Discovering Your Strengths and Building an Authentic Personal Brand -45

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Marli Williams [: 00:00:03

For this week, I am hanging out with the powerful, the amazing Kelly Cochran. She is a best-selling author. She is a professional motivator and a transformational facilitator and speaker. And this week, we are diving deep into how to build, how to create your own personal brand. What a personal brand is? Why it matters? And we really give you some super tangible actionable things that you can do to uncover, discover what your personal brand is, what you stand for as a leader, a coach, an entrepreneur, and even what you stand for as an employee, as a boss. Right? There's so many ways that we can look at this idea of personal branding. So we are going to do a deep dive so that you can go out there in the world as the epic transformational leader that I know that you are and want to be and own your muchness. Let's do this.

Marli Williams [: 00:01:13

Hey, everyone. What's happening? I am super stoked to welcome you to the Marli Williams podcast, where we will explore authentic leadership, transformational facilitation, and how to create epic experiences for your audiences every single time. I am your host, Marli Williams, bringing you thought provoking insights, expert interviews, and actionable strategies to unlock your potential as a leader, facilitator, and speaker. Thank you for joining me on this journey of growth, transformation, and impact. Let's lead together, the Marli Williams podcast begins now. Let's dive in. Today, I'm hanging out with Kelly Cochran, who is a best-selling author, speaker, and professional motivator, which I love, empowering women to live life at full volume. Kelly, welcome to the show.

Marli Williams [: 00:02:11

So stoked to have you here today.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:02:14

So stoked to be here. Hello, everybody.

Marli Williams [: 00:02:17

I dig it. I dig it. So today, Kelly and I are gonna be diving into the realm, the world of personal branding. What is a personal brand? Why does it matter to you as a coach, a leader, a speaker, an entrepreneur? And, like, what do people come to you for? What do you wanna be known for as it were? So to set the stage, Kelly, I'd love for you to just share with the crew today a little bit of what brings you to the work that you do in the world. And, yeah, a little bit of your story to set the context for our amazing conversation today.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:02:57

Well, so let me just start by saying I have proudly been fired 5 times.

Marli Williams [: 00:03:03

Whoo.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:03:03

You did that right. Your radio did not cut out there. Five times, everybody. And I say proudly because every time has elevated me to such a new level, and the biggest firing I ever had was from this company, from this job that I loved back in 2017. And I was a product owner and a project manager for a marketing team and a software dev team at this, great company at the time. The company no longer exists. Shocking. And, you know, I got fired from this job, and it just it took the wind out of my sails, and I kind of I did what a lot of us do when we get fired is our ego is really destroyed, and we put on our hoodie of depression, and we curl up on the couch with our favorite, you know, snack of choice, be it hot Cheetos or, you know, for me, it's always chocolate and maybe a bottle of wine.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:03:59

And, I did that for about a month or so and really, like, licked my wounds, and then I went, okay. Like, what do I wanna do with myself? I know my highest purpose isn't sitting in a cubicle making money for somebody else, especially if that somebody else might be a narcissistic boss. Maybe some of you listening have had one or several of those. Me. And so I came up with this idea, and it was literally, like, January 1st or 2nd, 2018. And I I was like, what it like, what do I wanna be known for? Who am I? And this idea was just in my head around you know, my parents always joke that they could hear me when I landed at the airport because I'm so loud. And I'm like, I'm really known for being loud. I'm outspoken.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:04:42

I'm really tall. I'm almost 6 feet tall. I have long blonde hair. Like, I'm just you notice me when I walk in a room. I have self-confidence. I embody confidence. I'm really smiley. I'm really friendly.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:04:54

So this idea of loud blonde came to me as I'm literally, like, sitting covered in Cheeto dust on my couch in mired in depression after getting fired from what I thought was my dream job, and I was like, I can't brand myself as loud blonde. No one will hire me. And I kinda sat with that, and I went, the people who won't hire me are the same corporations who keep firing me. The same stodgy, stuck up, old traditional, you know, run of the mill 9 to 5 places that I don't wanna work anymore. The people who I wanna inspire are women like me who have so much more to give to society and so much more to do with their lives than, again, being chained to a cubicle for 40 plus hours a week. Those are the people I wanna attract. Would my loud blonde brand attract those people? And so, you know, January of 2018, I spun up a website, grabbed the Instagram handle of loud blonde, and I was off to the races. I've been loud blonde ever since.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:06:01

I was actually just at a conference here in Austin, month ago, sat next to a woman, and she turned to me, and she goes, I still remember you on stage at best your ever blueprint in 2019 talking about you getting fired from your corporate job

Marli Williams [: 00:06:19

Oh, wow.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:06:20

And coming up with this brand. And I was like, see, you are my people. That is why personal branding is so important because it attracts your right people, and it also detracts the people who you don't wanna work with. And I feel like both sides of that coin is so important.

