(upbeat music) Success looks so easy from the outside, but all successful people have had to overcoming enormous obstacles along the way. And in many cases, look failure right in the eye. Most successful people don't focus on the struggle and they rarely talk about it because that's not what creates success. Join us here. Where we'll chat with serial entrepreneurs, both men and women, and share the good, the bad, and the ugly of entrepreneurship. We'll talk about the obstacles we face and how to overcome them, to reach the success that you desire. I am your host, Kami Lehman, and this is "She's Invincible." (upbeat music) Hey everyone, thank you so much for joining us today. Once she's invincible and do we have an invincible one to introduce you to today? Suzanne Turgenza Moore helps non-fiction authors and rising thought leaders focus on revenue and thought leadership status. Since leaving her six-figure job, Suzanne has employed her MBA in marketing and entrepreneurship along with personal experience from living in the weeds of her business to support clients with strategy, marketing, technology, delegation, and mindset. Clients describe her as invaluable and a gentle butt kicker. She is the best-selling author of "Hang on Tight." Learn to love the roller coaster of entrepreneurship and the host of the podcast, All Things Arthur Pinor. Oh my gosh, Suzanne, welcome to "She's Invincible." We're so excited to have you with us today. Thank you so much. I'm excited just to get to spend time with you, Cammy. Oh, it's so fun, right? It's always so fun to be in each other's space. Oh my gosh. - Yes, it is. - And you know what's really fun is I have had you on my wish list and looking for a place that I could have you come and spend some time with us. And it's just so fun because you were part of the book launch that we did in March when we launched heart-centered marketing and that was even like, then I was like, "Oh, I gotta have her, this is so good." So I love what you're doing and it was such a great launch and I know that you're making a huge impact in the world with your clients. And so I feel like we really wanna share that here and I know you're invincible and I can't wait to hear what you think you are when it comes to invincibility. So let's jump in, are you ready? I'm ready. Awesome, let's do this. Let's tell our listeners how in the world did you get where you are today and what makes you invincible? Yeah, so I went to, as you said in my bio, I got an MBA in entrepreneurship and marketing and I had this desire to be an entrepreneur but I was working at entrepreneurial companies, very small and at one point I had two little kids, I was working and I kind of saw the acts ready to fall and it did and I came home and my husband said, "Well, you've always wanted to be an entrepreneur." And I knew that and for a hot minute I went into health coaching, which I have no business doing because I really like a Coca-Cola way too much. I mean, I'm just gonna say. But what I did was I found the world of virtual assistants and I literally went to a women's entrepreneurial conference and everyone was talking about VA, VA, VA and I was like, "I don't understand what are you talking about?" And they said, "Well, you know all those programs "that you have to work in online as an entrepreneur, "like your email marketing and your website "and you know how hard they are to make do what you want?" And I was like, "No, those are really easy." And they said, "Well, that a VA does that all for you." And it was like, being delightful went off, right? And while I knew kind of in my heart of hearts that I wanted to coach people in business, at that time I had the mindset of until I've had my own successful business, how can I coach someone in business? So I started my VA business, which was called the implementation station and for a number of years I worked with women entrepreneurs helping them with all of their back-end tech needs and I built a team and I say it was like herding cats, right? It was herding cats on a massive, cats that you don't even know personally because you've never actually met them in person, right? And I did that for quite a while and it treated me well, it was a successful business and after a while I hired a business coach and I said, "I don't want to be doing this anymore." Like I don't want to be only as good as the last time I sent an email for someone that didn't have a bad link in it. And so I moved on from virtual assistants and I started to do business coaching. And I think the thing that has carried me through always is that I knew there was a way that people could work independently on their own schedule and be successful in a way that they could support physically, financially and emotionally their family, whether or not they had that traditional corporate job, right? And I felt particularly women needed people around them who believed that and I wanted to be a supporter of women in doing that. So became a business coach, worked that business and for a long time, somewhere along the line, I was working with a coach who told, I was in a mastermind and everyone was supposed to write their book, right? We were supposed to write our business books and there were several of my friends who were good doobies and like they do what someone tells them to do. I should take a page from their book, right? And they went and wrote their books and I in classic Suzanne form said, you know what, I better take a course on writing a book, right? And on launching a book. And so I took this course and it was all about writing the book but then launching the book for bestsellers status blah blah blah. So I ended up helping my friends in the mastermind launch their books on Amazon as bestsellers. And it was super exciting. I loved doing it and it became this kind