Finding Your Voice in a Loud World
Find your voice...
Step
into your potential...
Overcome
fear...
Flip
the narrative on comparison...
Know you're destined
to have a greater impact in this world, but not quite sure where to
start?...We've all been there! Read
on...
I connected with the
amazing Callie Ammons through her voice.
She's one of my clients and has become a true friend! We're both passionate about helping women
create lives that they love...lives of freedom.
Callie's avenue to do this is through using her words; blogging and
speaking to help women step into their lives more intentionally.
I've never met
someone who is just so dang encouraging and truly takes the time to listen to
people. Over the past few years, Callie
started noticing a pattern of women constantly coming to her and asking
questions or just reaching out to her for someone to listen to what was going
on in their lives. These conversations
were inspiring the women she was interacting with and at the same time igniting
her soul with passion and purpose.
It was Callie's
husband who had the idea for her to start a podcast. When she was blogging, it would often feel
like there are just so many things to say, but only so much space on a
page...and only so many words people are willing to take the time out of their
busy days to read. So, podcasting became
her REAL voice. No condensing. No cutting her message short.
This was just over a
year ago and her voice is being heard more and more - daily, people are finding
her and connecting with the heart behind her work. When her husband first suggested this idea,
unsurprisingly, it was met with thoughts like "There's no way I can do
that." "How would I even
start?" "How do you get
accepted on i-Tunes?" "How do you find the right equipment?"
She searched high
and low for a one-stop-shop course that would teach her all she needed to know
to get it off the ground to no avail...short of finding one, she created
one! That's the type of gal Callie
is...we'll come back to this, though! On
her journey, she had to piece all the bits together and learn MANY lessons
along the way.
What you can learn through finding your voice
She really had to
learn to LISTEN and THINK at the same time.
And now that's just second nature for her in her conversations, which is
incredible - I know from my experience podcasting that it really helps to
deepen communication. Podcasting takes a
lot of practice - your first one will always make you cringe. But over time, your speech improves; it
becomes smooth without the 'ums and ahs'.
You gain more confidence with each episode, and you become more
INTENTIONAL with your thoughts AND your voice.
From my personal
point of view, my time recording solo podcasts (when I'm literally speaking to
no one, but also everyone at the same time), has helped my prayer life SO
MUCH! It helps me to sit and talk to
God. There are so many parallels. And it's not about always articulating your
words perfectly, it's about speaking truth from your heart.
I asked Callie to
share some of her key tips and lessons, so here they are!
- You need to get uncomfortable
In
any spiritual or self-development journey, there are times that feel sticky and
uncomfortable. But the things that feel
hard are the things that help us grow.
Callie would wait until she felt 'ready' to do anything that felt
uncomfortable...but do we ever really feel ready? She doesn't think so, and neither do I. There's always more we can do, another day to
wait...it can become endless and paralyzing.
So even when we don't feel ready to step into something uncomfortable,
you just have to DO IT ANYWAY.
For
Callie, she knew it would be hard for her to actually START her podcast because
of the discomfort that comes along with trying something new. So, to combat this, she set a date and
announced it was happening to create a level of accountability that meant if
she didn't show up, it would make her look like a fraud...and that, she's
NOT. I've talked about this before -
telling people what you're doing...and just scaling that by sharing it publicly
will help you take action!
"Courage
is the ability to step out WHEN you're feeling fearful"
- Find ways to feel encouraged to keep going
This
past season of Callie's has been full of transition and newness, which has
brought her so much growth. She told me
how hard it's been - there have been days of doubt, tears, feeling stuck and
questioning it all. And what kept her
going was always coming back to her 'WHY'.
She keeps track of every single person that either leaves a review or
sends her a positive DM. When she feels
like giving up, or gets a nasty message, all she as to do is look at these to
realize the impact she's having; to remind her that God is using her to speak
to people, specifically. And that
encourages her to keep going.
- Face your fears with love, faith and community
Okay,
so having this platform to share her voice and truly help women AND grow her
business...podcasting is a double whammy!