Marli Williams [: 00:06:38

I love that so much. And you know, I talked about this idea of being magnetic, right? Like, having people would just be totally drawn to you and resonant with you. But magnets, like you just said, do 2 things. They attract and they repel. And so I love this story because part of what you're sharing around this idea of personal branding is that when you really own who you are, you won't be for everyone. And that is okay. And that is more than okay. And that is how you find your people, so to speak, and how your people find you.

Marli Williams [: 00:07:17

And I think a lot of people are terrified to kind of like, really fully own and embrace that because they're worried of who they're gonna leave out, who they're gonna leave behind, who's not gonna get it, who's not gonna vibe with you. And so we kind of, you know, I've done a lot of work around, like, the letting go of that people pleaser so that we can, like, fully embrace, like, yeah, I'm not everyone's jam. I'm not everyone's cup of tea, but I am someone's cup of coffee. And that matters. Right? It's like finding the people that get you. But I think that this piece of, you know, cultivating this really strong sense of self awareness. Like you said, it's like, I know how I present when I walk into a room. And I could make myself wrong about that.

Marli Williams [: 00:08:10

I can shame myself about that. I can judge myself about that, or I can just fully embrace that and fully own that. And so I'm excited to, you know, I love that you shared the story because it's kind of like context for how does someone really discover their personal brand? And I know that you work with really high powered, you know, women leaders, you know, entrepreneurs, coaches that are really in this place of, well, what do I wanna be known for? I'm curious, where do you start with people on that journey of helping them kind of define who they are in the world and, like, what their personal brand is? Where do we wanna begin the journey, so to speak?

Kelly Cochran [: 00:08:56

Oh, that's a great question. I think where you begin your journey is oh, I can start so many different places. Okay. We'll start with what are your core values? So my core values were in that time in my life and still to this day, they've just gotten more honed over time is I never wanna be in a position where a man can take away my opportunity. And that is a very strong core value to me because I've been fired 5 different times all by men. So that's a huge thing for me. So I want to build something lasting financially and only work for people who stand in integrity because I've worked for people who don't stand in integrity. I keep learning that lesson over and over again.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:09:41

So I think starting with your core values. So let's say some of your core values are trust, integrity, for me being loud, speaking my truth, being my and for me, the word loud is, like, showing up as my most authentic self in a room. You, Marli, do that so beautifully. We were at an event in Cleveland about a month ago, and I feel like we were both really attracted to each other because our energy is so similar. We are very high energy. If anyone listening to this has ever done a DISC assessment, we are very high I. We are the cheerleaders in the room. It it's like we just come in with our imaginary pom poms, and we are ready to rock our way through.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:10:23

Yeah. Through whatever room we're in, and people either love that or they are terrified and saying, I want to be in the opposite corner of these people, but guess what? They always come around. We always we always make them love us by the end of the event.

Marli Williams [: 00:10:35

Yeah. That's the that's like the WOO on the strengths finder. Totally. Stands for, like, winning others over. Right? Yeah. So part of that core values too is, like, you had knowing your strengths. Right?

Kelly Cochran [: 00:10:46

Yeah. Knowing your strengths. Absolutely. And knowing what attracts people to you as well. So if you're thinking, well, I don't know my strengths. I don't I don't really okay. Here's a great example. If you were to go through your email inbox or go through your text messages, what are people always reaching out to ask you about, to ask you advice for? Those are some of your strengths.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:11:10

So I don't know if you can think of some things off the top of your head that people are always asking you for. For me, an example, like, I'm a total extrovert. I can move to a new city. I've been here in Austin at the time of this recording, 3 whole weeks, and I have been out and about making friends, joining clubs, such as that. That is a strength of mine. I am a connector. I'm a community builder. And so I know that isn't a natural strength for a lot of people, so people ask me a lot.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:11:36

I don't understand how you move to a new city and make friends. How do I do that? So I know that's a strength of mine. I can help coach people on how to do that.

Marli Williams [: 00:11:45

Yeah. I love that question of what do people come to you for? Right? What do people ask you advice for? What would you, like, best friends say about you? Right? Like, it's kind of like, really understanding, like, how do I show up in the world and how are people experiencing me? Because I think one of the hardest things about defining your personal brand is, like, we can't see the magic from inside the cape, like, inside the water. Right? I talk about, you know, sometimes we're swimming in the sea of our own awesomeness. And we can't, we're just like a fish swimming around being like, what do you mean? I'm just doing my thing. And we it's hard for us to see that in ourselves, sometimes. Right? To, like and to own it. Right? To acknowledge it, to celebrate it, to see it. And so I think it's really powerful, like, if you have people in your life who can kind of be a witness to that.

