Make Marketing Suck Less

Remember the movie Gremlins about that cute little baby Yoda precursor named Gizmo, who, if you got him wet or fed him after midnight terrible things would happen? Mainly this adorable mogwai would transform into these ugly looking gremlins who wreak havoc in town and ruin Christmas all at the same time.

Our thoughts are a lot like those gremlins. Sometimes what we tell ourselves is incredibly helpful and can be kind of adorable, like gizmo. Oftentimes though, our thoughts run a muck like those chaos gremlins and stop us from taking action in our business or getting our message out into the world.

What can we do about those gremlin thoughts? How can we create a mindset that helps us get our message into the world? This is exactly why I'm talking to my guest, KC Rossi about during this episode of the Rebel Uprising podcast. 

KC is a business and leadership coach who helps women scale a profitable and soul aligned business.  She is the founder of the Soulprint Method, a system that helps entrepreneurs, leverage strengths joyfully to enhance performance and thrive. KC also hosts the Women Developing Brilliance podcast, which I have been on, a show dedicated to growth strategies for leaders with a purpose.

So let's tackle our thought gremlins that keep us getting our work out into the world and I'll be back at the end of the show with a wrap-up and some additional thoughts just for you.  

Michelle: [00:01:55] KC, I am so excited to have you on the podcast this week. So welcome. 

KC: [00:02:04] Thank you so much, Michelle. It's awesome to be here. 

Michelle: [00:02:07] Yes. And I'm excited because as a person who helps people with their message, I know that a great brand message does nothing if it dies in a Google doc and the reason that they tend to die in the Google doc has nothing to do with the message.

It has everything to do with what is going on in their head. So we're going to talk about mindset, but before we go into detail about that, I want to know what is exactly in your opinion is mindset. What are we dealing with here? 

KC: [00:02:50] Yeah. Awesome. I'm so glad you're kicking it off there. You're absolutely right.

So many of the times we hold ourselves back and it really derives from what's going on in between our ears. So I love that you're bringing that up and for me, mindset is how we frame our world. And all the people, the places and the things in it. Um, we really each have a unique filter. So it's kind of, if you were to envision it as our own paradigm of results, if you will, and it starts with our thoughts.

So thoughts can absolutely not be underestimated because they are the top of this cascade and thoughts, then intern govern our emotions. So our feeling states, which then have the power to initiate action, or actually they can also be the catalyst that prevents action. So it's either action or inaction.

And as we know, action or the lack thereof is the precursor to our results. So this cascade of events is predictable and powerful. And the cool thing is that mindset. Is not only key, but it's a lever that we control. So that to me is the most exciting, empowering piece of the puzzle. 

Michelle: [00:04:15] Mm. Do you feel that most people are on autopilot though with their mindset?

KC: [00:04:22] I think a lot of people are in fact, studies have shown that these automatic negative thoughts they're called ANTs. We have thousands upon thousands over 50,000, some have even said, um, it really goes to the 60, 70, 80,000 of these ANTs every single day. And what is so mind blowing is the majority of those ANTs.

Are repeatable day after day after day. And what that does, Michelle, is it grooves these neural pathways, and then we just start to go that direction just like when we mindlessly go to the grocery store because we've done it a thousand percent that's what's happening with our conditioning is we're actually you're right.

Falling prey to this autopilot because it's the path of least resistance. That being said, we can also scientifically proven groove, new neural pathways in our brain and flip the script, which is exciting. 

Michelle: [00:05:25] Yeah. And fascinating to me is there's actually some overlap here with the persuasion work that I do because Robert Cialdini in his book Influence calls fixed action patterns. And that is our automatic thinking, like when we have to make a decision. So when we go to the grocery store, we don't sit there and weigh the pros and cons of each cereal. We just think to ourselves, Oh, I like lucky charms. I'm getting lucky charms because it's that, that highway, that grooved neural pathway way that we follow every time we go to the grocery store. So that is a fascinating definition and look into this.

So in your experience with working with clients, what are some of the most common mindset blocks that stop business owners from actually showing up and sharing their message? 