of additional thing that I did to my business coaching. But obviously they aren't quite one in the same, right? And what I found really interesting, I mean, they say all along in anytime you work with a coach, anytime you're working on your own business, niche down because the more specific you are, the more people realize that they need you. But also the more referrals you get because when you're really specific, people go, oh, I know someone who does exactly what you're talking about. And that's what happened with the Amazon launches. I started getting more referrals for that than I did for my business coaching, right? Because the business coaching was more general, right? And so, you know, but I was in this place where it was kind of a push pull in me that I wanted to do what I could to make the most of those referrals, but I didn't want to like shift away from my business coaching marketing message. And it wasn't until my own book came out in 2001 that I realized how much I could fuse the two, right? And I could say, I really need to be a coach for nonfiction authors and help them in their pursuit of success. And what I mostly saw was that a lot of them tend to get very muddled in their messaging after their book comes out. Because they've had a message, but now they get it in their head that their focus is selling books. And your focus should never really be selling your book because your book is going to make you all of about 29 cents a copy, right? Yeah, and so that's kind of how I got where I am. I'm in a place where I'm really helping nonfiction authors, thought leaders, you know, I say rising thought leaders, people who are probably going to end up writing that book but haven't done it yet. And one of the biggest challenges I see them having is be clarifying their messaging so that people come to them and hire them for what they do and know and the best way they serve people. I love that. Oh my gosh, I have a question about this though. So when you say you're coaching nonfiction authors and the whole thing about after the book, are you coaching them through the book process to have a best-selling book? So typically, no. So I have a number of independent publishers that are like my bestest buddies now, right? I mean, I work with you, I know you're very familiar with Deborah Keven from Highlander Press because we work together on the anthology you mentioned earlier. And so she was the number one. She started out saying, hey, will you do all my book launches? And I know so many other independent publishers, they are really into the writing, they have the publishing thing down. I don't do any of that. I take it once the book is almost ready to go. I say, okay, let's make this bad boy a bestseller on Amazon. Let's have you launch with an enormous splash and let's be clear on what that book is gonna do for you in your business and how you're connecting it to the revenue generating thing that you sell, whether that's coaching, whether it's a course, whether it's retreats, whatever it is. 'Cause again, you're not making the money from the book, you're making the money from the knowledge that you put in the book and really you make it when you share that knowledge in a bigger, more personalized way with whomever it is you wanna work with. I love it. So this is so good. All right, so tell me what makes you invincible? I really, this is a hard question for me. Of course, I don't think of myself as invincible, but the bottom line is that it comes down to the fact that every single day I get up and I put one foot in front of the other and I just don't stop. And there are days that I wanna stop. There are days that I cry in a puddle. There are days that I feel like a million bucks. I have a friend who calls like the really good days, she calls them unicorn days, right? She's like, oh my God, it was a unicorn day. Like, I got the right parking spot and I got, right? Like, I have unicorn days, but I also have days that tear me down and I just keep getting up and putting one foot in front of the other. And truly, I believe that's how anyone stays invincible, right? Because it's kind of like a practice. It's not a light switch, right? Yes, yes, and here's the truth. That's exactly what our definition of being invincible is here on the show. And in the entire brand is it's never giving up. It's riding the waves, taking the storms, right? Getting blown around, getting knocked flat on your face and getting back up every single time and running for your dreams. Because sometimes giving up is easier, most times, giving up is easier when things get tough, but nobody remembers the person who gave up, right? They never remember that person. And you know what, people are counting on you to run your race because they're connected to whatever success that you are creating, that there's a part for them and people are counting on you. And when you give up because it gets tough or you get tired, right? Yep, you're saying no, yes. You are saying I'm not going to run for my dream and I'm going to stop these other people from having a part of that as well. And that's really what being invincible to us is all about. So I love that. And when I say you're invincible, I don't mean undefeated. We're getting the right, not not. We're getting our butt-skicked, right? Yeah, we sure are. We are getting our butt-skicked, but we're getting back up and we're running the race and that's why we're enjoying the sweet, sweet smell of success. And I love that. And that's one of the reasons why I wanted you to be here with us. So I really feel like we just paved the way in everything that you shared to talk about the topic that we're going to talk about today, which is crafting clarity, weaving core messaging into interviews. And I love this because we're going to talk as it relates to podcast