Marli Williams [: 00:12:41

Right? Like, masterminds are great for that. Coaches are great for that to reflect that back, therapists or partners, friends. It's like, how can you really cultivate this really deep strong sense of self awareness, which is such a huge part of being an epic leader, which I talk a lot about, and a huge part of knowing what your personal brand is. And when I think about I mean, it's just such a good question. People are like, you know, Marli, I just I need a pep talk, or we need you to come in and inspire people or motivate people. People are burned out. I think we resonate on the connection piece. I actually did, one of my first coaches I hired, it was a zone of genius assessment.

Marli Williams [: 00:13:26

Because I was leaving my full-time job. And I was trying to figure out, like, do I wanna be a coach? Do I wanna be a speaker? Do I wanna be a, like, retreat person? Like, what am I doing here? And after, like, interviewing people and filling out this all these assessments and having all these conversations, the word that she gave to me to describe who I was or like my what my zone of genius is, was a community strategist. And I was like

Kelly Cochran [: 00:13:53

That's so perfectly fits you and what I know.

Marli Williams [: 00:13:57

Yeah, that's awesome. And so it's like, I bring people together. I love building community. And actually, like, literally as of yesterday, I've thought for years of creating my own networking event, because I go to networking events all the damn time. And some are great and some are not so great, but I have been a facilitator for 20 years, and I understand how to facilitate community and connection. And I'm like, I really and energy is the thing that people come to me for. So the name of the experience that I'm creating is called the energy exchange. And love it.

Marli Williams [: 00:14:32

Right? An elevated networking experience and the little tagline, I think it says, expand your network, elevate your future. And so it's a guided facilitated networking experience instead of you go in and you "shmingle, shmingle", like, on your own. It's like, we are gonna go to work in a and have a lot of fun doing it. So I think our personal yeah. I just think there's a lot of value in, like, knowing what your personal brand is and, like, what are you known for and, like, what do you want to be known for? And it can really inform the work that you do in the world, you the messages that you wanna share. I love this, like, what do you want to be known for? Right?

Kelly Cochran [: 00:15:11

And to go along with that, like, I love the what do you want to be known for, but it also has to be authentic to you. So if you are an introvert

Marli Williams [: 00:15:18

Right.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:15:19

And it's really hard for you to get out of your shell to meet new people, you don't wanna brand yourself as loud anything. You know? You know? You my brand fits because I am authentically that person. Energy fits everything you do because you are authentically energetic that literally you vibrate with energy when you are in a room. And that's up so naturally to you. It doesn't come naturally to a lot of people. So I think that's another tip is, you know, I could want to be known for the same things that Mel Robbins is known for, that Oprah is known for, that Tony Robbins is known for, but I'm not those people. So what are my innate strengths and what is my zone of genius? I love that zone of genius assessment, and I love the idea of asking your inner circle. Like, if you could use 1 to 3 words to describe me and my best traits, what would they be? And I bet that a couple words will keep coming back to you over and over and over.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:16:16

And then how can you create a brand around that?

Marli Williams [: 00:16:18

I love that so much. And I think that, you know, really helping people understand and, like, how they can figure out what their personal brand is, you know, and by asking some of these questions, asking your inner circle, like, these are all things I love when the podcast is, like, we're talking about these things, but you can actually go out there and do these things. Right? Take action. Information isn't gonna change your life. Action will. Yeah. Exactly. So I'm curious, and this might be, like, a little bit of a step backwards, and I know we might have already kind of talked about it, but maybe we can really define what is a personal brand? And why does it matter? Why do you think it matters for, again, for this community who's listening right now? So how do you describe a personal brand in relation to what we've already talked about? And why do you think it matters?

Kelly Cochran [: 00:17:15

To me, I'd say your personal brand is your calling card. It's what you are known for in your community. So your community being your clients. It could be my personal brand is how am I as a neighbor in my neighborhood? What do my neighbors know me for? You know, I'm the community builder in my neighborhood. So I think it's really important to have a personal brand even if you are even if you're just an employee. Like, what are you known for at work? Like, are people do they know that if there's a new employee that, you know, Jenny is the greeter? She is the person that makes people welcome at company ABC. Like, that is your personal brand in your office job. So I think a personal brand doesn't have to be only if you are an entrepreneur, only if you're out here trying to drum up business.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:18:00

It's like your personal brand is your calling card. What do people know you for and know you as? I think it's really important because it sets you apart in all of your interactions. So it's really funny. I was just so again, I'm new to Austin. I was just looking for a veterinarian for my dog, and I'm looking at all these names of veterinarian clinics, and I'm like, they could really use branding help here because none of these sound like places that I wanna take my beloved daughter in gelada, my little pit bull. And I'm like, you know, Friendly Vet Clinic would go a lot further with the you know, with me than Lamar Boulevard Vet, you know, whatever, Vet Tech. I'm like, oh, that sounds sterile and kind of mean, and no. Thank you.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:18:46

