Creative Freedom with Lisa Robbin Young

In Heart-Centered Business: Healing from toxic business culture so your small business can thrive, Sufi spiritual business teacher (and my long-time colleague and friend, Mark Silver, M.Div. speaks to those who hate the toxic way business has developed, and want an approach to business that is as nourishing as it is powerful. Our interview is an exclusive bonus episode for the season. Learn more about how YOU can build a business that is in alignment with your values, beliefs, and heart.

Let's talk about something we all know deep down: there's no one-size-fits-all approach to success in business. It's all about finding YOUR way and embracing your unique creative spirit (within legal boundaries, of course!). But hey, let's be real; carving out your own path can be a bit challenging, especially if you're a Fusion creative like me. No matter where you fall on the creative spectrum, if you're feeling a little lost on your journey to success, I've got you covered! In this episode, I'm sharing five exercises that will bring clarity to your life and business. Trust me; they're game-changers! Tune in now to discover your path to success and get ready to unleash your creative freedom!

You are in for a treat with Season 8 of the Creative Freedom show! We start things off with a bang by tackling one of the most essential yet frustrating topics in business: business models. I know, I know, it's not the most glamorous thing to talk about, but hear me out. Whether you realize it or not, you already have a business model if you're bringing in any income from your biz. The real question is: is it actually working for you? If you're not sure, don't worry. This episode dives deep into Creative Entrepreneurs' top 6 business model mistakes and how to fix them. Some are obvious, while others… not so much. So grab a cup of tea (or something stronger!) and join me for this episode of the Creative Freedom show. You won't want to miss it!

I can’t believe 2022 is almost over! During the Creative Freedom Retreat last week, we began planning for 2023, and I think this particular episode is a perfect way to end Season 7 of the Creative Freedom Show and segway into the new year. I’ve been in the online world for almost 30 years (zoinks!). I've been a business coach for almost 20 years. I've seen a lot, done a lot, and worked with many different clients in that time: direct sellers, solopreneurs, and now creative entrepreneurs. Over time, I put A LOT of content out there. Some of it resonates, some of it doesn’t, and in the process, you’re left carrying this sort of hodgepodge of “stuff.” At the end of 2021, I got really clear that my message wasn’t landing with my right audience. Being in the online space for so long, I felt challenged to find someone I could trust. Someone who got ME. And most importantly, someone who wasn’t going to snow me (if you know, you know!) but would help me figure out exactly what I wanted my new messaging to be. For the final episode of Season 7 and 2022, I’m sharing my interview with Dr. Michelle Mazur - where we demystify the process of rolling out and/or pivoting your message to reach YOUR right audience. Bonus: I’m also sharing the messaging guide we created for my business, so you can see how this works.

Ever been on a bad date? I mean a really bad date? One that was so bad you felt the urge to write a song about it? Have you ever been the subject of a song about a really bad date? I’ve kissed a few frogs in my day, but none of them warranted the kind of song that Nile Rogers of the famous music group CHIC wrote back in 1981. He went out with a woman and at some point in the evening, she started expecting him to use his celebrity status for her benefit. The nerve! This young lady may well be the first person to ever be canceled. Seriously. You may not know her name, but that date was so bad that Niles went home and wrote the song “Your Love Is Canceled” He equated cancellation to the way television shows are canceled. They’re just gone… never to be seen or heard from again. In this episode, we’re going to take a closer look at what Cancel Culture Vultures are and how to protect yourself from their wrath - if that’s even possible. They’re vigilant about all the wrong things. They care more about being right than calling in for accountability. While they are a prevalent part of society at the moment, if you spend too much time worrying about them, it will stall your growth.

This is a bonus episode that you won't find anywhere else. Not on the blog, not on social. Only for our podcast listeners. Like an Easter egg, but it's Thanksgiving. So Happy Thanksgiving!

When you’ve got a capacity problem, something has to give - and we’ll talk more about that in an upcoming episode. But for today, let’s assume you’re ready AND you’ve got the capacity to play to a bigger audience. How do you jump from being a big fish in a small pond to a larger one? While you can’t control the outcome, you can do a few things. Leverage your “local” relationships, give yourself time to be seen and deepen relationships with the right folks, find your consistency rhythm, and above all, don’t take it personally when folks act like they don’t know you.

