As a person with a very deep voice, I'm hired all the time for advertising campaigns, but it Voice doesn't sell me to be timing on the wrong platform doesn't sell, be to be either that's why beat it be marketer, you should use linked and adds linked in the targeting capabilities to help you reach the world's largest professional audience, that's right, Seventy million decision makers all in one place, although bigwigs then medium, eggs. Also small, wigs who are on the path to becoming bigwigs. Ok, last week's linked. Ads, allows you to focus on getting your beat me message to the right people. So that mean, you should use ads on linkedin instead of hiring me the man with the deepest voice in the world. Yes, yes, it does get started today and see why linkedin is the place to be to be we'll even give you a one hundred dollar credit on your next campaign. Gotta linked. Calm. Slash results to claim your credit. That's lincoln!

I can't slash results terms and conditions apply. I think that's one of the biggest things in this day and age with the online community. It's so so great, but you have to just remember that all of it has a lot of white noise, the good and the bad, like you really can't get so consumed in the positive comments, just as much as as the negativity. That's there too, because your opinion of yourself is valued solely on on you and who you are and who you look at in the mirror and and knowing that It doesn't matter what anybody else says. I am rachel Hollis, and this is my podcast. I I spend so many hours of every single week, reading and listening to podcast and watching youtube videos and trying to find out as much as I can about the world around me and that's what we do on this show. we talk about everything life.

And how to be an entrepreneur. What happened dinosaurs? What's the best recipe for fried chicken? What's the best plan for intermittent fasting? What's going on with our inner child house therapy working out for you, whatever it is, my guess or into I want to unpack it so that we can all understand these our conversations. This is information for the curious. This is the rachel Hollis. I guess I guys it's wage welcomes. Another episode in our mastermind series and to day were focusing on influencers, which I'm gonna be honest. I really hate that word cause. It just sounds sword of do she, but it is what you call it when someone makes it is es via social media or on the internet, and they have influence on other people and that influence allows them to do brand. Partnerships are built,

business or be a coach or whatever that's an inn. Sir I relays recently that I have interviewed a lot of really successful influencers over the years in every category, so that it would be cool to bring those converse. since into our mastermind series for any of you who are influencers and you wanna level up for any of you sort of secretly dream that you get brand partnerships are grow a business the social or maybe you wanna, hear more about how people turn their personal brand into a business that makes them money. That's what today's conversation is. all about in seven years of hosting the show, I have gotten the opportunity chat with some incredible people in This category, so today, you're gonna, hear from louis how's podcast hosts of the school of greatness here from gracie mercedes, a long time influence her in the fashion space, camille styles, the oh gee blogger, like one

I first started out blogging two thousand and eight two thousand and nine camille styles was who we all wanted to be. She's built an entire lifestyle brand around her blog you're, going to hear from Amber girl stall or, as you might know, her damask love, who has the most vibrant and happy into him, feed ever an specializes in craft she's all about the day. I why and for years has been making an incredible living teaching. Other people have crafts. This is the conversation. This is how you build. This is how you grow. This is the world of influencers, and I hope you dig today's mastermind episode My name is amber and I am today be created,

girl behind a d I blog called damascus love. I have always been agreed a girl. I have not always been a creative person in my career path. Originally, as I was working as a psychologist, I started a blog about crafting because that was my hobby and what kind of what I data my ours. As soon as I got home from work, that was the thing I was excited to do was to craft things and to make things and a whim truly started a blog. If, on day one, I decided what I was going to call it and I'm on day two the thing was live, so that's the best kind of blog. That's the amount of forethought that went into it, started as a hobby of a place to share the things that I was making and that time, blogger, certainly popular. But there wasn't a kind of e them. The title influence or did not exist and

I had no intention of making any money off the thing I just would like. This will be my creative outlet, but over time it took up a picked up, speed and picked up steam and gay the following very organically and eventually decided. Well, I guess I could turn this into a job and honest to god the reason I decided to but maybe I can make this shift- was one day I got an email from. many, they wanted to work with me and they flew I doubt told me in the email they were like we're short on time, so we want you to do six posts and we're going to pay you eighteen thousand dollars girl. Let me tell you that. Let me tell you that eighty thousand dollar I mean, thousand dollars. When you ve not been making my much money, the blogger, it sounds like you can move mountains and change lives, so I set off five eighteen thousand dollars, and I said well, if those people with marketing budgets like this, I mean that another

