Stanford & Harvard Lawyer Manifests Success in Life & Creator Career Ft. Ashley Menzies Babatunde

[00:00:00] I put out my podcast as just more of a passion kind of also brief project. It was to honor my mom and three weeks later HubSpot reached out to me to join their network on my mother's birthday

[00:00:11] And I was just like I'm a spiritual person. I was like that's divine We often talk about the energy behind the content. The person that is viewing it, they can tell 100% This person is in it or this person is not in it

[00:00:25] You have to believe in yourself and do the work but don't count yourself out just because you don't have the background initially because you can learn it How do you know Ashley? I just like super convinced like do you have doubt moments like whether that's with your podcast

[00:00:38] You're publishing with like your new opportunities. How do you deal with that? People don't talk about failure even though everyone has some sort of failure as soon as I published My life changed and I started to move towards the fulfillment that I always wanted

[00:00:54] So please go for it do it We've got some hey, I'm Luis and this is Luis and welcome to the content is profit podcast In here you're gonna get the insights accountability and drive to create consistently and increase revenue

[00:01:07] You'll hear from top entrepreneurs creators and anything and everything you need to know about content all this while having a good time The goal is podcast is simple entertain educate and turn your content into profit As a good good sign for the year yes

[00:01:25] Nailed the audio board. We didn't mess up on the intro. That's a good sign 2034 is gonna be our year Let's go Today we have an amazing person amazing guest amazing friend that we were on her show no so long ago

[00:01:38] We met up through our network and this person is a lawyer Study teller deeply passionate about the intersection of humanity and career Aiming to center or human experience in conversations about work. She also Graduated from guess I'm gonna go with Impressive yeah definitely

[00:02:08] Actually just a second person I've met in my life that I know off that graduated from Harvard I know how cool we're like is it illegal to wear the harbor sweater if you don't go to Harvard, you know

[00:02:18] It's so cool. That's interesting. Yeah, maybe that's a question that we asked her Even during her childhood she loved to color outside of the lines She was a classic overachiever with huge ambition at ten years old

[00:02:31] She wrote a letter start stating she wanted to go to Stanford for undergrad and even Harvard lost She manifested Manifestation yes absolutely so anything else fancy No, this person on just excited to welcome or good friend Ashley Welcome Ashley. Oh

[00:02:56] My gosh, I love you both that was such a good intro. Thank you so much. Thank you and Just so you know, I am married now. So we do Ashley Minzee's Bob a tune day

[00:03:07] We got we got a last time we talked with your husband was kind of like on the background We gotta get him on to Feel free to let him let me know he can you know, some bad and say hi

[00:03:21] I will you know, he's an introvert. So but yes So Ashley you're probably like one of the smarter person I've talked to ever With those diplomas now, but I'm very excited. I mean we also we've met you

[00:03:37] In person at what was it in Colorado right in and what's the Denver? I can't remember now Podcast movement and we just chill outside. We chatted for a little bit

[00:03:46] And he was so awesome to to hear literally your story on what you started to you know publish and your podcast and like this whole thing and I'm very curious on What?

[00:04:01] Manifestation like what was the part of manifestation on this thing and how is your podcast and and this digital property that you've created And the connections Shaping your new goals, right? Like obviously, you know manifested this at ten years old you achieved it

[00:04:13] You have an incredible career and now in the network with us in hotspot You know, what are the plans like are you continuing to do that? Yeah, you know, that's actually such a great question because I do think I actually somewhat manifested the podcast as well

[00:04:29] so I have a journal entry from 2019 and I talked about just Being happy with my legal career in the intellectual side But feeling a disconnect when it came to just human connection and how I just didn't really love all the

[00:04:48] Transactional connection that I was having every day and it's really fast-paced environment. There's a lot of work to be done So I understood that but I wrote in my journal. I said, hey, I think this analytical part is great for me

[00:05:01] I'm feeling good about this, but I've got to figure out a way to get more human connection in my work I don't know what it looks like. It could be a multi-hypnic career. It could be Transitioning, but I just want to write it down

[00:05:16] And I want to say it out loud Say it aloud in my journal, of course and I also Said that it sounds silly to say, you know, I want to have more human connection and pursue a career along those lines

[00:05:30] And not really know but I realize as I get older. I don't really care about what people think as much and But at the time to just say it's to someone. Yeah, I want to pursue a career where I connect with people more

[00:05:43] And it just sounded so broad. I was like, let me just write it down in my journal So that was 2019 Fast forward to 2022 I put out my podcast as Just more of a passion kind of also grief project. It was to honor my mom and

[00:05:59] Three weeks later HubSpot reached out to me to join their network and I remember going back to that journal entry and Literally sending it to Alana Joseph and Carly Baker who are part of the HubSpot podcast network the managers and saying look

[00:06:13] I manifested this this is incredible. I'm gonna take a sabbatical for my firm. I'm gonna pursue this full-time I'm gonna do this work, but it started with just that like inkling inside that I needed more human connection More exchange of story with people They actually

[00:06:31] Mention, you know how you send these new podcast and one of the questions that I had here, you know that I think it is gonna Relate a lot to the listeners because some of the people listening right now

[00:06:41] they're either starting or they've been added for a little bit, you know, they're trying to get some traction with their content and One of the best ways to grow podcasts is join a network, right and have those resources that you know opportunity for a cross promotion and

[00:06:57] I remember when you came into the you came in actually I think around the same time that we came in to the network But I remember seeing that you your podcast was brand new, right?

