Jump Start Your Joy®

Kayla Butler of Ivory Mix is joining me this week to talk about how she started her business, what it's been like growing a stock photography site, and how community has been the center of her business from the beginning. In this episode, I'm delighted to be talking all about joy, creativity, and stock photography at 'Ivory Mix' with Kayla Butler.

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-Her early love of drawing Disney stories, and desire to be a Disney artist -Going into interior design as a career -Getting burnt out once she was in a director position and no longer creating designs regularly -Choosing the name "Ivory Mix" as a blank canvas for her to try new things -How creative people keep hitting up against the wall of possibly becoming more involved in running a business than doing the creative pieces, and how to juggle that -How giving away quality, free, incentives can help build a strong community -Growing a business while working a 9 to 5 job -Creating a business that is niched, and different than a standard stock photo site -Importance of building authority and how to do it -Ways to jump start your joy: gratitude, random acts of kindness, and creating boundaries

Christy Tending is back for her sixth visit, and this time we're talking about how our lives and businesses have recently evolved. It's a living discussion, and one that started when we met to co-work at a cafe this summer and found ourselves diving into a conversation about how we'd recently had a very mindful and impactful experience of making decisions that have intrinsically changed who we are, and how we approach things.

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In this episode, Christy Tending and I talk about:

• How things can reach a point where it's no longer possible for you to continue doing what once worked for you
• How Christy quit drinking and the reasons why she chose to make that change
• The intrinsic connection between making decisions as a consumer, capitalism, and politics
• How I called bullshit on the idea that "the other shoe was about to drop" in my personal life and marriage
• How nagging is a choice, and how to stop nagging (zen moment: just stop)
• How you can create a business or an offering, or a podcast, by focusing on the things that seem easy to you
• What's easy for you is not necessarily easy for anyone else (and how that leads you to discount the power of what comes easily)
• Why it's important to talk about the role of racism, alcoholism, climate, and other pieces of our heritage that we don't find acceptable with our children
• Why and how stating what your business stands for, and how it has evolved helps you find your true audience (and why that's OK)
• How we evolve and become more comfortable with stating what words fit us (anarchist, Buddhist, etc)
• The roles of studentship and conversely, being a "guru"
• Studentship: What it looks like to be a student of your own process, and of learning new things as you go
• The possible role of self doubt and the inner critic when you complicate things
• The balance of really not knowing the outcome of any situation, and finding our way to be confident and share our expertise around something
• The wisdom of leaning on others in your community for knowledge and leadership, instead of acting like one person knows everything (which they don't)
• The importance of having community in business
• We all have access to the divine any time we want it, and we all have access to politics and power whenever we want it
• That capitalism tells us that if we are good at something and it is lucrative: we're supposed to do that thing until we drop

Resources Christy Tending's beautiful new website

Christy Tending's podcast: Tending Your Life

This week on the podcast, I'm delighted to be talking about changing the narrative for small businesses and entrepreneurs in marketing with JinJa Birkenbeuel of Birk Creative and the Honest Field Guide podcast. JinJa and I had the pleasure of meeting at She Podcasts Live, and I truly enjoyed her sense of humor, realness, and her enthusiasm for podcasting. It's a treat to have her on the show.

In this episode, JinJa and I talk about:

-Her early love of candy and the magic and freedom she felt going to the store to buy some each week with her friends -How to help businesses keep up with the pace of change these days -Coaching women and entrepreneurs in finding success in business -How she is changing the the narrative for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs -Using LinkedIn for networking, connecting, and growing your business (more than looking for a job) -How it's sometimes uncomfortable to own your own expertise, and your own narrative -Taking a good look at what motivates you and how much you really need -Focusing on the conversation that's at the heart of marketing no matter what medium you're working in -Finding what fits for you in marketing, regardless of what everyone else is doing -Owning your introversion / extroversion -The reality of being a solo-preneur and juggling so many things. (Automation is great, but it's still hard to keep up).

Resources

Birk Creative Episode 14 of The Honest Field Guide Podcast: "I hate networking" Honest Field Guide Podcast Laura Li's Quietly Bohemian Podcast Forbes Article about Jinja this week "How Google-Sizing Her Mindset Propelled This Founder's Career Forward"

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Marketing yourself or your small business is a journey. In this episode, I'm focusing on what happens when you talk about what makes you unique, as inspired by Taylor Swift's journey as seen in Netflix's Miss Americana.

Action: Look at your social media feeds. Look at what you're sharing. Look at the pictures you're posting. And get honest with yourself.

What are you sharing because it's expected?

What language are you using because it's a turn of phrase that's popular right now?

What images are you posting to keep up with an image of what's expected or cool?

Where are you censoring yourself, and why?

On the flip of it, notice what you're sharing that feels like you, to the core.

What are you saying that you want to say more of?

What in your social media brings you joy and highlights the things you love about yourself and your life?

And, where have you been hiding out and wanting to say something, but you've been quiet because of an external expectation?

Tune in to Miss Americana on Netflix.

Listen to Episode 234 (Six Ways to Make Marketing More Joyful) by clicking here.