ten thousand dollars makes the salary and I just need a fine that those those people and avail myself. This opportunity. So that's when I cited that would kind of, in the back of my mind, plan to eventually leave my job as a psychologist and pursue a full time getting as a blogger. Whenever you want to call me create content creator, and so I did and probably about a year and a half later after I had my fun and was feeling extremely overwhelmed by the role of mom, blogger, psychologist, wife. All of those things a kind of got the point where I just couldn't. Do it anymore, I had saved up a year, salary by that point, knowing that if I left my job and never made another dime that, I had one year to figure out if I could be a successful, no entrepreneur and thankfully a year later, my business with continuing to grow and to thrive, and I was able to

continue doing what I, what I'm passionate about, which is getting people that happened to their credit besides that, I believe everyone has but just needs a little bit of how poor little niger little direction on finding it when I was getting pay the two fifty for a job. I just felt, like I don't know, I can make enough to fifty to make as viable, and it took that eighteen thousand dollar number two really like be the wake up call. Once I got that email, I think what allowed me to roads into a full salary. Enough money to be worthwhile to leave my job was that if you work for free, which I think a lot of us do in the bin. Of our business for soldier, because there is value their when you're starting. If you want to work for free, you choose who you work for free for, like yes, you, One every brand, every everyone out there was we content, if it good so with your producing, for content. Don't wait,

the free opportunities to come to you go, get them as soon as you say, I am willing to do x, Y and z. Here's what I think would work great for your bread or here's. How I think we could partner in this way and what I'd love to have an exchange is for you to post. This content on your instagram or here's. What I'd like I'd like to receive this product lots of people want that deal you really have a lot of power as the content creator, fine who that person is for sale. In my case, I blogs for about a year to four martha stewart living. I didn't continue doing that into perpetuity. Could I knew that that would like working for free was not gonna, be a great. for me, but I didn't know that if I were for free I'd rather work, for months. Do it then work for free for the person that you never heard of before it? Never in don't plan on spending any gas yeah totally, I know physically, I would sit down and write. A list of this is like

This is what my dream collaboration would be. Your bees are, who the people that down the road I want to be working with on a long term basis, and I would write it down and it if something came along with aligned with getting to those brands- and I will take it if it wasn't that I said no, because you don't I have to do everything that comes across your desk if it doesn't align with where you see yourself going, For me, everyone when I tell people what I do often people's daily. Oh, I would never want to do that and I'm just the opposite. I now know that this is where I'm supposed to be. In never considered myself an entrepreneur. I feel like that. Words was not meant for me. One time tat I felt like that was intended for people who had it all figured out like new the ins and outs of business and were very savvy in that regard, and I didn't I consider myself to be now, but I think what I ve learned anything What anyone listening like may be feeling of that

for north. I think part of the reason we're entrepreneurs is because we are constantly figuring it out and there is no point at which we haven't figured out enough. What entrepreneurship really is and point when our uncomfortable with that title, because I know that's what I do, what I do but I continue to be passionate about what I do, we haven't you in, and anyone who then this kind of industry we have is really unique. duty of reaching farm people than we could ever reach with a broken water store, haves and region? people and changing their lives and whatever medium that, maybe for me, that's that's crafting and creative. So yeah I mean the messages I get every day, the email they get every day from the people who are inspired by what I do. That's what keeps me so so excited about it. Why My biggest struggle has then I'm hiring and twofold- because wine, but I have a lot to learn about hiring and have really been trying to dive in two ways to educate myself about that. But secondly,

it's hard to higher when your job is to to create content. That looks pretty looks fine, doesn't necessarily convey the hustle that goes into absolutely everything you do because just because it's rainbows does not mean, if not hard Jeffrey A pretty girl did not me. We didn't have to take fifty other ones to get the right, one that I'd club, just because its rambo mean it's not hard. You should put that on a short in good. I, like your style than your website, very well. We got a new product right, the. Well. You know I I often get people whose day I would love to work with you eddie. You fired me so much, I'm you'll, be a part of what you do in the studio every day, often not is a red flag, and I think it's something that for us people who are in my position of a b, the hiring are looking for for people to work with the red flag that they're they're, not quite at the point of understanding that, if a business and

for every every pupil. Glitter I throw onto card sock. There is an invoice there's a whole bunch of quick well there's a million emails to go back and forth negotiating rates, there's updating media kits there is web design, there's a theo there's all these things that are not praying, but that are very much the things that go on making this a viable business. I often I I when I speak. I like workshops conference is often say that you know a hundred thousand instant growing followers a business make a business plan is what makes the business and there I am just reading an article earlier about a girl who has many more than a million dollars. I don't know, but continue to fail when it comes to business and so yeah wheatley. To answer your question, you know the business What is he felt phone around here and any just because I dont show it does not mean it's happening affluent.