[00:07:07] You were just launching your podcast and I was like, wow, I'm interesting. I'm like, how did she get right on? She got really jealous 300 episodes name is like there's no way why is this woman? Definitely not definitely not but I was like wow that is so interesting, right?

[00:07:25] I'm like how is she getting access to a network, right? How is she getting people to obviously like they're betting on you, right when you're forming part of this network and I think

[00:07:36] For some maybe understanding that can be valuable because they can seek some opportunities because as of right now I'm I would have imagined You know, I would have taken myself out of the race because I would have potentially said something to myself like

[00:07:49] Oh, I don't have any episodes yet. You know, they probably want some experience They probably want you know something to look into before they accept me in the network and I probably would have kicked myself out from even applying into the opportunity

[00:08:03] So I think it's impressive that you did that you join the network and I think it's you know sharing could be potential Potential I said potential because it depends of whether they take action or not You know, but it could be a great potential opportunity for many people

[00:08:17] Yeah, I say we see it all the time right people are like they have these expectations or like maybe the stories on their Underheads that they might need to be at a certain level of production or whatever to go chase these opportunities

[00:08:29] I mean like the opportunity is now right if you want it you can In whatever stage so we see it every day And then that's why like we're so curious like on your side is like if we can help us kind of

[00:08:40] Create a path for for the people listening Yeah, so Let me tell you a story. You know, I love storytelling and Tell you the origin story of the podcast

[00:08:53] And I think it will provide a little bit more context for the listeners and also just kind of coming in as a novice I think that was extremely helpful for me and not really knowing honestly what I was signing up for

[00:09:04] So I know it's just such a huge blessing and you're like what this girl doesn't even like have a podcast Why is she here? but I Think that it was I know that It was my content. It was a story

[00:09:17] I was the actual story that I wanted to tell and my mission and it started with a pain point in my journey So as you both mentioned, I was certainly this overachiever growing up and wrote down all my goals and was fortunate

[00:09:34] To achieve most of them and so most of my life I thought that life was linear that success was a linear path that if you work hard you're gonna see positive results immediately because

[00:09:46] Fortunately, that was most of my life. Not that there weren't any challenges. I worked really hard I pulled a lot of late nights, you know Put all of that grind and grit in to the work that I was doing

[00:09:58] But ultimately I would see success and when I got to the California bar exam even though I studied hard I Was devastated when I failed it and I remember at that time. I felt so lonely

[00:10:12] I thought, you know, especially in these institutions of privilege where there's a lot of pressure Especially as a black woman where there's not many people who look like me. I have to succeed

[00:10:23] I have to be the best and so what really took a shot at my confidence and the thing that saved me was story It was talking to other people who had experienced something similar and were still successful and the thing about the

[00:10:40] Legal world and you could say this about medicine. You could say this about banking you could say this about the more traditional paths in Society when it comes to careers people don't talk about failure even though everyone has some sort of failure and

[00:10:56] I knew there was a gap in the market and I thought okay I'm having all these great side secret conversations with professors and people who were successful and even michelle Obama shared it in her book and I look up to her and I thought

[00:11:09] When I passed this exam, I'm going to share my story And so in 2018 I put out a blog post and I shared my story and I shared the lessons learned And then I that resonated with a lot of people

[00:11:22] So it kind of confirmed my initial hypothesis that there is a gap in the market here and so many people reached out and I thought okay I am going to put out a podcast. I'm a podcast curly. I love podcasts. I've been listening to them for so long

[00:11:37] And you know, but I started my legal career and that was very busy And so during the pandemic when I think a lot of people were creating it was a time where just people were putting out content I decided to start actually putting this into place

[00:11:51] And at the same time because a pandemic was a hard time and at this my mom also was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer at the time It was our form of joy and so we would work on it together my mom was a big storyteller and

[00:12:08] To a year and a half later I put it out on her birthday just the teaser Of the podcast to honor her memories unfortunately passed away But it was really a way to honor her She is embodies so much of the podcast her spirit

[00:12:23] It's the thing that made me feel alive again after grief And so my mindset to be quite frank with you I had no Idea what a creator was you guys. I literally had to google creator which sounds so odd

[00:12:38] Because I was working all the time I was like, oh, I see these influencers I didn't really know what creating content meant even though I'd been creating content for quite some time with my blog And I had to google accelerator

[00:12:52] Program when a friend of mine sent my teaser to HubSpot And it was three weeks after the announcement On my mother's birthday and I was just like i'm a spiritual person I was like that's divine. Yeah, my mom had something to do with this

[00:13:08] She's like go ahead little girl and go, you know follow your dreams Continue to do the work that we talked about Continue to put out the content that we talked about and so that's really the origin story

[00:13:20] And so it comes from a deep place in my heart and in my soul and it is my passion And I was not necessarily thinking about numbers or business Or anything like that at the time. Yeah Uh, that's so cool. Yeah, I didn't definitely that passion

