"How'd You Know That?": When Good Marketing Feels a Little Like Magic | IP 203

WEBVTT
00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:04.959
You're listening to Ideal Practice episode number 203.
00:00:04.959 --> 00:00:18.559
And this is the next installment of my summer replay series, guys, where I'm bringing out some of my favorite conversations, interviews, episodes that we have had over the past three or four years here on Ideal Practice.
00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:23.760
And today is, oh my gosh, I had forgotten how much fun this one was.
00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:26.320
Today, well, let me just put it this way.
00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:35.039
Have you ever heard anybody in our line of work, healers, clinicians, health professionals ever say that marketing was fun?
00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:44.640
Yeah, not a common thing, but today's guest has exactly that kind of attitude, and she is fun to listen to.
00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:51.119
You get to meet Mika Ross, and if you have not heard what Mika has to share, you are in for a treat.
00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:54.479
Because this was absolutely delightful.
00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:55.520
Yeah.
00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:57.359
So stay tuned.
00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:19.359
Hi, I'm Wendy Pitts Reeves, and with over two decades of experience in the private practice world, I've built my six-figure business while learning a lot of lessons the hard way.
00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:32.000
This is the first podcast that shows you how to apply the principles of energy, alignment, and strategy to build a practice that is profit-centered, but people forward.
00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:35.680
This is the Ideal Practice Podcast.
00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:42.400
Hey folks, and welcome back to another episode of Ideal Practice.
00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:43.680
This is Wendy, your host.
00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:46.400
I'm so happy to be hanging out with you guys today.
00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:47.599
How are you doing?
00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:48.560
How's your day?
00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:49.760
How's your week so far?
00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:51.519
I know we're just getting started in the week.
00:01:51.519 --> 00:02:00.000
At the time that I am recording this, I just got back from a week at Colonial Williamsburg, which you guys heard me talking about a little bit before.
00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:01.760
And it did not disappoint.
00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.719
I tell you, I never ever get tired of that place.
00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:08.000
I learned so much on this trip.
00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:15.360
And I continue to learn every time I go about lots of interesting details about our country way back in the day.
00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:18.319
The focus in general was around the early 1700s.
00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.240
And just one little quick little tidbit to tell you how relevant this can be.
00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:35.120
One of the things I learned this time was that 70% of the businesses that existed inside the city of Williamsburg back in the 1700s were owned by women.
00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:36.879
How about that?
00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:49.120
And that they were treated with respect, seen as people of value, that they were there was no expectation that their husbands would run their businesses or that it was in some way unseemly.
00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:51.439
They were respected as a member of the community.
00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:52.319
So I love that.
00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:53.120
I love that.
00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:59.199
And I know it's true because Martha Washington told me herself, who was also, I think, a force to be reckoned with.
00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:00.639
So there's that.
00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:04.000
That's how my that's where I've been, where my head's been.
00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:06.639
I am trying to bring it back to the modern century.
00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:09.840
Bear with me if it takes me a few days, but that's where I'm at today.
00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.319
So today's guest, let me tell you about her.
00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:13.840
You get to meet Mika Ross.
00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:15.599
She is a therapist.
00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:20.800
She is a couples therapist, or that's how I knew her, outside, located just outside of St.
00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:22.080
Louis, Missouri.
00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:25.199
We met through a coaching program several years ago.
00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:45.520
Um, although I only knew her for a couple of years in that program and then I lost touch with her, I have continued to follow her online, and I've been so impressed with the way she promotes her work online because it's funny, endearing, real, practical, and as a business coach, I have to say, really effective and impressive.
00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:49.599
And she does this in a way that I think the rest of us can learn from.
00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.080
And you'll hear some of this in the interview.
00:03:52.400 --> 00:04:04.400
She is so completely at ease with the importance and value of promoting herself and her services that that shows that comes across.
00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:06.240
There is no stress about this.
00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:10.080
She she her marketing is not twisted and strained in some way.
00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:14.400
She's just being who she is, and her practice is booming.
00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:16.879
She is doing really, really well.
00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:19.199
I think you can learn a lot from her.
00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:31.120
And I don't just mean about strategy, because we did talk about that a little bit, but the main thing that I take away from this conversation is how important the energy is.
00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:35.839
How important the energy is that you bring to your marketing.
00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:53.600
And you'll hear how she thinks about getting paid for her work, how she thinks about serving her audience, how she thinks about the value of what she brings to the table, and some pretty funny things about how she is choosing to show up in the world and tell her potential audience about what she has to offer.
00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:58.560
So, without further ado, let's get in to this interview.
00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:04.959
All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of Ideal Practice.
00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:08.399
I am so excited to bring to you our guest today.
00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:12.480
You've already heard a little bit about her in the intro, but let's bring her on board.
00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:13.759
Say hello to everybody, Mika.
00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:14.879
Welcome to Ideal Practice.
00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:16.560
Hi, I'm so excited to be here.
00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:18.800
I don't get to talk about this stuff very much.
00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:20.240
Yeah, that's right.
00:05:20.240 --> 00:05:20.800
That's right.
00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:23.759
Although you tell me people are beginning to ask you more about this.
00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:25.600
Oh, it's not beginning.
00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:28.319
They've I've had wanting to uh yeah.
00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:30.079
So I should probably be talking about it more.
00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:31.519
I've got to I've got to figure that out.
00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:32.800
That might be next.
00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:33.199
Yeah.
00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:33.839
Yeah.
00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:34.399
Yeah.
00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:35.120
So you know this.
00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:37.199
So I've I've told everybody I've invited you here.
00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:41.600
So you and I met several years ago in group mastermind that we were in.
00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:41.920
Yes.
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:43.439
And then lost touch.
00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:50.639
But I have sort of followed you over the years because your marketing for your practice is so freaking over-the-top awesome.
00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:52.319
Like literally awesome.
00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:56.879
And I think I mean, and and you don't know me that well, but I don't say it if I don't mean it.
00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.759
Like I really am have been just so impressed by it.
00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:02.240
And guys, I she she sent something out.
00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:03.360
I forgot what happened.
00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.959
Something that you sent showed up in my feed back in December.
00:06:06.959 --> 00:06:09.360
And I was like, wow, this is great.
00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:10.160
Look at this.
00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:13.040
And I like it totally pulled me in.
00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:19.920
I started reading about, I think at that point it was a course or a program, something you were doing about helping couples fight fair, something like that.
00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:20.639
Yeah.
00:06:20.879 --> 00:06:22.399
But it wasn't even the content.
00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:24.879
It was just, it was so delivered so well.
00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:31.040
It just encapsulated what I think good marketing is for a for a psychotherapist that I was like, we've got to talk.
00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:31.680
I want to talk.
00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:35.199
And I went to your website and I was like, there's so much good stuff.
00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:36.319
So it's a lot.
00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:37.600
It's a lot of good stuff.
00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:38.399
Yeah.
00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:39.839
Say, yeah, say about that.
00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:40.079
Yeah.
00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:46.720
My website gal isn't wasn't too thrilled when I brought her on last year with all the stuff.
00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:49.360
Had you been doing it yourself up until then?
00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:50.000
I had.
00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:51.199
I had been doing it.
00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:53.600
I had been doing it myself.
00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:56.639
And you know, it's it's a lot.
00:06:56.639 --> 00:07:02.959
It's for someone that that's not their forte, it was a lot and it's pretty hodgepodged together.
00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:04.959
I think it, I mean, I think it was decent.
00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:09.040
And I think for a certain period of time in your business, uh, my practice was full.
00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:19.439
So it was really, it was hard to make a website and and it's expensive and and paying for a website a priority, you know, when when my practice was full.
00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:27.759
But when I, you know, my goal has always been to do more one-to-many, whether that's in in-person one-to-many or online one-to-many.
00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:33.439
And I knew if that's what I was really focused on, I needed to kind of up my website game.
00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:43.360
So all the courses and things that I have now live are built into the site, which is really elegant and seamless and not cheap.
00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:44.560
And not cheap.
00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:44.879
Yeah.
00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.120
Elegant and seamless and not cheap.
00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:50.800
Well, you know, I you there's a saying you get what you pay for, right?
00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:55.360
Um, and as you up your game, your level of investment should also increase.
00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:57.120
That's part of that's part of business.
00:07:57.120 --> 00:07:57.600
Yeah.
00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:00.959
Let's just start with who you serve and how you help them.
00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:01.680
Who do you help?
00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:02.480
How do you help them?
00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:03.040
Yeah.
00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:08.319
So my practice is about two-thirds couples and one-third individuals, men and women.
00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:22.800
And I I serve them in person, but I also have loads of online workshops and course programs that that I think is really different than traditional counseling.
00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:27.199
I I started to get kind of frustrated with traditional counseling.
00:08:27.199 --> 00:08:32.559
A lot of couples, when they start having issues, they often have young children in the home.
00:08:32.559 --> 00:08:34.960
And that seven-year itch is a real thing.
00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:41.200
And so when I started creating uh online pieces of my work, I also had young children.
00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:46.000
I think it was around the time that I had a five-year-old, a three-year-old, and a zero-year-old.
00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:54.399
And I have nothing but empathy for people who are having a hard time making the consistency and commitment work that it takes.
00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:57.759
It takes consistency and commitment to create change.
00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:04.399
And to do that with small kids and and babysitters and it's it's tough.
00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:20.799
And so I created some online pieces of my work just in the beginning, just to give people a way to continue to be consistent and to continue to chew on what we were discussing and to give me a way to kind of multiply myself.
00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:24.799
And I I found myself, of course, saying things over and over again throughout a week.
00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:28.639
And I started putting those things on post-it notes in the hall outside my office.
00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:29.440
Really?
00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:29.759
Okay.
00:09:30.559 --> 00:09:34.240
And I and sort of organized it into a course.
00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:42.320
But it really just started as supplemental material for my clients because I couldn't, I I could, you know, often at the end of the session, I couldn't, I couldn't.
00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:46.159
We spent so much time kind of digging through their latest struggle.
00:09:46.159 --> 00:09:51.840
And I knew I wanted to give them more to think about kind of in between sessions.
00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:53.919
So I so get that.
00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.000
I like the look on your face as you're saying that.
00:09:56.000 --> 00:10:00.159
I'm like, I know that that feeling of you want to pour into people.
00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:02.159
Like there's so much more I could tell you.
00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:02.399
Right.
00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:03.600
We don't have enough time.
00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:04.399
And it is true.
00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:07.759
You spent so much time kind of rehashing the last week or the last drama.
00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:10.720
Yes, and there's so much more, so much more.
00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:18.559
So you started writing stuff down on post-it notes and sticking them on the wall outside your office so people couldn't see them.
00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:19.039
I looked at them.
00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:19.840
So you could play with them.
00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:20.080
Yeah.
00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:20.399
Yeah.
00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:22.639
I looked a little, oh no, people saw them.
00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:24.159
Oh, people saw them.
00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:26.480
I they were like, what's that?
00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:28.240
I was like, no, just don't worry about it.
00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:29.600
Oh, that's great.
00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:32.399
But I just I just started sticking them on post-it notes.
00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:34.240
And then the post-it note was kind of brilliant.
00:10:34.240 --> 00:10:35.440
And I've done this since then.
00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:42.639
And I've used, you know, one of those big I love those big post-it notes, those giant ones that you know you can kind of do presentations on.
00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:45.840
And I've stuck them there, which is then movable.
00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:48.240
You know, I can have it in my space or out of my space.
00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:53.120
But and then I was organizing the post-it notes sort of into like modules or lessons.
00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:54.960
And that that worked.
00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:01.519
It was sort of like the note card system that I think we were taught to use to write long papers when we were kids, you know, like yeah.