KC: [00:06:21] Yeah. That's so, um, such a brilliant question. And, you know, it's very interesting because I think many times we feel that our problems are extremely unique to us and when we can like level the playing field and realize that so many people struggle with almost the exact same challenges.

Yes, of course. There's going to be like, Like idiosyncrasies, but the main cores, what I see over and over again with mindset blocks is I'm not good enough. That's a huge, huge one. I feel that comes from a deep. Worthiness issue and wounds that we've experienced in our life and our past in our history as a part of our ancestral line, if you will.

And really for me, there's, well, we'll talk a little bit about like how to turn those around, but I think that that's a huge one. That limits people from stepping into their power, increasing their visibility. And also if they do step up, it really, they stay small or they dampen down their voice for fear of ridicule or criticism.

Michelle: [00:07:30] Hey, Michelle here. I wanted to take a pause and emphasize how important this mindset block around “enoughness” is when it comes to getting our message out and it shows up in really insidious ways. Like, am I expert enough? Is my work good enough? And all of it goes back to that uber thought of I'm not enough. And when we are doubting our expertise and our capacity, that makes it hard for us to get our message out. And to market our business. So this one is a key mindset block and it's sneaky. So look for it. When you're thinking about your own work, now I'll let KC explain what the second block is.  

KC: [00:08:29] So I think that's a huge one. And another really popular mindset block has to do with money, especially when we're in the entrepreneurial space. And it is a part of our role. To increase our bottom line to create a profit, to have a sustainable business and money mindset blocks can absolutely get in the way of that first for making a profit at all.

And second, from having self-imposed glass ceilings, because we don't give ourselves that permission to bust through some old thinking patterns. Like I'm not good with money. Money is dirty. Money is the root of all evil richness and wealth breeds, negativity and greed. If that's our programming, it's going to be really, really challenging to reach different levels, to have abundance and to kind of cultivate gratitude and generosity.

Michelle: [00:09:25] Yeah. And what's fascinating as I know somebody is out there listening right now and thinking, well that doesn't have anything to do with visibility, like money that doesn't have to do anything with visibility. And what would you say to somebody who said that to you?

KC: [00:09:39]  It absolutely does.

Because to your point where you said, no matter how amazing your message and your branding is, if it dies in a Google doc, then it's gone nowhere. And it's the exact same thing with our thinking patterns, our paradigms, that is the foundation that governs all of our actions. And so you may not understand that secretly holding you back because there's an internal fear of success, sometimes even stronger.

I see this, especially with female entrepreneurs, the fear of success trumps the fear of failure. And when we have these underlying patterns and they may be dampened dampened down where you may not even be conscious of it, but they are very much, um, the culprit of holding you back from pressing that go live button for your live stream, using your voice to show up on social media or write that, you know, kick bot blog, post, whatever it happens to be because in order for our divine right client to find us.

We have to be visible. So it doesn't matter how tuned in and amazing you are, how transformational your services are. If you don't have increased visibility with a really authentic voice that connects, then you're going to be really hard pressed to have a full client roster. 

Michelle: [00:10:59] Yeah. And what's interesting to me is that we get so worried about like, what if it goes wrong? What if I put this message out there and nobody responds. And really sometimes the fear is. What if it goes, well, what if I put this out out there and everyone responds? 

KC: [00:11:18] Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. That's a huge one because what I see as like one of, like, we talked about like a common mindset block, what I also see as a common fear is.

Um, you know, what if I get so big, I don't have personal time because one of those core desires is freedom lifestyle. So what if this goes so awesome that I have no more work-life balance and some people feel that that's a forest, but they don't have family time. I can't take a month off and go vacationing.

You know what I'm saying? So I think that we often feel that our boundaries are going to collapse or we're going to be encroached on. If we hit X figures. 

