, they've got the business launched. And then they got a few clients, they got a few sales. And then it's kind of crickets are like, whoa, whoa, now what I've tapped through my mom and my dad and my sister, and now who are my customers, and they really need to pull together a strategy, and really figure out how are you launching this business beyond your immediate family. So that might be a great time to reach out to someone. It's when you feel like maybe you're a bit stuck, and you've maxed out your own skill set.
I think that's great guidance. Yeah, I definitely wish I had looked for guidance. At the beginning. I was just, I knew I had no idea what I was doing. And I was just so I was just so well, I was sure it was gonna fail.
And then I didn't want everybody to know that. So I just didn't ask any questions. And I like suffered alone. And now I look back, and it's like, Oh, my God, I should have asked, because I think that's the hardest part is just admitting you don't know what you're doing or admitting, maybe you need help. If there's someone listening who's just not sure to take that leap or two, they're just not they don't know if they're ready, or they're, they're maybe scared to jump right in? What would you say? Just to kind of get your toes wet? How could they kind of start that process of getting more guidance?Yeah, I mean, I'm sure you would be supportive of this. But I think podcasts are an amazing way to get free mentorship or guidance or just to feel less alone on this journey. I know for me, they've been a huge support to my mental health as an entrepreneur, I will walk around multiple hours a day, some days when I just feel lonely or like, I just need to be held. I'll just put podcasts in my ears. I'm I feel like I have mentorship on demand.
And so for somebody who's like, I don't know, if I need coaching, start with podcasts, maybe somebody who you've been thinking about working with has a podcast, you could just listen to an episode or two, and just see is anything resonating with me? Because you'll know, after 30 minutes, like, I'm jiving with what this person is saying, or you know what I could kind of leave this behind. It's not the right next step, I think that's gonna give you a pretty good insight into whether you want to maybe invest in that person's paid program. So yeah, diving into the world of podcasts is so wonderful, because it's free content. And you can learn a lot just by pressing play on an episode.There is so much content out there, like so much free content that people are just throwing out there. Like it's unbelievable. It's and I yeah, when I first started really listening, because I listened to stuff more for entertainment. And then when I started treating it more like education, now it's a rule I walk to work. And it's a rule, I have to be learning something on the way, which is a little extreme, but doesn't matter the day gotta be learning something. So yeah, there's a few words like, you just need that. And even if you're not having a great day, stuff is still sneaking in subconsciously. And I feel like it's just hearing a different voice say it. And I love what you said about how you will gravitate towards certain people because I really feel like it's just the same as music. There are some people I can't force myself to listen to, even though I admire everything they're doing.
And there's some people it's funny, like, I've read books of theirs that I like, but then when I hear them speak, it's just not for me. And it's so funny, but it just you have to it's that intuitive thing and you have to really resonate with the person because you're not gonna you're not gonna buy it otherwise, right? You're not going to believe you're not going to apply what they're saying. Because half of you is just thinking like, nah, this isn't for me. I think that's a great a great tip and i Yes, I second that like 1,000% There's just so much goodness out there. What is your favorite podcast? I'm dying to know one of your favorites. I'm sure you have many goodness,
I do have a lot of favorites. I will say right now i during the day similar to you. I listened to a lot of marketing and business growth podcasts. So I love the my first million podcast I find that one so good for just idea generation, the way that they approach business very much inspires me and they're always on kind of the cutting edge of what's happening in business, what's trending and what ideas are kind of coming to the forefront.
So I love my first million and then I also love to listen to sometimes more like Girl Talk or just more spirituality or I don't know just things that are less business in the evening. So I love the Rich Roll podcast and listen to off the vine with Kaitlyn Bristow, a former Bachelorette. So like sometimes I am just listening to content that has nothing to do with my work. But yeah, I do have a whole list actually my top 10 favorite podcasts. It is On my blog, so I'll have to pull that up. Oh,
please send that to me.
I will for sure. Well, I
think it's good to listen to a mix too, because I know I listened to a lot of business, but then a lot of mindset stuff as well. And also listening to stuff that maybe doesn't apply. But you still learn how that podcast is being marketed to you, or how that person is talking and things like that. So there's always like nuggets of and ways you can learn. I love that. I love that. If you had to give, like, what is your top marketing tip, if you had to narrow it down? I know it's one of your favorite topics.
