Quiet Messenger: Redefining leadership & messaging for introverts & sensitive souls

A month ago, I realized that there's a topic I've been dancing around with you for the last two years.  That my work is for sensitive introverts. Quiet Messengers. Big feelers who like cozy spaces for connection, growth and processing.  We might be vocal and spirited in the small, intimate container of our Messenger Masterminds , but putting things out into the world…that's differen...

Without being clear in your messaging, you can do a lot of marketing busywork that gets ignored, doesn't build your community or doesn't compel people to buy. YET… There's a lot of messaging out there that is very clear but is also manipulative, selling at all costs and using unethical tactics that don't leave customers making empowered decisions.  If you're anything like...

I know you've got a big heart and you're SO GOOD at your work…but in order to keep doing your work, you need paying clients.  That's where being able to clearly communicate what uniquely positions you comes in.  Because when you are the ONLY one qualified for the job, your dream clients will happily pay you.  Not in a way that's sleazy or manipulative or about "getting&quo...

Okay…so let's talk about getting crickets and what it feels like to always be chasing clients.  Ugh, I know. Frustrating stuff. Want to know one of the biggest challenges I see to coaches and leaders reaching their people?  First, let me say that this is not about popularity, likes or followers.  It's about really reaching your people on a deeper level where they feel connected to what y...

If you're anything like me, there are likely one or two TED talks that have made a big impact on you.  Two for me are Susan Cain's The power of introverts and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's The danger of a single story . What do they have in common that made them land so powerfully? A clear message.  But if you're going to use your voice and share your truth, you first need clarity...

Today begins a brand new season of Unforgettable! A season dedicated to taking us back to the foundations of messaging.  Starting with… What is messaging, really? Believe me, I've heard a lot of myths and misunderstandings in the past several years I've been leading messaging workshops and Masterminds ! That it's all about wordsmithing or dialing in your elevator pitch.  That there&...

Closing out Speaking to What Matters: Conversations on Messaging for a More Just World , here is my personal debrief with specific aha moments and learnings I took away from each leader about how to show up for social justice in your messaging. Listen in. A Few Takeaways: You can't slap up new inclusive messaging on your website and expect more diverse clients to come. Messaging is the end po...

We're all continually learning & navigating how to share in these times which are highly polarized and where a lot of our collective trauma is at the surface.  As my guest today, Nisha Moodley, points out, we're just at the beginning of learning how to be together on the internet. And we're unlearning + relearning how to do it in a different, more generative way. Nisha is an Int...

After decades as an artist and musician, Tamala Poljak decided to become a therapist because they're passionate about working with people who have felt othered. Now they almost exclusively work with the LGBTQIA+ population and a lot with triadic partnerships, polyamory and different ways that people create family and home. Coming from a generation that couldn't even imagine going by a pr...

Today we hear from Trudi Lebron, a sought-after DEI Consultant whose goals are to: Bring more Black, brown, indigenous, latinx folks and other people of color into the coaching industry, both as practitioners AND participants Help white coaches create more diversity, equity and safer spaces to bring BIPOC folks into With a Masters (and PhD-in-progress) in Social Psychology and experience as a bi-r...

If we design for the people with the most marginalized identities, the experience improves for everyone else. That's a core belief of Kelly Diels, a Feminist Marketing Consultant who trains feminist copywriters and helps bake our beliefs into our business practices to generate money and justice. She saw that, working in the women's empowerment space, those who don't identify as wome...

Today's conversation is with Cher Hale, a publicist & founder who's using her PR company to amplify the voices of underrepresented and marginalized groups.  After a year of offering podcast pitching services, Cher started noticing that the clients coming to her were mainly white upper-class life coaches.  They were paying her well and sustaining a good, consistent business. BUT she w...

Today, we're joined by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Coach Erica Courdae in a conversation that will make it easier for you to keep speaking up ~ especially if you're scared you'll mess up . This is to get us into imperfect action…even that thoughtful, caring side of ourselves that second-guesses what we share and just wants to say it the "right" way. What I learn...

Here we are, at the first episode of Speaking to What Matters: Conversations on Messaging for a More Just World .  It's my hope that this series of informal, real conversations with social justice leaders brings you at least one shift , aha moment, or breakthrough in how you want to show up.  Here's where we'll be going & who we'll be learning from: [171] Messaging For a Mo...

Each time I have meaningful conversations with would-be messengers as I enroll my Messenger Mastermind , several shared beliefs emerge.  These 6 beliefs, left unchecked, can easily keep you from expanding your impact as a Messenger. In this week's episode, I'm going to show you how to transform those beliefs into your greatest allies so you can grow your biz and impact for years to come!...

You care so much. You have something to say. You're a Messenger… Or would-be Messenger.  Because even though you're out there sharing, you still feel invisible. Ooomph.  I know the pain of that.  It's noisy out there. ...And it can sometimes feel like what you say goes into a black hole... so what's the point. Your people need to hear your message.  This ep of Unforgettable wil...

Two years ago, in the midst of one of my Message Clarity Challenges , Lisa Thruston realized that maybe there was more than one way to show up as a Messenger.  …another way besides the outspoken, extroverted ideal held in our online business culture. (Which by the way, is also totally fine — it's just not the only way.) >> Your message doesn't have to be loud and big to create last...

I know you care so much. I know you're here to make an impact.  And I ALSO know you feel this pull to speak, for your voice and your message to be heard.  A lot of people in my community have at least a touch of Sensitive Soul Messenger in them.  Empathic, caring, big heart… yet not sharing their message as much as they could because they second-guess what they post and hover with their finge...

Anyone who's had a bored kid (or has been a bored kid) can tell you that inspiration doesn't come simply from having lots of time.  Living in the dobervan outside Steve's biz partner's metalworking shop the past few weeks reminded me of that. How NOT to flow? — Force it.  When you're communicating from the soul of your work, inspiration is not a one-hour "task."...

When it comes to copywriting, there's a lot of focus in the online business space on tactics for things like "conversion" and "customer acquisition."  I call that HEAD messaging. As in ~ it gets you all wrapped up in figuring out your copy with your head. What you're supposed to say. I teach HEART messaging. Because… Connected copy comes from writing with your heart,...

Earlier in the summer, I told you I was taking a two-month break from the podcast.  And I did.  I'm writing this to the sound of forklifts and drizzling rain, from Steve's biz partner's metal fabrication shop in Oregon. I've been working from the road, living out of the dobervan with Steve and our pup. And…I love how every time things feel like I'm PUSHING, I re-remember t...

I'm taking an introvert pause from the podcast for the next couple months. Here's why. Being transparent about my own relationship with my voice as an introverted leader.  Deeper support from me: What's your Messenger Archetype? Take the quiz . In this time of "social distancing," your online messaging is key. As a Copywriter + Messaging Expert, I craft copy that makes you...

The most common question I get is "Can you help me create a dialed-in elevator pitch?"  That's because at the first mention of "messaging," people often think we're talking about wordsmithing .  It's not about getting the words right. It's about being a Messenger. Yes, clear, connected messaging is important for people to understand the impact of your work a...

Right now, so many of us are being forced to pause, be with ourselves, and be confronted with things we can usually ignore. Liv Hadden is an author, podcaster, leader, Expressive Messenger Archetype , and one of the fiercest stands I know for what and who she believes in.  And she has a hard time slowing down. (I so relate) Yet when her client work slowed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,...