Michelle: [00:11:58] Yes. And what's always helped me with that is realizing that I'm still in charge of my boundaries. Yes, alumni. Love that. Yeah. I heard a story once that Chris Evans almost didn't take the part of captain America because he was afraid of, but being able to keep his privacy and his personal life personal, because he knew that that role would blow him up and make him miss mega star. And so he actually almost said no because of his privacy concerns and his boundaries around 

KC: [00:12:38] that. I believe it. I also think that, you know, it's, it's sometimes challenging in partnerships or relationships where maybe our partner has that fear.

If you're so big, you're going to start traveling. Or if you're so big, you're, you know, maybe going to leave me because I'm not going to be up to your speed or someone else is going, gonna like, woo you off your feet when you go speaking on that stage. You know? So I think sometimes that fear can also hold us back from really stretching, you know, and reaching and speaking up and, and, you know, really going for it.

Yeah. Yeah. 

Michelle: [00:13:15] It's such a great point. So how do you start to turn this around? How do you work with your clients to overcome these mindset blocks they're facing. 

KC: [00:13:25] Yeah, absolutely. I think the first thing really is to acknowledge, um, and to not shame ourselves, we're just curious, we're shining a flashlight and we kind of have our inspector gadget hat on and we're just acknowledging and becoming super aware.

And also giving yourself the confidence and permission that you can turn it around. And that goes really back to your point about fixed action, because that's the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. The fixed mindset is just, this is all that there is, but the growth mindset is what else what's next?

What's my part? You know, like it has a lot more variabilities and being tapped into unlimited possibility and potential. So I think that that's a really great outlook as a broad overview of how to shift our mindset, to also look for some positive evidence to confirm the truth. And I don't think we pause enough.

So I think to pause, to celebrate these trues and then to pause again and check back in with ourselves. So going back to that one block of I'm not good enough, you know, again, this is a worthiness issue and we have to kind of be willing to do the hard work, realize it's not going to be a one and done. I think this is really huge.

And for anybody that is into personal or spiritual development, even if the underlying root is to become a better business person, you have to be willing to do that heavy lifting to turn over the rocks. Right. And to kind of be okay with that messy middle, which is really uncomfortable. Like growth is not fun, but you know that there's going to be like this really great reward.

So I think one of those overarching things for that particular block is to tap into knowing that you have everything within you. The whole of the macrocosm within your microcosm, you hold all the answers, all the wisdom, power, and glory. You may have forgotten this fact, you may have become disconnected, but you absolutely contain it all.

So that's kind of where mine goes with that particular one. And then, you know, just to touch on the money mindset one, because that is a big one and that can really kind of suppress people and hold them back, that if we really just acknowledge money as an energy exchange, that's all it is. We don't need to add some connotation or story around it.

And to your point of empowerment, which I'm a fan of, we're on the same page with that is that we have the power to flip the script. To be empowered to control the narrative and, and to really start looking at like abundance is my birthright. The more I have, the more I give, the more I have, you know, wealth is just this continuum of overflowing richness.

I think that those are some of the initial stages that people can just start to become aware and look at possibilities and then lean into those possibilities. Mm. 

Michelle: [00:16:31] Yes. And I do think the awareness piece is so key because we are running on this like automatic pilot in our brain. And I know a big moment for me, a big turning point was realizing the fact that I didn't have to believe what I was thinking.

KC: [00:16:50] Hmm. I love that. I love that. I'm such a fan of Byron Katie's work. I think that that's another great action step for your listeners when they're like, you know, maybe resonating with this, but still a little bit unsure of how they can contextualize this and make it really practical for themselves. And for those listeners that aren't familiar with, Byron Katie, she's got four super powerful questions.

This is such a good spot for somebody to start. And the first question, when a thought comes in, you know, I've got this little thought that's trailing in, is that true? Which sounds so simple, but that's the power, right? There's power in that simplicity. Can you absolutely know it's true. And it's funny because when you do this work and you first ask yourself, is it true?

All cats. Of course, it's true. That person thinks this about me. Right. But then again, breathing pausing. You ask that second question. Can you absolutely know it's true. Oh, very interesting. What comes up? Third question. How do you react? Like what happens when you believe the thought? And again, I know we're whipping through this and it's such powerful work, but the fourth question is who would you be without that thought?