[00:13:37] Obviously translates right we often talk about the energy behind the content which a lot of people feel like don't really Put that much Stop process into it about the energy that you translate when you're talking when you're either when you're creating a short

[00:13:55] Right, like the person that is viewing it. They can tell 100 percent This person is in it or this person is not in it And if it's not the right energy, guess what people are just gonna skip it and I think you know, obviously

[00:14:09] Hearing the the origin story and knowing you right to a certain extent I know for a fact that you have great energy when you are creating content So i'm i'm pretty sure that definitely caught the eye of the network. Yeah Actually, I love like

[00:14:25] Live works in mysterious ways and I love how like You know we you had a vision right and and you have like hey here's

[00:14:32] Here's kind of like the path I really want to follow but then pieces starts coming into into place right and is is our job to actually Interpret those pieces right because sometimes like oh

[00:14:42] My friends send the teaser over there, uh, and then yeah, but it might not that might not be a thing And then we cannot ignore it right and then it doesn't happen. So To me how that manifests is like this like feeling inside of me that it's really

[00:14:56] Rare it's really strange to me trying to explain it to to people outside of myself, but it's like It's it's like a little voice that tells me hey that that's an indicator And there's many times in my life that I've ignored that indicator and it's like oh man

[00:15:10] Uh, I wish I didn't ignore that so now i'm very I becoming hyper aware of those internal indicators where it's like hey This is the path. How am I feeling about you know this situation happening?

[00:15:23] And then if if I feel that it aligns I chase it even though I don't know what's on the other side of it right And that has been Super interesting on my last year and a lot of the decisions are like

[00:15:38] Based on really my feeling leaving logic a little bit away from it, right? And uh, you know the most recent thing was actually purchasing this new business that that we have now with the studio

[00:15:48] Apart from the agency and it was something like that was like wow it aligns I feel like we should do this but it makes no logical sense because we do not have the money to pay for it

[00:15:58] Right. I was like something like that would like but because the feeling was there We're like let's find a way and we found a way to make it work And he's been one of the best decisions that we've ever made in the in the last couple years, right?

[00:16:10] So Do you like on your side? Are you like super clear on like your goals? Like what is that process like right because a lot of the creators or people that call me either into our studio or They're Inquiring about creating right and the creator it's

[00:16:26] I love that word right because creator obviously you create content But at the same time like you're creating your own path in a sense Of opportunities, right? There's a lot of self development there

[00:16:36] And we have to be aware of like how we're feeling about certain situations or how we're going to tackle and sometimes is uncertain Right with my wife. I was talking Couple nights ago

[00:16:45] And uh, we want to put our kids in in private school. So that that that you know That's a new economic Goal that we need to achieve together and she's a pharmacist. She's not an entrepreneur at all

[00:16:57] And she's like well, it's not that I can work more and like she was like really worried about like the money side And I'm like hey babe, don't worry. We'll make it work. But it's not guaranteed Well, nothing in life is guaranteed in a sense, right? So

[00:17:07] How do you know actually I use like super convinced like do you have doubt moments? Like whether that's with your podcast you're publishing with like your new opportunities. How do you deal with that? Yeah, so I think everyone's personality is different I always call myself a practical dreamer

[00:17:26] As you know, I've been a dreamer since I was a little girl and I just never want to give up on my dreams And it goes back to also what fonsi said just about passion

[00:17:38] And I just think it's so important when I think about the life that I want to live That I never lose sight of my dreams and pouring into my passions Now when you have a family I have a family. I have law school loans I have different responsibilities

[00:17:55] And so it's figuring out how are we going to move forward in uncertainty? And so my approach was to take that sabbatical I had enough funding To kind of support my life at that time

[00:18:09] And I realized during that time that this was definitely going to be a side hustle for the foreseeable future Just because of my law school loans. So I figured out a plan to continuously work this as a side hustle and how do I

[00:18:24] Pursue a multi hyphenate career what's been so cool about having a podcast too is that you get to be inspired by your guest And I had one particular guest Who is a multi hyphenate and you often just see that in the entertainment industry

[00:18:39] But now we're starting to see it more in the business world and the corporate world You can be more than one thing And so that's one intention that I've been setting and I know that I want to always be a storyteller

[00:18:52] I always want to be a podcaster. I always want to do work that's going to help people feel seen value heard and respected and in addition to that I also want to have the certain Level of stability

[00:19:07] So to afford me certain opportunities because I do outsource a lot of the work here too. So in order to keep my podcasting Going, you know, I'm going to work my corporate job Pay my editors, you know get some help with the publicity

[00:19:21] And continue to move forward in that way. We also want to be like you louise and have children one day And so we've talked about that and you know putting that into our plan

[00:19:31] But the intention that I've set is like I'm a multi hyphenate. I'm not giving up on my dreams I'm always going to podcast and as you said we're going to figure it out. And so if you can start to get comfort having comfort in uncertainty

[00:19:47] Is one of the biggest superpowers That you can possess and it's something that I certainly cultivated over the last year during my sabbatical I left a high paying job, you know, I technically still had it But I knew it wasn't aligned with exactly what I wanted to do

[00:20:03] And my job search at the time was really tough And there was a moment in my journey a few moments Where I thought wait was betting on myself Like did I make the right decision to bet on myself?