the feeling you too, in order to start to integrate macao, you need to take leg. When I won t. Let me hear you can't expect that The interim, following alone, is going to carry you. If the business marks an and the know how they are going to make you, you know give you Jimmy, I don't have a huge rainbowy. I mean in the grand scheme a thing but money mrs ewing gray, it's doing just fine, so you can. Assume wine correlate to the other directly. I spent months trying to find a great new home for me and my kids, and when Searching for that many people to find a place to live, you wanna be able to make it as easy as possible. I needed a certain number of rooms it had to have Paul, which was really important for our family and if you're looking for your own place,

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I'm camille styles, I'm the founder and editor in chief of the lifestyle site. Camille soil sought com where we produce daily content. That's about living life, like you mean it, I led a fantastic group of seven women out of our studio in downtown arson where we produce no and video shoots. We research and write articles for the size we just prettiest everything that you see across all of our channels. and I am also a mom to three year old, Henry and six year old phoebe. So I people have started to com one of the old. U r, b o desire, though weird urge it's called the went back and see kind of the evolution. I started my sight ten years ago, at the time I had started an event planning company. I was in my early twenties and started my site as well blog really than it was in the early days of blogging when people weren't really

making a living as a blogger governance, leah, fun, side hobby way before there was an employee Their economy, and I mean It- was pre instagram pre twitter. All of that, so the landscape looked really different, but I was a journalism major in school, I'd always loved to write and for me I blog felt like just the most span: creative outlets. Looking back, it is funny see how I think I kind of down That, though, is this, this like little side, creative hobby and I was afraid in the beginning to look at it as something that could be something bigger. I think I was afraid to drink, To beg- or you know that I might fail or sounds silly, but I on that. I was getting up early and saying up late to work on my blog ends. Just fell in love with the process of creating on ten and having an audience to share out with, but

really interesting to look back and see the way that the site has evolved over the years and just the content itself. Those early days I was still applies my career, where I think I was trying to be like the next Martha stewart, trying to kind of emulate what I'd seen others doing before and having success with, and so when I look back, early posts. I see a lot of perfect parties and how to impress your gas and in others nothing wrong with that type of content. If it really brings you joy, but over the years the site has really come to embrace as its core message. Authenticity ends imperfection and really just going from looking at beautiful things, to wanting to empower audience to really live life on purpose and so up fully and its where that message living life. Like you mean it comes from yeah, I'm always looking for that peace and

raising that we're doing? I think that all of anyone you had a blog hopes that there is this one point where there's like a tipping point. Wherever things suddenly just blows up about like most of us there, you know, my story really was one of grit and determination in just showing up and being so consistent and creating content day off today, even when I didn't feel like it, let me ask real quick just so we can unpack that for listeners. What does consistency look like when you're, just starting out versus what is consistency? Look like today, because I That that kind of changes over time, how you show up in the region let's say when you're when you're, whistling and you're new and don't really know what you're doing consistency could be. I'm just going to make sure I post every single day of the week versus now consistency my expand, so it might be how often you post, but also the quality of the work like. Can you talk about the evolution of your consistency? Yeah, that's a great question

because I do often have more epoch. Coming bloggers asked me how often they should be posting, or you know, asking me often I post and it is two totally different stories because, as we have grown from a blog to a lifestyle publication, we're posting- you know five six times a day sometimes and have can Peters all over the country. So it's a totally different scenario than where I was when I started out. I think consistency can be even a couple times a week. If you are creating that relationship with your community and creating content that is so high quality and thoughtful that they are going to come to you, no matter how frequent the posting as but I think that your audience to know and be able to count on the fact that when they come to your site, there's gotta be something new for them too and dust ends. I think just that you're,

always creating and always trying to do something new is so key. I do think that I started the site with a real focus on creating the highest quality content that I could and that's grown over time am I at the beginning, it was me trying to figure out how how to create or how to take a better photo of this before iphones we're taking really great ferris. I had to figure out how to work at the yes I'll are really honing. My styling skulls. When I look back, some of those earlier recipes. I mean the sailing is horrendous and continues to evolve that I think that I love looking. those earlier posts, because it does show that growth and evolution and our journeys are so to seeing, journey is so important to understanding who we are and what our own stories are. I would never go back delete an old post trading at something to celebrate it's funny how it as I've gotten better. I creating good content. I think

also gotten more okay with not looking perfect, which in a way sounds counter intuitive, but I think that that desire to look perfect or look good enough in front of audience, no matter what size that audience says, it's something that can be really hard to get past, but I think that You know if you really are engaging with your community and wanting to connect with them. realisation of like embracing your flaws and imperfections is so important, because that's ultimately the only thing that people really connected, I think, for years my biggest struggle was really being a positive to define what my own point of view was- and it's really easy and the space to kind of look to your right and looked here and see what others are doing and how their having success doing something a certain way, and it really takes a lot of courage to do things your own way, and I think that that realisation came

my own struggles. For me, my biggest challenge has been really figuring out that balance between kind of being the kind of mom and wife in front that I want to be with being the kind of business woman that I went to be and some days in. I definitely I'm still failing at I'm, maybe with my kids but my mind's, a million miles away thinking about an email or an instagram caption that I'm writing or something work related and just keeping me from being truly present. And what I realized was if this is a struggle that is really close to my heart.