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Having been a project manager in marketing and advertising for 20 years, it was a shock to me when I moved into marketing myself. If you have listened for awhile you'll know that I started my podcast as the marketing arm for a life coaching practice. The podcast took off, and, I started learning a lot about what to know about being successful at marketing as an entrepreneur, and how to make it joyful.

I'm sharing my thoughts with you here this week about how I have found my way to the Joy of marketing.

Find the whole article and show notes on the website. Click here.

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Marketing your small business doesn't have to feel gross, or like an effort or hustle. This week I'm sharing the inspiration I found in my conversation with Suzie Soloviev, and sharing how you can look to your past to find your joyful through line, now.

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the Inspiration this week is to look at your life from a place of wonder. If you drop the accolades and list of things you've accomplished (which are all amazing, btw!), how would you introduce yourself to someone else? If you look at what you love and what lights you up, how do you define yourself?

Intention: I will start to notice how I see myself. I will notice when I identify with accolades and degrees, and I will notice when I see myself as the things I'm passionate about, that bring me joy. I will look for and uncover those things if it seems like I can't remember what they are.

Action: On a sheet of paper, take 5 minutes and list out the top 5 things that you loved doing and being in these age ranges:

Ages 1-5 (or your earliest memories)

Ages 5-10 (this is early elementary school)

Ages 10-20 (think about middle school and high school)

Ages 20-30 (college, and a lot of "adulting" firsts happen in this range)

30 and after (adult life, with it's shifts. Also, feel free to add in 30-40, 40-50 if you like. I'm not suggesting that life remains static after 30. I might also add in "Life after having a kid")

Take a look, after you've made your list, and look for patterns. Was interacting with people a major part of your life? How about planning or leading? Creativity?

Now, I want you to look at your current life and see if the major through lines are still present.

This is your story, your narrative, something you love. Can you craft a new bio or a new description of yourself that involves what you found, above?

And, would you consider using that description the next time someone asks what you do?

In this episode, I'm delighted to have Suzie Soloviev of Your Sacred Record coming on to talk about how you can have more fun and more joy in your marketing. She's a story teller at heart, and helps people discover how they can tell their story clearly - from bios, to copy for websites, to crafting your message, Suzie digs in and finds the truth and clarity for her clients. Plus she shares how she incorporates puppets into her business, which you're going to want to learn more about, and we dig into why you need to be sharing your pricing up front, as part of your marketing information.

In this episode, Suzie Soloviev and I talk about:

-Her earliest sparks of joy: performing and video taping those performances as a kid -Her background writing copy for businesses -How she landed her first client on a call -Why marketing can feel arduous or like a chore (hint: You're pushing something you don't really want to be doing) -Why Suzie has a puppet in her Instagram feed -How to embrace your own truth and let it become your business (we both fought it) -How it's hard, as a multipassionate, to own the Thing you want to do -How to write a great bio -Pricing and Marketing are part of the same conversation -Three ways to jump start your joy: Add plants to your home or living space, do something silly and share it with a child (or online), and sing with other people.

Resources Suzie Soloviev's website: Your Sacred Record Brene Brown: The Call to Courage on Netflix Brene Brown: Joy is Terrifying

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Marketing is the focus this month, and I'm taking a look at the inspiration from Lisa Princic of Scaling Deep. Learn how to make marketing more joyful and fun, based on who you are, and your personality.

Resources

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Take the Myers-Briggs personality indicator test.

Lisa Princic's Website: Scaling Deep Lisa's podcast: Scaling Deep

Paula on Lisa Princic's Scaling Deep Podcast

his week kicks off "The Joy of Marketing" month, where I'll be talking with small business owners and marketing experts about how they have found ease and joy in their marketing.

Lisa Princic is the branding and growth specialist behind "Scaling Deep," which is the name of both her business and podcast. I knew she was a great fit for "Joy of Marketing Month" here on the show because her approach to growing your business is refreshingly distinctive. Instead of doing "all the things" or feeling like you need to be "everything to everyone," she encourages entrepreneurs to scale deep. In other words, identify your niche that matches your zone of genius (aka the work you REALLY want to do) and build your business around that.

In this episode, Lisa Princic and I talk about:

• Loving adventures with her parents as a child and sharing those same things with her son
• Her evolution: a journey from life coach to business coach, and now a business strategist who also helps people set up Facebook Ads
• The importance of finding your own niche that lights you up
• The confidence that comes from finding your way to a business that feels authentic, and like a match for your personality
• That there are many successful solo and entrepreneurships out there that are not doing mass marketing
• it's OK if the tactics that others are doing isn't a match for you or your business
• You can have a successful small or solo business without the mass marketing we're all seeing, and by focusing on a few key outreach components
• How to simplify and pick something that provides tangible results for people
• When to pivot your business or marketing if it feels off to you. You may not have yet landed on your true message or path.

Lisa Princic's Website: Scaling Deep https://scalingdeep.com/

Lisa's podcast: Scaling Deep https://scalingdeep.com/podcast/

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How do you set yourself up for personal, heartfelt, meaningful success for a new year? I'm inspired by the words of Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh and Kate Courageous this week, as I look back on "How to Plan Your Year" month.