[00:20:17] You know doubting because there were some hard times like thinking okay, wait these student loans are coming back We have these expenses. How am I going to be able to do this? I still want to keep, you know Moving forward with the podcast which does require

[00:20:31] Money as well. And so how am I going to kind of figure this out? and when I started to just focus on The internal and not necessarily the external the interior And I was able to get the opportunity that I that I have now and transitioning into

[00:20:56] Another line of work while also pursuing the podcast And I just feel so happy that I didn't go back to work that wasn't aligned with who I am And that I didn't also give up on the podcast So cool. Yeah, I love it

[00:21:12] Yeah, I absolutely love this. I think we can talk about this forever. We definitely love that self-growth personal growth Top of the conversation I am very curious though and I'm gonna back up here a little bit right

[00:21:25] I'm on the topic of the of the network, right? You said somebody Send the teaser Right to the network But then I'm curious because you you also said you saw it as a sign like a divine sign

[00:21:40] But at the same time there needs to be some sort of productivity because I'm sure They didn't just send that and then you know, you're like, all right. I'm gonna sit back and wait

[00:21:48] And I'm curious to kind of like follow up on what were those steps that you took, right? So again, so the listener can Have an idea of what it takes To find these sort of opportunities and I also want to make the clear

[00:22:02] It's not the first opportunity that you're gonna seek, you know If you follow all the steps of like being proactive following up whatever like that doesn't necessarily mean that you're gonna get that opportunity but your chances Of you know having somebody say yes or give you a

[00:22:20] A chance to listen to you right to put put you on their network is gonna increase Rather than if you just send something and sit back. So why don't you guide us a little bit on what were those steps that you took?

[00:22:32] I mean, you clearly are driven, right? Like you said you you follow your dreams I mean based on your background of education You can tell you put in the work. So I'm guessing all those skills translated into these next steps to Reach an agreement with the network, right?

[00:22:51] Yeah, absolutely. So I the first thing I did was just I did a lot of research when we were talking about the opportunity to just understand What I was signing up for and having conversations with different people

[00:23:06] It was certainly a shorter timeline because they were starting it. I had to move very quickly. I was very stressed To be quite frank, but being an attorney, you know, I looked over the entire contract

[00:23:16] I also hired a friend who's an entertainment attorney and learned just all about my rates and Had a lot of questions and I initially Which is interesting. Uh, I said no just because of the Amount of work that was required when we first started the the network

[00:23:38] I think you guys remember it's a little bit different now But when you're in that initial accelerator It is a lot of work and there's a lot of expectation. They are putting funding into you

[00:23:48] And simultaneously I'm working as a full-time attorney in the litigation department and I'm working long hours So I was just really overwhelmed and worried about how I was actually going to be able to do this but then

[00:24:03] That divine thing that thing inside that we talked about said, you know what Ashley do it anyway See what happens and it did get to a point where I was overwhelmed and I was completely right And that but guess what that led to that led to this sabbatical

[00:24:18] What did that lead to full-time entrepreneurship? And so it was really Doing the research asking the right questions having lots of coffee chats with people to see what you're signing up for because every network is different

[00:24:32] And also trying to stay true to my vision. The one thing about my podcast is a bit different From a lot of the HubSpot podcast is that I don't necessarily consider it a business podcast

[00:24:45] We as you know when you came on I was like, I want the self-development tips. I want your childhood I tell me about your personalities, you know, I want to know your entrepreneurial story But we didn't really get into the nitty gritty of the practical tips

[00:24:59] Which is great for your show and I listen to it because it helps me But when I'm engaging with people I want to focus on their humanity And so the other thing is that I talked to them about is like, hey You know

[00:25:12] I want to be able to also own my ip all that stuff But I want to be able to stay true to my vision You know, is that okay? Like I want to focus on story Not so much and they said no, this is a great addition

[00:25:24] This is we don't have much like this. So that is great and that reassured me and since then I mean HubSpot has been incredible. I am so grateful to be a part of the network It has been a life-changing Opportunity so many relationships friendships access to knowledge

[00:25:43] You know, and I know that every network is different. So I certainly encourage people encourage people To do that research and I'll also add that you know, I know my Circumstances were a little bit unique where I put out the content

[00:25:59] And I think I put out content that people wanted to see and so I think that's great And it was quite professional in the beginning and I had already had an editor and I didn't really know what podcasting was

[00:26:08] So I did a lot of research. So I think just even putting out that initial teaser Yeah, man also helped me get that opportunity and because I think that consistency is important but like Quality content is just as important

[00:26:26] And so I think that was also helpful even though I may not have been intentional when going after a network where I know a lot of listeners are And I encourage that and I think the other thing too is just with anything in life

[00:26:37] You've got to try if this is what you want You literally, you know, you like you said sometimes you're doubting yourself thinking I'm a new creator that felt weird Every most people were creators people had businesses. I didn't know what an impression was

[00:26:52] Do you know in this past year? I feel like I got a mini mba I know everything now I learned everything that I could learn and it is so much fun and it is so exciting

[00:27:03] So don't you know, you have to believe in yourself and do the work But don't count yourself out just because you don't have the background initially because you can learn it Yeah Yeah, I I want to highlight. I mean this is relevant. I think in in general but

[00:27:18] We talked about this at the end of the year episode is about, you know, having your own journey Right in a sense as an entrepreneur as an individual

[00:27:25] And then you know, you make your rules in your journey and then the opportunities.com you're like, look, this is the direction I'm going I would love for you to be a part of this Are we a fit right and uh

[00:27:38] That really like clicked for me personally last year And uh before that it was like well, we're on this path But then we will share that path with somebody. We're like, hey, that's the direction we're going and this is exciting and then

[00:27:51] You know, that person we're talking to be like, oh, that's amazing We also have a similar path here Do you want to come on our side or like do you want to help us with that or Kind of and it deviates from your path slightly right and then

[00:28:06] You think you're on that path and then the other opportunity comes in or You have all these things kind of pulling you away from your true path like your north star, right?

