Episode 10
Season 2
Finding Your Path to Joyful and Bold Visibility
LouAnn is passionate about helping people find their path to joyfulness so they can show up boldly in their visibility strategy. As LouAnn shares, it is more than a logo or a branding guide, it’s about doing the hard work of tapping into your authenticity so you can be who you need to be for the world.
People need to know who you are, what you are about and how you can be of service, regardless of if you have product or provide a service. This needs to be clear in your messaging and your content. Being in touch with this will make your visibility strategy more effective – 100%.
Join Veronica and LouAnn as they discuss some of the challenges of tapping into this awareness and how you can grow in this area.
“People are waiting for your message. Start showing up so you can help those who are ready for you.” – LouAnn Hostman. Learn more about LouAnn at boldlyvisibleyou.com.
[00:00:00] Hello. Hello and welcome to Saturday sound bites. I'm your host Veronica sofa. And I am thrilled to be here on Saturday sound bites, where we talk all things, visibility strategy. That's right. We talk about how to show up for yourself and for your business, whether it's advertising, marketing, public relations, or all those important components that really, really tell everyone who you are.
[00:00:22] That's what we're here to do. We're talk, we're talking about putting all those pieces together and today I have a guess. That's really gonna dive deeper into that conversation to talk about how you can show up bully and increase your visibility strategy, because there's a lot more work than just having the right logo and having the right tagline.
[00:00:38] There's a lot of inside work that has to get done. And the coach I'm bringing to you today is. Phenomenals I can't wait to bring her on, but first it's taking care of some housekeeping. If you are listing on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episode of Saturday sound bites on your favorite podcast platform.
[00:00:54] If you're watching on Facebook or YouTube, let us know. You're watching by making some comments so that my guest and I can go back and connect. All right. Very excited to have our guest on today. Again, we talk about all the components that make up a strong visibility strategy, but sometimes we need to talk about the fundamental parts of your visibility strategy, and that is what Luann is going to be sharing with us.
[00:01:17] She's joining us. Good morning, Luann horseman. Thank you for joining us. Yeah, thank you for having me Veronica. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Oh, I'm so excited that we're talking about this because there are a lot of technical parts to a strong visibility strategy, but at, at the core, there's a lot of work that has to get done.
[00:01:33] And that's where you come in. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Well, I was a nurse for 27 years. I worked in neonatal ICU and I ended up having to leave there due to some back issues. And I decided I, I wasn't done yet. I still had a lot to, to give yet. So I decided to go into coaching. And I love working with people.
[00:01:52] Initially I decided I was gonna other things, but as I was struggling myself as a, a new coach and. I found myself becoming not getting any clients because I was not being visible. People didn't know what I did. They didn't know how I could serve them. I was kind of hiding behind the screen of my computer and doing things that really weren't moving my business forward.
[00:02:15] So I just, I just felt like I really needed to serve other people that were in the same situation, help them get out of that. Oh, yeah. That's so there's so many people who are in that space they're ready to, to move forward, but they're, they've got some blocks. What are some of the challenges that you find that entrepreneurs or even traditional professionals are struggling with?
[00:02:37] When it comes to their visibility? Oh yes. A lot of us get stuck in the procrast nation of actually getting started because we think we have to have everything perfect. And it's really a mindset thing. We have to work on that. If we don't get out there and share it with people, we won't be able to become more and more iterated into closer to perfection.
[00:03:00] And just to realize that perfection is really an unrealistic expectation of ourselves mm-hmm and we really can't reach perfection on this side of earth so I think that, you know, we need to focus on doing our best and getting out there and learning from our people that we're serving, what we can do better.
[00:03:19] mm-hmm . And why do you think folks struggle with that? I mean, do you feel like there's a certain type of personality, obviously entrepreneurs have vision and they've taken, they have enough courage to take that step, but what do you think are some of the traits that, that are more common with this kind of issue?