interviews, but and I mean, that's our intention, but the truth is, this is universal. This you can get on a stage with a microphone. You can be on a telephone conversation or in the back of an Uber and you could be weaving that message. And so, whether it's an interview or a presentation or whatever it is, I am excited to talk about this topic. So let's jump in, tell us a little bit about this, what you've seen, what are the do's and don'ts of this because man, have we, do we have our stories, right? Of what we've seen that's not good and what we see that's like unicorn, right? - Yeah, that's right. - Yeah. - So let's dive in. - So this really comes from what I have seen. It comes from what I've seen with the nonfiction authors that I work with, but they are not the only ones suffering this ill. I just wanna point out. And so it doesn't matter if you're an author, if you are someone who is looking to be interviewed, whether it's on a podcast, whether it's in any other media or speak or anything, this is a really important message for you and I hope that you'll take it to heart. So this is about your core messages and knowing in any situation what the core messages are that you want to convey. And not only knowing what they are, but knowing what it is you are leading to in any situation. So I can't tell you how many times in my business, I tell people, begin with the end in mind. What is it on a given podcast that you, or I'm just gonna say podcast, but we're talking interviews, whatever. I'm gonna simplify and use podcast. What is it on a given podcast that you want to promote? And what are the messages that you need to share on that podcast in order to promote that thing? And I will say, if you are a nonfiction author and your answer to this question is my book, ain't big like the X's on family feud, right? No, that is not what you want to promote. It should always be something bigger in your business, something that makes you real money, right? So when I say begin with the end in mind, I want you every single time you go into an interview situation to be clear that, okay, if people take the action, I want them to take at the end of this interview, it means I will sell X, right? And to clarify that, I don't mean that you are offering something paid on the interview because that is not a good idea. You want to be offering something free that will lead to a paid product. So that's number one. You got to be clear on what it is you're trying to sell. And I think that one of the reasons that people get confused about this is because they say, well, I mean, people know I'm a coach. Obviously I want to sell my coaching, right? No, no, no. What you want to sell is the results that people get when they work with you. And you want to say in my one-on-one coaching, right? In my, for me, I have a group program that I call my revenue success club. In my revenue success club, we work on clarifying our messages and making sure we have clear messages that go to each one of our offers. So depending on what it is we might be offering now, we have clear core messages that go to each of those offers, right? And that is how you want to be thinking about it. So you should have a grid that you're working with. And it should say, okay, offer number one. If that's one-on-one coaching, what are the core messages that you want to share in any interview situation that go to your one-on-one coaching? If that is your $500 leveraged product that is a course, like a DIY course, where people get one hour of your time a month or something like that, if they're in the course, then you want to talk about your DIY course and why there's so much value in that course because people get through it, right? You have to go into the interview session really clear on today I'm promoting this thing. So that's number one. And then number two is you have to have the grid of, okay, if I want to get across three core messages about this offering that I have, what are those three core messages? And you want to outline them, you want to be clear that like in this interview, I'm going to say these three things if it kills me, right? Like even as the interviewer doesn't ask me anything about these, I'm going to figure out a way to say these three things. Now, I want to say in that you want to be sensitive to who's the interviewer, who is his or her audience? And you want to make sure that you're speaking to the audience of that individual because otherwise you're just wasting both of your, both individuals' time, right? And I always like to say this about this part of that. You know how when you watch the news for those of us who do that still? Someone will ask a question. This is typically a politician thing, right? But not exclusively. Somebody will ask a question and the answer doesn't actually match the question. Right? You go, wait, wait, they asked about this and suddenly we're talking, I don't understand. So you kind of need to learn how to do that, but not in quite such an in-your-face way. You want to be more subtle about it, but you, again, want to know how to weave in your core messages no matter what the questions are that are coming to you. And I will say this takes practice, right? This is not something that you're going to get perfectly every single interview. But what I will say is you should have a list of questions that if the podcaster you're working with is open to you provide and you say, you could ask me these, right? That lead, basically the lead in questions you need in order to give the answers you want to give, right? So that's number one. Number two is you need to practice, like listen to the podcast of the person who's interviewing you, know what kind of questions they ask and say, okay, so I've heard her ask several people this question. How can I weave in this answer to that