[00:28:16] So it wasn't clear to me initially and as an entrepreneur, right? Like you you might be looking for opportunities You might start a project and then you really find that that project might not be

[00:28:26] The thing that you enjoy doing right and then you you pivot a little bit But not having a north star was like really challenging for me at one point Um, even as a creator, right? Like what's we we have a big meeting tomorrow

[00:28:39] And we're like, what's the goal of the company? What's the goal of the podcast? Like where do we really want to go? What's our path and then if that's a fit for the people that we're going to help if that's a fit for the people that

[00:28:47] You know come to a show great that they're more than welcome to join us in that. It's a no straight path exactly But like it took me a second right to to To figure that one out so I own your own your content, right?

[00:29:03] Like you mentioned that they were like you share with hospital your vision And you share with hospital like your thing and they're like this is perfect This is like the puzzle piece that we need it. Was that an unconscious thing?

[00:29:14] Was that train like with your content the same thing like with your guests, right? Hey guys, like when we came on to your show, you're like, this is the interview that we're going to have

[00:29:21] And we're like, well, that's perfect. Like we align immediately with you and we're going to do it Have you ever had a negative reaction to to something like that where you're like

[00:29:29] You share your vision you share your goals. You shared like this is my path if you want to be a part of it great Have you had a negative reaction to that and how you deal with it? That's a great question

[00:29:40] Kind of I would say I would say most people I connect with Are like-minded because usually what happens is when you are putting out the content that's aligned with who you are And the work you want to do and the right people come to you

[00:29:55] We talked about this before too. Just kind of being yourself. You're going to attract the right people And so I feel very fortunate to be in a position where I'm just like finding my people and it's so amazing And it's been such an incredible journey I think that

[00:30:13] The I haven't had any issues with the vision I think sometimes though when you have certain Guests on oh, you know what actually I have one I have one example now Now that I think about it

[00:30:30] Sometimes when people are really big and they have publicist and they want to they come on your show And they don't really listen to your show or they don't read what it's about And then I'm asking personal questions and they're like, oh, I usually don't talk about this

[00:30:46] It can be a little bit misaligned because I think it's a business podcast but What I've learned to do is to pivot in those situations because there's ways to not necessarily delve into someone's personal life, but still Understand their inner thinking Still understand their vulnerabilities as an entrepreneur

[00:31:07] Still understand what they fear and what they struggle with and how they overcome it so that it still gives that same piece of humanity that I want people to see

[00:31:19] I don't often have to do it because I usually do an initial call with someone and say this is my vision This is what I want, but I want you to be comfortable does this work and it usually works for people

[00:31:28] But if I haven't had that initial call And I do run into that roadblock Then we'll have a conversation about it and I'll try to pull out The material that I want and thus far that's really worked But I am very particular

[00:31:43] I would say about my vision and the people that I have on And it's really served me well And I think you have to stay committed to your why

[00:31:53] Because when you start to create content based on what everybody else wants and I get it when you're trying to make a profit Like this is content is profit. And so you want to appeal to your listeners. You want to appeal to your audience I think that's important

[00:32:05] But when I have creators come on who have had huge success I had one recent guest you guys might know her less alfred on balance black girl But she was also associated with hub hub spot for quite some time

[00:32:18] But she's got a really huge podcast and building it for a while And she talked about a time in her journey where She was saying yes to everyone And creating for everyone else And how it was so exhausting and how it learned it led to burnout

[00:32:35] And it led to even an apathy for something that she loved that she used to love And her new season she took a break. She came back She's doing the work that's aligned with her vision

[00:32:46] And it's incredible because it's like the passion when the passion is behind it when it's coming from your actual vision Then you're able to accomplish much more Absolutely. Yeah 100% I have a few questions, but I don't really want to go back that much into

[00:33:04] You know a little bit of what we've covered already But I am very curious though About some of the challenges that you have gotten into growing this show, right? Because again, you get into the network

[00:33:16] Brand new podcast brand new concept. You're passionate about it. You started hitting some challenges timing wise, right effort Energy-wise that you could invest into this and you decided to take a sabbatical Which is absolutely amazing, right like not that many people are that committed to this process

[00:33:34] And just said it, you know what? I'm going all in. I mean you've taken a seven-year sabbatical Yeah, yeah You know, so you're like i'm gonna go all into this How has it pan out for you right this last year?