00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:18.559
Um but yeah, and in couples counseling, one of the really one of the really cool things that sending people home with some supplemental material can do and and in videos is, you know, after my first session, I'm often sending all couples the same video.
00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:21.600
And it talks about some really basic stuff in communication.
00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:31.039
And you know, oftentimes in therapy, you're taking so much time to build trust before you can deliver, like, well, how about we chew on this behavior change?
00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:42.639
Uh and with videos that I could send my people between session, they could sort of opt in to what was their part of maybe conversations that weren't going well or their part of the problem.
00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:44.960
And I didn't have to build trust.
00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:52.080
They knew because it wasn't coming from me in session, it was coming from me in this video that I just I didn't make just for them.
00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:53.279
It's not personal.
00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:56.240
Which which gave it a little bit of detachment, right?
00:11:56.240 --> 00:11:56.480
Yeah.
00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:58.960
And then they were easy, it was easier for them to hear it.
00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:03.200
And then they come in and go, Oh, I think I'm I think I'm critical.
00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.960
Or oh, I think I think I'm quick to get defensive.
00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:10.159
And I'm like, okay, yeah, let's tell you about that.
00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:14.639
And I didn't have to, I didn't have to deliver that directly in any way.
00:12:14.639 --> 00:12:20.559
So it really makes the process so much more efficient in this in ways that I just didn't expect.
00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:22.559
What an interesting idea.
00:12:22.559 --> 00:12:27.360
So so in the beginning, you were just trying to like there's there's more I want to share with them.
00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:30.399
So I'm gonna create a way that I can teach them outside of session.
00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:33.600
And you were doing was it video from the very beginning, or did you yeah?
00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:39.120
You know, I was asked by a local, uh, it was a great, it was a great concept.
00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.480
It for some reason didn't succeed, it didn't survive.
00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.360
But it was a large space for families.
00:12:45.360 --> 00:12:47.759
It was a restaurant, it was a coffee shop, it was a play space.
00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:54.240
They also had daycare and classes, and the owner and I were somewhat connected, and she asked me to do a course for couples.
00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:57.840
And that's that's I I actually did it first live.
00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:07.600
I had some, I had some videos, but the like my big kahuna course was first live, and then I recorded it into videos.
00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:14.639
I wanted, I got some feedback, you know, felt like it was it was it the and the feedback was we want more.
00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:27.120
So after a six-week course in person, so I started and I I really started then heavily incorporating that work into the the clients that I had at the time too.
00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:29.919
So I thought they can definitely benefit from this.
00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:33.679
So that's when I created some comprehens what I call comprehensive programs.
00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:38.639
There are a mix of an online course that I have and in-person sessions.
00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:45.600
So they've got some things to kind of work through and chew on in a in a in a way, and I've put it together with a lot of thought.
00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:49.279
It's it's it's strategically sequenced.
00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:55.679
And I just I think I have I think I strangely value efficiency.
00:13:57.039 --> 00:13:58.080
Strangely value.
00:13:58.480 --> 00:13:58.879
I do.
00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:07.519
I don't think that most people value if you know, my husband will even even just in the kitchen, will do this and then do that.
00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.399
And I'm like, but why didn't you do this and this and then that?
00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:11.200
Running.
00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:11.840
Like that was.
00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:13.120
You had to walk four extra steps.
00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:17.679
You went this and then that and then and he's like, leave me alone.
00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:20.399
I have my way, you have yours.
00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:21.840
Yeah, yeah.
00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:24.720
That makes me think, are you up what are what are you on the Enneagram?
00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:25.360
Do you know?
00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:29.840
I you know, I can't figure out the the Myers Briggs.
00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:30.960
Here's what I think is happening.
00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:40.559
The Myers Briggs nails me so completely that when I try to do the Enneagram, I and it doesn't nail me completely.
00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:48.320
I I I feel like I can't, I I don't I I feel like none of those numbers fit as well as ENFP.
00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:49.759
Ah, okay.
00:14:49.759 --> 00:14:51.600
Okay, all right, all right.
00:14:51.600 --> 00:14:54.320
But and I and I I want to though.
00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:56.320
I've tried and tried.
00:14:56.960 --> 00:14:57.519
That's okay.
00:14:57.519 --> 00:14:58.320
That's okay.
00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:05.600
I was just thinking about organization and structure, which is a strength of a one in particular, is where I was going with that.
00:15:05.679 --> 00:15:10.799
But I'm well, and it's not a strength of a P, and I'm actually 98% P.
00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:24.799
So this is but I've all I've had to develop J skills with my strong penis, you know, like I had to if I didn't have if I didn't develop strong J skills, I I would have floundered.
00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:30.799
Um, guys, if you all are listening to this and you're not familiar with the Myers Briggs, that's a whole nother conversation for another day.
00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:31.120
Yeah.
00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:32.480
Don't worry about that.
00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:37.759
But the but maybe one point to take away from this is that you work with your own natural styles and strengths.
00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:43.840
And sometimes as a business owner, you have to develop styles and strengths that aren't necessarily so natural.
00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:46.159
You have to learn lean into learning something new.
00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:48.480
So that that's also that's also part of what's that.
00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:55.759
Well, and I think it's too, and more than organization, I think it's the I didn't used to think I was a creative person, which now I kind of laugh at.
00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:56.159
Yeah.
00:15:56.879 --> 00:16:03.759
It wasn't that it wasn't that long ago that I picked up Liz Gilbert's Big Magic, which is for creative people.
00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:05.840
And I was like, I don't really know why I'm reading this.
00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:07.279
I'm not really creative.
00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:10.480
And it made me realize all the ways in my business.
00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:11.759
I'm very creative.
00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:25.600
I'm very good at seeing the big picture, and then reverse engineering something into how how other people might learn it the quickest or might get the most out of it with the least amount of time.
00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:30.320
But I don't know that I can organize.
00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:33.039
I am not consistently an organized person.
00:16:33.279 --> 00:16:33.519
Okay.
00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:33.840
Okay.
00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:37.919
So so what you said, your core bus your business model right now.
00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:39.120
Let's start with where you are now.
00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:43.919
Right now, your core service is couples work primarily and some individual, but psychotherapy.
00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:49.039
From that core business, you have expanded the way you serve people, right?
00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:57.120
And it started, if I understand, with like little videos to give them in between sessions to teach them basic concepts of healthy relationships, right?
00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.399
Yes, and that has developed and and and expanded over the years.
00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:01.600
You've been in practice a long time.
00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:02.799
How I I can't remember now.
00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:04.880
How long since 2006?
00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:05.920
Yeah, yeah.
00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:06.720
So a long time.
00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.039
Gosh, yeah, coming up on 20 years.
00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:10.400
Yeah, yeah.
00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:12.799
Yeah, you should know something by now.
00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:14.400
And this is great.
00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:15.039
Yeah.
00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:19.279
So so what are all like just to give people kind of an overview?
00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:20.640
And then I'm gonna go somewhere with other.
00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:21.920
I'm hitting my microphone.
00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:23.680
I should not talk with my hands.
00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:29.759
Give people an overview of like what are some of the offerings that you have out there right now?
00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:33.599
What are what are some of the programs or services that you're offering in addition to your basic?
00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:39.359
Yeah, well, and I and I think the landscape has sort of has changed since I started doing this.
00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:46.559
And so originally I started out, you know, with some some free offers that, you know, were in the form of webinars.
00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:55.279
And I I don't I don't really subscribe the to the idea that that's the only way to have a free offer anymore.
00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:55.759
Yeah.
00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:57.920
But I still, it still lives on my website.
00:17:57.920 --> 00:17:59.920
It's called a free training for busy couples.
00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:00.960
It's long.
00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:06.559
And if people have the attention span for that, they can totally opt into it.
00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:08.480
It's got a ton of great information.
00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:13.680
And then I have a how to not get stuck, which is a shorter workshop for couples.
00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:15.200
How to not get stuck.
00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:16.480
How to not get stuck.
00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:28.640
So in communication, I find that you know, if if people are entering a tough conversation and they don't necessarily have the skills to get all the way to a resolution, they're getting stuck in the attack-defense cycle.
00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:32.480
So somebody perceiving criticism and somebody getting defensive.
00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:47.200
And in that place, we just kind of hit this gridlock where it either escalates and we're not getting to an escalation resolution, or one person is you know, kind of shutting, shutting down, still not getting to a resolution.
00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:56.559
So how to not get stuck is a very short and sweet, succinct workshop for couples to get them moving in the right direction really quickly.
00:18:56.559 --> 00:19:02.400
And and then I have, you know, some things that if people like I said, my practice is full.
00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:16.400
I have a wait list, and that's really when I started making tidbits of things that people could opt into that maybe can't be my client or yet, or maybe can't afford to be my client, which I totally understand.
00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.599
I think you know, counseling, of course, has gotten so expensive.
00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:23.039
And most of the time, couples counseling is not covered by insurance.
00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:31.920
Yeah, so so I I I I a large part of why I do this is I I want to reach as many people as I can.
00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:38.400
This isn't rocket science, it's it's uncomfortable, yeah, but it's not rocket science.
00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:38.640
Yeah.
00:19:38.640 --> 00:19:43.119
So I think that everybody deserves to have the tools to have happy relationships.
00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:52.240
And I don't, I, I, I know that this is probably not a super popular opinion, but I don't know that it always requires counseling.
00:19:52.240 --> 00:20:05.200
I think counseling is helpful for and it's but I think for you know, like my husband, he doesn't he counseling's not he's not gonna be a lifelong person in therapy.
00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:11.119
I can sit on somebody else's couch and talk about myself all day.
00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:16.480
I'm constantly trying to figure out like you know, what's the meaning of life?
00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:20.079
And you know, my husband's probably thinking about the Roman Empire or something.
00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:22.079
Oh my god, that's a hoot.
00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:22.559
Yeah.
00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:26.480
Yeah, not everybody is right, and and different things work for different people.
00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:30.960
I have noticed that you're calling yourself a couples therapist and relationship coach now.
00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:35.920
So how has that evolved from like how tell me about that part?
00:20:36.160 --> 00:20:36.960
You know, it's interesting.
00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:47.440
I think it really just started because I originally when I started my blog way back when, the my only goal was to change people's minds about therapy.
00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:57.680
And I think some people, especially back then, like therapy was kind of a dirty word, and it was only for people who were broken or something was wrong with them.
00:20:57.680 --> 00:20:59.440
Like it was a shameful thing.
00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:22.799
And so I and I think that I, you know, and I I don't know that I necessarily agree with most people's definitions of counseling and coaching, but I I do think that, especially when it comes to communication, there's a lot of psychoeducation that can be so helpful that isn't necessarily about digging into your past.
00:21:22.799 --> 00:21:29.839
And I think digging into your past can be helpful to figure out what lens you're kind of seeing everything through.
00:21:29.839 --> 00:21:38.720
But I also think that shifting the ways that you communicate and getting you different results in the here and now inherently sort of shifts your lens.
00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:39.279
Yeah.
00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:47.519
So I think it's this interesting two way street, and you can do it from one way and you can do it from the other way, and you can do it from both ways.
00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:48.000
Yeah.
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:48.720
I love it.
00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:51.440
But yeah, but other than so, I have some programs for couples.
00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:57.200
I've got a I've got a program and community for moms called Well Mama that it currently isn't open now.
00:21:57.200 --> 00:22:00.880
It'll be, you know, stay tuned if if Want to hear more about that?
00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:02.799
Get on my newsletter list on my website.
00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.680
And I think that's it.
00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:08.480
Couples, moms, communication.
00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:12.559
So you've got, do you have are all of these paid?
00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:14.559
Are some of them paid, some free?