question and be ready to do that, right? - Yeah. - And okay, so I begin with the end in mind. You want to have your core messages. You want to build your core messages into your answers. The last thing I want to really share is be prepared, have a media kit, have all your stuff together as a podcast host myself. There are so many times that I say to someone, I would love to have you on my podcast. Here's the link and I have a form they have to provide everything in order to book the session with me. And I can't tell you how many people respond and say, I have to pull my stuff together in order to be on your show. Now, full disclosure. Kami asked, I realized that Kami asked me to be on this show about 16 hours before we're recording this session. I didn't listen to several of her shows and know her questions, okay. But when she, and she sent me a calendly link, right, to fill out my information. But I didn't see it. I was literally walking. I was shutting off all the lights in my house last night. It was 10 o'clock. And I was ready to go to bed. And on my phone, there's Kami. By the way, you really need to do this before midnight if you could, right? Yeah. And I was like, oh. And then I was like, Susan, you can do this, you know why? 'Cause you got all your stuff together. And I went and I sat down at my computer and it took me about 10 minutes to fill out her form. And that was frankly because I'm offering a new freebie. And so I need to do a little bit for that. But everything else I could have done in about three minutes to fill out her form. And you should be that prepared. Because if you are a professional and you know what you're talking about and you want to seem like a professional and you want to get your core messages across, you should have everything ready to go. So if you don't, I really encourage you to put together a media kit for yourself. It is not difficult to do. And it will save you. It feels like a big thing to get done, but it will save you so much time. And it will make you look so professional. And it will get you one more speaking gigs and podcasts, interviews. Oh my gosh, I can't tell you I work with only agents. And so this is really funny because I turned down so many people that come to me to pitch to be on my show. I get like three to five pitches a day. But if it's not my top three agents that I work with, then it's always somebody who doesn't give me all the information that I need, right? And so then it's an email game. I have to go back and say, well, that's not enough information. I need this, this and this. Send me a one sheet. And that's a thing. No one sheet, no interview. Because I don't have days to research five or 10 pages of a media kit. But if I want somebody to consider someone on my show, I want a one sheet that has their bio, you know, a short bio. Yeah, I was just going to say my, as a podcast host myself, my like one of the things that absolutely gets my blood boiling is when someone sends me a bio that is the length of a word document, right? The whole thing. Right. People, 75 words, tops. Yes, and it's like, and I even, I like 50 to 75 words. I think that's enough to say what you need to say. If you have trouble doing it, you can always copy it into AI and ask them to cut it down for you. And I mean, there's just so many things you can do. But like, I want a headshot. I want a short bio. I want all the links to your social media. I want the topics that you are an expert in, not anything you can shoot or riff about. I want the, as you said, the topics that they're an expert in, that lead to something they sell in their business. Oh my gosh. Why? That's why I asked you when we first came on. Like, is this topic something that you sell? Because this is, this is what we talk about, right? We people want more of you. Like 20 minutes on a podcast isn't enough. People are like, tell me more. I have these questions, right? So they want to work with you and we don't want to lead them down a dead-end street. So I love what you're saying here. I teach all of that in my podcast school. And I just love every single bit. And I'm so excited to even go deeper. So here's the thing. Oh, and I also just, as a side note, I also ask for some links of podcasts, episodes that that guest has recently, recently, not three years ago, right? But then what are, and I think this is a really good part that contributes to what you're going to talk about more, is that our team researches their social media to make sure that they're actually hosting and sharing and marketing their podcast episodes. And what we find in a lot of these agents that are outside of the three that we work with is that a lot of the guests are not promoting the episodes. They're only promoting their own stuff. And so that's an automatic no. No, no, no, no, no, right? So it's like, that's something else I want to talk with you about some more and have you weigh in on, is this marketing after they get their core messaging, they do the interview. Now the interview is going to go live. Like what are you teaching and what is the expectation of what happens next? - Absolutely. - Absolutely. So you know what, I love that question. And I probably don't teach enough about this part of it, but you're absolutely right. The, when you are a guest on someone's podcast, it is your gift, it is a gift to be on someone's podcast. So when you are to not reciprocate in initiating your own promotion, I don't mean just taking, you know, the posts that they're, they or their team post about you, but to also initiate your own posts and say, "I was so lucky to be on," right? Or, "I loved the conversation I had with," or whatever it is you want to say about the host's podcast and your time on there, you have to do that. That is the absolute bare minimum. Now ideally, what you want to do