art and it's something that all of my friends are feeling really every woman. I know, then it's probably something that our audience is feeling too. I think that in this age of being constantly connected to our devices that struggle of wanting to be more present but feeling really distracted, is something that's felt by everyone, and so that realization, led to me taking back to my site and realizing that I wanted to use our content to kind of scratch my own edge and learn how to become less destructive and use our content to help our audience. be more present in their lives and be more intentional and being able to articulate that and really having that crystallize. As our core message sent me on a path of really starting to carve out a unique point of view that I felt like was my own and that was different from what I'd been

doing as I walked in the footsteps of other people, absolutely there's a person with a very deep voice, I'm hired all the time for advertising campaigns, but it voice doesn't sell me to be Timing on the wrong platform doesn't sell, be to be either that's. Why be marketer. You should use linked and adds linked in the targeting capabilities to help you reach the world's largest professional audience. That's right! Seventy million decision makers all in one place, although bigwigs then medium. It's also small, wigs who are on the path to becoming bigwigs. Ok Last week's link allows you to focus on getting your beat me message to the right people so that being, you should use ads on linked in instead of hiring me the man with the deepest voice in the world. Yes, yes, it does. Get started today and see why linkedin is the place to be to be? Will even give you a one hundred dollar credit on your next campaign. Gotta linked calm, slash results to claim your credit. That's lincoln!

dot, com, slash results, terms and conditions apply. My name is crazy, I'm from new york city originally, but I've lived another while now about twelve years. I've done a lot of things how many jobs and I've done a lot of things. They started as a producer and mtv right out of college and I eventually moved to los angeles to pursue acting, which is something I always loved, but never thought I can actually do a job and when I first moved here, I also started styling on the side, because I didn't want to wait tables anymore. I started hosting and doing like online hosting, and it's actually the hosting that brought me to blogging okay cause. I had gotten to an on air host agent, who had told me this was about seven years ago,

It was like the world of hosting has changed. You can no longer just be like an attractive person who can speak on camera. You have to have a nice, you have to be an expert at something, and I was like well We must stand lesson I work in fashion, and I love fashion is a great turn tony website into a fashion website, yeah until it started as more of an inspirational website kind of like because I'm addicted. If you know that say, whereas things I love to him, look box fashion, we things like that, it wasn't until I discovered

I personal style, blogs or oh tds, which at first had no idea yeah- and I bet it was such a weird thing. I was like these girls are just taking photos of themselves like I didn't, really get it, but then I had a photographer friend shoot me and my clothes, and I was like let's just try, this yeah and that's kind of when people started falling and started becoming interested in me and my blog and around the time when brand started reaching out and back. Then it was just free clothes here, some cute stuff. Can you wear it and if I liked it, I did yeah but then eventually that turned into oh we'll pay you to wear this yeah, which was like why yeah and then that turned into probably over the last three years like a full time job and it's a lot of work yeah and now. Yes,

I'm a fashion, blogger and an actress so as an influencer these days and my money usually comes from collaborations with brands, most mostly fashion brands, but some lifestyle brands, a brand will approach. I now have representation the blog manager, which is like a whole nother world yeah, but like if you're an actor or a writer, and you have an agent, it's kind of the same thing, brands and work with them to secure influencers, and then these influencers then go and create content for your either your blog or your instagram, or both. I am that content can be unique to whoever the influencer is. So for me a lot of times. It's a simple outfit post. It's take whatever thing they're trying to plug at the moment and

I live in my own way. Photographic write about it and put it on my blog put it on my instagram, sometimes it's more interesting than that. Sometimes it's like a video, or sometimes I'm just traveling. Sometimes I'm just talent where it is to show up on us, but oh she's, the best in the others. The battle for sure whether they ve on Monday. I, like you yeah. We can generally be willing talent and not have anything after that, that's the best yeah, so yeah, that's how you make money and then some influencers make some money through affiliate last. But I honestly that's never been a big moneymaker for me yeah. Maybe I don't use it enough yeah, but it's just never been because media is so crazy and I'm sure for you. It's the same way, what works for us a year ago, does one right now a changes so fast, changing all the time and are constantly frustrated with thought like I just don't know what people want I feel I don't. What do you?