[00:33:52] How has it been growing your podcast from scratch within an network? Maybe what has been some of the challenges that you have encountered And maybe what is the one Best tip action point that you might have for the listener right now that they're like, you know

[00:34:12] Pen and paper on hand ready to take notes and like, all right. I'm gonna do this in 2024 to grow my podcast What is that one thing you found the most valuable for you?

[00:34:20] And again, I want to I want to disclaim make a little disclaimer here that everybody has their own How it's not just one way on how you're gonna do things

[00:34:29] You got to find your own how but I would love to discover what is your how because I'm sure some people might get inspiration from it Yeah, absolutely. So it's related to some of the stuff we've talked about previously

[00:34:42] About staying connected to your why because I think when you're Trying to grow in the beginning. I was so overwhelmed And I was trying to learn everything and then you take all this advice from so many different people

[00:34:54] And so I thought I had to be on every social media platform And so in the beginning because I was passionate. I was excited I burned out I tried to do everything every day

[00:35:05] And spread myself so thin, you know appearing doing my instagram videos and doing my weekly content and appearing on different podcasts And Also trying to you know, people would say oh your life is interesting You should do these day in the life videos

[00:35:23] And honestly, I'm vulnerable when it comes to a content perspective and sharing my story But I'm not vulnerable when it comes to showing my life. I don't want to do all of that

[00:35:33] You don't want to wake up at 5 a.m. Set up a camera and then pretend you wake up You want to do that? Why didn't I did one video? I was like, oh my gosh at my cousin

[00:35:43] It's so fascinating too because my cousin's a content creator. She's a disney content creator And yeah, she's built a huge brand But she loves that stuff

[00:35:54] Like she would never do a podcast but she loves to show her life and it's great. It's interesting and she does it very quickly She's great at it. She helps me with a lot of it

[00:36:02] So I had to test and I had to iterate and to figure out what works for me And with time I started to figure out. Okay. What can I hone in on?

[00:36:13] So the first piece of advice is you got to try different things and it's okay if it doesn't work out It's okay if you're not seeing an ROI But you have to kind of test it out on your own to see what might make sense for you

[00:36:27] And I noticed that The best thing for me was when it comes to just growing the podcast because I think that's the biggest challenge Any new podcast getting those numbers was one The podcast guest swaps your it's sticky because you're speaking to another audience

[00:36:46] Podcast listeners and if you're speaking with someone or their audience is aligned With the work you're doing or their audience just likes you and they want to tune in. They're interested That's very helpful. So I got a lot of just messages after

[00:36:59] Different swaps if I heard you on this podcast I love this and people just sharing their story And I really love that like I've taken zooms with listeners. It's been so fun

[00:37:09] I've had I have a new best friend everybody thinks we like met in law school because she went to law school too But literally we met because she listened to my podcast and we're having dinner next week. Yeah, and so Yeah, yeah, so I think the actual

[00:37:24] Trying to connect with my audience From an individual, you know way whether it's like doing a quick zoom meeting up in the same city That really works for me because it's aligned with my personality and

[00:37:37] Saying no to the things that you know, like just don't work everybody one other person was like, oh, I love You know having listening to Podcasts with two hosts, you know, have you thought about that? I've got like no, no actually

[00:37:50] This is my thing. One of my values is freedom And I like that I get full freedom and agency to create exactly what I want to create on this So it kind of goes back to the last question just that we discussed before just about you know

[00:38:04] sticking to your vision but Yeah, the big challenge is figuring out. What do I focus on? How do I grow the podcast? And how do I get my confidence? I'm a pretty confident person

[00:38:22] But i'm coming from an industry where i've been practicing law for five years and i've dedicated my You know, my childhood dream was being a lawyer So I was very much in the legal industry for quite some time and to be thrust into something new I had to

[00:38:39] Change my mindset to being a student And I think that was also extremely helpful. So I think the other thing I would say To listeners is really embrace this as a student as someone who's learning

[00:38:53] Figure out if you can just learn something new every day to grow your podcast to grow your numbers to you know build The influence that you aim to build just a tip a day. I felt like was really helpful and

[00:39:11] In addition to that, I think the other thing that was a little challenging is like when you're an entrepreneur or actually the first challenging thing was Calling myself an entrepreneur Recognizing that I was an entrepreneur because I always just was wanted to tell stories

[00:39:29] Yeah, that was my plan. It's like I want to tell stories Why are they telling you have to get impressions and I have to do this an seo and what does this mean and what are all these things?

[00:39:37] And so I think that stepping into saying that I'm an entrepreneur And trying different things and testing and iterating and being a person that is building a business And believing in it. I think that mindset shift

[00:39:55] Was huge for me and once I finally got there and now i'm on podcast and I say i'm a founder And i'm an entrepreneur, you know a year ago. I wasn't doing that And it feels really great to be in that place

[00:40:07] Ah, ashley so cool like I see you know you you obviously you come from the corporate world in a sense But then you had this like it's of a creator right? You say you google that but you you were a creator in a sense with your story telling

[00:40:20] Well on the blog right? I did mention you were kind of you had a blog And then you're like this transition to entrepreneurs and it's funny because as you're telling this story

[00:40:26] I'm like well, I wish a lot of our entrepreneurs that we work with or like because they're business owners or this stuff They they also have to take accountability on their mindset to become a creator right?