I'll go with Friendly Vet Clinic 10 miles further away because it sounds nicer to me. So in that sense, like, being able to brand yourself sets you apart from the competition. Now as a coach, as an entrepreneur in the business that we're in is in speaking and doing event design, you want your potential clients to know right away that you are the person they want to hire. So if you have a dialed in brand, people know right away. When they go to the Marli Williams website, you know right away. If I hire you, I am getting high vibe, high energy, high engagement from my event because you're my emcee or you're my event designer. Anyone who's listening to this, who has not gone to Marli's website, please go Marli williams.com. It is unbelievable.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:19:33

It's one of the best design websites I've ever seen.

Marli Williams [: 00:19:36

Thank you.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:19:37

So, yeah, I think it's really important that your branding is is really clear for someone at a glance to know what oh, and we can get into this too. What problem you're serving and for whom is really what your branding should also convey.

Marli Williams [: 00:19:54

I love it. So I definitely wanna dive into that. But I think that this again, what a personal brand is really, like you said, your calling card. What are you known for? What do people come to you for? And I love what you shared about, like, how do you stand out within the workplace, right, if you are an employee, if you're a boss? Again, like, what kind of boss are you? What kind of employee are you?

Kelly Cochran [: 00:20:19

Oh, can I share a funny story actually to you?

Marli Williams [: 00:20:21

100%. Go for it.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:20:24

My last boss, job number 5, so he did not have a personal brand. This man was actually very like to be off social media. He was very, like, tinfoil hat. Anyway, well, we gave him his own personal brand. He was the seagull manager. So I don't know if you've ever heard the, the seagull term of management. It's when the boss is gone for months at a time, and then he decides to swoop in s h I t all over anything. I don't know if we swear on this podcast.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:20:55

You can swear.

Marli Williams [: 00:20:56

Go for it.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:20:57

No. They swoop in shit all over everything you've been working on for the past few months that they've been gone, squawk really loudly about everything you're doing wrong, and then they fly out again. And so you just have to, like, put your umbrella up, throw your hood on, let them come in, shit all over all the good work you've been doing for months, and then fly out again. So he didn't spend any time working on his personal brand to be a good boss, so that was yeah. So on Slack, everyone would be like, seagull incoming if he was on, you know, on the work path. Seagull incoming.

Marli Williams [: 00:21:30

I love what you just shared because it's kind of like, if we don't intentionally create our personal brand, other people will create it for us. Yes. Right? Absolutely. And so it's kind of like, people are going to talk about you behind your back. What are they saying about you? And do you know what it is? Right. Right. And like it because again, everybody already has a personal brand. I think some people are aware of it or not.

Marli Williams [: 00:21:58

And some people have been intentional with crafting that with creating that. And I want to go back to something you said earlier too, which is like, making sure that whatever it is, is genuine and authentic. Right? This isn't about trying to be something that you're not. I think it's about giving yourself permission to be more of who you already are.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:22:20

Yes. And that I mean, for me leaning into the loud blonde brand. Right. People are were saying that about me my whole life anyway. She's too loud. She's too much. She talks too much. She's she takes up too much space.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:22:33

Okay. I could run away from that or I could lean really hard into that. And guess what? When I leaned really hard into it, then I take the power away about making that a bad thing, and guess what? Now it's an awesome thing, And I attract so many high vibe women because I've leaned so hard into that, and I get all the time when people see my book cover. My book cover is bright yellow with my bright red mouth on it. When people, you know, see me at an event, they're like, oh my god. I so resonate with you because I have been fired. I have been told I'm too loud. I have been told I'm too much my whole life.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:23:10

So because I leaned into what could have been as a negative thing in a society that tells us, you know, okay, little girl. Be quiet. Behave. Be friendly. Be I'm very friendly, but I can come at you too. But, you know, but I I own my space. I take up my space, and I do not apologize for that. But it could have gone either way.

Marli Williams [: 00:23:29

Right. 100%. I I mean, I still resonate with you because I can't tell you how many times been told Marli, you're too much. Chill out. Relax. Tone it down. And I think that for a while there when I was younger, I tried to kind of like keep it under control or, you know, chill out a little bit. And again, finding your sense of self and your confidence for you to totally own your muchness.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:23:59

Yes. Own your muchness. I love it.

Marli Williams [: 00:24:01

Own your muchness.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:24:02

I think that's what we're gonna title this podcast episode. Own your muchness.

