Joyous Journeys in Life + Business with Sharon Joy

Yep! That old chestnut! 

It's hard to believe that this conversation still does the rounds given that email has been proven time and time again to be the highest converting form of digital marketing.

That's largely due to it being so personal in nature and also a way of connecting directly with your audience without having to wrangle with the beast that is the social media algorithm! 

Your email list is an asset to your business because unlike your social media following you own it. 

If you're not convinced or maybe you are but you'd like some tips on how to get started then this is the episode for you! 

If you're ready to get started with email, grab my free Email Welcome Sequence Guide to help you craft your personalised welcome to your world for new subscribers. There are also links inside with easy explainer videos to help you with the techy stuff. It gets to be easy! https://www.sharonjoycoaching.com/email-guide

This week I interviewed my friend, client and coaching colleague, Podcasting Coach Nikki O'Brien, Quintessential Being about podcasting and whether it's worth it. 

As a solo Mama running her own biz, Nikki's personal story + the love she has for storytelling and podcasting will inspire you to let go of the fear and doubt about starting a podcast and inspire you to back yourself.

She covers some great reasons to start a podcast but also acknowledges that it does take time and effort. For those not wanting to start their own, you can leverage other people's podcasts and Nikki talks about how to go about this. 

Nikki O’Brien believes the magic of conversation is real… that each unique voice is the cornerstone of facilitating healing, change + transformation. 

She calls herself the podcasting priestess working with big-hearted, epic souls to connect more intimately with their audience through podcasting. Her work in the world was a natural progression from an extensive background in media, where as an announcer for community + commercial radio stations across Australia, Nikki entertained, informed + connected with listeners. 

She is a deeply curious + spiritual being housed in a delightfully human body. Galvanised by her unique willingness to grow, gather + listen she helps others to fully embrace the self with compassion, love + acceptance. 

She’s also the creator of the binge-worthy + wildly successful podcast Quintessential Being, offering fresh perspectives that cultivate awareness + invite acceptance so you can step into wholeness with sovereignty.

Whether you're into podcasting or not, you'll love listening to my inspiring chat with Nikki through our laughter and even a few tears. 

Making the leap from a traditional professional to a soul-led business owner in the eyes of many is quite the fall from grace. This has been something I've really had to navigate personally as someone who is a reforming people-pleaser and who has peer rejection trauma making it hard for me to process when I'm not accepted.

I've had to learn how to put on my armor to do the things such as show up online, put myself out there in a way that serves my business and say what I do around certain people without my voice waning. I've had to learn how to follow my calling despite the blatant and covert criticism I've received from others and from the internal dialogue that has had me question time and time again if I should continue.

I've watched female coaches who work mostly in a masculine coaching construct praised within traditional business circles, seen as being a legit business - and that's largely by other women btw! Yet on the contrary, I've been ignored when opportunities presented themselves with said friends even working the room to ensure that I'm denied of opportunities to share my gifts and body of work.

I've had said friends in the patriarchal business world make comments to publicly belittle and patronise me about my qualifications and one even implying that compared to traditional professions that I have plenty of time on my hands to fluff around online. (insert eye roll!)

I've had to overcome the internal turmoil that my work isn't always accepted but it's my calling and that by not following this calling Im not living in alignment with my deepest desires. This has been a hard one for me and I'm going to be completely honest and say that it's still a work in progress.

If you’re feeling conflicted about making the leap into the next phase of what you want, it’s likely that very few people will really back you. Sorry if that's a #spoileralert but I'm also guessing that you've likely already come to know this to be true.

But don’t let that stop you.

Don’t take it as a sign that you won’t succeed or that this isn’t for you. You have to back you first and foremost.

Here are my best tips for following your calling despite the internal and external critics...

Links:

Book a Transform 1:1 Coaching Session to receive support with mindset blocks

Join SOULiD: Solid Business for Soul-led Womxn™  to be in community with aligned businesswomen as well as receive group and 1:1 coaching from me

How's your relationship with technology?