well, yeah, but I think with that is like you know, the space is way more over saturated than it was when I started and when I started, I didn't start to make money cause you couldn't make, no, you can't. So I was just doing it one as a creative outlet in two to kind of support. My hosting career, which inevitably giving me really great opportunities, I did six months as a stall hosts and delicate style segment. Analysis hollywood in conjunction with my habit, which no longer exists but its own by amazon, and I do not for six months, and that was kind of when I realized like hosting, was in a surly for me, like I, my hostess if I create a show, I would play host my own show yeah, but it made me realize like oh well, I don't really want to host, but this has led to the blogging like blogging, full time and and figure out that world, but yeah it just.

And Jimmy I want to say, retain yeah like people want different things that sometimes they really love a photo of me and my husband, and sometimes they don't care yeah. You know, and sometimes they love my dog and they don't care yeah. One of my pieces of advice is that, while you're trying to see what works, also try not to compare yourself to others, because that's like just such a camera and especially for people like me who started a while ago, I feel like it is a stagnant time. It's really hard to, like true and like get a bigger following and then you see these like guys and girls are popped up a year ago and they're like half a million or even then, but I think it's like if there's something about oh well, they're, new and fresh and exciting, and so, if you have been around

have to reinvent yourself. That's it you're saying you have a very, very strong point of you. Don't start a blog that looks just like everyone else here. Log don't do exactly what everyone else is doing. I dont post the same stuff like this. one more latte, I'm gonna shoot myself. So it's like things like that. Try to be reinvent yourself funny. I said that because I just shot a lot yeah, I think, you'll see a latte in a couple weeks, but I think yeah, especially if you can have a strong like niche point of view, I'm always encouraging like moms who who want to applause. We came out your family, I wanna know about your kids out and about your husband, and I want to know how You would think a lot of times people shy away from showing their kids, which I totally understand. But if you want to work in that world it's about your life's about you. I totally you have to be open to that see. I think having a specific and he I've have talked to girls who, like I don't know, I feel, like my styles, like two hours

and I'm like nope beyond their effects but embrace that you're out there and really go for it, because not everyone is my website, hits have cut in half yeah, probably the last year or so, and and my instagram has definitely grown, but it hasn't grown so much so it is this weird place where like, but I will say on the flipside brands I still want a walker agreed. They great. You still want you to have that blog post, because you know instagram is a thing right now, but

now. What was in my speech, I want to say here, and you know a blog is- could be forever yeah. That's how come out of the way I think without, like I'm ree doing my body at the moment. Hopefully, the new one will launch the end of summer before the near, and I've changed the format of it to look more like a website like a magazine or about gracie mercy, the user must about like fashion and start a crazy sure. So I think that helps just reinventing your site and change with the times on your blog as well totally but yeah. I do. I do think most people are apt to go to your blog yeah. I have been twelve years ago like way back in the olden days. I feel like of the and at world I heart a blog ozma tween, my I I junior and in senior year of college I was here in a city or setting at the juilliard school is getting might be a faint dance, and I was newly married

and so I felt like it was. I was just trying to find a domain that I could host big large files of my my wedding photos, and things like that, and so blogspot is what I found could work and so on. that was twelve years ago, urine oh gee, I you have long spot boy, my abroad, I got here. I ask that those in the old days a golden- I want you to think about how far has progressed and how its changing evolved. Like long before social media instigate, I feel like facebook with super exe Do you, member that? Absolutely I remember we were going around happened like sign a petition at my school and recognising as a university that could say If you get access yeah yeah for me, I was, I was a dancer. I love dancing and I, during my experience at juilliard, like I kind of felt this shift, I've always been a creative I've, always loved to create I've, loved and anything in that field, but it was always dance. It was like eat, sleep, breathe, dance. You know the the big the quotes that you see on pictures

in things, and there was just a shift where I felt burn out, and I felt like I needed to see if there were other things that I could find, that could kind of ignite that creativity again inside me and- and I think we're living in a different time than we did back then, because I feel like it was really hard. I feel, like you, you're you're, told like this. What you're going to do stay in your lane and do that, and it was really I felt like. I didn't really know or have the tools or skill set to think like well. What about this for how can I bring that into it to and can I go this lane a little bed. I mean it just felt like you know you, you get a job in a corporate office in you, stay there. Your whole life for you in a degree in that, that's what you do and I feel like the whole, just opened for me as I graduated, and I really started to try to feed you're out what it was that made me happy as a creative person and trying to explore that, and I feel very fortunate that