00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:21.200
So yeah, the free training for busy couples is free, and the how to not get stuck workshop is free.
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:21.680
Okay.
00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:23.359
And so paid.
00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:31.680
So, folks who y'all who are listening to this, if you if you tune into online business training of any kind, the the terms you will hear for that are a lead magnet.
00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:33.599
That's what a lot of people will call it, a freebie.
00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:38.799
The coach that Micah and I both worked with called it a valuable free offer, which is a habit.
00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:40.160
I still call them a VFO.
00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:41.119
That's what I say all the time.
00:22:41.119 --> 00:22:44.400
I always have to tell my team what that means because nobody says that.
00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:45.359
But it is.
00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:52.400
So just to sort of explain that concept, the concept is that you have something for free on your website that people that is useful.
00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:54.319
It's not junk, it's not fluff.
00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:58.160
Something that actually will help people that they can download for free.
00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:01.200
And in return, they give you their name and their email address.
00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:10.960
And with that, you begin building a mailing list, an email list where you can contact people and tell them about what you're up to or share information that can help them.
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:12.720
So you've got a couple of those.
00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:14.000
And this is also a point.
00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:18.079
People often think you have to have only one or one that's perfect or whatever.
00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:18.799
And that's not true.
00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:19.839
You can have lots of them.
00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:20.880
They can change.
00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:22.880
I have tons of them, right?
00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.960
And I rotate them in and out depending upon what I'm focusing on at the at the time.
00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:28.319
So okay.
00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:37.200
So all of yours are so those two that are lead magnets or VFOs are sh short, sort of do it your DIY courses of types.
00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:41.519
And then you have programs that you sell that for fee, right?
00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:50.160
And are those like are they are they evergreen courses that people can take at any time or are they live courses?
00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:52.400
Are they something you only offer once a year?
00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:54.240
Tell me about that.
00:23:54.640 --> 00:24:00.319
So the the couples course that I have, learn how to fight, is evergreen.
00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:09.519
And I'm like, I know that the Gottmans just came out with a book with a really similar title, but I named this thing before they did.
00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:11.680
By golly.
00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:13.680
Let's just get that on the record.
00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:18.720
There's a little bit different, but learn learn how to fight is evergreen.
00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:22.000
I will periodically run sales on it.
00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:27.920
But the Well Mama course in the past and at times is live.
00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:30.559
We will do six-week deep dive.
00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:43.039
And for that, when I launch, when I launch that periodically throughout the year, well, well mama, there the the first module, I really just make a free live workshop that people can attend.
00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:47.759
And then if they want to opt into the rest, to keep going, they can for a price.
00:24:47.759 --> 00:24:48.640
Oh, that's great.
00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:55.039
Yeah, it's it's so it's so well mama is a ridiculous value for for what it is.
00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:56.880
There's a community for moms.
00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:04.319
We we're on Zoom, but we've got you know Zoom rooms where you know a few people can, you know, get together and discuss things.
00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:05.519
We do QA's.
00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:09.519
There's we cover six topics live over six weeks.
00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:14.480
And yeah, and then I do retreats for women throughout the year too that are live.
00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:16.720
So yeah, this is what I mean when I say I have a lot going on.
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:17.519
My my website.
00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:20.559
My website gal is like, now what now?
00:25:20.559 --> 00:25:23.839
Like how how it took her a while to figure out how to organize it all on the site.
00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:25.599
She did a beautiful job.
00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.119
That's that's great.
00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:29.759
Well, so this is how your brain works, though, right?
00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:34.240
You're constantly creating new things or coming up with a new way to deliver something you've already got.
00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:38.720
Or I see a need, or like, you know, I have moms coming in constantly, and it's the same.
00:25:38.720 --> 00:25:44.720
And and when I just have a mom in the room and not a mom and her husband, yeah, the conversation's different.
00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:50.960
Or when I'm speaking to when I built when I was building my practice, I did a lot of free speaking to moms groups.
00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:51.440
Yeah.
00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:56.240
And the conversations that I was having with just moms was really different.
00:25:56.240 --> 00:26:00.240
And they were really hungry and they're really struggling.
00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:08.960
So I I I say that Well Mama is a course for women who are tired of saying, Why do I have to tell you what to do?
00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:10.640
Why can't you just know?
00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:11.759
Yeah, no.
00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:13.200
Oh, I love that.
00:26:13.200 --> 00:26:15.039
Why do I have to tell you what to do?
00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:16.559
Why you can't why can't you just know?
00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:19.359
Which, like ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
00:26:19.359 --> 00:26:32.079
Everyone who's hearing this, I guarantee you, if you are a counselor, know a lot of not everybody who listens to this are psychotherapists, but those of you who are, I know you can relate to this because I have heard that 4,000 times in my own life.
00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:36.400
Um, it is a conversation I have with people over and over and over.
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:37.440
Yes.
00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.720
And that is a brilliant example.
00:26:40.720 --> 00:26:42.960
So of one way to think about this.
00:26:42.960 --> 00:26:56.960
So what so it's sort of a theme that I'm noticing here, Micah, is that you you really are good at identifying repetitive problems, repetitive needs, repetitive statements that people say all the time.
00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.559
And and once you see it, and y'all, this is something you can all learn from.
00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:03.680
When you have have any, maybe some of you guys can relate to this.
00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:12.480
I I experienced this myself, even now in my own counseling work, that I will tell clients sometime, oh, that's the theme this week.
00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:20.000
Because I have I would find myself telling the same story all week or using the same homework exercise all week or using the same metaphor.
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:21.759
And I'm like, oh yeah, interesting.
00:27:21.759 --> 00:27:23.519
Yeah, that's the theme of the week.
00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:25.599
And it happens all the time.
00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:28.319
And that very concept, why can't you just know?
00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:30.160
We all hear that.
00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:39.680
And really good marketing is just saying back to people what they're saying to you in language that they're gonna go, how'd you know that?
00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:40.559
How'd you know that?
00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:43.359
Well, I know because you tell me over and over.
00:27:43.680 --> 00:27:46.720
I look at so many, and that's I don't know, so many.
00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:47.680
Oh, I have.
00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:57.119
I have you know, it it's a real struggle when a family member or good friend asks me for uh a therapist referral uh for something that they need specifically.
00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:01.759
And I'm like, yeah, you know, I don't, I don't know the person offhand, but let me help you search.
00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:09.200
And when I search and look at therapist websites, yeah, the majority of the time it's it's just reading me your resume.
00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:11.759
Me, me, me, me, me, me, me.
00:28:11.839 --> 00:28:12.079
Yeah.
00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:16.799
And I'm like, I can't see myself in your website.
00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:17.359
Yeah.
00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:22.880
I can't, and then I don't connect and I don't re it's not relatable.
00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:23.519
Yeah.
00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:32.480
Uh it's it, my, my, my husband saw a therapist for a a little while, and in the search for his therapist, it was okay.
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:39.519
But then, and and and part of the work that they were doing together was my oldest daughter has ADHD.
00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:43.279
And then and he needed he needed help.
00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:44.720
He needed help.
00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:52.400
We all need help figuring out how to deal with our children and dealing with our children who are not neurotypical.
00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:52.799
Yeah.
00:28:53.279 --> 00:29:03.839
And so come to find out this guy has ADHD, it wasn't on his website, his kid or kids have ADHD.
00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:10.079
If that would have been on there, yeah, it would have been such an easy decision.
00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:22.079
But people aren't thinking of like their specific, they're trying somebody, I think it's probably Christine Kane who said this, but like if you're marketing to everyone, you're marketing to no one.
00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:22.640
Amen.
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:23.599
A hundred percent.
00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:24.240
Absolutely.
00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:27.359
And if he would have said, you know, here a little bit of my history.
00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:32.880
I don't I love that you're, you know, licensed marriage and family therapist, awesome.
00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:41.599
But if you would have told me that you have personally experienced ADHD, experienced ADHD and you parent, I would have been like hired so fast.
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:52.960
That would have made and people don't think to you know, in in include some of like what is specifically unique to them on their website.
00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:55.599
And I think you know, school kind of scares us from that.
00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:58.319
Like we're supposed to be these blank slates.
00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:00.799
I see, I see two extremes.
00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:11.599
I see either people are doing that where it's super technical, it is very much like a resume, and it is using a bunch of terms that nobody even knows what that means, nor do they care.
00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:22.400
I don't actually don't, or it's the opposite extreme where you don't really tell me anything, and it's a it's a lot of really beautiful, flowery language that also tells me nothing.
00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:22.960
Yeah.
00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:32.880
My my pet peeve, and sorry, y'all who are if if this feels like you when I'm talking to you, I promise I'm not fussing and I'm not judging because I've done it myself.
00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:37.119
But we we tend it cracks me up.
00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:44.640
I can read like 10 10 psycho psycho uh psychology today profiles, and they all sound exactly the same.
00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:48.720
I I believe that your answers are within, and I will help you find your inner guidance.
00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:52.960
And I believe that all of us are called to a height, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:30:52.960 --> 00:30:54.000
Right.
00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:55.039
It tells me nothing.
00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:56.079
It tells me nothing.
00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:58.079
So, why do I have to tell you what to do?
00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:03.039
Why don't you just know that's real, that's in everyday language?
00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:15.599
Well, and one of the when when I started writing my blog way back when, and I also, this is this is where the idea my whole presence online came from a history.
00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:19.200
My my parents have both been married three times.
00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:25.599
And when my parents divorced, my mom would look at me often and say, Do you do you think you need to go to counseling?
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:29.200
And like every other 12-year-old on the planet, I was like, No.
00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:32.400
No, she was like, Do you worry a lot?
00:31:32.400 --> 00:31:35.599
Now, I probably did worry a lot, but everything's relative.
00:31:35.599 --> 00:31:37.440
So I only knew what my brain did.
00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:41.279
I didn't know that that was a lot until later in life when I reduced that worry.
00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:46.160
And then I could look back and go, Wow, I was really riddled with anxiety.
00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:46.880
Yeah.
00:31:46.880 --> 00:31:53.119
But my best friend that I made in in high school, her mom was a therapist.
00:31:53.119 --> 00:31:56.400
And she was just Linda.
00:31:57.119 --> 00:31:57.680
Yeah.
00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:00.720
And she was so easy to talk to.
00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:06.640
And at that time, finding a therapist was flipping through the yellow pages and just, you know, praying.
00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:13.200
Um and I thought if I could just be Micah, yes.
00:32:14.079 --> 00:32:14.559
Yes.
00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:16.240
Then just be a real person.
00:32:17.119 --> 00:32:23.599
And the interesting thing, I remember learning in school that you know, like the mode number of times that somebody sees the therapist is one.
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:34.480
I don't have that because I think that people either, and I'm not saying I'm for everybody, I've got unfollows on Instagram every day.
00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:42.640
But the people who I am a good fit for figure that out way before they sit down on my couch.
00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:45.599
And there's already some trust there.
00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:52.480
And I the one of the first blog articles I wrote was was uh was uh about you know my past not being perfect.
00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:54.240
I did not come from a perfect family.
00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:57.759
I know exactly what a terrible relationship looks like.
00:32:57.759 --> 00:33:04.880
I know that it's that it's sneaky and insidious the ways that relationships deteriorate over time.
00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:08.000
I know what being in a step family feels like.
00:33:08.000 --> 00:33:19.839
Um and my husband, who had degrees in marketing and business, which I mean from the 90s, early 2000s, they're probably probably just not even relevant anymore.
00:33:19.839 --> 00:33:26.799
A marketing degree from back then was like, I I don't know if this is very professional.
00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:27.759
Right.
00:33:27.759 --> 00:33:31.839
And I said, honey, yeah.
00:33:31.839 --> 00:33:34.240
I said, good, I'm not trying to be professional.