For most of my clients, it's one of the main things that they wrestle with on the daily.

Having the right tech hardware and apps is a great start for creating ease and flow in business but having the right tech mindset is what's really going to see you grow your business faster. Having your tech set up properly is also critical!

As entrepreneurs, we do hard things... often. We do things that stretch and challenge us in new ways and embrace the learning that we receive along the way. That means that we know that there is a Youtube how-to video for everything and a Facebook support group for whichever popular application we choose.

Not upgrading systems or investing in new technologies or a fully functional website is likely slowing your business down. Tradies can't work without the right tools, and neither can digital entrepreneurs. They can also be a great way to save time and money by bringing automation into your business.

Being across it will allow you to outsource more confidently, putting you in the picture to call the shots knowing that things are as they should be - again saving time and money.

SIGNS YOUR TECH IS HOLDING YOU BACK

Tech is covered in the 7th SOULiD Pillar, being the CONTINGENCY Pillar. We spend a lot of time during fortnightly coaching calls talking about tech systems in my SOULiD™ Membership, helping coaches and healers in the early stages of their soul-led business to get their tech sorted so be sure to check SOULiD™ out via the links below.

You can also grab a free copy of my 'Systems in your biz continuum' outlining which systems you need now, which systems you may change to in the future and the systems I recommend and when it might be time to implement them.

If you're still at odds with tech, make some love to it! There may be times where tech is a headache but spend time shifting to a positive tech mindset and ironing out the techno kinks will mean make your life and business so much easier in the long run and best of all, will see your business growing faster!

SOULiD™ Membership

https://sharonjoycoaching.newzenler.com/courses/soulid

Systems in your business freebie

https://sharonjoycoaching.com/systems

Let's talk about pain points for a bit, shall we?

So often in the coaching, healing and wellness industry, I hear talk on both sides of the fence about selling to pain points... the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Now, I'm not here to dis anyone or make them feel bad for the way that they may have marketed in the past. Heck, I've had some shockers over the years! What I really want, is to challenge some of the ideologies that you may have heard or maybe even implemented in your business yourself.

There are 2 main, vocal camps:

I want to propose that there's a strong need to sit somewhere in the middle and address both frustrations and desires.

The pain-point sellers take no prisoners. They go all-in on driving the knife and giving it twist. The pain-point rejectors are the love and lighters of marketing, emotionally bypassing their audience's frustrations.

I say it often, and I'll say it again. You get to run your business in a way that is in alignment with your soul. If that means using either of these strategies then I'm not here to tell you to do things differently. I'm all for strategies that work and both of these do.

What I am here for though is to encourage you to take a step back and witness your ideal clients in their wholeness. And by that I mean really seeing them. Seeing their frustrations, seeing their desires, seeing their pain and seeing their pleasure. Taking the time to deepen your relationship with your audience by understanding them more deeply and more wholely. 

When you take the time to do this, you can take a step further by creating content that speaks to ALL of your client. Their desires and their frustrations. Try it on for size and see how it feels. I promise that you can do it in a soulful way.... just like writing and talking to a best friend when they share their struggles with you. You'll find the words and to your soulmate client, it will be music to their ears. 

It's important to remember that your ideal client isn't going to buy from you just because you marketed to them. They were already searching for inspiration or for a solution to their problem. Seeing all of them will validate their wants AND their woes and create a soulful connection between you and the right people. 

If you'd like to spend some time sitting with the pleasure and the pain points of your ideal clients, my Notes to Niching Workbook will guide you to dive deeper. You can grab your copy at http://sharonjoycoaching.com/clients

Have you ever been told to get clear on your vision and then been left wondering why and how? 

I know that's how I felt right at the beginning of my personal development journey. I was asked to throw down my vision so I declared some big audacious dreams, only to find myself feeling like I was a complete failure when I wasn't hitting any of them. 

Was I doing it all wrong? Hell No! 

I had proven by that stage that I was already a master manifester, having manifested many wonderful things in my life, such as landing a full-time teaching job straight from uni, buying my first home at 21, marrying my soul mate, getting promotions at work, new cars, nice caravans, the list goes on!