through my blog in those early years before it became what it is now in terms of the blogging worlder that just the online world. I was able to really find my voice in kind of gain an audience following almost like a happy accident. Wasn't what I was was starting out to deal was never my intent It was several years before I realized, like oh there's, a lot of people reading this. You know it was a couple of years and I think we were getting a couple million. Unique visitors each month and that was kind of wild because back then it wasn't. You weren't permits in your cell, fine instagram or facebook. It was really more word of mouth. I guess right I mean you probably can relate. I like it was, was just kind of a different ballgame when I don't even think that we knew we didn't understand what analytics were Yeah version, at least for me come until later, when you are trying to monitor yet his analytic. You know everyone's like what are you know, what a watered down numbers and sometimes off for me, I'm like I don't like to look at that. Allow don't want to get caught up in that because I think it can really met.

with your head and Julia for me is like put your head down into the world and that's just like creating creating creating creating and then what a beautiful thing that it ends up Oh gosh, I actually doing really well yeah. I think one of the biggest things in terms of how everything came out to be what it is now was just really for missing on something that I really loved and finding my voice and really true to that. In the first few years, like you are saying that I had no idea that I mean I didn't Natasha out to make money for several several years in I wasn't it just wasn't? what even my end goal was. I wasn't like oh some damn going into. It was just I really enjoyed sharing and I loved the online community. I think it is full of some of the best people and for me it's I've. I've been a big document or a big share, but I also just really love the fact that we can connect with somebody on the opposite side of the world, and they don't. You have to be this

sort of you know they dont. You have to be a mother or at at this age in their life, but we all share such commonalities and to know you're, not alone or to know that there are other ways to do something and to be able to hopefully help somebody. see that in their own life you know it's from I've never wanted it to be. Since I you know I document and share a lot of my life. I never want to be like hey. Look at me. What I'm doing I've wanted to be like? No, you know this is my little adventure. This is me trying to get out of my two bedroom apartment in new york city. With my five little ones and go explore and This is my message to you to go to the do you know how I make an adventure of going to the post office or whatever it is? It's been for me, the most rewarding part, and it's why I've kept going in and felt like. I've been able to really just enjoy what I'm doing every day here, which means so much to me. How do you have a business today like How have you monetize what you have created? Several years ends, I started no seven with the blog several

There's an I! You know my husband. He was always so great helping me with the content side, helping me figure out of domain and how to lay it out. All of that stuff, but a couple years an he really was the one that was like. I think we were one of our biggest our first brand partnerships with sweet, green. I'm we re living in these if a couple years and they were a very small- they had like three stores back then and nay ruin. The founders had reached out and was like. Let's get largely, let's collaborators, to do something and my husband was just right eye at the time when I was not a business person. I know how to approach that much. I don't know what to tell someone a rate our deliverables, or how do I go about this? I really don't know when he was just so great ass being like let's too, help you live with this together. You know what you're you're spending so much time, putting so much effort and work into what year

producing every day like let's see if there's a way to organically bring an a brand or a company and kind of find a way to collaborate in a really authentic way, firm I mean. I have a very hard time, looking at it too much from a business perspective, especially because the space were injured, just so asked in lebanon by it. When I started, I had no idea what I'm doing five years ago, not even and even looking five years down the road, it's hard to know what this landscape will look like. for me, I've always just really loved sharing and I've loved connecting, and I'm really excited to try to find different avenues to do that. I'm working really hard, I'm a book, but I think it so important for people to realise too, with all of this that you just

to get out and try, like I remember, even with photography, I had an acquaintance. Who was a big photographer? Who said I like you? Well, you can never call yourself a photographer because you don't have a degree in photography. So I remember really taking that hurt me. Like oh yeah, and so I always was- almost apologetic whenever I the brand went in and in their putting a dollar amount behind the content that they're asking you to produce in. I would we really hesitant or almost kind of like its point of view, like. I hope that I can be shoot it if you now and I find I just realized like. I would never want to diminish anybody's degree or their experience or what they've worked for in that field when they really have worked so hard to be a photographer. But I I have worked hard to win in a sense of being self taught, I guess you know, and I end and I've, google things and youtube and din tutorials are unlike what is this button meme, and how do I do this thing in light ruin and