And this is the turnaround. This is the time where you can explore. You can lean into the opposite of that thought or belief. And then you can ask yourself pause again. How do I feel when I think this thought and then pause, and then how do I feel without this thought and check in? And I guarantee you, when you give yourself permission to choose the better feeling, thought that is when true transformation can happen and you can self initiate that.

Michelle: [00:18:40] Yes. Yes. I it's so funny. You bring this up. Cause I just heard a podcast interview. I think it was on the To Be Magnetic Podcast with Byron Katie. And you can even do, yeah, you can even do this. Like her example was something like I'm having dinner with Steve tonight and you ask yourself, well, do I know that's true.

And your mind goes like, Oh yeah, absolutely. It's true. But can you absolutely know? It's like, well, no something might come up. I might not make it to dinner. Steve might make it to dinner. So it was just a really fascinating look into how to do this on even things that you just take as 

KC: [00:19:19] fact. Oh, I love that.

I love the fact that you start with something basic because sometimes when it's too personal and too highly charged emotionally, we don't have perspective. So I think that's a great starting point. Yeah. 

Michelle: [00:19:33] Yeah. You can just start with just like a basic small bang and then, and then use that process because it really is powerful to question what you're thinking.

KC: [00:19:48] Absolutely. Yeah. Blown 

Michelle: [00:19:51] away. Oh, so good. All right. You've given a lots of great steps and yes. Do check out Byron Katie's the work because it is a phenomenal.

Is there any other first step that my audience could start to take today that will help them start sharing their message more? 

KC: [00:20:13] Yeah, I think that, um, getting her energy and alignment is a crucial step.

And what, however you want to incorporate that into your life, whether that is a morning routine, which I know has become kind of trendy, or maybe you block that in and a PM bookend, or maybe you rock both. But I think that that's a really powerful way to schedule our days that get us in alignment with who we are to break that pattern of autopilot, which then in turn is going to break this status quo.

You're going to really start to see the needle move both in your personal life and in your business life. When you press pause. When you become embodied when you kind of tune within and you connect with your heart wisdom, you turn off some of the digital distractions and you give yourself some time and space for your own creative wisdom to bubble up and then pay attention with that curious open growth mindset.

And have a place to capture it, whether that's in journaling, whether that's on post-it notes, you're going to be so surprised on what's lying inside of you. Like there's nuggets waiting, you know, it just needs the time and the quiet to bubble up. 

Michelle: [00:21:32] That is so important. A few months ago, I was really struggling to find like minded people to work with, like the right people that I was excited about that were excited about doing the work.

And the funny thing was, is I realized that I had totally let my morning practice go off the rails. Like I wasn't, I wasn't doing the mindset work that I usually do. I wasn't like taking a few moments to, you know, work on my energy for the day or set my intentions. And I'm like, Oh, interesting how things weren't working in my business when I stopped taking care of myself in that way.

KC: [00:22:11] I really love when that happens, because it just re-validates a truth that we've already known and somehow it slipped and then we get excited because we proved it to ourselves. I'm a huge fan of not following blindly, but actually doing the action and proving it to ourselves. So I, I love that. 

Michelle: [00:22:31] Mm.

Yeah, it is. It was so powerful. I'm like, Oh yeah, that's what I need to be doing every day in order to really show up and do my best work in the world. 

KC: [00:22:44] Agreed. I'm right here with you. 

Michelle: [00:22:47] All right. So are you ready for the lightning round of three word rebellion questions? Bring it on. Okay, here we go.

Question number one. What's one thing you're rebelling against. 

KC: [00:22:59] Okay, cool. I love rebels my whole life. So, um, so this is cool. So I would say one thing is, um, Don't feel like you have to follow a specific path that you actually can dissolve all the sheds and release any obligation in your life and business, and then step up and claim your brilliance.

Right? Like discover it and claim it. And be willing to be the trailblazer. And when I say that, I'm not just saying like, Oh my gosh, you're going to be a leader. Cause some people don't want to be a leader, be at least a trailblazer for yourself in your own life. Right. And unapologetically. So we can cultivate freedom and also, um, being free to have an open heart, because I think especially in this day and age, we.

