I opened up a conversation I was SO READY FOR weeks ago on Instagram… but it’s a heavy one and I think all of us involved in this conversation literally held hands and jumped into the deep end of the pool together, not knowing where the bottom was.

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I’m nearing the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of my business. This upcoming December will be my ten year entrepreneurversary which is not a word but you and I will now insist on becoming a word, LOL.

The constant effort, the technical skills, the marketing, the emailing, the work work work work work behind the scenes YES HAS BEEN IMPORTANT but I owe the majority of my success to having a personal brand, and no one can convince me otherwise.

Ready for my classic example? Susie Sally down the street can have the same price range, editing style and experience as me and that means only one thing sets us apart: who we are. When a client is choosing between us and everything is similar and the services we offer are the same – they are more likely to go with who they connect with the best. 

But they won’t know anything about you if you don’t show them, and if you don’t show up. 

We’ve said it before but we refused to choose a local CPA until we found ones with bios and pictures on their website. We needed to feel like we knew something about them before diving in. Some people want to hire someone for a service and have it be distant, disconnected and done and over with. The clients I have worked with over the years and have built relationships with know that for me, this is more than just a service. I care about their stories, their hardships, who they are and what they’ve been through. They know I won’t judge them. They know what they mean to me.

Having a personal brand is the reason we live on the Outer Banks and THE REASON we have been able to build our dream life. I want this for you, too. This isn’t because I’m so brave and confident and interesting. It’s because I am showing up and literally just being myself, but so many people are terrified to do that.

Below is a list I took from my Instagram polling on what holds people back, are you ready for this?:

I have nothing interesting to say
I don’t know what to talk about 
I’m afraid of not being liked 
I’m scared I’ll be TOO much and turn people off 
I don’t what boundaries to have with sharing about my family 
I’m not pretty 
I wouldn’t be able to come up with valuable information to share 
Other people’s opinions of me
I’m worried people will think I talk about myself too much 
I need a nicer house 
My spouse wants us to stay private 
I don’t look put together most days 
I don’t want to seem like I’m attention seeking 
I don’t want people to think I’m weird 
My job is pretty boring and repetitive
I hate listening to myself talk 
Safety 
Rejection and vulnerability
Negative feedback from judgmental family 
My clients won’t like my personal posts 

WOW. I want to hug every single person who wrote these brave words. I know it was hard, but listen – we are here to do the hard work. I am READY TO TAKE THIS ON WITH YOU. Let’s get started:

All of the above “holdups” can be divided into two categories: EMOTIONAL or TECHNICAL. 

Emotional holdups are going to require SOUL WORK.
Technical holdups are going to require CONTENT CREATION or DECISION MAKING.

Let’s take a couple of the examples people gave from above and categorize them accordingly:

My spouse wants us to stay private
My job is pretty boring and repetitive
I don’t what boundaries to have with sharing about my family
I wouldn’t be able to come up with valuable information to share

THESE ARE EXAMPLES OF TECHNICAL HOLDUPS. Each of the above listed requires content to be made or a decision to be made in order to move forward and PAST these holdups.

Rejection and vulnerability
I don’t want to seem like I’m attention seeking
Other people’s opinions of me
I’m afraid of not being liked

THESE ARE EXAMPLES OF EMOTIONAL HOLDUPS. Each of the above listed requires YOU to get out of your own way, out of your head and to do some soul work. It’s time to break out of the prison of desperately seeking approval from everyone. If YOU care about what you’re talking about, it’s worth sharing. THIS IS HOW YOU FIND YOUR PEOPLE!

YOUR ASSIGNMENT 🙂 Yes, we are in school. I always wanted to be a teacher and I’ve got the school supplies to prove it 🙂

In the next week (the next 168 hours) make time to once and for all face your fears and write down what’s stopping you from showing up on social media to market your business. Getting uncomfortable about saying these things out loud of writing them down is where the BIG changes happen. Bravery isn’t staying quiet, pretending you have it together and avoiding – being vulnerable is the ULTIMATE measure of courage because this is where transformation begins.

I just want you to get this weight off of your shoulders and face it.

I am not special or cool or talented at public speaking – but I show up. Even with so many of the fears that you guys listed above, I show up because my desire to make my dream happen is GREATER than my fear. I want to get you there, too! Next week after you’ve listed your fears, we’ll start breaking down how to handle the emotional holdups… because they are the hardest but most important to overcome.

SEE YOU SOON, PALS! 🙂