taking the camera out and played with and over time like you, you, you do, learn and you grow, and I mean I still don't really say like I'm a photographer, but I am very proud of their content that I put out you know that's one of the biggest things in this day and age with the online community. It's so so great that you have to just remember that all there's a lot of white noise, the good and the bad, like you really can't get so consumed in the positive comments, just as much as as the negativity that's there to be. Is your opinion of yourself is valued solely on on you and who you are and who you look in the mirror and and knowing that it doesn't matter what anybody else says: yeah has all the fluff. I feel it is just as detrimental as yet the troll come out in the liver and press, yes, sure enough you now this vomit sorry, but I had a picture of a viral. Do the story

in a bikini. Now you don't know, that's ok, so we were in mexico. I had just run delay marathon, so was like number one. This is bash Avram ever gonna, be it in my whole life. We got a few days away from our kids. We go to mexico I had had a shot of tequila and I had just gotten this new bathing suit and the top had a monogram, my family, southern southern women love a monogram. At the time I had about five thousand fans on social. Media, and I thought, oh, I have a bunch of other moms like I'm, going to show off this bikini top I'd, never taken a picture in a bathing suit. Before and so like you do, that thing, like a scam has my country took. A hundred pictures will find one, so it takes fiction. Than the very last picture is I'm laughing. I feel soup I'll come most awkward, and I the picture and in the picture I have stretch marks over my stomach I carried through babies and so I start to zoom in you know that thing you do on an iphone really like zoom in or I'm gonna cut it. And then on light. You know what all

women who found me our moms, they probably a stretch marks tube. So I end up personal I wrote something about the fact that I wear bikini like I wear bikini. I have searched marks and am proud. This body and every mark on it, because there are so many women. I know who would kill table to carry children and they don't have that blessing, so I'm a rock of bikini cause this Why? What it looks like cyprus, the picture- and this is back my inscribes connected to my facebook. and I posted it goes on both at certain by poor and at the time. whenever the sea and are you like make sure posted okay and it had a good likes and like a man wow and I had never. I mean that's nothing, but it was back in day that was master. Deliver me, I ask exactly. So, unlike why that's crazy.

and the algorithms yeah like five minutes later it had a thousand hole and then it just and we sat by a pool- I've never experienced anything like it. My life we sat by a pool in mexico. We would just watch this photo, go viral and it was in a hundreds of thousands and me like immediately. People started, They would go to their bathroom and they take a picture. There stress marks, they're posting, their stretch, mark photos and it went everywhere, when I say that every prescott lay in the world picked it up. Why? We were, and I gotta tell ya, of all the that, you want to go viral. That's probably not it like. That was very overwhelming- but it really was the first time that I saw them our of just like being yourself and how much women resonated with me being myself often showing all of it, not just the pretty staff, and then was that really what started a shift in change. My career from like food, blogger too, helping into the space, and I think this book is

and modern. Representation of what started like without bikini is like that photo on steroids, absolutely I was like all talk about all the things I ll talk about my search marks and back fat and paying my pants and, like all all of the horror of all like you. Don't calves that you ve never locker remember like all these horrible things that your body goes through yeah I'll just talk about it all cause. I feel like if I raised my hand and if I say I've gone through this, I walk through this trauma or I've done this thing that shameful or embarrassing. If I talk about myself however, gives you permission satellite yours. What most people don't powered on knows that you really to make much money for the first five six, seven years business? Rarely I just working extra it'll hard coming up with. You have multiple books yeah, they were, making a lot of money sally. I do no money, no attention like this. followers yeah. No, this is I mean I

I slowly, I always had a community, but it was small and I wasn't obsessed with the idea of how do we like a get this question time economy grow my social fallen, unlike serve the audience you have add value to the audience you currently have. I I have the community I have because they keep talking about me to other people. Sorry, that's us! but I yeah for years and years. Every single penny that I made are invested it back into the company, because I knew that I wanted to scale, and I knew I wanted to build something bigger, and this is the first time in years in the years that I have put money like I put a check in my bank account for the first time two months ago, and I cried like a baby. It wasn't it like I'm so blast that we were able to live off of dave salary, but there was something like psychological for me about being able to contribute.

like. I put money in our bank account. I I don't know is a big deal of tomorrow's yeah, so I just kept reinvesting and it really, I felt like I don't like a snowball rolling down hill like all of a sudden. It just took speed and and went crazy after, like pushing it for years, yes, but he had a lot of people say no and have a smaller audience for a long time and came out with book after book and speech after speech, and it wasn't like the overnights. I know a lot of people think it is like. Oh, she just came out of the book and it's squash in copies yeah. I should be able to do that right, yeah, yeah, no way it like drives me insane. Actually, because there's a little part of me like I've, got people have, as their books have come out their first books, like I hope it does, and I'm I don't say I but say a better my hand like how dare you account do you this this, like you're you're, aiming at the wrong thing. My hope as a writer

still is like. I hope I hope, there's one person than resonates with you know that feel I know you do where you like go to an event or you have a signing or you get to meet someone who has been affected by your work and you're like oh, it was for you, for you, if you're, the only person that got value out of this, that was worth it. Will you please help to take off. You lost you put it out. There did take off and the first We now always a kind of like now. Was there a few different moments like that photo you posted a few years ago that there was a big spike. He asked no bottom this. This is a hundred percent word of mouth. I've never seen anything like it. My way and if you go, I think, as has over seventy five thousand hashtags on instagram right now. This is just women tell another woman Rita I'm. So grateful for my community because they are who made this successful. This was not like you, you can't as one person in a do it.