Marli Williams [: 00:24:06

I'm here for it. I am here for it. And really giving yourself permission to, like, lean into that because like you said, it's like, people are gonna say this about me. I'm gonna, like, reclaim this as a positive thing versus, oh, like getting caught off guard. And and again, it attracts the type of people that relate to that that resonate with that. And you're probably gonna attract and draw those people that you resonate with. You might not be super stoked to work with, like, a super quiet introvert who doesn't wanna put themselves out there. You might wanna work with someone who's, like, they are super high vibe, they are loud, but they've been playing small, and they see something in you that's already in them.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:24:52

Exactly. And that you get to

Marli Williams [: 00:24:54

help unleash and unlock that because they that's the thing about magnets and attraction and branding. It's like you people see something in you that draws them to you. And I think part like, like you said, when you lean hard into it, that's when your people find you. And that's when you work with like 10 those 10 out of 10 clients. And, you know, when people hire me, they know that I'm going to be interactive, I'm going to be energetic. Like, if you just want someone to get on stage and do a monologue, that's not me. And so I'm going to find the right events and people who like that is what they're looking for. And people are out there waiting for you.

Marli Williams [: 00:25:40

Right? And so it's kind of like, how can I be kind of this beacon of hope, of joy, of possibility, whatever your beacon is, right? But it's like, what do I want to be a beacon for? One of the things that you mentioned for the entrepreneurs out there around the personal brand is those two pieces of kinda like what is the problem that you solve and how do you solve it? Or, like, what's your unique way of helping them solve that problem? Right?

Kelly Cochran [: 00:26:12

Right. Okay. We'll get to that. I remember my other my other thought. We'll get there.

Marli Williams [: 00:26:16

We'll get there.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:26:17

If you have a mediocre brand or a wishy-washy brand, you attract wishy washy clients. And when I wasn't confident in my brand or what I was offering, I was attracting people who weren't confident in how what they were bringing to the table and their transformation, and it just got really painful to work with each other. And so now that I'm so confident in what I offer, who I am, my brand is dialed, I only attract those 10 out of 10 clients, or I know really quick if I'm attracting the wrong people. Same goes for dating. Just gonna put that on there. Like, your dating profile, great way to test out your personal branding. If you are attracting a whole lot of people that you're like, why are these people sniffing around my profile? These are not the people I want. I'm attracting real low vibe people.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:27:09

I'm attracting people with totally different political views or family views or whatever. Look at how you've branded yourself because you are attracting what you're putting out there. Well, just like a magnet. So, yeah, just little aside for all you single folks out there looking to fix your branding on your dating profile. Send them to me. I'll help you.

Marli Williams [: 00:27:28

I love it. I love it. You just said something that reminded me of one more thing, and then we'll dive into this this other piece here, which is if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. Again, another way of looking at your personal brand is what do I stand for? And then this piece of who do I stand for? Right? Like, who are my people? What is the problem that I solve? You know, what's my unique brand of magic, so to speak, or my unique way of helping people navigate that challenge or problem that that that's happening for them. So, yeah, let's dive into that.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:28:04

Yeah. I love that. So, yeah, how are you helping people navigate and people? So one of my biggest things that I feel like every single person I help with branding doesn't do well is narrowing who they're helping. So I just went over I was leading a call today going over some speaker topics with a couple women in this group, And we were talking about what is the one this is a fun activity you can do. What is the one word that your ideal client would say describes them? For example, I really like to work with women who maybe have hit a glass ceiling in corporate America. They're really high drivers, perfectionists, but kinda burned out. What does that mean feeling they have? They're feeling misaligned with what they're doing with their life. So they've gone as far as they can in corporate America.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:28:55

They know they're supposed to be making great money. They're supposed to be at the top of their field, but whatever it is they've given 20, 30 years to incorporate just isn't fulfilling them if it ever has. They're misaligned with their purpose. So that's, like, a really big word for me. So that's who I serve and what they're feeling. So once you have your brand kind of dialed, it's like, okay. Now what is one word to describe who your client avatar what are they feeling? And then can you get narrower on your client avatar? I know back in the beginning, it was like, I wanna help women. Well, women is 51% of the population of the earth.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:29:36

That is not narrow enough. So you really need to narrow down who exactly is it you're helping. Is it Amy? She's 51. She's a VP at a bank. She keeps getting passed over for a promotion to president. She's been doing all things right. She's been leading this, that, and the other. Her kids are teenagers.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:29:57

They don't wanna spend time with her anymore. All of a sudden, she's looking around going, what the hell is this life that I've built and nothing I'm doing brings me joy? What am I doing with myself? I feel so misaligned and so unfulfilled. Boom. Amy, I got you. Let's work together. Let's see how we we can get you more aligned, maybe start you on a side hustle, maybe figure out what you're doing in your life that we can transit transition you into a better fit job or out of the corporate America into entrepreneurship, whatever it might be. But now I know Amy is my avatar. It's not women.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:30:33

It's Amy. And how do I speak to Amy? What's Amy feeling?