Being invisible - especially in your business - has advantages… some hidden advantages that you’re probably not even consciously aware of. Today, we’re going to shine a light on these perks of invisibility so that you can make some empowered decisions about when to step into your spotlight and when to stay carefully tucked away in the shadows. 

A few years back, while attending an abundance workshop, I encountered one of the scariest moments of my life! A particular exercise gave me, a business coach, a very “deer in the headlights'' moment but also, a breakthrough that changed the way I work with clients. Had my coach not taken just a few extra moments out of her agenda to help me with this roadblock, I might still struggle with the idea of holding onto something so much. I might have never fully launched the Incubator, which has helped our clients make millions of dollars in the 6 years we’ve been running it. Many of those folks started at zero, so that’s real revenue. Real lives changed that might not have happened if I hadn’t faced that fear. What’s the lesson? An Environment of Empowerment can help you overcome your fears. As I mentioned in our last episode, even Betty White had her haters. Making yourself a victim is something that you have influence over and I am here to help! It starts by not being an a-hole, creating an environment of empowerment for yourself, and fostering a sense of belonging with your existing audience, which in turn changes your audience into your Raving Fans. The full episode shares more details.

One of the common fears that comes up with my clients time and time again is becoming a target for haters, cancel culture and trolls. I mean, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, right? The idea of having to deal with negative attention does not feel expansive, fulfilling, or joyful. I mean, no one wants haters, and when you’ve already got a full plate, comments and attacks can be the straw that breaks your back. It leaves them thinking they have to choose safety over the real success that they crave. BUT… Do you really have to choose between playing it safe or taking risks all the time if you want to be successful? Entrepreneurship is inherently risky, but is the only path to success found by taking BIG risks all the time? Do you really have to choose between safety and security and being successful at the level that brings the income, impact, and influence that you know is meant for you?

When I was 16, I was over-the-moon excited about getting my driver’s license. I wanted it SO bad. I had helped my brother study for his exam and I was pretty sure I had the study guide memorized. But I wasn’t prepared when Dad invited me out to drive. “What? Me? On the road? But Dad, I don’t have my license yet! I don’t have my learner’s permit yet! That would be breaking the law! I don’t think I could DO that! I don’t think I’m ready for that.” “Okay kid.” He never asked me again. He asked my sister, a year later, but not me. I was hurt, angry, and didn’t understand why SHE was getting the invite, but I wasn’t. Couldn’t he see I was ready now? Couldn’t he see that I had more experience, more skill at driving than she did? That was one of my earliest experiences with the Passed Over Paradox. Only, I didn’t know it yet. Let me break this down so you can see what was really going on here.

A long-time friend of mine came to visit Nashville not long ago. He paid me a compliment or two, as he often does, and I poo-pooed nearly all of it. Later, when we were at lunch with my family, he turned to my husband and asked: “How does she not see how talented and gifted she is?” My husband shrugged in agreement that I wasn’t owning my gifts and talent, and I certainly wasn’t accepting the compliment. Hello, Impostor Syndrome! What is Imposter Syndrome anyway? Well, it can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. Maybe you’ve felt it, too, but sometimes, Impostor Syndrome is a symptom of something much different. In this week’s episode, I talk a bit about the difference between Imposter Syndrome and what I call the Passed Over Paradox.

I’ve been holding onto this episode for a long time. Decades, in fact. You may already know that I’ve been in the online space for nearly 30 years - back when it took 15 minutes for an animated Gif to load and we were actually excited about that! I’ve seen the rise and fall of many an internet marketer in my time - and the cult-like followings and mythos that those gurus often created around themselves. In that time, I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t work. Which is why I’m still here. So many folks were wooed by a promise only to find out they needed to invest more before they were really ready to step into a program like that. They were sold on a dream of “success in their sleep” with images of fancy cars and exotic locations. Except that their “way of doing business” was a cookie-cutter formula, or an online success “blueprint” - no joke - that was an actual thing back in the day. Those formulas and blueprints were often high-level overviews or outlines that didn’t give you enough details to help you make real progress. They just kept you hamstrung and needing to invest more and more money with the guru in order to finally get the details that they’d been holding back from the beginning. Blueprints and cookie-cutter concepts can only take you so far. Heck, we use them when we build business models. We start with the same framework for every person we work with. But, like a good builder, we don’t stop at the blueprint. That’s the what. We also need the “how”. We take that model and help them see how to implement it in ways that work for them. And you can do that, too... You can do business outside the box! Listen along as I bust 4 myths so that you can feel at ease and start doing business YOUR WAY. If you haven't already downloaded this week's bonus content, you'll want to do that here. Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more! Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support. Theme music: “Big Time” by Ikoliks