is that, when the episode comes out, but also put the podcast interview in a rotation of hosts, you know, it's okay to say every six months, oh my gosh, thinking about when I interviewed with Cami six months ago, right? That was such a long time, right? Do that for the host. It's so easy for you to do on your social media. It really supports the host that you worked with. And you know what else? If people didn't catch it the first time, first of all, if they did catch it the first time, they probably won't remember. But secondly, if they didn't, this is your impression of increase. This is, oh, wow, she was on a podcast? That's so great. And if you do that regularly, you make yourself appear like a valued resource. - I love that what you're saying there. And it's so important. And, you know, one of the things that you were just saying is like, it's a gift for you. Well, it's also an opportunity for you to elevate yourself as an expert. And as your community is evolving and growing every month, right, your community is growing. So people are coming in new that maybe weren't there three or six months ago and have no idea that podcast is there. - Absolutely. - And I love also as you evolve, like right now you're teaching this new thing, which we're gonna talk about later. And so, you know, as you evolve and your focus changes, it gives you a chance to bring that back to their attention, show you as an expert and introduce what you're doing next. So like, these are just huge marketing tips for any entrepreneur or small business. - Yeah. And you know what else is really smart to do? Go look at some of the other people that that podcaster has interviewed and find the ones that you feel that speak to you the most and that you feel are most impressive and share those episodes of that podcaster's podcast and say, I'm so proud to have been on the same quote-unquote stage as this other person, right? Because then you're also elevating yourself, yourself, you're elevating the podcaster and you're elevating this other individual, right? - So it's all goodness and it's all positivity, right? - Yes, and corn like... - It is unicorn like, absolutely. - I always say like, that's where the magic happens when you have the right message in front of the right people at the right time and you have control of that. You, and that's where the magic happens. And so, and that is unicorns. I love it. And rainbows, right? Oh my gosh. - So, and I'd like to, in a simple form, I like to just say, as a podcast host, we're looking for collaborators. We're not looking to just elevate our guests. We are looking for collaborators that we share with our people and they share with their community and together the world is the better place, right? And we get our message out. Yeah, and we're, it's very reciprocal and I love that. So, the law of reciprocity stands very high. And I think that everyone wins and they win big. And you know, the, I think another question, and you touched on this a little bit in the beginning, but it's a lot of people think that the best thing to do is get on the big shows, right? I wanna be on Mel Robbins podcast. I wanna be on, you know, Lewis Howes, like, okay, let's just talk about that for a quick second. Yeah, so one of the things that I said in, when I was talking about the core messages and weaving in your core messages and I think this is what you're alluding to is getting this all right takes practice. And if, whether you have a specific thing that you're promoting right now and you're saying, oh, I wanna do like huge podcasts, like beyond as many podcasts as I can or I wanna hit all the big ones are you need to practice. And jumping in in such a way that you're trying to be on the biggest stage first is not your wisest choice. Your wisest choice is to be on the friendliest stages first and the work with hosts that are really looking to help you shine and to practice and practice and practice. So that when the opportunity comes to be on the podcast that would be your penultimate opportunity, you are so polished that you're not, you don't have that like, oh my God, I might bungle it, right? No, you're like, sweet, I've done this a hundred times. Here goes 101, right? - There you go. Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah, and so, and I love that you're saying that and also I'll just add to that, that it is better to be on a podcast that has a thousand of your ideal target audience than to be on a podcast that has a million people that are everywhere. - Yes, that's right, because your clear message is not gonna land for the people who don't want it or are not looking for it. - That's so true. - And better to be in a small niche down, absolute best fit, right, of ideal clients. - Absolutely. And I think one of the amazing things about podcasts, it's kind of like when Facebook first started up and people were like, oh my gosh, they have groups on basket weaving, right? You can find podcasts on the most specific things. And if you have an expertise or really concentrated knowledge on that thing, go there, because the people who are listening to that podcast, I don't care if there are only 50 of them, they're gonna be like, wow, that is the woman I wanna know, right? - That's right, that's right. 