I know it's like I can talk about this for a long time talk marketing tip, I would say to create what you consume if you're stuck. So a lot of people they see what's trending in the marketing space. They're like, okay, everybody's on tick tock, but then I'll sit down with them as we're building their strategy. And I'm like,
Have you ever opened tick tock? Do you know what works on tick tock? Are you interested in being a creator on tick tock? And their whole body language is like, no, like, it just seems so stupid. And I'm like, then why are we so adamant that this has to be part of your marketing strategy, when you are potentially a solo entrepreneur with very limited time, limited energy, I want you to focus on creating where you feel lit up. And oftentimes that is what we consume. So if you find yourself binging YouTube all of the time, perhaps that's a sign to explore the option of creating your own YouTube channel. Because naturally, you're taking in the trends, you know, what you like, you know what you don't like?
Or for somebody who subscribes to every email marketing newsletter, that's someone like me, like, I love getting newsletters into my inbox. Yeah, so for me, it was like, I am so excited to write emails, because I'm always getting ideas. Every time I open my inbox, I'm like, that's a good email, I slide it to a folder called Marketing Gold. That's a cool email. I love how they formatted that. So for me, it's so easy to create emails, because I consume email. So it's very natural. I'm learning every day when I open my inbox, or when I scroll my phone to see the latest emails. And whether it's conscious or not, I'm seeing Oh, that's a great subject, line, delete, or, Oh, I love how they put a picture in that email, delete. But again, it's like I'm learning a lot. So it's easy for me to create. So I would say if you keep that in mind, especially if you have limited bandwidth, as an entrepreneur, try to focus on things where you're actually a consumer, because you're going to understand the state of affairs a whole lot better.That's very, very valuable perspective on it. Because again, we're back to intuition, like going you know, really feeling what feels right. And it's funny, because so when Tik Tok came out, I was dead against it, didn't want to do it not interested. I, you know, I work in fashion, and I've been on Instagram for years. It's like, Oh, my God, it's just gonna be another social media where there's no cellulite, and everybody's perfect, you know, and I had a friend convinced me to try it. And I thought, Oh, it's just gonna be one more thing. And then I started it, and I just got so addicted. And it was just so funny. Like, you don't know until you try it. And, you know, I like a lot of people thought it was just a dancing platform to begin with. But there's so many ways to utilize it for a business, it's just got such a great community feel I never in a million years would have thought that I would enjoy Tik Tok. And now my jewelry brand. I have one I've got one for the podcast. And that's where I get a lot of inspiration. And Instagram still serves its purpose. And it's still good, but it's not my favorite place to be, you know, like, it's just not. And I do create stuff for it and all that but it's easier for me to be consistent on tick tock because I'm enjoying what I'm doing more. And you know, just like you said, like, once you find that thing, and I love you said create what you consume? Is that what you create, I love that because that's such a great way for people to look at and especially like you said, if you're a little bit stuck, and you're not quite sure. Because yeah, I think so often we feel like we have to be on all the things doing all the things. But there's too many things like there's just too many. I don't know. There's a
lot of things and I love that that you found your joy on Tik Tok and the fact that maybe Instagram isn't feeling like that place. That's okay. Right. So that's why when somebody is trying to give very prescriptive advice, don't always feel like you have to take it. I know it's easy in the early days of business to be like, okay, somebody said, I have to get on LinkedIn because LinkedIn is a new thing. Like you know, what if it's just not feeling that natural If there's a heaviness to it, it's okay to put that aside and work on some other marketing strategies that actually are exciting and joyful to you.
I totally agree. So we are in the new year, are there any goals, you can share the goal and you have a vision board? Do you have anything that you can share that you're really excited about this year?