and we didn't have a budget to put against it. It was just like what works and yeah, so it didn't have a big campaign, no rush, because I was I was if it was the first time that I'd done a book like this, so there was no proof of concept. You know the publisher like, we hope it works, and that's the thing that I think people mess is lake. You have keep going? You, even though we are going to be you, don't know who you're gonna be half a dick a decade from or ten years from now, because you you stop like why. My six as for other people who want the same things and started at the same time our cause her note. They listened I kept going. I just kept going man if you have something on your heart there's something that keeps showing up that you think like this is like I'd really like to do that, but what, if they laugh, I'd really like to do that. But what, if I fail,

I'd really like to, but I'm gonna have to find childcare. I like dang it sister like listen to that. Listen to that voice in your head. Listen to that voice in your like that is the real you begging, begging you to step into here, called to be, like everything comes back to other people's opinions providers. Yes, they are drowning. Women, myself included, drowning. I used to drown in sight of what other people thought I should have for my life by georgia. Parent yeah like me, I didn't come from as society and my I didn't marry into a family where it was super normal for a woman to be an entrepreneur for a woman to be a writer for women to be a speaker that we both dave and I came from really traditional backgrounds were like dad, worked, mom saved home and raise the kids and so was. I had navigated that four years of

we really wanted to to build a company are really I was. I was really it still sites me like trying to figure out. Ok, how do we scale this? How do we grow here and it was fine people will. It was fine when we needed the money when needed the money when we're newlyweds and we needed the money. Everyone, supportive of like this cute little thing that Rachel dead and then when he started to make enough that we didn't need that, and we had kids everyone immediately like what are you kidding when you gonna stop and I was like I just worked so hard to build this business as I did. Want to stop, but I also do not want to bother anybody and I want to put any one. I don't want anyone to be mad at me, and so I spent years and years building. This thing

I don't wanna say like in secret, but I would never talk about it and we worked in the industry and if I went to an event- and someone asked what I did I'd be like. Oh I'm, a blogger, I like how to staff full time. Staff of five were doing really good revenue working with some of the biggest brands on the planet, and I would be like huh, just irish blogger like how we resume normal model side hobby. My little thing we, a small, absolutely we got Parties- I wouldn't talk my business at all, because I know that would make people uncomfortable like I just and simultaneously, and I can call the sun women want to see all the time now. Is that when women do this. The number one symptom that happens when you do this is anxiety, like women tell me that their suffering with anxiety, unlike who you trying to place snap because it like it. Always I, if I keep digging, it always comes back to that. It's like your living. Subsequently, double life like your heart

It's telling you you're one person and your brain is telling you, but you've got to fit into this box over here and so for years. I did this and for years I suffered from anxiety attacks and it took a ton of therapy and a ton of work to get to the other side of it to be able to have the courage to be like no is who I am and not not. This is who I am like you middle fingers up like a beyond say song like get out of here. You know what I m going to be so full of love with myself that I don't need to beg you for with the way If my life is on you to prove exactly cause can be happy alone, full of love. Oh totally, I think there are three fears that we struggle with the most the fear of failure, a lot of people struggle with, and that's why they won't take on something in their life, because they are afraid to fail. The fear of success ass, which is I never had me either. I was always like a

yeah when people ask me that in conferences allies like you're, afraid of success. A lot of people say that yeah there's a weight and responsibility of leaving people behind. Yes, that is you're. So right, that's always thing it's like well. If I do this, my family and friends will want yes, they'll like try to pull me down, yeah and the last fear which I aren't you I have had is the fear of judgment beings I just forget: we are what we want want to be the things we say, the things we do, yeah the passions we have in life and that fear of wanting to please people and and and being judged. And at the centre of all three. Those is just not enough if we believe we're not a yes and that's why we have these three fears: but what we can get past the fear of failure, success in judgment gas when we can step into anything absolutely harry

yeah the rachel Hollis is podcast, is produced by me, Rachel Hollis, its edited by andrew weller and jack, noble.