[00:40:40] We had this conversation yesterday on a walk. We're like we're working with these people and They want x results, but they don't want to get committed to the creation process right? They're like

[00:40:50] Um, if you want to be a creator and you want to be the face of that creation We have to be committed to the creation process right? It's a craft We have to get better at it. We have to and there's people that don't enjoy recording

[00:41:00] Well, maybe this is not the type of content that we that that works for you And I love that you share your story because first was very similar to we've tested so many things and I think

[00:41:09] That the only way that we've been able to be consistent is because we enjoy having this conversation so much Like it feels us. We're just excited You know the same way we didn't have as many conversations as you know

[00:41:20] We wanted to just different things life Christmas bunch of stuff and now we're like so stoked So I encourage everybody listening, you know grab ashes advice and be like find what works for you Park has obviously we were biased because we love it is change your life

[00:41:37] But if he doesn't work for you, that's okay get some reps identify and then You know move forward. What um, wait, wait, wait I got one uh, I promise is the last tactical question again I've mentioned at the beginning. But you know we're

[00:41:55] Putting a little more of a tactical aspect on the on the podcast, right? You didn't mention that one of your best ways to grow the podcast this past year was through guest swapping

[00:42:05] So how does somebody goes about finding their right people to get on their show and then that they also would be a good fit For that person's show and how do you go about approaching? That conversation because And I'm gonna play a little devil's advocate here

[00:42:22] I definitely had had this conversation in my mind multiple times when I approached somebody Because I know I'm like wow like it would be great for us to be on their podcast

[00:42:33] But then I'm like, well, but I'm not gonna ask him to come on my podcast and I feel guilty because I feel like I'm asking them with you know kind of like a hidden reason So how do you deal with that if at all maybe I just

[00:42:45] Shut up to the workshop I told you yesterday you would have had the answer to this But anyways, we're gonna listen to you now. I'm just gonna say you never you never send me the link

[00:42:52] But it's a good. Yeah. I want I want to hear from you Ashley. How do you approach these conversations? Yeah, I think that's a great question because it can feel a little transactional which is Not my personality and aligned with my personality. It's all about humanity

[00:43:07] And so I do try to lead with that. I try to lead with my mission I find people who are also Aligned with that mission the way that I do that is one social media. I think is great

[00:43:18] LinkedIn has been extremely helpful. So I'm always I try to spend 30 minutes a day on linkedin Just looking at my news feed seeing what people are doing Creating different things people are starting businesses and so I'll save that contact and a lot of it is

[00:43:36] Especially, you know through linkedin. You're gonna know someone so even if you didn't know them Someone liked it then you can get that connection So I often try to get a warm introduction if I don't know the person at first

[00:43:48] So someone there's already this person that can introduce us But I also try to I also just do cold introductions as well Because you just never know and so they've both been very successful

[00:44:02] I say this is what I'm interested in. This is what I'm doing. Here's a little bit about my podcast Love your work. This is what I would like you to talk about if you came on my podcast and it's a you know, just a short little pitch and

[00:44:17] Thus far it's been it's worked out really well one of my most successful shows These most successful show with the highest downloads like an insane amount of downloads. I don't know how it happened I was through a cold email. I was on linkedin

[00:44:33] And there was a writer that was talking about the relationship with work and as millennials our relationship with work and how do we You know fulfill our purpose and our passion but also not define ourselves by work

[00:44:47] And it's been a question that I've been struggling with for quite some time and I was like, I love this This is the book. I wish I would have written so I was very enthusiastic sent him a linkedin message

[00:44:57] And he had a book coming out. So it was also Strategic because he'd have more incentive To come on my show to promote his book. So it's also good if we're going to do a cold email Maybe someone might have something that they're promoting

[00:45:09] And he said, you know what? I can fit you in my schedule during this time and this time Can you do it? I'll send you a copy of the book I said, yes, I read that book in two days and we had the best conversation

[00:45:21] It's one of the best episodes or the highest grossing episodes on the podcast and that was from a cold email And so I always encourage people To reach out if you see something that piques your interest

[00:45:33] Because the worst thing that can happen is you get no response or they say no it's completely fine He didn't have a podcast for me to come on

[00:45:42] But if you are trying to also do a guest swap, you can lead with that and sometimes what happens is I'll get a guest inquiries I'll get pitches in my inbox every week And if I see someone who's aligned and also has a podcast, I'll say hey

[00:45:59] Yeah, your work seems great I actually am in the process of building my brand right now through HubSpot And I would love to be able to come on your podcast as well. Would you be open to it?

[00:46:11] I had a huge entrepreneur say yes. She said absolutely. Let's do it And that was helpful and I remember being hesitant at first and thinking oh should I ask like she's a big deal

[00:46:23] Now we're friends. It's wonderful. And so I think it's so important that you make the ask In addition to LinkedIn, I look at Instagram not really on tiktok I need to get there But I feel like

[00:46:36] LinkedIn and Instagram and even looking at those pitches because I know you know, you might get a lot It can be challenging but you will find some gems in those podcast pitches that you get

[00:46:46] So I think it's worth taking a look and in communicating with people who are interested in your show Because there's been some great center synergy that's come from that as well. Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry. I love that. Can I add?