00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:36.559
I'm trying to be me.
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:48.079
Not in a way that's like, whoa is me, here's my sad sap story, but you know, sharing from a place of a wound versus sharing from a place from a scar.
00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:50.079
It's just it's different.
00:33:50.079 --> 00:34:01.440
And when you've healed something, when you feel like you have a good relationship with maybe, you know, some crappy cards that you were dealt, sharing from the place of a scar is so valuable to other people.
00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:03.599
It's like I've I've climbed this mountain.
00:34:03.599 --> 00:34:04.640
Let me show you how.
00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:05.759
Let me show you how.
00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:10.480
Sharing from an open weeping wound, you know, is like a cry for help.
00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:16.320
And knowing the difference, I think has been helpful for me in deciding what to share and what not to share.
00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:18.400
That is a really critical point.
00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:21.519
And I do think that this is one of your strong suits.
00:34:21.519 --> 00:34:23.599
And you, in fact, you said this to me last time we talked.
00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:27.280
You said something like, I think I'm I do an unusually, what did you say?
00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:33.039
I'm I'm I'm unusually me online, like you, you know, like I am, I am who I am.
00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:35.440
And you know, here you get the real thing here.
00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:47.440
And and and I I want to sort of talk about this a little bit because I think in today's world, the word authenticity is thrown around a lot, so much so that it's gotten to where it's losing its meaning or its value.
00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:49.440
I think we have to be careful about this.
00:34:49.440 --> 00:35:02.559
And there is a difference between using your story to encourage and inspire, and using your story to join with other people in their pain in a way that says we're both are you know, we both suck and life suck, you know.
00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:03.760
What can you do about it?
00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:06.719
I love that idea of a scar versus a wound.
00:35:06.719 --> 00:35:14.719
If you are still suffering, if you are still in the middle of whatever that is, yeah, you probably don't want to use that in your marketing because you're you're not there yet.
00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:26.480
But if you have been, you've walked through fire a few times in your life, and who hasn't at any point, all of us by the time you reach any age of significant call, you've got a story or ten.
00:35:26.480 --> 00:35:26.960
Right.
00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:33.679
And if you've done and if you've done the work, that's probably part of your superpower, and it's not something to hide.
00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:36.880
Put that ADHD on your website.
00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:40.480
So I know who you are and I know you get me.
00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:42.639
I know who you are and I know you get me.
00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:43.840
Yeah, yeah.
00:35:43.840 --> 00:35:44.400
Yeah.
00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:58.719
I I began to figure that out when I had a a psychologist, a cut one of my business partners back in the day, referred somebody to me and she said, Wendy, I've been seeing so and so, but I want I'm gonna send her to you because she needs somebody to give her a kick in the pants.
00:35:58.719 --> 00:35:59.840
And I really think she needs you.
00:35:59.840 --> 00:36:01.760
And I went, I was like horrified.
00:36:01.760 --> 00:36:04.239
I was like, oh no, is that what I do?
00:36:04.239 --> 00:36:05.920
And she said, Oh yeah, it's great.
00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:07.119
She needs it.
00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:13.119
And I was, I mean, I'm a nine on the Ennegram, which means I don't like conflict.
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:16.000
I avoid conflict like crazy, which is a problem.
00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:20.559
And I can also be very direct and can be tough when I need to be, right?
00:36:20.559 --> 00:36:26.079
And so I I went from apologizing to for that to owning that.
00:36:26.079 --> 00:36:28.880
And I'm not gonna beat you up, but I am gonna tell you what I think.
00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:32.960
And if you're looking for somebody to nod their head and say, mm-hmm, I'm probably not your person.
00:36:33.119 --> 00:36:33.360
Yeah.
00:36:33.519 --> 00:36:34.880
And it made a huge difference.
00:36:34.880 --> 00:36:37.679
My clients changed and my practice grew.
00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:38.800
Yeah, once I owned that.
00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:43.440
When I was I I was in a PhD program for a long time, I did not finish.
00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:51.679
I realized most of the way through with a very young baby that I didn't want to be in academia or do research.
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:53.280
So what am I doing here?
00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:54.639
Why am I here?
00:36:54.639 --> 00:37:06.559
But I worked for the department and my program director, he I I kind of went into his office one day having a total imposter syndrome meltdown.
00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:06.960
Yeah.
00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:16.639
I was sobbing, and he was this warm, very nurturing, older, like he's gay.
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:18.159
I don't know what that has to do with anything.
00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:21.920
I just I do he's he, I don't have to really sweet energy.
00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:29.760
He had what I think of as like sort of some like motherly nurturing energy, not that that only belongs to women.
00:37:29.760 --> 00:37:34.480
Um but I was sobbing in his office, and my kids call him Uncle Dr.
00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:34.880
Pope.
00:37:34.880 --> 00:37:35.599
Um, he passed away.
00:37:35.599 --> 00:37:36.400
Uncle Dr.
00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:36.800
Pope.
00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:38.559
Yeah, he passed away last year.
00:37:38.559 --> 00:37:41.920
But I was sobbing and I was like, I I can't do this.
00:37:41.920 --> 00:37:43.599
I'm I'm not cut out for this.
00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:49.760
I my I'm I come from like total dysfunction, I don't belong here.
00:37:49.760 --> 00:38:04.400
And he grabbed my arms and looked me in the eyes and said, Micah, you have x-ray vision into other people's pain because you've had pain.
00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:06.639
I can't teach that.
00:38:06.639 --> 00:38:30.320
And that's when I realized that my not perfect background, I started to realize, I won't say that day, like I 100% was like wearing that as a badge of honor on that day, but it started a shift for me that oh, this might be a good thing.
00:38:30.320 --> 00:38:34.159
My background might give me a leg up.
00:38:34.159 --> 00:38:34.480
Yeah.
00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:40.480
Who are those people?
00:38:40.480 --> 00:38:41.039
Yeah.
00:38:41.039 --> 00:38:42.400
I don't know those people.
00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:48.719
Well, I think those are those people who know they didn't come from a perfect background and those who don't know they didn't come from a perfect background.
00:38:48.719 --> 00:38:49.679
But you know, yeah.
00:38:49.840 --> 00:39:04.159
Well, and I I think in at the time I perceived that people, you know, my my background is pretty objectively quantifiably, you know, when I can say both of my parents have been married three times, that's something you can count on on your hands.
00:39:04.159 --> 00:39:09.519
Yes, and some people's parents are still married, and to me that looked like function, functional.
00:39:09.519 --> 00:39:18.639
Um, and so I think the perception, I don't, I don't, I don't walk around thinking I'm more dysfunctional than most people, or I came from a more dysfunctional background than most people.
00:39:19.039 --> 00:39:22.639
No, but you know what pain feels like, and so you know it when you see it, yeah.
00:39:22.639 --> 00:39:28.559
Right, and you connect with it and that x-ray vision thing, like that, I do think that's what we have sometime.
00:39:28.559 --> 00:39:36.079
And I do think the more self-aware we are and the more work we have done of our own, which is critical, the better we are at this.
00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:39.760
And and I mean, I I just had a flashback.
00:39:39.760 --> 00:39:48.880
The first time I was ever in any like really serious deep therapy where I was doing some real work, I had an appointment, a standing appointment every Friday morning at eight o'clock.
00:39:48.880 --> 00:39:56.079
And somewhere pretty quickly along the way, I would walk in the door and pretty much like start crying as soon as I said hi for no reason at all.
00:39:56.079 --> 00:39:58.559
Like I'm having a perfectly fine morning.
00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:00.239
What in the heck is this about?
00:40:00.239 --> 00:40:05.519
And I remember the therapist saying, She said, uh, I said, I hate this.
00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:06.880
What the heck is this?
00:40:06.880 --> 00:40:11.039
Like, I'm fine, you know, and I would just get emotional as soon as I got there.
00:40:11.039 --> 00:40:15.599
And she said, she said, You've you've learned that this is the crying place.
00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:17.280
And I, well, that sucks.
00:40:17.280 --> 00:40:18.400
I don't want that.
00:40:18.719 --> 00:40:20.000
It's the safe place.
00:40:20.239 --> 00:40:24.320
I hated it, but she said, she said, you will be a better therapist for having had this experience.
00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:25.599
And I have never forgotten that.
00:40:25.599 --> 00:40:31.280
And she's right, because I know what it feels like to sit and that's on that side of the couch or that side of the chair, right?
00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:57.119
And what I love about this for you, Micah, is that you take this real experience of life, this self-under awareness, self-awareness, understanding, and you translate it into video, audio, teaching in person and online, so that those who need what you have to share can connect with it, relate to it, understand it.
00:40:57.119 --> 00:41:00.079
And if we're lucky, come and get some help.
00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:00.639
Yeah.
00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:01.599
That's what we want.
00:41:01.599 --> 00:41:02.719
Come and get some help.
00:41:02.719 --> 00:41:16.239
So you're saying to people, listen, not only do I have real life training and honest to God credentials, and yes, they mean something if you care about that, but what I really have is life experience, and I'm not afraid to share that with you.
00:41:16.239 --> 00:41:16.800
Yeah.
00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:20.559
In an appropriate way that I think actually is professional.
00:41:20.559 --> 00:41:21.280
Right.
00:41:21.280 --> 00:41:21.920
Right.
00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:24.079
So it's not so black and white.
00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:25.199
This is powerful.
00:41:25.199 --> 00:41:25.519
Yeah.
00:41:25.840 --> 00:41:26.079
Yeah.
00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:26.639
Thanks.
00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:42.400
I know I just met with a couple of therapist friends, and they're like, they really, I they really like what I'm sharing online, but they have like an internal struggle with what they learned in school and how how much to share and how much not to share.
00:41:42.400 --> 00:41:48.000
And I they're like, how how how do you how do you do that?
00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:49.280
How do you decide?
00:41:49.519 --> 00:41:49.840
Yeah.
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:57.519
I I um I had a I had a mentor who I think I learned a lot through stories.
00:41:58.159 --> 00:41:59.360
And we all do.
00:41:59.679 --> 00:42:04.639
So she would share, you know, not from a place of a wound, but from a place of a scar.
00:42:04.639 --> 00:42:07.519
When appropriate, she would share stories.
00:42:07.519 --> 00:42:12.079
And I those were very helpful for me.
00:42:12.079 --> 00:42:24.000
And it didn't feel I understand the intent of you know not wanting to share too much of yourself or you know, to cross boundaries as a therapist into, you know, like the friend zone.
00:42:24.000 --> 00:42:30.000
And yeah, there's a difference between, you know, somebody saying, God, I'm so depressed, and you going, Yeah, me too.
00:42:30.159 --> 00:42:30.800
Yeah, me too.
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:31.199
Right.
00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:33.199
Don't do that.
00:42:33.199 --> 00:42:34.559
Right.
00:42:35.039 --> 00:42:41.119
And, you know, like I had I had clients last week where he he called her a bitch.
00:42:41.119 --> 00:42:47.599
And, you know, we we we talked about we talk, we were talking about it and talking about it.
00:42:47.599 --> 00:42:53.280
And it it I think that when that happens, it's didn't happen in session, it happened out of session.
00:42:53.280 --> 00:43:05.199
But yeah, you know, it's it's hard to for the person who is name-called to not go into this like righteously indignant place, which they are totally justified to be in, by the way.
00:43:05.199 --> 00:43:16.960
Yeah, you know, name-calling is not okay, and simultaneously that's not gonna get anybody to a resolution or to a place where there's less name-calling and more understanding and more vulnerability.