[00:03:37] Yes. I think a lot of us, a especially women are givers. We tend to give and that we become uncomfortable with the idea of not just giving, we wanna, overgive instead of receiving back from our people we wanna give all the time. And that makes us less comfortable with being visible because we, the if we are visible and we, we call out to people, then we have to get into the interaction of sales.
[00:04:02] Yeah. And sales is probably exciting for some folks and not exciting for others. So talk to us a little bit about how you work with your clients to coach them through that next phase. So they've gotten a little bit, maybe they had a maybe they had a story written about them and someone's intrigued by the work that they do, then there's the next part?
[00:04:21] How do you step in and help them with that? Oh, yes. I love to help people with this because it's so important for people to understand that sales are a service. It's a service. You're helping people make a decision. You're not pushing, you're not being salesy. You're being a helper. You're being a, an assistant to make a good decision for themselves.
[00:04:41] You're not gonna be pushy. You're gonna be a person. And that is like a counselor or, or somebody that can help them make that decision in a good way. With having all the information in front of them as to how you could help them or have another resource for them. Mm-hmm mm-hmm . And how do you, what are some of the strategies and techniques that you use in your coaching that has really helped people start showing up for their business?
[00:05:06] Because we, we invest in brands. We invest in logos and color palettes. We invest in advertising. Some people aren't investing in themselves. And I think that's where you really shine in this space. Yes. I think that a lot of it is our inner work. We have to do the inner work before we can get out there. We have to get the inner work that we are valuable.
[00:05:28] And what we have to give is valuable. We have such value inside of us. We have this inner, our knowledge that we need to share with other people. And if we don't share it, there are people out there waiting for that. Message. And if you don't get that message out there, you can't help those people that are waiting for you.
[00:05:44] Mm-hmm mm-hmm . And do you feel like introverts struggle more than extroverts? Or how, what are some of the, the patterns that you see when you're working with different kinds of fo? Yes. I think introverts do struggle with this more because we feel like, like Very we, our energy gets sucked by being with people a lot.
[00:06:04] Yeah. We need to be able to recharge and, and give ourselves permission to recharge afterwards. Mm-hmm . And I think that a lot of us put that pressure on ourselves that we have to be something other than an introvert. We have to be an extrovert and we really, we don't have that ability to switch it. We have to understand our unique.
[00:06:26] Power of being an introvert. We have a lot of introspection that we do and that we can share that with other people That we have learned inside of ourselves by being alone. We just are just have grown ourselves that, to that extent. Mm-hmm and, and I think that's so interesting. You say that because when I know when I'm working with clients and I'm proposing that maybe they are featured on a new show, the nervousness is.
[00:06:47] Especially for an introvert is so real. And I think once people have connected with their purpose, then it's easier to tell their story and it's easier to sell their services if you will, because they no longer connect to it as them, but they connect to it as the service. So I love that. You said that I think that's so important and people are missing that component.
[00:07:12] I think that it's for me, especially knowing my, why was the really important way I became more visible because I knew that I could make a difference in women's lives so that they could bring that on to their children. And their children's children. My grandchildren, I, I don't want them to struggle the way I did in, in elementary and junior high.
[00:07:32] And I want them to know that they can be able to fail and learn from it. Instead of seeing it as a judgment upon themselves, that they are able to go out there and fail forward, be able to learn from it and, and to acknowledge that they don't know everything. Mm-hmm that it's okay to learn as you go.
[00:07:53] that I wonder if you see that leaders struggle with that concept, right? Like we, we work with our young people. We want our kids and our grandkids to learn those life lessons. But I wonder if leaders struggle with that, because as you were saying that it struck a, a little chord inside of me and I was like, oh yeah, I do need to learn from my, from my trips and my fumbles.
[00:08:14] And so has that shown up in your business at all? Oh, yes. Oh yes. I've done a lot of that. failing forward thing. And I think that, you know, it's really taught me that I don't have to judge myself for being less than perfect right now. I think that was a big thing that I struggled with is my perfectionism.