Marli Williams [: 00:30:37

Right. And that helps with a lot of, you know, like, marketing and sales and copy is often they say, you know, speak to one person and know like, what is you know, I love the question of like, what keeps them up at night? What are they complaining to their friends about? And how can we really, you know, I think they say it's like, if you can explain your ideal clients' problems better than they can, you'll have a endlessly successful business, right? Like, if you really, really understand who they are, how and like, how would they describe it? Yes. Like, what are the words that they use? It's like sometimes, especially like in the transformation coaching space, you know, we can get really esoteric with different types of words and phrases and methodologies and no one that is not what is keeping people up at night. It's like, what are the words and phrases? And so, you know, what I remember when I first started out as a coach, my first assignment was like doing market research, essentially, like figuring out like, who are my people? And like, what do I know? I think that's really hard for people like totally, totally niche down. So some I think I said I wanna work with women in their thirties or forties who are going through some sort of career transition or something like that. If that sounds like you, I'd love to have a 20-minute conversation about where you're at, what your challenges are. And I had, like, 5 or 6 questions that I asked them on that call. It wasn't a sales call.

Marli Williams [: 00:32:07

It was really trying to get to this place where I could understand their challenges. What are the things you know, what keeps you up at night? What what's your what are your biggest fears? What's your, you know, if we were to talk 1 year from now, and you were living your best life, what would you be doing? What's the biggest things blocking you stopping you from that happening? And again, it's like we can get inside their world, and I can, you know, if I interview 10 people, and they all are saying, I feel stuck. I feel stuck. I feel that is the word. I remember standing up at a networking event one time and you never know like, what's going to come out of your mouth when you Alright, you have to stand up and say your name, what do you do? And I was like, my name is Marli. This was again, like, year 1 of my business. And I was like, I help people go from stuck to stoked. That was it.

Marli Williams [: 00:32:55

Like, that was kind of my and the funny thing is is, like, when I really look back, I've been a full time entrepreneur now for 8 years. I feel like that is, in a way, a big piece of what I do. I help organizations go from stuck to stoked. I help people go from stuck to stoked. Hey, like Marli, I wanna be a full time speaker. How how can I get unstuck? Right? How do I get unstuck? So sometimes with our personal branding and who we help, again, it's one of those it's so close to us. And I'll say this too. If you are ever stuck with who you are meant to serve, it is usually you 2 to 5 years ago.

Marli Williams [: 00:33:33

Oh, yeah, absolutely. So some people get all craziness with like the person, you know, the avatar and the jiggy, like 90% of the time, you want to help you.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:33:45

Listen to my story, everyone. The past few. Women hitting their head on the glass ceiling in corporate America. 100% me.

Marli Williams [: 00:33:56

What did you know, what did that version of you need in that moment? What was keeping you up at night 2 years ago, 5 years ago, when like shit was hitting the fan or you were feeling really alone or really stuck or you didn't know, you know, it's like, that is such a great place to start. That's brilliant. You know, I think around that personal branding, similarly, instead of feeling like I have to be everything to everyone and I who do who am I stoked to work with? Like, who am I so lit up about like that I cannot wait to get on the call? I can't wait to show up and speak at this event. Like, who are your, like, 10 out of 10 clients? And, you know, my friends Britney and Lisette do this class that they call the magic list. And I actually did that to manifest my amazing partner, Liz. It's like I sat down and they asked me, what do you want? What do you want in a person, in a partner? And they just kept asking me that over and over and over again. What else do you want? What else do you want? And they're like, okay. Well, she has all of these things.

Marli Williams [: 00:34:58

What else do you want? And I think that we can do the same thing with our business. I want clients who show up on time, who are motivated, who are driven, who are super fun to work with, who I can't wait you know, I'm excited to help them grow, like, they're growth oriented. You know, they take responsibility for their results. I think as a coach, I've gone down that rabbit hole of, like, oh, my god. It's up to me for them to, like, get this breakthrough crazy transformation. Right? And so what is that relationship look like? How do I feel when I'm working with them? You know, I feel confident. I feel like I can help them. I feel like we're making progress.

Marli Williams [: 00:35:35

Like, what do you want that whole experience? Like, really, I think, getting super clear about like, who am I? What do I want to be known for? Who's my person? And I will say this again, full time entrepreneur for 8 years. It evolves. Sometimes people wait to have it like all figured out, so to speak, like once I have my perfect keynote, and once I have my avatar, and once I have my branding perfect, and my website perfect, then I'll help people. I'm just like help somebody. Help one person today. That's it. And like I love that. I You will find you will learn so much more because like at the beginning, I fucking I didn't know what I was doing.