Can easily become guarded when we turn on the news and we see so much strife and political unrest and big movements that are very polarizing, that we can stay garden and we can stay silent. And it's very easy because in our mind, right. It tells us that that's how we stay safe. And so really busting through.

So we can experience freedom with an open heart. 

Michelle: [00:24:26] Oh, that's so good. And you've kind of answered my second question, but I'll ask it anyway. What change do you want to create in the world?

KC: [00:24:33] Oh man. So for me, I want to create a world where there's more integration. So where we boss through that black and white nine to five day, like that could be our day job, or that could be our way of being right metaphorically and choose to live and express ourselves fully in color 24/7.

And I know this intimately because I didn't do that for many years. And when I had my first corporation, which I ran for 17 years, I had it in my mind that I had to be buttoned up and professional in order to fit that role in order to really. Command respect as the seven figure earner, right.

That I had to be buttoned up in black and white. And it took a lot of time. It was really painful to realize, Oh, I don't need to do that. So I'm really committed to this, um, integration aspect, bringing all facets of ourself to our life and also where our spirituality can shine through our work. And isn't reserved for just Sundays or private meditation time.

So it really kind of dovetails into dropping the guards and dropping our masks.

Michelle: [00:25:49]  Love it, love it. And if everyone was integrated, like bringing their full self to their work, what do you think the world would be like? 

KC: [00:25:58] Oh, my God, I would be so lit up and on fire. If that was the case, I, I do believe one day it is going to be the case.

I really do. I feel that there is a spiritual awakening and I really do feel there is a feminine rising that is moving in that direction, which is very exciting. I would say if everyone gave themselves permission to be authentic and trust their brilliance and approach their work is worship. And actually then honored.

This holistic integration that we're talking about that life would have less drama and trauma, and we would be so tuned in and then joy, right? Juicy joy would spread faster and easier. And I, for one have both hands raised, like bring it on. Um, 

Michelle: [00:26:43] I, Oh, I love it. I love that vision. So KC, if my listeners want to soak up your goodness, where can they find you online?

KC: [00:26:54] Uh, thank you so much, Michelle. I would be honored and they can connect with me at kcrossi.com. And if they want to grab a free listener's guide, I have a free video series, which is called know thyself and lead goes into some of these deeper things about questioning our thoughts and how to dream big and how to really become connected to that sweet spot, they can grab that kcrossi.com/guide. 

Michelle: [00:27:23] Excellent. Thank you so much. And I encourage each and every one of you listening to go out and grab KC's guide. It was such a pleasure to talk to you today. KC,

KC: [00:27:32] I loved connecting with you, Michelle. Thank you.

This is such an excellent conversation about mindset. One of my biggest takeaways that I would love for you to reflect on is what happens when you discover one of these thoughts? One of these little gremlins that are getting in the way of taking action in your business? What do you do? And how do you react? Because I really loved what KC said about slowing down, bringing awareness to that thought and showing ourselves some compassion. 

I know for me when I do my own mindset work around my message around my business, I will find a thought and then start beating myself up for thinking that thing like, oh, I can't believe this. I thought I have this handled. Come on, Michelle. You've got this. Why are you still thinking this way? 

And beating ourselves up is never helpful in mindset work. How can you show yourself more compassion as you are dealing with the mindset issues that are stopping you from marketing your work to the world?

With that, I hope you enjoyed today's conversation, and if you are ready to work on that message, that message, that powers your marketing, your sales, your copy. I would love to help you with that. Right now, I have two spots available and the 3 Word Rebellion Messaging Intensive where we create that one-of-a-kind message that grabs people's attention and figures out what your key messages are in order to convert those people who are curious about you into clients.

So if this is something that you are interested in, you can head on over to drmichellemazur.com/talk and get all of the details and book your own 3 Word Rebellion Messaging Intensive consultation, where we can talk about if this is a right fit for your business.

So until next time, be compassionate with yourself and get those mindset gremlins identified so you can move past them.