Turns out that I was better at getting clear and manifesting than I thought!

So what was different? The gap I noticed was when I had previously been on a manifesting mission, I had clear DREAMABLE GOALS and I had clear DOABLE GOALS.

My more distant vision or 'dreamable' goals may have felt like pie in the sky at the time, but I was bolstering them with smaller, more 'doable' goals which edged me closer to my more distant desires. With the fulfillment of each doable goal, I was able to eventually bring dreamable goals within reach. 

Without clarity, none of this would have been possible. Knowing where we want to head provides us with a mud map with a path on which we can start to take our first steps. The destination may not necessarily end up where we expect but with each forward step, we have a chance at getting closer to bring our vision to life. Our clear vision also spurs on our motivation so that we are able to continue on with increased levels of ease and joy despite some of the bumps along the way.

Intentionally applying strategies to help me to get clearer sooner has afforded me quantum leaps in manifesting visions. 

Here are some of my favourites:

No matter what journey you're on, having a clear vision of what you truly desire and being clear about taking the next step is only going to result in more powerful manifestation of your dreamable goals. 

If you loved this episode, I'd love to connect:

http://sharonjoycoaching.com

http://instagram.com/sharonjoycoaching

References:

Mach 2: With Your Hair on Fire by Richard Bliss Brooke

Atomic Habits by James Clear

It's been a hot minute I know!

I'm so excited to be back in front of the mic with a new season of the Joyous Journeys in Life + Business Podcast.

In this episode I revisit the last 12 months since my last episode in particular the realities of the last 6 months.

The list goes on!

On the upside, there are some things that have definitely gotten stronger over the past year

I outlined what's ahead for Joyous Journeys in 2022, including:

Thanks for being here and I can't wait to bring value to your ears through this next season of the Podcast!

If you'd like a copy of the CALCULATIONS SPREADSHEET I mentioned, visit http://sharonjoycoaching.com or drop me an email [email protected]

We've all been there at some point, right?.... Throwing spaghetti at the wall that it is, not the unicorn bit.

I'm definitely not a unicorn and have had my fair share of hurling Italy's favourite dish! 

In this episode I give you some steps to take inspired action as we prepare to round out the last quarter of the financial year. 

Here's a cheatsheet for those who want to cut to the chase...

Set aside a few hours sometime in the next couple of weeks to sit with a texta & some butchers paper (personally that's how I like to roll... it's the teacher in me!) and ASK YOURSELF these questions reflecting on the the first 3 months of the year...

What is working?

What is not working?

Where do I want to be in the next 3 months?

What are my goals for the next 3 months?

Who will I serve in the next 3 months?

How will I serve them? What are my soul-led offerings?

How will I call them in powerfully and soulfully?

How will I grow my audience? 

I have places for 5 women to w#Transcend with me, 1:1 over the next 6 weeks. DM me now for the deets. 

Today is our 20th Wedding Anniversary and last Saturday, we said “We STILL do” in the week that we also 28 years of companionship. 

It’s a long time, right?! And we are still madly in love and HAPPY! 

We are often asked what our secret is. Aside from saying that we are soul mates, I’d have to say that one of the ways we have continued to keep on living and loving is through ensuring that our life is inspired and soul driven. 

There have been many pivotal moments but one that definitely stands out is our Fifty by 50 list… a bucket list of sorts, fifty things to do by the age of 50. We wrote it to commemorate Adam’s 40th birthday. 

When I think about why it was so impactful I reflect on what I’ve observed in so many couples in the midlife… they become so entrenched in parenting, work, commitments that they lose a sense of their own identity firstly and then also as a couple.

We have found something truly magical about the midlife. It’s when we’ve found the courage to follow our hearts desire and make some big bold moves. In doing so we maintain a commitment to personal and professional development, health and wellbeing, joy and above all else put ourselves and each other first.

In this episode I interview my husband Adam in a candid walk down memory lane to retell the journey of us.