Marli Williams [: 00:36:17

I was like, I feel like I have the skills to help people. So I'm going to start helping people and I'm going to like, use every conversation as an opportunity to like to learn and grow and figure out like, who is my who like, who are my people? Who am I drawn to? Who's drawn to me? And I just wanna give anybody out there permission like that takes time to figure out and to not wait for perfection on that. I love that. And to try different things on.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:36:45

I wish I remember who this podcast was. I heard it years ago. I still remember I was walking my dog listening to this podcast, and whoever it was I was listening to you know what? It could have been Amy Porterfield or something. I'm trying to think about where I was at that time. It was probably Amy Porterfield. We'll give her credit. I was listening to a podcast, and whoever it was said, your b minus effort is someone else's, a, that they need for action. And so I loved that because even, like, I've been in branding and marketing and product for over 20 years now.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:37:22

I'm only 12. I know. The math is it's girl math. Don't worry about it. So, you know, my b minus effort, even if I just throw something out on a podcast, on my website, on something that I felt like, oh, it's it's not a 100% polish. Oh, I could tweak this forever. Like, my book. I wrote my book in 10 months.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:37:43

I could have sat and tweaked that for the next 10 years. I had to get it out the door. And I just thought even if this helps one person who feels like me, I've done this book justice. And I had that in my head. If this is a b minus effort, which I do not think my book was, it was probably an a minus effort because I just had to get it out the door. I wasn't gonna wait for it to be an a plus plus because you could just spin on that stuff forever. You know? So, like, your brand, if you don't feel like you're like, I think it's this. Just start with something.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:38:16

Your your client avatar, just start with something. It will evolve over time, but don't wait until it's perfect because the people waiting and dying for your help and your strengths are out there, and you're just hiding in your house because you're scared of perfection.

Marli Williams [: 00:38:34

It's so true. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. I think that letting ourselves off the hook of the perfection wheel that we get stuck on as entrepreneurs. And I think that it comes from a place of, especially, you know, I remember when I first started my business and being a service based entrepreneur, right, meaning like, I don't I have some products now, but it was like, I'm selling coaching, I'm selling speaking, I'm selling, you know, a retreat. Kind of intangible, like, how do you monetarily put value on that, especially at the beginning and that fear of like, what if people don't get the results of the breakthrough or the transformation or like all this? I think it can bring up so much fear and, you know, for entrepreneurship is like the greatest personal development journey you will ever go on Because it really, you know, it can be so confronting. One of my deepest fears is disappointing people and letting them down. And I think that that in some ways has gotten in my own way around personal branding, because it's like, I think that I've had the story that I don't wanna leave people out.

Marli Williams [: 00:39:44

I don't wanna let people down. Or I think that this happens to me is I don't want to overpromise and under deliver and speak like there's a lot of coaches out there make 6 figures in 6 days jiggy jiggy stuff like, you know. And there's so much noise and there's so much, you know, it it's marketing. It's the sales. It's the copy. It says it's all the bright shiny things that get someone to buy and say yes, but it's not true. Like that shit takes time. And so I think the fear of like, this is gonna change your life.

Marli Williams [: 00:40:18

Like I know in my heart, that this retreat will change your life. And I need to really embody that and really own that in the face of like my own fear of what if it doesn't? What if I let somebody down or disappoint them? You know, how can I stand again stand for something of saying like, this is epic? This is transformational. This is life changing and like, really, really believe in that. And again, if anyone's at the beginning of their journey, that takes time. And I'm still working on cultivating that sense of self trust, that confidence, the distillation of my messaging, my marketing, my my personal brand, again, it's it's evolved over the years, right? And so I think just letting ourselves off the hook and embracing this journey of like, I I would really invite people to get curious. Right? I I love the place of like, the place of curiosity is just like this this childlike wonder of like, Yeah. Play with it. Have fun with it.

Marli Williams [: 00:41:27

Right. I wonder what my personal brand is.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:41:30

Yeah. From my project management, you know, backgrounds, like, I have sticky notes. You guys can't see this on video if you're listening to the podcast in your car, but I have colored sticky notes all over my office. I always have sticky notes with me. I have colored pens all the time. I am very into being tactile and visual. And so, like, a really fun idea would just be to write your strengths on different color sticky notes, different color pens. And what that does, it it is it actually takes you out of your left brain and puts you into your right brain.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:41:59

It takes you out of your analytical side and into your creative side, And so much more can flow when you turn off the analytical side because you turn off the judgment of yourself, and you get in that creative play childlike space. And so do that. Get a poster board and sir and, actually, that's how I outline my book too as I actually drew all of these pictures and then went through it with my book coach about what do all these pictures mean, and then a lot of them became different chapters in my book. But it's because I was so stuck in my head in the analytical judgment brain that I had to get into that playful childlike let's draw pictures space, so you could even do that. Draw pictures of your strengths. You do not they can be Picassos. Don't even worry about it. No one's gonna see it but you, or post it to your Instagram.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:42:45

Tag us. But, you know Totally. I would suggest to start there and see what comes out of that as well as again, I I love the idea of also asking your your closest people to you. You know? What are 1 to 3 words you would use to describe me? Please be gentle. You know?