[00:08:33] I wanted everything to be all the ducks in a row before I would put myself a forward. And you really, I couldn't put them in a row until I really learned from my people that I wanted to serve. Mm-hmm . And how do you learn that? I'm curious, what are some of your strategies or how do you work with clients?
[00:08:48] Around that conversation? Because it, for some people might be really, really deep work and for others, they may have started some of this work in different parts of their lives. But as a, as a visibility coach, how do you help people get to the point where their do you just start doing that? Sure. A lot of it is a morning routine where they take some time, they need to take time to envision themselves at their future self that is able to be visible, their self, that as a person that is powerfully and visibly out there, and they also need to acknowledge their value.
[00:09:22] And one of the things I find that's really helpful is one of the things I've learned from Mel Robbins is doing a high five in the mirror. Okay. That mirror work of telling yourself I am a wonderful coach. I have a lot to give. I am able to be visible and be powerfully and comfortably in front of people.
[00:09:44] And by doing that, looking yourself in the eye each day, you build that. Persona inside of yourself. Mm-hmm oh, I love that. So I'm vaguely familiar with those exercises and as you, soon as you said that I was like, wait a second. I hear that strategy a lot in the, the mindset and positive wellness space.
[00:10:03] So I love that you reminded. Reminded us of that. What are some of the other strategies and techniques that you use that have worked well for entrepreneurs as they're launching this path towards being more confident and showing up in their business with their visibility? One of the things that I do is I have people practice in a safe space.
[00:10:22] I want them to practice being like doing a Facebook live or doing a real in a safe space where they can make mistakes and not feel discomfort. I think that that's a big part of doing this is getting past that. Initial stress factor. We all stress out when we're FA we're afraid. Sure. That's natural. And what happens is our brain just doesn't have the blood flow and you can't concentrate.
[00:10:46] So unless you build that up, you have to build that up slowly, or you can have less and less fear as you do it over and over. You have less fear. And as you see yourself being more successful, you have that less fear. So you're able to concentrate and you're able to do it very well. Mm-hmm oh, I like that practice makes perfect.
[00:11:05] We talk about that all the time and we're not shooting for perfectionism. We're just practicing for being better than how we were yesterday. So I love that you said that and for people who are curious about. How coaching works. What, what does that look like? You know, during the pandemic, a lot of people had to pivot their businesses and they were looking for new resources and figuring out what the online space looked like.
[00:11:30] What is it, what is it like to work with the coach? What should someone expect? Someone should expect somebody that is going to leave them feeling positive about themselves. They should be uplifted when they leave that session. They should know something new, every session. I think that there's always a aha that they should go away with.
[00:11:52] I think that you should expect somebody to be able to ask the questions that are difficult. Sometimes. Sometimes it's hard to Say things out loud to yourself. And sometimes it takes a powerful question of a co of a good coach to bring that out of you. And you have to trust that coach, you have to be within a safe zone.
[00:12:13] You need to be able to trust them to share something that you may have never trust. Shared with anybody else before mm-hmm and to be vulnerable and by being vulnerable, they can help actually help you by knowing what you're struggling with. They have ways to help you through that. Like, one of the things I love to help people with is heal those past things that are getting in their way.
[00:12:33] And the other thing I love to help people with is the double binds that we get ourselves into. Mm-hmm like putting one foot on the the gas and one on the brake at the same time, or if one of us wants to be very successful. And part of us is like, I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with that. Mm-hmm I put through those double binds using some NLP P techniques is.
[00:12:53] So powerful. Yeah. I've see so much change in people by do just doing that one exercise. They've seen some big changes. Yeah, no, I love that. Tell me a little bit about how you incorporate NLP into your coaching. I know some, some folks are familiar with. Neurolinguistics programming, others are not, but for those of you who are considering working with a coach or learning more about how to improve your mindset and grow your business, this is an important factor because there are different philosophies.