[00:46:58] Yeah, something that you have my permission. Thank you fancy You know, I think this is something that I think personally we battle for a little bit It's like who is our ideal guest for the show, right?

[00:47:09] And it's very clear on like what that expectation is from the guests is, you know It's an entrepreneur that also published consistently. Do they have a certain revenue like on our side specifically, right? Like do they have a revenue side on their business?

[00:47:21] Like they have to be above this level and I think that checklist, you know, and then for you could be like Uh, which you you did it with us, right? It's like, hey, you guys have uh this x type of story Like I'm interested right that that list

[00:47:34] Doesn't have to be black and white business wise. It can be also on your personal side Who's the person that you really want to bring on your show? And then when we get those inquiries

[00:47:44] Then it's like, well, do you fit in all these boxes? And then that gives us permission to be like look If you're not there yet Happy to make introductions to somebody else that you know can also put you on their show We're happy to do that

[00:47:57] Like I think we're like master connectors in a sense of like we love to make those connections But if you are a fit perfect, that's how you know, we can bring you onto our platform And I encourage everybody to do the same, you know

[00:48:08] If even if we ask like are we even a fit for you? Like do you like interviewing two people at the same time? Like is that even a thing? and uh, and I think just

[00:48:18] Not feeling guilty about saying no to some people because they might not be the fit for your show I think that's super interesting on that worship that I was in yesterday. We had a We had a lot of people that were brand new

[00:48:29] Uh, creators are brand new podcasters and they they were feeling that way It was like, well if I if I go ask to be on their show because we're talking about the the ways to grow a show Do I have to invite him back? Like should I like?

[00:48:42] um The the If we go guess or if you go guess like you actually today provided incredible value to our to our listeners to ourselves Like this was amazing, right? Uh, so that alone makes it so worth it, right?

[00:48:56] And then that's the same thing that whenever you're, you know, you're going after and guesting We're providing value to their audience as well. The anything else apart from the content is extra is you know, is the dessert

[00:49:09] So, um, so with that actually I thank you today was amazing On you know from the spiritual side to the tactical side. I think we cover a ton of it Fun to satisfy your itch Tactics, okay

[00:49:27] Thank you Louise. Thank you Ponzi. Yeah, absolutely kicking it off on style or with style Well, that's so cool. Actually, uh last question of the show, where will you be if you did not publish? Oh, that's an interesting question Unfulfilled I love it. I love it

[00:49:52] Um, yeah, I think us too. I don't know still searching Yeah, who knows? Yeah, I'm like, I'm kind of still searching I love the podcast don't get me wrong, you know, but I'm like, I'm uh, I mean we covered this in our previous episode

[00:50:07] I'm a very curiosity driven person You know, I get infatuated like with things to do so I get uh seasons where I'm like Obsessed with like learning one thing and then I'm like, okay next thing

[00:50:20] So I need to figure out how to integrate that in in my life You're in the season of poker right now. I'm in the season. I'm actually in the season of poker right now. It's pretty interesting

[00:50:30] Uh my longer infatuations, which you know have gone from infatuation to actual love has been soccer And I think podcasting has been the next one. So, you know, I got I gotta say my my girlfriend too You know, so I'm getting in trouble

[00:50:48] But um, but yeah, you know now we're in the in the process of keep keep looking keep searching Ashley, is there anything else that you want to add before we head out? Yeah, I think just to follow up because I know it's a short answer unfulfilled

[00:51:03] but I think what that relates to is that You can tell that something envy shows you what you want in life So when you are looking at other people and you're looking at their stories and you're looking at their journeys And you're thinking I want that

[00:51:22] I want to be like that. I want to do something like that Don't go Don't hide that feeling don't suppress that feeling go and do that thing because if you don't do it It'll show up in a sort of negativity It you'll become bitter

[00:51:41] You won't be moving in alignment with the life that you want to live And so when you ask that question of not publishing because I wanted to publish for so long And I found myself even in a place where I was

[00:51:53] There was some envy because I saw other people putting out passion projects As soon as I published My life changed and I started to move towards the fulfillment that I always wanted. So please go for it do it That's such a good thing too

[00:52:11] And I wrote it down. I'm gonna attend this took it to a 20. Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna be reflecting I'm gonna be reflecting on what you said. I think it's gonna be very important

[00:52:18] Definitely, maybe I'll write a piece in there. I'm gonna give you credit actually of course 100% But I want to just repeat it for everybody that may be missed it Envy shows you what you want in life

[00:52:31] And like you said, you got to explore that feeling and then lean into that. I think that's that's very important I'm gonna I'm going to start paying attention to see what I My my incredible hair Definitely not my incredible smile Okay

[00:52:48] I've noticed that feeling at times and I'm gonna lie, you know about like the envy not about his uh, his looks Definitely not But um, I'm gonna I'm gonna be more aware of what I'm envy of and see what uh, what I gotta lean into

[00:53:02] Perfect Ashley again. Thank you so much With that said guys Thank you for tuning into the content profit podcast Go ahead and follow the show in your favorite podcasting platform and on social media at beast versus co

[00:53:13] That is right. I'm actually here. Help you move one step closer towards your goal Please don't forget to share this episode and And leave a five-star review and don't forget to go and check out her podcast. No straight path. Let's go. Bye guys