00:43:16.960 --> 00:43:41.119
And so I tell a story, I and I'm not gonna tell the whole story, and you can find it at if you just search Micah Ross, like doesn't love hugs, you'll find a blog article where I talk about one morning where my husband called me a bitch because we had miscommunicated about love languages a good six years into our marriage, um, and how we got through that and how I got underneath that, and how it I realized he wasn't particularly feeling loved.
00:43:41.119 --> 00:43:41.360
Yeah.
00:43:41.360 --> 00:43:46.000
And he was interpreting my lack of physical affection as I didn't love him.
00:43:46.239 --> 00:43:46.639
Yeah.
00:43:46.800 --> 00:43:50.480
And so, yeah, when you're hurt, we'll hurt people.
00:43:51.119 --> 00:43:51.679
Yes.
00:43:52.159 --> 00:43:53.920
Understandable doesn't make it okay.
00:43:53.920 --> 00:43:55.280
Understandable, though.
00:43:56.559 --> 00:43:59.679
So yeah, understandable doesn't make it okay, but once you understand.
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:08.559
It you can do something about it, is how I always feel like yeah, and continuing to teach people a lesson about how they did how what they did wasn't okay isn't isn't gonna get in anyone.
00:44:08.559 --> 00:44:09.519
You'll you're stuck.
00:44:09.519 --> 00:44:11.760
No, you're you know how not to get stuck, you're stuck.
00:44:11.760 --> 00:44:19.679
And so I told that story, and by the end, they had both softened because they both felt deeply seen and understood in that story.
00:44:19.679 --> 00:44:25.280
And also, like, you know, I think too, a little less shame, like, oh, my therapist's husband.
00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:28.800
I'm sure my husband's really gonna be thrilled that I that I should.
00:44:28.800 --> 00:44:30.320
I have name called too.
00:44:30.320 --> 00:44:32.239
Let me just throw myself under the bus.
00:44:32.239 --> 00:44:34.880
Neither, neither of us are perfect, right?
00:44:35.039 --> 00:44:35.679
Um, right.
00:44:35.920 --> 00:44:45.199
And while he doesn't bring degrees into this relationship, he does bring a very phenomenal sense of humor, which I really which gets us through about half of the interactions.
00:44:45.840 --> 00:44:47.360
My training doesn't.
00:44:47.360 --> 00:45:06.480
So I the this is such a good point because when we think about the concept of marketing, which makes everybody I know break out in hives, like all marketing is to me, is a conversation that is a service to those that you want to help when done well.
00:45:06.480 --> 00:45:12.639
It is a kind of the conversation about how much you understand them and how you can help them.
00:45:12.639 --> 00:45:26.639
And telling your story or parts of your story or allowing part of your own, your your true self to show, whether it's as part of your marketing or for that matter, in a session as part as a story that you tell.
00:45:26.639 --> 00:45:32.800
Like there isn't there isn't some discernment there in terms of what to do, what to say and when to say it and how to say it.
00:45:32.800 --> 00:45:39.679
The way I was always taught was the the the filter to use was am I telling this story because this is going to help you?
00:45:39.679 --> 00:45:43.360
This is good for my client, or am I telling you this story just because I just want to share?
00:45:43.599 --> 00:45:43.840
Yeah.
00:45:44.079 --> 00:45:44.320
Right.
00:45:44.320 --> 00:45:49.039
And I have to watch that all the time because I can talk a lot and I can tell stories all day long.
00:45:49.039 --> 00:45:52.800
And if I relate to what's, and sometimes it has nothing to do with what they're there for.
00:45:52.800 --> 00:45:55.679
We're talking about travel and I want to tell a travel story, whatever.
00:45:55.679 --> 00:45:57.519
I have to watch that.
00:45:57.519 --> 00:46:10.719
And I think for people who are a little anxious about the concept of marketing, I want you to hear what Micah is saying that when she is real, like sort of startlingly real, but not inappropriately real.
00:46:10.719 --> 00:46:12.239
That's the key here.
00:46:12.239 --> 00:46:20.079
That it makes it so much easier for her people to find her, understand her, connect with her, and want to hire her.
00:46:20.320 --> 00:46:20.639
Yeah.
00:46:20.800 --> 00:46:25.920
Which is good for her business, which is why we're in business, and good for them.
00:46:25.920 --> 00:46:26.559
Yeah.
00:46:26.559 --> 00:46:28.159
Because they're gonna get what they need.
00:46:28.159 --> 00:46:29.760
That's a win-win.
00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:31.199
Yeah, yeah.
00:46:31.199 --> 00:46:38.239
So I want to ask a little bit one thing about marketing, then I want to get into sort of the structure and the how-tos in the background.
00:46:38.239 --> 00:46:38.559
Okay.
00:46:38.559 --> 00:46:47.119
In terms of the whole concept of marketing at all as a therapist, like what is your what how do you think about it?
00:46:47.119 --> 00:46:49.760
And how did you get did you ever have that kind of icky feeling?
00:46:49.760 --> 00:46:51.760
Or has that not been a problem for you?
00:46:52.079 --> 00:46:53.039
Oh no, yeah.
00:46:53.039 --> 00:46:56.079
I I really felt a lot of a lot of ickiness.
00:46:56.079 --> 00:46:56.960
You know what I mean, right?
00:46:56.960 --> 00:46:58.719
Yeah, a lot of ickiness about it.
00:46:58.719 --> 00:47:05.679
It feels, you know, you don't want to be a car salesman, but I had to really remind myself constantly that I'm not selling lemons.
00:47:05.920 --> 00:47:06.400
Yes.
00:47:06.400 --> 00:47:11.199
And so yeah, which I'm not selling lemons.
00:47:11.360 --> 00:47:13.440
I'm not selling lemons.
00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:33.199
Um, yeah, and I think that when I really when my I didn't intend to work with mostly couples, I do I do have degrees in marriage and family counseling, but my practice sort of and word of mouth sort of decided that for me.
00:47:33.199 --> 00:47:45.760
And I think I realized that if I was going to be working with couples and I wasn't gonna be dealing with a lot of insurance, that I had to make a decision to be on insurance panels or to market myself.
00:47:46.559 --> 00:47:46.719
Yeah.
00:47:47.039 --> 00:47:50.159
And honestly, I was you have been self-pay from the beginning, right?
00:47:50.159 --> 00:47:51.199
You never did insurance.
00:47:52.079 --> 00:47:53.519
Yeah, from the beginning.
00:47:53.519 --> 00:47:58.079
And so I yeah, I I made a really conscious decision.
00:47:58.079 --> 00:48:08.000
And marketing myself was a lot more creative and fun than fighting with insurance companies to pay their bills.
00:48:08.000 --> 00:48:10.719
And I think probably takes the same amount of time.
00:48:10.719 --> 00:48:12.159
So hold on.
00:48:12.239 --> 00:48:13.599
That's a writer-downer.
00:48:13.599 --> 00:48:23.519
Marketing myself was more fun and creative and takes about the same amount of time as it would to be fighting with insurance companies to get paid.
00:48:23.840 --> 00:48:24.159
Yeah.
00:48:25.280 --> 00:48:25.360
Yeah.
00:48:25.360 --> 00:48:26.559
Am I getting my right?
00:48:26.559 --> 00:48:27.360
Yeah, yeah.
00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:27.679
Yeah.
00:48:27.679 --> 00:48:34.719
So I can use my time to chase after reimbursement for services I've already delivered and try to get paid for work I've already done.
00:48:34.719 --> 00:48:40.079
Or I can just learn how to promote myself and it's creative and fun.
00:48:40.079 --> 00:48:42.480
No one says that, Micah, about marketing.
00:48:42.480 --> 00:48:44.480
Marketing is creative and fun.
00:48:44.800 --> 00:48:55.840
I get to write, I get to, you know, sometimes I'm making things on Canva, which if any of these things aren't your jam, like yeah, like when you say my marketing is great, there is this little piece of me that's like, really?
00:48:55.840 --> 00:49:11.760
Yeah, because I I don't necessarily do it if if as you know, if you watch these people who are, you know, their expertise is in marketing and their expertise is in social media marketing, I'm not nearly as consistent as they want me to be.
00:49:11.920 --> 00:49:12.159
Right.
00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:14.239
I'm as consistent as I can be.
00:49:14.480 --> 00:49:14.800
Yeah.
00:49:15.119 --> 00:49:18.079
And that has that has worked for me.
00:49:18.079 --> 00:49:21.199
So I don't, I think you have to find what feels good for you.
00:49:21.199 --> 00:49:28.000
If I was doing something that felt dreadful, if writing to you feels dreadful, don't do it.
00:49:28.000 --> 00:49:30.000
So the people are gonna feel that.
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:37.519
Yeah, you know, and I and I and you know, making videos, I think there just is an element of dreadfulness, especially in the beginning.
00:49:37.519 --> 00:49:45.440
But I I think it's it's the quickest way to get yourself out there and relate to people, especially nowadays.
00:49:45.440 --> 00:49:48.639
And you get some positive feedback and it starts to not feel so dreadful.
00:49:48.639 --> 00:49:53.199
And but yeah, it's it's it's creative and fun.
00:49:53.199 --> 00:49:57.199
And I, you know, I sometimes I wear silly wigs in my videos.
00:49:57.199 --> 00:50:00.480
I'm trying to figure out the most succinct way to say something.
00:50:00.480 --> 00:50:03.519
Sometimes they're silly, sometimes they're not.
00:50:03.519 --> 00:50:10.960
Yeah, but it's I would much rather be doing all of that than fighting with the insurance companies.
00:50:10.960 --> 00:50:15.360
Now, you might be different, and that and if that's the case, then you do you.
00:50:15.599 --> 00:50:16.239
You do you.
00:50:16.239 --> 00:50:16.880
I love that.
00:50:16.880 --> 00:50:23.199
Yeah, you I was just looking at I had I wrote down here that you tell me last time that you were really good at figuring out systems and tech.
00:50:23.199 --> 00:50:25.280
So let's talk.
00:50:25.280 --> 00:50:27.280
So we talked a lot about being real online.
00:50:27.280 --> 00:50:36.320
I because I what I was thinking is you may not be as consistent as some think you should be, but what you are is effective and you market in a way that works for you.
00:50:36.320 --> 00:50:37.199
You are effective.
00:50:37.199 --> 00:50:39.599
That's the ultimate, that's the point of all of it.
00:50:39.599 --> 00:50:41.599
Like if you got that, you're good.
00:50:41.599 --> 00:50:44.159
So tell us like, what are you doing from a market?
00:50:44.159 --> 00:50:47.760
What does marketing look like for micros.com?
00:50:47.760 --> 00:50:49.599
What are all the things that you do?
00:50:49.599 --> 00:50:51.599
This may be a whole other hour.
00:50:51.599 --> 00:50:52.000
I don't know.
00:50:52.400 --> 00:51:00.639
This is well, it's you know, I I try to post real, I am really fly by the seat of my pants.
00:51:00.639 --> 00:51:07.039
I tell you, I I I, you know, there's not a whole lot of rhyme or reason.
00:51:07.039 --> 00:51:19.519
If I start to see themes, like you said, in my sessions throughout the week, I I have a note in my phone that's entitled Reals, and I jot it down in my phone.
00:51:19.519 --> 00:51:23.920
And then if I have time here and there, I but I also schedule time.
00:51:23.920 --> 00:51:30.400
Like all my whole Wednesday is dedicated to working on my business and not in my business.
00:51:30.400 --> 00:51:33.760
Friday afternoons are dedicated to that too.
00:51:33.760 --> 00:51:36.239
I could also do that Monday and Tuesday mornings.
00:51:36.239 --> 00:51:46.079
So, and I I I in the program that we were both in, it was pretty drilled into us, you know, like when we were asked what we did, and I said, Oh, I'm a therapist and I work with couples.