50 people that are looking for you, right? Just found them when you get on the right show. I love that so much. Yeah, I love it. I mean, sure, the ego is like, oh, I wanna be able to tell everybody that I was on the biggest podcast in the world. But you know what, at the end of the day, it's a waste of breath and messaging. You know, if you wanna feed an ego, great. But if you wanna build a business, stick with your niche, right? I love it. Oh my gosh, is there anything else that you wanna share around this topic before we move on? - Oh gosh, I think the biggest thing is show gratitude and grace to your hosts, whether it is in the process of applying to be on that podcast. I've had people send me an application or reach out to me, and it wasn't until the fourth time they did that I responded just for a variety of reasons, right? And it wasn't that I didn't want them on. It was my life, right? So show gratitude and grace in the process during the interview and after, because the best way to make yourself shine is often in helping other people shine. And when you create that positivity, you really, you know, it ends up working for everyone. So I love it. That's so true. Oh my gosh, so true. All right, well, that was an amazing conversation. And I had one question I was gonna ask you. I'm still gonna ask you. You touched on it a little bit, but I wanna just go a little bit deeper. And that was when you talked about people coming to you and they wanna write a book, but they have nothing after that to offer. And you're like, eh, okay, what do you suggest for those people who don't want to start a big business? Like they don't wanna have this huge business, but maybe they would do something on a small scale that they could offer after people buy their book. What would be your best suggestion for that? So if it's not, assuming it's a nonfiction book, most books have a teaching message of some kind. And even if you don't wanna start a big business, creating a workbook, creating a course that can be done as a do it yourself, it can create revenue for you, it can be done in a low key way. You don't need to invest a lot in providing it to people and you don't need to invest a lot in marketing it to people, but it can be a life changer for people. I mean, most of us who've written a nonfiction book hope that someone receives the messages in there in a manner that could change them for the positive, right? I say, I'm so lucky to work with nonfiction authors, they're all trying to change either a person or the world for the better, right? Yes. And so you have a message to share, you have knowledge that someone else needs. If you don't wanna be a coach and have all the time constraints and requirements of that, put something together that's a DIY. There are lots of platforms where you could sell that very easily and it's not a huge investment and it's not difficult to do. I love it. That was kind of, I was thinking that too, but I wanted to hear from you since you're an expert right there with that. All right, tell us about your new free course. So I have, I'd love to offer to everyone, we talked about some of the elements here today, but I have a mini course that I call my podcast, Rahuis mini course. And it's really set out to help people in building their core messages for their interviews. And I'd love to offer it to all your listeners. I believe that if you go through this and you do the worksheets, you will be much better off on each and every interview that you do going forward and that it will serve your business better. So if you want to find that you can, it is at SuzanneTMarketing.com/podcast Rahuis. Let's do this. Let's tell our listeners where they can find you. Awesome. So you know what the best place to hook up with me just to, you know, connect is LinkedIn. That is where I really pay more attention, frankly, to my social media. It is where I'm doing my business and you could probably find out a few things about me personally too. Awesome, awesome. And everything will be in the show notes. So as you're listening, just click the links in the show notes and they will take you to all of the platforms and all of the things that Suzanne has to offer and her course, of course, as well, her course, of course, as well. So Suzanne, thank you so much for being with us and for sharing this knowledge. And just, I love what you're teaching here. This makes all of our jobs easier as podcast hosts and it helps us to be able to find people that are the right fit. I know for myself, I say no to more guest pitches than I say yes to, right? So we only have 52 guests a year. And if I'm getting three to five pitches a day on the daily, I'm saying no to a whole lot more than I can say yes to. So it's really important that you give the information, that you give us what we need and that you're clear, just like she said with your messaging and your topics and all of those things. And this helps us to give you a yes, right? And it helps us to make sure that you're a good fit for a show and that we are sharing the same ideal target audience and that is the most important thing. So I love all of this. You have moved from fighting cancer to discovering how to live beyond it. But what now? With so many emotional side effects still unknown, as a new survivor, you find yourself in a void as you navigate through the isolation, fear, and an uncertain future that can overshadow you and your family for years to come. Instead of focusing on the uncertainty of cancer, consider how strong and determined you are and think of the strength demonstrated by those who stood beside you through it all. Consider this. You now get to choose who you want to be and what your intentional, fulfilled life can look like. You made it through treatment. We can help you define yourself as a survivor. We're here to help you through this moment, to walk beside you as you shift your mindset from counting the days of life. To creating a legacy. For more information, visit www.adventuretherapyfoundation.org or contact us at info@adventurefound.org. On She's Invincible, we promise our listeners that we're going to bring them fierce entrepreneurs, that we are going to give them all the stuff, right? And you did that so well. I love how you broke it down. You really explained everything, didn't just give bullet points, but dove in deep and gave examples. And I think