[00:13:23] There are lots of different strategies and techniques, and you mentioned it. And I think for some, some of our audience that might be intriguing to learn more about. Yes. One of the things that I find fascinating is the way our brain works, our brain is so intricate and so fascinating. And one of the things to know about our brain is that we have this neuroplasticity, which means that we have this flexibility in our brain to redo things like one of the things that you can do in your brain is that by repeating things over and over, they become automatic.
[00:13:56] And by stopping, doing. By substituting a different thing, not by resisting that other thing by substituting something new, you form a new pathway that becomes automatic and you let that other pathway break of heart. Yes. I love that. And that's so important. And you know, we, in the, in the education space, that's a strategy and a technique that has been used for, for decades, really helping kids, especially in our special ed programs.
[00:14:24] Learn those strategies, but I just recently have seen it maybe in the last 10 or 15 years in adults, in a corporate setting, because before then we weren't using the science and to grow as a business leader, much less an entrepreneur. Yes, because habits are so important. They're so ingrained into our lives.
[00:14:43] And by developing routines, we save energy. We save, we are so much more productive and we save the energy in our brain, which just sucks. The energy. You know, our brain takes a lot of glucose, a lot of energy. And by making a lot of things routine. We save the, the brain power for willpower, which can help us make decisions because our brain is 95% subconscious and only 5% conscious.
[00:15:10] We need that extra willpower in our conscious to make new decisions. Oh, that's so true. That's so true. And you talked early on about the voices, you know, those negative voices or those negative thoughts that prevent us from being visible. And I wonder how that shows up for your clients after they've worked with you, especially doing some of this brain work.
[00:15:32] Can you share with us a couple of stories about how so of your clients have really done the hard work of getting down to the core of who they are and who they wanna be for their business so they can show up better. Yeah, I think that the, the best story I can tell you on that one is that by working through the fear of being visible, by working through the not feeling valuable, not understanding the value of what you bring was so powerful.
[00:16:00] This for this lady, she just really. Blossomed after she understood the value she brought to her people that she wanted to serve the value inside her. That's innately there. And our, the, a whole picture of her inner self being like so powerfully built and wonderfully made that they have the power to go out there and just make a difference.
[00:16:25] And it just really made her on fire ready to go. Oh, that's fantastic. That's so inspiring. I love that people have soughted out support to grow their businesses because we know that businesses, whether you're just starting out or you're growing it, you need a. A lot of different kinds of support. And some people aren't taking the time to invest in, in supports like this, because this is really as the visionary and as the leader, this is the kind of stuff that's gonna make a, a difference in how you show up.
[00:16:52] How do you work with groups? Do you, do you, obviously, you're working with entrepreneurs and women especi. How do you support the rest of their team to have this vision continue through their business? Yeah. One of the things I help them with is, is to form their, their message that they're gonna share with their clients.
[00:17:10] This message is so important. It needs to be benefit driven. It needs to be something that is gonna appeal to where they are right now. I think a lot of times we appeal to people that are at our own. Level mm-hmm . We need to think about the people where the level of where they are right now. Mm-hmm and what words they use.
[00:17:29] Not words that we like, the techno words that we use about, you know, the client, the co words that we use a lot of times, we need to get that simplified into language that everyday people will use. Mm-hmm yeah. That makes real friend or the husband not, you know, when they're laying down on the pillow and they're sharing what they're thinking, you know, you need to express it that way.
[00:17:50] Yeah, no, that's great. So Luann, if someone were interested in working with you, what does that look like? How do you work in particular? How do people connect with you and, and what would that, what would their expectations be of, of, of a call with you? Yes, I call with me. I actually do a hybrid situation where they have a group, a community of like-minded people and they do one-to-one with me.
[00:18:12] So we have group coaching calls, and then we have one-to-one calls. And by incorporating both of those things of community and support of people that are in the same situation, a. Plus the one on one work of the healing inside and understanding your, your personal value and all the things that you can do with NLP techniques is that it's a perfect blend.