00:51:46.079 --> 00:51:49.599
And, you know, the coach looked at me and said, No, you're a marketer.
00:51:49.599 --> 00:51:50.960
Yes, she did.
00:51:50.960 --> 00:51:53.039
Yes, and I was like, Oh.
00:51:53.039 --> 00:51:58.079
And it really challenged me to, you know, make time for it.
00:51:58.079 --> 00:52:02.239
And if you it's it's a worthy thing to make time for.
00:52:05.280 --> 00:52:13.280
Your attitude about this, I think, is part of what draws me to you so much because you're because your energy is is important.
00:52:13.280 --> 00:52:15.840
The energy you bring to anything that you do is important.
00:52:15.840 --> 00:52:19.840
And if the energy you bring is dread and resistance, it is gonna suck the work that you're doing.
00:52:19.840 --> 00:52:20.480
And so right.
00:52:20.559 --> 00:52:24.800
And so some weeks of making a reel does feel like dread and resistance.
00:52:24.800 --> 00:52:30.719
And, you know, and I have lots of things that in my you know, marketing pie that I could be working on yesterday.
00:52:30.719 --> 00:52:32.239
I didn't make a single reel.
00:52:32.239 --> 00:52:33.679
Yesterday was Wednesday.
00:52:33.679 --> 00:52:43.119
I worked on, I have a podcast coming out, but I needed to do some back-end stuff on my website to make speaking of being good at systems, yeah.
00:52:43.119 --> 00:52:54.880
I have realized that the systems I have around technology and phone time for my kids are things that not a lot of people have figured out.
00:52:54.880 --> 00:52:56.719
And so I'm gonna do a workshop on it.
00:52:56.719 --> 00:53:08.800
I'm gonna do a workshop on how I manage technology and phone and screen time in our house and and what technology we use, how I set up the systems.
00:53:08.800 --> 00:53:19.679
But that that the first podcast that I recorded was with the the chief officer of 988, the Suicide Hot National Suicide Hotline.
00:53:19.679 --> 00:53:21.280
And we talked a lot about technology.
00:53:21.280 --> 00:53:31.679
And so, anyway, on the back end of my website, I'm having to create the graphic for the workshop that I'm gonna do about this because that'd be a really great thing to talk about at the end of the podcast.
00:53:31.679 --> 00:53:35.360
So the podcast isn't out yet, but it's called How to Talk About It.
00:53:35.519 --> 00:53:38.960
And this is that you're launching, you're launching your own podcast.
00:53:39.280 --> 00:53:40.800
Yes, yes, congratulations.
00:53:40.800 --> 00:53:45.440
We've got a few recorded, and that's you know, it's just there's a lot of details that go.
00:53:45.440 --> 00:53:50.800
Yeah, but so so yesterday I was working on that creative stuff and I didn't create a reel.
00:53:50.800 --> 00:53:58.559
And then, but the day before I dyed my roots and with root, you know, with the cap still on my head, I made a quick reel.
00:53:59.039 --> 00:54:00.480
Goodness gracious.
00:54:00.480 --> 00:54:05.840
Okay, that's I'm probably not gonna do that, but that is great.
00:54:05.840 --> 00:54:07.119
So, so what do you do?
00:54:07.119 --> 00:54:08.239
Do you still have a blog?
00:54:08.239 --> 00:54:10.400
Are you writing or are you know?
00:54:10.480 --> 00:54:18.320
I think that Instagram has really taken the place of my blog, and I think I could be repurposing a lot of what I post on Instagram on my blog.
00:54:18.320 --> 00:54:24.320
And I should probably put my assistant in charge of that now that I'm saying all this out loud.
00:54:24.320 --> 00:54:27.440
But this is what I mean when I say what I'm doing isn't perfect.
00:54:27.440 --> 00:54:30.800
But it I don't think that it really has to be.
00:54:31.119 --> 00:54:31.760
Right.
00:54:31.760 --> 00:54:35.760
So you're posting on Instagram pretty often, it sounds like.
00:54:35.760 --> 00:54:39.440
And most of what you're doing are short videos, short reels, right?
00:54:39.440 --> 00:54:50.320
And you create those, it sounds like a blend of intentionally with a certain amount of structure and planning, and also on the spur of the minute when the mood hits you or the inspiration strikes, right?
00:54:50.559 --> 00:54:54.880
So the idea that I had for the reel that I recorded earlier this week, it came to me a long time ago.
00:54:54.880 --> 00:54:56.960
It's about asking for what you need.
00:54:56.960 --> 00:55:05.760
If I say to my husband, tell me how good I look, scale zero to 10, and he says 9.5, does it mean any less because I asked for it?
00:55:05.760 --> 00:55:07.440
No, that was the real.
00:55:07.440 --> 00:55:15.519
But I had I just dyed my roots and I was looking at myself in the mirror and I was like, okay, well, this would be a funny time to record this.
00:55:15.679 --> 00:55:16.000
Yeah.
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:20.719
And I and they say that, you know, weird visuals and get people to look at your real.
00:55:20.719 --> 00:55:22.960
And so I did it with the cap on my head.
00:55:23.199 --> 00:55:23.760
Yeah.
00:55:23.760 --> 00:55:27.199
Real and funny and brave.
00:55:29.119 --> 00:55:29.440
Yeah.
00:55:29.599 --> 00:55:31.519
So you and your humor is a big part of it too.
00:55:31.519 --> 00:55:32.559
Like you're funny.
00:55:32.559 --> 00:55:37.039
But you also told me that you had recorded one time after you'd had a fight with one of your teens.
00:55:37.039 --> 00:55:39.440
You got a house full of teenagers now, right?
00:55:39.440 --> 00:55:42.559
And that you it was a really upsetting thing, and you came in and recorded.
00:55:42.559 --> 00:55:43.679
You had been crying.
00:55:43.679 --> 00:55:45.199
And I'm like, wow.
00:55:45.519 --> 00:55:47.039
Well, it wasn't a fight.
00:55:47.039 --> 00:55:51.280
I actually had been crying because and it wasn't, it wasn't a fight.
00:55:51.280 --> 00:55:57.920
This was this is my one of my most popular reels, and the Gottman Institute actually picked it up and reshared it.
00:55:57.920 --> 00:56:12.800
Um, I had an interaction with my teen the weeks prior that I had had in my reels list, and I had had I I create just sort of like a bullet journally goals list every week with just it's really not anything interest worthy.
00:56:12.800 --> 00:56:17.840
It's just circles of things and next to them things I want to do, and I fill in the circle.
00:56:17.840 --> 00:56:24.719
Um, so I just had that I I had wanted to get a reel done that day, and sometimes that just forces me to do it real quick.
00:56:24.719 --> 00:56:31.920
And I was actually, I had been crying because I got the yes from 988 that they were gonna do the interview with me.
00:56:31.920 --> 00:56:38.559
And she had been on the Sunday morning show, and I I I that's where I saw her first.
00:56:38.559 --> 00:56:48.639
And so I was just I was so thrilled that this was working out, and I just landed a really big interview, and so that made me teary.
00:56:48.639 --> 00:56:53.039
And I was like, I have 30 minutes to record a reel if I'm gonna do it today.
00:56:53.039 --> 00:56:54.880
So my makeup wasn't perfect.
00:56:54.880 --> 00:57:00.800
Some guy recently commented that my lipstick wasn't blended enough, which are you kidding me?
00:57:00.800 --> 00:57:04.400
No, no, a million a million views.
00:57:04.400 --> 00:57:06.800
I've probably gotten tens of thousands of followers from this.
00:57:06.800 --> 00:57:10.159
The Gottman Institute shared it, but some dude, that's all he had to say.
00:57:10.159 --> 00:57:10.960
Blessed.
00:57:10.960 --> 00:57:14.480
But yeah, it doesn't, it doesn't need we don't need to be dancing.
00:57:14.480 --> 00:57:19.679
We don't, I mean, sometimes just share, and this is the thing this interaction that I shared.
00:57:19.679 --> 00:57:25.440
It's the first thing pinned on my Instagram page was a real interaction with my teen and how I dealt with it.
00:57:25.679 --> 00:57:26.400
Got it, yeah.
00:57:26.639 --> 00:57:35.599
Like how I dealt with her slamming the refrigerator door shut right after I'd spent $450 at the grocery store and saying, There's never any food around here.
00:57:35.599 --> 00:57:39.840
Which so many people can relate to.
00:57:42.719 --> 00:57:43.519
Oh my gosh.
00:57:43.519 --> 00:57:43.920
Yeah.
00:57:44.079 --> 00:57:58.400
So I've just like, how can you think more about documenting your life than it doesn't have to always be wigs and creating and sometimes it's just me sharing a simple story about yeah, yeah, we dealt with something around here.
00:57:58.559 --> 00:57:58.880
Yeah.
00:57:58.880 --> 00:58:02.559
I think when you tell me that before, I I was blending those two things.
00:58:02.559 --> 00:58:03.039
Right.
00:58:03.039 --> 00:58:07.039
So I'm glad you I'm glad you straightened me out on that because I was like, that was really something.
00:58:07.039 --> 00:58:12.159
But your point is that you don't have to be perfect, just be who you are and meet your goals.
00:58:12.159 --> 00:58:16.880
Your goal was I'm gonna do this today, I'm gonna create this today, whether you feel like it or not, do it.
00:58:16.880 --> 00:58:25.920
Yeah, um, which is also important because that is also so it there's this sort of happy medium here between structure and flexibility.
00:58:25.920 --> 00:58:29.599
Like to promote your practice, you have to be real.
00:58:29.599 --> 00:58:33.519
You also have to be seen, and you have to be seen in some kind of a regular basis.
00:58:33.519 --> 00:58:45.119
So setting your structure in a way where I'm gonna produce this this week, whether it's a blog post, whether it's a video, whatever it is, whether it's a podcast, you have to do it because that's you have to show up, you have to show up for your people.
00:58:45.360 --> 00:58:53.119
Yeah, well, and as a P Myers Briggs, I I'm I'm I'm sort of allergic to high structure.
00:58:53.119 --> 00:58:53.599
Yeah.
00:58:53.599 --> 00:59:00.880
And so for me, what works easy better is just having certain things that I want to complete throughout the week and one way or another.
00:59:00.880 --> 00:59:03.119
You know, if it doesn't happen today, it can happen tomorrow.
00:59:03.119 --> 00:59:10.559
And yeah, you know, having my husband and I meet on Saturday mornings and we're a little bit of accountability for each other on those things.
00:59:10.559 --> 00:59:11.760
Oh, that's cool.
00:59:11.760 --> 00:59:12.800
Yeah, yeah.
00:59:12.800 --> 00:59:13.440
Yeah.
00:59:13.440 --> 00:59:17.599
So so yeah, I I think you have to figure out what works for you.
00:59:17.599 --> 00:59:23.119
If I had my day hyper-scheduled, I'm not fail every day.
00:59:23.440 --> 00:59:30.239
Well, you're setting your the way I as I understand your process that you've got a target that's gonna happen sometime this week.
00:59:30.239 --> 00:59:35.360
The specifics of how and when is a little fluid because things unflow, unfold as they fall.
00:59:35.360 --> 00:59:39.920
But you still have a target, and more often than not, you reach that target, right?
00:59:39.920 --> 00:59:40.400
Right.
00:59:40.400 --> 00:59:41.760
Yeah, that that's good.
00:59:41.760 --> 00:59:43.599
Yeah, I can I like that.
00:59:43.599 --> 01:00:02.159
What would you say is the biggest mistake or maybe mistake's not the right way to think about this, but what's the biggest mindset issue that holds other healers, whether they're psychotherapists or whether they're other kinds, like you know, you could be a Reiki practitioner or a massage therapist, whatever.