that's how most people learn the best and remember the most. So I appreciate you so much for that, but we're not done because why we promise them, these fierce entrepreneurs and all of this value that you brought today, we also promise to be authentic. And our way of being authentic is to pull back the curtain. See, we make it look so easy. So when people go on their journey and it's hard, they're like, what's wrong with me? What am I doing wrong? What do I need to fix? Because that Suzanne chick, she's got it all figured out and she makes it look easy. Well, we know it's not easy, but that's not what we focus on, right? We focus on success. But there is this journey, the gap between the starting and the success. And that's the part where you mentioned a little bit about prying your eyes out, right? You know, wanting to give up and facing those tough times. And so we're going to tell some stories to encourage our listeners that this is normal. There's nothing wrong with them. They just need to learn the lessons and get back up and keep going. Are you ready to tell some stories? I am ready. Awesome. Let's start with the good. I, this is my favorite part of the whole show, is to hear about the good or the greatest part of your journey so far. So would you share that with us? Absolutely. Yeah. I think the greatest part of my entrepreneurial journey is that, you know, there's this saying that you can't grow your business until you grow yourself. And the, I remember that the first entrepreneurial conference, I went to, the leader started talking about mindset. And I was like, what the heck is that? And I have learned so much about managing my own thoughts, managing my mind, managing the words that I use, understanding my, my energy and other people's energy, understanding myself. I don't, when we get into the ugly, I'm gonna share some pretty big things I've been dealing with. And I do not know how I would be standing right now. If I did not have this 14 year entrepreneurial journey in which I has been building my mindset muscle. And I am so grateful for that. And I'm grateful for every single person who has been in my path, helping me to do it. And they are the other entrepreneurs that I have interacted with for these many years. And the relationships and the support and the, hey, check yourself on that. And the, hey, Suzanne, have you read your own testimonials lately? Because they're pretty amazing, right? All of that, I love that. Oh, I don't know where I'd be without it. Isn't that the truth? Oh my gosh, that's so good. What a good reminder too. All right, let's talk about the bad. We're gonna save the ugly for last, but tell us a story about the bad part of the journey. Well, one of the things I've learned about myself is that I am really better at starting things than I am maintaining things. And that, I say in my own book that I am nothing if not inconsistent, right? Like I am not a consistent person about anything. My kid gives me a hard time about like how much I give the dog treats, right? And then I don't, that I'm not like training her well. And I mean, I am not a consistent person, right? And so I've really had to find ways that I can be more consistent or things that force me to be consistent because otherwise, man, I am like off the rails. And I can't, I can't keep things going. And I will, I mean, this is kind of a good, but I will say my team is what keeps me consistent because I will not do something that's for me a hundred times. But I, boy, disappointing somebody else that eats away at me. And so, you know, my bookkeeper has my stuff. She has what she needs for me. And I answer her questions, usually pretty darn quickly. And my, my team, my, my everything, right? The guy who does my podcast, my graphics, my social media, he is the backbone of my business. And I treat him like gold. And I do what I need, I do what I need to for him because if I didn't, it would be a disaster. So, the bad for me is there's some serious inconsistency over here. Yes, oh my gosh, I love that. And I love that you can call that out on yourself and say, hey, it's an entrepreneur. We're going to have weaknesses. We just need to surround ourself with the people that that's their strength and they can support us. And it doesn't mean we can't do it. It doesn't mean we can't be successful. I mean, we just, we need to just surround ourself with the people who are strong where we are not. And I love that and it's our choice. As an entrepreneur, we didn't go find those people. It's amazing. Okay, last one, tell us the story about the ugly part of the journey. The ugly. So I have to tell you, I'm in, I'm in really, I'm in a really ugly place right now. And it's interesting because I know you know that I'm in the process of divorcing, which is obviously ugly. That's not the ugliest thing I got going on. I have a son who was diagnosed about a year ago as being on the autistic spectrum. Very late, I mean at 14. And so I've been, I've had a child with a lot of struggles and not understood them. And now that we understand them more, we are dealing with them. But because of when this all happened between the divorce, the diagnosis, his puberty, right? I mean a teenager hood. He has had a really rough time. And as we're recording this, we are just about to end the academic year. And my child has barely gone to school this year. Like he's probably made it less than a third of the days he was supposed to. And that has been crushing because you not only, we all know if you're a parent, you know that when your kid is not right, you're a mess on a certain level inside, right? Yeah, sure. But top that with spending no joke, a lot of days, five hours a day, trying to, on and off, but five hours a day, trying to get this boy out of bed to go to school. It is emotionally crushing. And I