[00:18:31] I think mm-hmm, such both of the, you know, both of those things together. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm and I've gone ahead and put your website down there so people can connect with you. And if you are listening on the podcast, Boldly visible u.com. That's in the show notes, Luann. When someone gets on a call and they start sharing with you, what their goals are when you listen to what their needs might be, what's a timeline, a reasonable timeline.
[00:18:55] Someone can expect for them to start, start the work and start to see some progress. I know everyone's different and every situation's different, but generally speaking, if you're, if you've never worked with a coach before, what could you expect? Sure it takes some time and it ha takes a lot of they have to put their work into it.
[00:19:14] It's really important if they have the good at work ethic and they're willing to do what they're asked to do and really dig deep. It can be like three months. And then, but usually I like to work with people for six months because I, I can help them cement those hat habits that will keep them growing in the right direction.
[00:19:32] that's wonderful. And are you working with folks in person or just virtually these days? Not virtually right now. Mm-hmm yeah, I look virtual in that you can bring people from all over. I mean, I've speak, spoke to people in Portugal and Spain and I mean just everywhere, Canada and Mexico. I mean, it's just like, it's just nice to be, bring these people from all over and share.
[00:19:54] Different viewpoints. I just think it really helps you grow as a person and it just helps you see a different viewpoint. And you have a community you shared. And so that probably brings in now that you have this global clientele that probably brings in a lot of perspectives that probably really help people that you wouldn't get in your normal circle of, of, of reach of influence.
[00:20:16] Exactly. Exactly. I love that part of it. I just love seeing the different cultural things that people bring into mm-hmm it just helps you understand that a different viewpoint than we get in the us always mm-hmm yeah, no, that's so important. All right. Any last parting tips for anyone who's struggling with showing up in their business?
[00:20:33] I know we, we, we make it sound really easy, like, well, with the right logo and the right color palette and tagline, you can be visible. But you're talking about much deeper work and I wanna make sure our listeners are left with a couple of tips on, on how to start showing up. So with all the right branding and with all the right language it they're all supporting each other in a cohesive way of, of, of a strong visibility strategy.
[00:20:56] Mm-hmm and plus it's so important for them to be with people that are either above or at least at the same level, because the, you know, the, the. The level of your, the average of the level of the yes. Five people that you're with the most often, and by staying with people that are going to uplift you and bring you to a higher level.
[00:21:18] I think that's so important, especially with visibility. If you're, you know, if you're with people that are saying, I'm afraid of being visible, you're going to, you know, not able to grow. And the other thing is that I think that journaling. Myself. I love to journal. I think that by St starting the morning by saying, this is what I'm gonna let go of.
[00:21:37] Mm-hmm and this is what I'm grateful for. Keeps that smile going on your face, inside and outside on, on your face. And then also to how do I best show up today? What can I do to be my most powerful self? Oh, those are great tips. Got. Yeah, no great tips. Journaling is, is definitely one of my favorites expressing gratitude, and then just having to commit for commitment to how to show up very, very powerful Luann.
[00:22:06] Thank you so much. I have enjoyed this conversation and, and, and I think that our listeners have gotten some great tips and I just appreciate your time and sharing your expertise. Well, thank you so much for having mean, I really appreciate being here. I would just enjoy talking with you. Oh, great. All right guys, Luann horseman.
[00:22:22] I'm gonna put her website up. If you are listening, it is boldly visible you.com. It's also in the show notes. So make sure you connect with Luann. And if you're in the market for a coach visibility, isn't just about advertising and. And marketing and public relations. You also have to do some of the hard work so that you can be connected to your why and really show up in your business.
[00:22:43] So make sure you connect with Luann. If you are listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe. We don't want you to miss any episodes of Saturday sound bites. And if you are watching us on Facebook or YouTube, Drop some comments so that we can go back and connect. I hope everyone has a fantastic week.
[00:22:59] We will catch you next time on Saturday sound bites and I will sign off, have a great one. And I'm sending you lots of positive energy and.