01:00:02.159 --> 01:00:02.880
What is it?
01:00:02.880 --> 01:00:09.360
What is the biggest thing that you think holds people back from really just shining their light and getting out there and telling people what they do?
01:00:09.760 --> 01:00:15.599
I think that this was I I mean, I definitely had a lot of work to do around this too.
01:00:15.599 --> 01:00:20.960
But it's I think it's charging for helping and charging for healing.
01:00:20.960 --> 01:00:28.559
It's it seems like there's a real, that's a real sticky area for a lot of people.
01:00:28.559 --> 01:00:31.840
And it feels like we're simultaneously harming them and helping them.
01:00:32.239 --> 01:00:34.400
Just by charging for what we do, by having a feet.
01:00:34.719 --> 01:00:34.960
Yeah.
01:00:34.960 --> 01:00:44.960
But you know, that chat that coaching program that we both did was was probably the thing that convinced me the most because it was not cheap.
01:00:44.960 --> 01:00:49.679
It was the most I had invested in myself since graduate school.
01:00:49.679 --> 01:00:54.800
And I needed, if I was gonna be in a business for myself, I needed to learn about business.
01:00:54.800 --> 01:00:59.840
And man, did that price tag hold my feet to the fire?
01:01:00.000 --> 01:01:00.320
Yep.
01:01:00.480 --> 01:01:00.719
Yep.
01:01:00.719 --> 01:01:05.519
And make me do things that I might not have done otherwise.
01:01:07.920 --> 01:01:08.880
I'm not gonna ignore this.
01:01:09.119 --> 01:01:12.880
And I've got to do this uncomfortable thing because I just paid all this money.
01:01:12.880 --> 01:01:14.719
So I've got to create change.
01:01:14.719 --> 01:01:15.199
Yes.
01:01:15.199 --> 01:01:42.480
And I think that, you know, I, you know, even when I was working, you know, at the university counseling center, we we could have charged nothing for our services, but you know, we were encouraged to they, I mean, I think our student clients had to pay ten dollars per session just so they had some investment because there is some psychology in that investment and having people invest in themselves and invest in the results, they're gonna be more likely to get there.
01:01:42.480 --> 01:01:51.679
Yeah, and if you in and I the I am not it's gonna be easier for me to help more people if I'm charging for my services.
01:01:51.679 --> 01:01:58.800
Yeah, I so it's it I I had to do a lot of work to see it as a win-win win.
01:01:58.800 --> 01:02:01.599
And it was it was hard.
01:02:01.920 --> 01:02:06.400
But it's not a game, and this isn't we're not twisting something to make something okay that isn't.
01:02:06.400 --> 01:02:08.880
It really is a win-win, right?
01:02:08.880 --> 01:02:11.599
For everybody because yeah, and I I agree with you.
01:02:11.599 --> 01:02:12.559
I think so.
01:02:12.559 --> 01:02:26.719
When I market, so the whole concept of marketing, if I go out there and say, hey, everybody, I'm great, you should come pay me a ton of money, that feels sleazy and salesy and totally out of alignment with our values as healing arts professionals.
01:02:26.719 --> 01:02:38.559
On the other hand, if I'm like, if I see and own that I actually do know something, like I've got, I know what I'm doing here, and I can't help everybody, but I can help a lot of people.
01:02:38.559 --> 01:02:46.800
And if I don't tell you about that in a way that has some confidence behind it, you have if I don't trust it, if then you shouldn't trust it either.
01:02:46.800 --> 01:02:51.360
And if I don't think this is worth paying for, then why should you think it's worth paying for?
01:02:51.360 --> 01:02:51.760
Right.
01:02:52.000 --> 01:02:57.519
Well, yeah, and you're also modeling how to honor yourself and your worth and value.
01:02:57.760 --> 01:02:58.320
Yep.
01:02:58.639 --> 01:03:07.920
And I I wouldn't that's I'm not gonna dim my light or my worth and value because that's not gonna help you.
01:03:07.920 --> 01:03:10.320
It doesn't help the request of your own.
01:03:10.320 --> 01:03:10.960
Yeah.
01:03:11.199 --> 01:03:11.440
Yeah.
01:03:11.440 --> 01:03:26.320
Well, this is where I always say that money is a therapeutic issue because all the ways that we address money in our practice, the way we talk about it, feel about it, um, manage it with our with our clients, it is every bit as much a part of the work as anything else that we do.
01:03:26.320 --> 01:03:32.880
And this is one of the hallmarks is that when we honor our own worth, we are modeling for our clients to honor theirs.
01:03:32.880 --> 01:03:42.239
And your point earlier about the program that you and I met in, I mean, that was a 10, it was like 7,000 program dollar program, and then I went up 10 and then 12 and then 15.
01:03:43.039 --> 01:03:47.360
I think I got in when it was five, maybe, but oh, you were in really early.
01:03:47.440 --> 01:03:47.679
Yeah.
01:03:47.679 --> 01:03:50.559
Yeah.
01:03:50.559 --> 01:03:54.400
It is and and and today those kinds of prices are even higher than that.
01:03:54.400 --> 01:04:03.920
So but it is it is very common, y'all, to join a program, a lower level coaching program is going to be 3,000 and they're gonna go up to as high as 20.
01:04:03.920 --> 01:04:10.480
And I've heard plenty of stories who have of people who've paid for that kind of money and did not get the value out of it.
01:04:10.480 --> 01:04:14.400
So, yeah, of course, do your homework and listen to your heart.
01:04:14.400 --> 01:04:17.360
And if it doesn't feel right, don't do it for sure.
01:04:17.360 --> 01:04:23.760
But what you're saying, Micah, is that when you invested in a big way, you grew in a big way.
01:04:23.760 --> 01:04:26.480
And that's exactly what your clients do with you.
01:04:26.480 --> 01:04:34.400
And to me, all of that is tied in with the whole concept of marketing, why it is okay to market, that you have to believe in what you're doing.
01:04:34.400 --> 01:04:43.760
And learning how to sell, if I can say that, it feels like I know that that just goes against the grain because we are not taught that in school.
01:04:43.760 --> 01:04:45.920
That's the business college down the street.
01:04:45.920 --> 01:04:48.559
That's not social work where I was, right?
01:04:48.559 --> 01:04:50.639
No, we're not doing that.
01:04:50.639 --> 01:05:04.000
Um, I used to I used to speak every year at the local university, College of Social Work, would do this big all-day program for incoming graduate students, and they would put a panel together of social workers to come and talk about life in the field.
01:05:04.000 --> 01:05:17.920
And there'd be like six or seven of us, and we'd be talking about childhood poverty and domestic violence and addiction issues and oppression and racial justice and all good things, all good things.
01:05:17.920 --> 01:05:23.920
And I would be the only one in the group that would say, You deserve to get paid well, make sure you negotiate for your salary.
01:05:23.920 --> 01:05:36.480
And and I would talk, I talked about public service because I served a term in office, and I talked about running a business, and I would be swarmed afterwards because my message was so different from everyone else's.
01:05:36.480 --> 01:05:38.000
And I'm not diminishing that.
01:05:38.000 --> 01:05:39.920
I am a social worker to my core.
01:05:39.920 --> 01:05:51.119
Yeah, and when you make good money, you have a good living, and you have a great service that is you can serve thousands of people, make a huge difference, and get paid well.
01:05:51.119 --> 01:05:52.239
Yeah.
01:05:52.239 --> 01:05:55.199
And in your business, you've got different price points.
01:05:55.199 --> 01:05:59.760
So folks can access help no matter what they one way or another, they can get something.
01:05:59.760 --> 01:06:00.719
Exactly.
01:06:00.719 --> 01:06:01.360
Beautiful.
01:06:01.360 --> 01:06:01.760
Yeah.
01:06:01.760 --> 01:06:02.239
Yeah.
01:06:02.239 --> 01:06:03.119
Yeah.
01:06:03.119 --> 01:06:04.400
I love that.
01:06:04.400 --> 01:06:05.199
I love that.
01:06:05.199 --> 01:06:07.519
And I feel like I feel like I preach this all the time.
01:06:07.519 --> 01:06:10.000
You talk about the message you come back to over and over and over again.
01:06:10.000 --> 01:06:11.920
This is the message I come back to over and over.
01:06:11.920 --> 01:06:15.679
It is, I think it is my it is my life's thing.
01:06:15.679 --> 01:06:22.000
My whole life's work is to get people to believe in themselves and stop apologizing because you want to get paid well for what you do.
01:06:22.000 --> 01:06:22.400
Yeah.
01:06:22.639 --> 01:06:23.039
Yeah.
01:06:23.039 --> 01:06:23.679
Yeah.
01:06:25.360 --> 01:06:32.320
And your whole your marketing, your marketing really is good because you don't apologize for that and you own it and you put it out there and you are real.
01:06:32.320 --> 01:06:33.360
It's beautiful.
01:06:33.360 --> 01:06:33.920
So there.
01:06:34.159 --> 01:06:35.760
I mean it's taken some work to get there.
01:06:35.760 --> 01:06:36.639
But yeah.
01:06:36.639 --> 01:06:43.440
I mean, I've I I I don't have any issues with marketing anymore.
01:06:43.440 --> 01:06:45.360
It doesn't feel icky to me at all.
01:06:45.360 --> 01:07:05.039
And I think when you have the when you when you start to do it and then you start just like with anything else, you know, when I tell clients that, okay, we're gonna we're gonna choose vulnerability when next in the next thing that we say, it's hard, it feels uncomfortable, but then you get you get the positive reinforcement afterwards.
01:07:05.039 --> 01:07:07.280
Yeah, I think marketing's kind of the same.
01:07:07.280 --> 01:07:08.159
It gets easier.
01:07:08.719 --> 01:07:09.760
Yeah, totally.
01:07:09.760 --> 01:07:13.840
20 years, you've been working on this for 20 years, and this is what it looks like.
01:07:13.840 --> 01:07:16.239
Which sounds like a lot, but actually, you know what?
01:07:16.239 --> 01:07:18.000
I see that as you're just you're just growing up.
01:07:18.000 --> 01:07:18.719
You're growing up.
01:07:18.719 --> 01:07:20.719
Yeah, it's really good.
01:07:20.719 --> 01:07:21.519
Yeah.
01:07:21.519 --> 01:07:23.280
So Micah, this is Austin.
01:07:23.280 --> 01:07:31.679
So for people who want to learn more about you or who want to see an example of of how you show up in the world, what's the best way for them to find you?
01:07:32.000 --> 01:07:38.880
So I'm on Instagram to both, and that's Micah Ross, that therapist, M-I-K-A-R-O-S-S, like Betsy.
01:07:38.880 --> 01:07:41.920
And my website is mica ross.com.
01:07:41.920 --> 01:07:51.679
So between those two places, there's a whole lot of resources and free clips, free workshops, free trainings.
01:07:51.679 --> 01:07:55.280
So that's that's a great place to see uh what I'm doing.
01:07:55.599 --> 01:07:56.159
Love it.
01:07:56.159 --> 01:08:03.199
And I actually think that your website, your some of the things that you're offering could be a resource for my clients, like my counseling folks.
01:08:03.199 --> 01:08:05.039
Like I can say, go see what she's got.
01:08:05.039 --> 01:08:06.159
She's got some good stuff.
01:08:06.159 --> 01:08:24.640
So y'all look her up and notice how notice look at her website and notice how her messaging presents who she is and poke around a little bit because you're learning not only who she is as a human being, but also how she helps people and learn learn from that.
01:08:24.640 --> 01:08:25.359
Learn from that.
01:08:25.359 --> 01:08:26.079
It's really good.