share this because the more I share it, the more I hear how many other people have been through it. Yes. And the more I share it, I want people to know that they're not alone. It is so shameful. It, when you, when you're in the, you know, I'm at the baseball dinner for my other son, right? And all the parents are talking about where their kids are looking at colleges and how their younger one is doing this and their that. And tell me about his brother. And I say, his brother barely goes to school and I can't get him up in the morning. And it makes you, it can make you feel like an absolute failure. And you know what, you're not a failure unless you're giving up. That's right. So I, that is my ugly place right now. It takes me down on some days. It, it takes my creative energy for my, it saps my creative energy for my business or anything else. And it's the thing that, it's the thing that I just keep saying to myself, I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and getting up in the morning each day. And I know it's going to change this too shall pass, right? - Yes. - But I know that there are people out there listening. It may not be this, but there are things you're dealing with. And you can do it and you can also keep going. Yes, you can. And in fact, that is what you want to do because in everything that you do, you're showing your son, you're showing him an example of doing things, even when you don't think you can, when you don't feel like it, when you don't feel well. I mean, you are a beautiful example of picking yourself back up and showing him, mom had a hard day, but look at her, look at her there. She just drug herself into her office and she is still doing the thing. And if she can do it, so can I. But there is nothing like, or I want to say even worse, than the mama bear watching her child suffer and not being able to fix it. I mean, we're here. We have these children and we're here kissing their boo-boos and patting their bottoms and encouraging them. And we want their world to be perfect, not that it is going to be, but that's always our desire. And when things like this happen that we can't control and we can't fix, it is horrifying. And I just want to say like, we have to be united in this. I have stories I can share with you off air of some of these types of things to encourage you, but we need to be united in this because this is, this can be debilitating to a parent to watch their children go through this and not be able to do anything about it. - Yeah, and I have to say one of the things that over these, you know, my 14 years of entrepreneurship, I've discovered quietly, is how many of the women that I've gotten to know have a child who has challenges and they are in an independent business because they couldn't be in the corporate model and support their child the way they needed to. And a lot of those women are divorced because all the things were too much for the marriage, right? Or for other reasons, right? - Sure, it could be all of it, all of it, right? But I am the number of people that I have quietly learned. - Oh, I didn't know you had a child, you know, with this challenge. I didn't know you had a child with that challenge. I didn't know you had a child who didn't go to school, whatever it may be. And so I share my reality because I know I'm not alone and I wanna just make sure that everyone else knows it too. - And isn't that the truth, is that you're not alone, but every one of us, no matter what it is that we're going through, we always feel like we're alone. And then we find out like, oh, that happened to you too. And, you know, oh, you're going through that? Like we are not alone. And that's why I love what we do here. She's invincible because we're showing the other side of it because people going through it that really think they're alone don't realize they're people like you, Suzanne, who are successful and making a huge positive impact in the world in this part and yet still dealing with this other part that is so heavy in every way, right? In your heart, in your mind, in your soul, and yet you can do it anyway. And so when we say you're invincible, we're not playing around here. Like, invincibility is doing it anyway. It's falling down and getting back up one more time. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for sharing your expert zone of genius and sharing your heart so vulnerably to just encourage our listeners and our community that they aren't alone. Life is hard, you guys. Even if you're not an entrepreneur, life is stinking hard. It really does take a village and we do need to unite. We need to support each other. We need to have more grace, right? We don't know what people are going through. We need to have more grace with people. Stop trying to understand it and just love them anyway. Oh my gosh, if you can't understand it unless you're actually in it, right? Or you've walked in those shoes or walked that path. But let's just love the people, right? Love the people, give them grace. Let's support each other. You are all invincible. I know know where you are in your life or your business. But if you're face down on the ground right now, get back up. Just get back up. You are invincible. I know it feels like you can't do it. I know that. I've been there. Suzanne's been there. We know what it feels like. But we're telling you, you can, but you've got to get back up. You can do anything. You are invincible. Thank you for joining us today. If you were inspired or learned something new, please follow the show. Submit a rating and review and share us with your friends. If you would like to chat to see if you can attract your ideal client and monetize your business through podcasting, please book a free call with me at cammyleman.com. I can't wait to meet you. [MUSIC PLAYING] (gentle music)