It's finally Season 7! It has been a long road to get here, and I’m so excited to be digging into the new content this season - all around helping you overcome the passed over paradox and step more confidently into your Great Work. To Be that star in your market, instead of a best-kept secret. Last season I talked about increasing your brand visibility by showing up, giving people a reason to pay attention and by collaborating with colleagues. But that third point - collaborating with colleagues - deserves an episode all to itself. We’ll hit THAT topic next week. Promise. But this episode is about building a community network and finding the right moments and opportunities to tap into those communities for business growth and visibility.

This is Creative Freedom - Empowerment for creative entrepreneurs. Where can-do inspiration and how-to education collide to help you Own your Dreams without selling your soul™.

Our money stories shape our choices... which chape our money stories... and so on, and so on! Today, I’m sharing the biggest money blocks for each creative type. Because, while we’re all unique, we do carry a few patterns in our types that can put up BIG roadblocks to our business growth and success. Each creative type has can have similar symptoms when it comes to hitting a plateau in your business, but the CAUSE is often one of these thought patterns. If you haven’t already taken our free quiz to discover your creative type, you’ll want to do that in order to know your type. Head on over to LisaRobbinYoung.com/quiz to get your results. After you get your result, or before, tune in to learn how to adjust your money choices.

I have an Incubator client right now that’s working on building their business, and they don’t have a large audience. Between fits of frustration around wanting to go faster and inspired ideas that need execution, we’ve been having conversations around who they serve and how to talk to them to stimulate sales without coming off as sleazy. As nice as it would be to just jump from a great business idea to loads of sales, it just very rarely works that way. Could she walk up to every person she meets, introduce herself and offer her services? Sure. But she’d likely end up with more folks running screaming for the hills than she would new customers. There’s probably nothing people hate more than to be sold to. And maybe you’re even thinking to yourself: "I don’t want to be that slick, sleazy salesperson and have to push, push, push all the time just to keep my nose above water." What can you do? Listen in to find out!

In our last episode we talked about how to find folks and I intimated a little bit about the need to talk TO them, not AT them. But we didn’t get into specifics of how to do that - what to say, etc. I don’t want to leave you hanging. So, that’s what this episode is all about. This episode will be useful regardless of how well connected you are with this audience. Whether you’re just getting started with them or you’ve got clients, or the start of an audience but not many Raving Fans, I’m going to save you the two by four to the head. Because it’s not enough to know who they are, you’ve also got to reach and connect with - engage with - them. Listen to the show below to become "coffee worthy".

There was a time in the big bad world of business, where you could pretty much sell anything and people would buy it. You didn’t need to persuade people about the benefits of choosing you because you were the only game in town. They either bought what you were selling or they went without. Period. But buyers are smarter, do more research, and have a LOT more options at their fingertips. It takes more than just “buy my stuff, it’s great” to encourage a buyer to say yes. But even in a world where a whole lot of people MIGHT say yes to your offer, you need to practice a little discernment. Today, I want you to understand the principles behind finding your target audience - how to determine if you’re talking to the right people in the first place, and if not, what may need to shift so that you can actually FIND these folks. Catch all the bonus action at creativefreedomshow.com Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support. Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org

Pivot! It was one of the biggest buzzwords of 2020, thanks to the pandemic that shall not be named putting a monkey wrench into EVERYONE’S plans! Not to brag, but I’ve been pivoting since before it was cool. I’ve probably done the pivot 5 or 10 times in my nearly 30 years online. I mean, nothing lasts forever and the only constant is change, right? Last episode I talked about how Taylor Swift pivoted to a new music genre...and she’s not the only one. Fine artist Henri Matisse and lots of companies have started down one path, decided it’s not working for them (or has stopped working for them), and turned to something new. So yes, pivots are a thing, and they absolutely CAN be done successfully, but how do you know if it is, in fact, time to pivot? Listen in to find out today. Catch all the bonus action at creativefreedomshow.com Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support. Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org