01:08:26.319 --> 01:08:36.000
Well, and I will say, when I worked with the, I told you my website was expensive, but my messaging between the new expensive website and the old not expensive website is not very different.
01:08:36.000 --> 01:08:43.840
And I often go against what is recommended, you know, and say a little bit more than what my website gal wants me to say.
01:08:43.840 --> 01:08:47.039
She wants it smaller so she can fit it in and make it pretty.
01:08:47.039 --> 01:08:53.840
But, you know, to make it, I I do it more like you can scroll through if you want to and go into different sections.
01:08:53.840 --> 01:09:03.199
But I think that it's important to convey who you are and that you understand where I want people to see themselves.
01:09:03.199 --> 01:09:03.680
Yeah.
01:09:03.680 --> 01:09:06.800
So yeah, I I hope it's pretty and relatable.
01:09:06.800 --> 01:09:09.840
But that's yeah, that's up for everybody else to judge, I guess.
01:09:10.159 --> 01:09:14.479
Well, I would say of all of that, what matters most is the message more than anything else, actually.
01:09:14.479 --> 01:09:20.319
You can have a you can you don't even have to have a website, you can have a Facebook business page, you can have an Instagram page.
01:09:20.319 --> 01:09:29.279
But as long as you are real, your message is clear and your offer is clear, how you serve people, how you help, and what step they can take to approach you.
01:09:29.279 --> 01:09:32.560
Like tell them how to tell them how to find you, tell them what to do.
01:09:32.560 --> 01:09:34.000
Because they are overwhelmed.
01:09:34.000 --> 01:09:36.159
If they knew what to do, they would do it already.
01:09:36.159 --> 01:09:37.359
So make it simple.
01:09:37.359 --> 01:09:39.119
Here I am, here's how I can help.
01:09:39.119 --> 01:09:44.000
Call me or email me, whatever it is, or go go try this free thing I've got online.
01:09:44.000 --> 01:09:44.880
Do that.
01:09:44.880 --> 01:09:45.359
Yeah.
01:09:45.359 --> 01:09:46.159
Yeah.
01:09:46.159 --> 01:09:48.159
Micah, thank you for this today.
01:09:48.159 --> 01:09:58.640
Um it's it is fun and wide-ranging, and your creative, funny, all out there spirit is such a great example for the rest of us.
01:09:58.640 --> 01:10:03.279
I don't know that I'm ever gonna be dying my hair on in front of anybody.
01:10:03.279 --> 01:10:06.159
Actually, I quit doing that a long time ago, so it doesn't really matter anymore.
01:10:06.159 --> 01:10:10.720
But but that is that's a really funny story and a great, great example.
01:10:10.720 --> 01:10:25.760
Is there I always ask people before I close, if there's any, is there anything that that we haven't talked about, anything I haven't asked you, or anything that you just feel called to share that would make this conversation complete?
01:10:26.079 --> 01:10:27.439
Oh my gosh.
01:10:27.439 --> 01:10:30.720
What a big question.
01:10:31.439 --> 01:10:32.319
It's only a lot of people.
01:10:32.479 --> 01:10:45.279
You know, I think I would say, you know, I the things that I do on the on on the internet and in my blog, I did them with my family.
01:10:45.279 --> 01:10:49.840
My kids don't like my online presence.
01:10:49.840 --> 01:10:56.159
My husband would never be this personal online.
01:10:56.159 --> 01:11:11.359
And and I don't don't wait for other people to be in agreement with how you want to do things or because you're not you're not trying to be authentic to them, you're trying to be authentic to you.
01:11:11.359 --> 01:11:16.159
And I I you know, I wonder if as my kids mature they will appreciate what I'm doing a little.
01:11:16.159 --> 01:11:18.560
Now they just find it cringy, which I totally understand.
01:11:18.560 --> 01:11:23.119
What teen wants to hear their mom talking about sex drive on the internet?
01:11:23.119 --> 01:11:24.079
Not one.
01:11:25.680 --> 01:11:27.840
What teen wants to think their mom has a sex drive on?
01:11:28.159 --> 01:11:29.279
Yeah, exactly.
01:11:29.279 --> 01:11:42.800
So so yeah, I don't, you know, if there's some in and the things that I wanted to do in my business and the visions that I had, you know, like that's that's it was so sort of felt like this drum beat that was inside of me.
01:11:42.800 --> 01:11:49.760
And I I I for a little while was hoping to convince everybody on the outside of this thing that they couldn't see yet.
01:11:49.920 --> 01:11:50.560
Yeah.
01:11:50.880 --> 01:11:55.119
And I realized that I had to create it and then go see, look, look what I made.
01:11:55.119 --> 01:11:55.359
Yeah.
01:11:55.359 --> 01:11:59.439
My husband's like, I never would have done it this way, but it's totally worked for you.
01:11:59.680 --> 01:12:01.199
Yeah, because it's real for you.
01:12:01.439 --> 01:12:03.600
Yeah, but it's not his, it's not his way.
01:12:03.600 --> 01:12:05.840
He has a business, he does it totally different.
01:12:06.399 --> 01:12:07.279
It wouldn't work for him.
01:12:07.279 --> 01:12:08.880
It wouldn't work for him, right?
01:12:08.880 --> 01:12:11.760
Which is fine, which is what is which is what ideal is.
01:12:11.760 --> 01:12:15.680
When I'm talking about an ideal practice, my point is that everyone's practice is different.
01:12:15.680 --> 01:12:17.760
What's ideal for you is different from someone else.
01:12:17.760 --> 01:12:19.039
Same goes for marketing.
01:12:19.039 --> 01:12:26.239
What's ideal for you is different from someone else, but you do need to be marketing, you have to get the word out there about what you do.
01:12:26.239 --> 01:12:27.439
Yes, so that's great.
01:12:27.439 --> 01:12:28.560
And don't wait for approval.
01:12:28.560 --> 01:12:29.840
Don't wait for approval.
01:12:29.840 --> 01:12:30.640
Do it your way.
01:12:30.640 --> 01:12:31.439
You do you.
01:12:31.439 --> 01:12:32.319
That's the message.
01:12:32.319 --> 01:12:33.039
You do you.
01:12:33.039 --> 01:12:34.239
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:12:34.239 --> 01:12:35.199
Love it.
01:12:35.199 --> 01:12:36.000
Love it.
01:12:36.000 --> 01:12:37.119
Thank you, Micah.
01:12:37.119 --> 01:12:37.920
This is really great.
01:12:38.800 --> 01:12:39.279
Awesome.
01:12:39.279 --> 01:12:40.560
Thanks for having me.
01:12:40.800 --> 01:12:41.920
Yeah, it's been fun.
01:12:41.920 --> 01:12:43.039
And I can't wait to hear.
01:12:43.039 --> 01:12:45.680
I will make sure when your podcast is live, tell me.
01:12:45.680 --> 01:12:48.239
And I come back and I'll I'll link it in for sure.
01:12:48.239 --> 01:12:49.439
Oh, thanks.
01:12:49.600 --> 01:12:50.319
That would be great.
01:12:50.319 --> 01:12:50.880
Perfect.
01:12:51.039 --> 01:12:52.479
It's a big deal launching a podcast.
01:12:52.479 --> 01:12:52.800
I know.
01:12:53.039 --> 01:12:53.359
I know.
01:12:53.359 --> 01:12:55.199
I keep telling people next week.
01:12:55.199 --> 01:13:04.319
I should have just, you know, my grandfather built a house over seven years, and he the joke was he should just tell people it's going to be done on Tuesday when they would ask, but he never said which Tuesday.
01:13:04.319 --> 01:13:07.600
I should just start telling people it's going to be done on Friday.
01:13:07.600 --> 01:13:11.119
Because it's you just keep I'm like, oh no, one more nice.
01:13:11.119 --> 01:13:11.840
There's some more.
01:13:11.840 --> 01:13:13.760
There's some more things, some more okay.
01:13:13.840 --> 01:13:14.319
It's okay.
01:13:14.319 --> 01:13:16.880
And it doesn't stop once you get it launched because then you have to keep it going.
01:13:16.880 --> 01:13:18.960
There's all that, but you'll do fine.
01:13:18.960 --> 01:13:20.800
You'll do fine because you've got systems.
01:13:20.800 --> 01:13:21.359
Yeah.
01:13:21.359 --> 01:13:21.680
Yeah.
01:13:21.680 --> 01:13:22.399
Yeah.
01:13:22.399 --> 01:13:23.600
All right, my friend.
01:13:23.600 --> 01:13:25.840
Thank you for being here with us today on Ideal Practice.
01:13:25.840 --> 01:13:27.199
It's been a real, real treat.
01:13:27.199 --> 01:13:30.880
And um so good to reconnect with you and and to see how well you're doing.
01:13:30.880 --> 01:13:31.520
I love it.
01:13:31.520 --> 01:13:38.319
And I hope that this will inspire and encourage some of my shyer folks out there to get out there and shine a little bit brighter.
01:13:38.319 --> 01:13:40.079
So thanks, Wendy.
01:13:40.079 --> 01:13:40.720
Yeah.
01:13:40.720 --> 01:13:41.840
All right, everyone.
01:13:41.840 --> 01:13:43.760
With that, we will bring this to a close.
01:13:43.760 --> 01:13:45.279
But I hope you've enjoyed this.
01:13:45.279 --> 01:13:51.039
I hope you'll go back and listen to it maybe more than once and go check out Micah's website and follow her on Instagram.
01:13:51.039 --> 01:13:51.920
You heard that.
01:13:51.920 --> 01:13:54.960
We'll have that link down below as well, in case you didn't catch it.
01:13:54.960 --> 01:13:58.399
Have a great week, everybody, and I'll see you next week right here.
01:13:58.399 --> 01:14:02.479
Back, same bet time, same bat station on ideal practice.
01:14:02.479 --> 01:14:03.520
Bye now.
01:14:03.520 --> 01:14:19.359
Hey y'all, if this program has become important to you, if ideal practice matters, it would mean so much to me if you'd be willing to take just a minute to do one or two of the following things.
01:14:19.359 --> 01:14:25.760
First of all, would you follow or subscribe to the show here at Ideal Practice?
01:14:25.760 --> 01:14:33.039
Following me helps you because you'll never miss an episode, but it helps me as well for all kinds of reasons.
01:14:33.039 --> 01:14:43.439
To do that, all you have to do is go to the show page for Ideal Practice on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
01:14:43.439 --> 01:14:54.960
There, just click on the plus sign that you'll usually find in the top right hand corner, or click on the word follow that you're going to find somewhere there on that page.
01:14:54.960 --> 01:15:01.279
Of all the things, this really is the most important thing you can do for the podcast itself.
01:15:01.279 --> 01:15:07.920
While you're there, it would be extra special if you would be willing to give me a five-star rating.
01:15:07.920 --> 01:15:11.600
And even better than that, a review with your own words.
01:15:11.600 --> 01:15:14.000
Your words matter.
01:15:14.000 --> 01:15:20.800
And when you write what you feel, what you think, you uplift and encourage others.
01:15:20.800 --> 01:15:22.159
And I love that.
01:15:22.159 --> 01:15:30.000
If you want to go a step further than that, take your favorite episode or two, one of the ones that has meant a lot to you, and share it with a friend.
01:15:30.000 --> 01:15:32.960
Could you do one or two of those things for me?
01:15:32.960 --> 01:15:35.520
I promise I will love you forever.
01:15:35.520 --> 01:15:42.159
You guys matter to me, and I value your support more than I can possibly say.
01:15:42.159 --> 01:15:47.279
Thank you, sweet friend, for anything you can do to help me out and support the show.
01:15:47.279 --> 01:15:49.520
I'll see you again soon.