Yeah, so I'm actually still working on my 2023 goals, but I do have five different initiatives will say. So to give you a sample of a few of them, working on my digital marketing is a big initiative. So that involves increasing our search engine optimization. So I have some specific numbers, like a certain number of page visitors, I want to the website, a certain amount of traffic and search terms that are attracting people to my website, I have a goal for the podcast, for example. So within that marketing bucket, there are a few different outcomes, I also have a outcome goal based around health. So within health, I have a practice of meditation that I'm trying to stick to, I have a, like a certain kind of eating routine that I know brings me enough energy to be able to show up with the level of energy that I need. So that's another initiative that I have, I have another initiative around operations and systems, something that I absolutely don't love. But within that, writing down standard operating practices within my business, and making sure that I have structure each week to things that I need to deliver. So that's kind of how I see the goals in the new year, like there's certain initiatives, and then which within each of those, there are little outcomes that I'm trying to achieve. And then each month, I just say, What am I doing to boost my page traffic? Or what am I doing to make sure that this five day a week meditation practice sticks, and breaking it down into those actual outputs that I can do on a weekly or a daily or monthly basis to make sure that those initiatives are moving forward?
Amazing. Do you have a word of the year this was a new concept. I heard someone say the other day and I don't know it really got me thinking. Just curious. When you're saying all that? Do you have a word
I do. So I pick a word every single year. Some years, they like really guide me and other years, it's more of like in the background, but I like to choose one nonetheless. So this year, my word is rhythm. I just love that like idea of when you think of rhythm and music. It's like a consistent beat, right? And this is what I'm focusing on for my business this year is I'm a visionary. So my head's in the cloud, I get ideas. And I'm like, Oh, we could be over there. We could be here. I want to launch this, I want to create a podcast on this. I want to have a rhythm so that the business has more structure so that my crazy ideas don't affect the day to day operations. And so that I can bring more people into my business because they understand the rhythm. And it's not Kelsey being a scatterbrain wanting to do all these crazy things. So rhythm is my word of the year. Oh, I love
that. That's beautiful. I love that good one. I didn't know if you'd have one. I sorry for the surprise question. I thought I will put you on that law.
No. All right. It forces me to vocalize it too. And yeah, do you have one? Or have you not chosen one?
I do. And I felt it's so funny. So yes, I have one. And then as soon as I said it, I thought oh, I'm not going to tell anyone this because it felt. So the word that came to mind was relief. Oh, and when I heard that, I thought oh, no, because part of me worried does that mean quitting something? Does that mean? Do you know what it means? Is it and then once I saw I do an end of the year kind of revamps or like what you're talking about go through everything, what worked, what didn't and all that. And then when I saw intuitively the word relief came, I felt uncomfortable about it. But it felt right. And then when I did the process of going through the year, it kind of I realized it meant sort of relief that I kept going on certain things, relief that I'm still okay, it wasn't as bad as I thought or I'm still moving forward. So again, it's that thing when you have that intuitive little spark. And then I tried to second guess it, you know, and I tried it No, no, I need a better word. I need like Empower or I need you know, and it's like, no, that was the word. That's just what came. But it's my first year. Really narrowing down like that. I've thought of statements in that at the beginning, but I've never narrowed it down to a word. But I really liked that practice. And I'm Yeah, off to a weird start with it. But I liked the practice and I really liked that idea.
I love it. And I think it's important not to think too hard about the word. It's like whatever just kind of lands it's like, okay, what meaning am I going to attach to this word? What does it mean to me it doesn't need to make sense to anyone else.
I love that. Thank you I needed that little boost. So, Kelsey, where can people find you if they want to follow along? consume your content work with you? What's the best way to track you down?
Best place is just Kelsey rydel.com or on Instagram at Kelsey Rydell.
Amazing. And is there anything else you would like to leave everybody with?
Go listen to Justin Bieber if you need
that is the perfect way to sum it up. There you go.
Thank you for having me. Thank
you so much, Kelsey. Thank you so much for being here. I really hope this episode gave you a boost of encouragement to follow your own path. Even if it's a little unruly, or has a few more reads than you expected. I would love if you could share this with somebody important to you. We never know who needs a boost. If you'd like to learn more, you can find me at www dot Lia yd.com. And if you want to see a little more behind the scenes, you can connect with me on Instagram at Lea yd and now I will leave you with this. We all have more in common than we do not be kind when you can judge less less often. And never, ever underestimate your own potential. I'll see you next week.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of visionary life. I love bringing you these conversations on a weekly basis. So it would mean so much to me. If you could help me out by rating and reviewing the show on either iTunes or Spotify. It just takes a second. And if you don't want to rate the show, you could also just take a screenshot of the episode and share it on your social media platform of choice tagging me at Kelsey Reidl. I'll catch you in the next episode.
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