Marli Williams [: 00:43:02

Yeah.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:43:03

And I think those 2 activities to start Yeah. Get playful, get creative, pen and paper. Don't do it on a computer. I'm telling you the tactile experience like you're a kid. Use crayons, use markers, and then ask your friend group. I would love to see what everybody comes up with. I know. Share it to us on Instagram or I don't know.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:43:22

Just tag us.

Marli Williams [: 00:43:23

I you know, people create like vision board. Yeah. Like that. I just have this vision of like a personal branding board almost like, you know, even if it's like using Pinterest or using these things and having images or photos or pictures or things that, like, represent who you are. Right? It could be like a landscape and it's like, well, I'm expansive or, you know, I'm a I'm a dreamer. I'm about possibility. You know, and some people are word people, some people are image people. Right? And so I think being really creative, being really playful, and again, I think just getting curious of like, who am I? And what shows up when you show up?

Kelly Cochran [: 00:44:02

Oh, what shows up when you show up? Oh, I like that. Hell, yeah. Like quotable right there, everybody. Right there.

Marli Williams [: 00:44:11

Shows up when you show up? When you walk into a room, a space, a meeting, an event, what is there that wasn't there before? And the invitation is just to get curious about what that is because a lot of people don't know. And like we said at the beginning, is it if you don't define your personal brand, other people will do it for you. So our call to action, if you will, our invitation is to really get playful, get creative, get curious, and do some of the fun work assignments that we've shared with you. Choose your own adventure, and we'd love to see what you come up with. So as we bring things home, Kelly, I would love for you to share any final thoughts, words of wisdom with our crew today. And where can people find you? Learn more about you and your work in the world.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:45:00

I think yeah. Final thoughts. I just I wanna reiterate what shows up when you show up. When you step into your most authentic brand, your most authentic self, that is when you are the most powerful attraction magnet for anything in the world that you want, whether it be a partner, whether it be a client, whether it be big business, big opportunities. Me standing in my power of my most authentic, loud, blonde self has just opened the most unbelievable doors for me. We could go on for hours with those stories. We won't. We don't have time on this podcast, but please follow me on at loud blonde or www.loudblonde.com.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:45:41

That is blonde with an e. Yeah. That's where you can find me.

Marli Williams [: 00:45:45

I dig it. Well, Kelly, thank you so much for joining us today, sharing your unique brand of magic with all of us on the podcast. And for those of you out there who want to do a deep dive into, you know, figuring out what shows up when you show up and what that looks like for you, still got some spots left for the Hell Yes Baja retreat coming up this January 10th through 15th. And you know, I think that one of the biggest things that I see happen on retreat is when you're surrounded by a group of like badass powerful women, they get to be a witness to your magic. Again, because it's sometimes it's hard for us to see that claim that know that. But when you're in a group like that, and people are mirroring back what they hear in you what they see in you. I think that that is one of the biggest ways that I've seen people cultivate that sense of courage and confidence and clarity and like, I know who I am. I know what I stand for, and I'm ready to freaking go take bold inspired action out in the world.

Marli Williams [: 00:46:54

So if you wanna be an epic community in an even more epic, beautiful location in Baja, Mexico, join us. Get $250 off using the promo code podcast. Love to see you there. So that's my public service announcement as we wrap for today. Thank you again, Kelly, so much for joining us today. And I cannot wait to see what people create for their personal brand.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:47:19

Yes. Please tag us.

Marli Williams [: 00:47:21

Alright. Bye bye. Until next time, everybody. Take care. Bye.

Kelly Cochran [: 00:47:24

Bye bye.

Marli Williams [: 00:47:28

Thank you for joining us on another inspiring episode of the Marli Williams podcast. We hope you're leaving here with renewed energy and valuable insights to fuel your leadership, coaching, and speaking endeavors. I'd love to invite you to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast to help us reach more aspiring leaders and speakers like you. We have more exciting episodes and remarkable guests lined up, so make sure to tune in next time. Until then, keep leading with purpose, coaching with heart, and speaking with conviction. This is Marli Williams signing off. See you next week.