Amazing! But what happens if she
runs out of things to say? This is not
only a fear of Callie's, but it's been one of mine too! Like, there's only so much you can say in one
niche area, right?
Here's
what to do to squash this fear:
- Get around community - talking with people who have similar passions will give you so many ideas!
- Check in with your followers - what have they been posting about; what's feeling important to them at the moment?
- Go grab coffee with someone and just LISTEN
- Know that you never will run out of things to say. You are forever changing and evolving, and so are your words!
- Move your body or get out into nature to quieten your go-go-go and let your creativity free!
- REMEMBER that if God is calling you to something, he will help you continue moving forward.
- If it's important to you, MAKE TIME
When
Callie first started her podcast, she was still in her corporate job and was
easily working between 60 and 80 hours a week...ugh! She started questioning if she'd really have
the time to even START. What worked for
Callie was batch work (something I'm not overly good at...yet). She made space just focus ONLY on
recording! She tells her students to sit
down for 1 day per month, for 4 hours and just knock it out...that's just 12
days out of the year to run a successful podcast! And not even full days. Genius!
It's
about maximizing the spaces in your schedule and being INTENTIONAL with your
time - having a plan and actually being able to execute it.
- Stop comparing yourself (we know, easier said than done...)
Social
media makes this especially difficult!
Callie literally had to delete all her social media because it was
becoming so toxic for her...stealing joy.
When Callie really started to work in the online space, she had to tread
very carefully.
She
set boundaries and parameters - she takes 24 hours off social media each week
to take that addiction feeling away and to reset for the week and refocus on
her 'WHY'. Putting yourself out there
can also be terrifying. She now journals
daily to set up a positive mindset that helps her to be aware and intentional
in her thoughts and actions throughout the day.
Oh, and of course, she believes in Christ and what she was created in
this season.
Also,
when you start a podcast, you WILL literally begin with ZERO followers. Within the first while, it'll experience a
lot of growth...and then it'll slow and you'll start comparing your current
success to your earlier growth.
It's
important to know that your audience doesn't
equal your impact! If 2 people
listened, 2 people obviously needed to hear what you had to say. If you think about physical being present,
talking to say 100 listeners...that's HEAPS!
That's a big audience. Podcasting
just allows us to reach a huge audience all around the world that makes us feel
like 100 isn't enough. But it is! More than enough! Just go back to your motive. Why are you pressing record? Why are you
pressing share and publish? If we're
truly serving, we show up for the 1, 100 or 1000 people listening.
Is podcasting for you?
Podcasting honestly
just gives you so much more space and volume to be heard and reach people. If it weren't for Callie's podcast, we
wouldn't even have a friendship, so I for one am super stoked her husband gave
her that little nudge!
If you're in the
beginning stages of podcasting, or if it sounds like something you might be
into, DM Callie on Instagram for access to her FREE masterclass 3 Simple Steps to Starting Your Podcast.
ALSO!...This next
week, Callie has her very own Podcasting Made Simple course being launched! So exiting!! Turn off that lie that you
believe that you're not capable of using your voice, or that your voice isn't
worth being heard. Because, it simply
IS! Every single one of us has influence and impact, whether we're talking to 1
person, or a million people. This course
is completely self-paced and SO affordable...see what's covered here.
As well as Callie's
podcasting talents, she also offers 1:1 coaching with an Enneagram twist! Find more from Callie on Instagram @callieammons or check out
her website.
If you wanna hear
Callie's real voice, head on over to the Chasing Freedom Show Podcast where she
talked me through her podcasting journey and vision for helping more voices to
have a platform and be heard. Also, screenshot
if you listen to the podcast so that more people can find this show and chase
some freedom in their lives.
When you click this
link, you'll immediately get 3 things...for FREE!
- Nourish Bowl Recipe Ebook (with 13 recipes!)
- Morning Routine Ebook
- Weekly Bible Study for a MONTH.
Oh, and you'll also
be the first to hear about all of the exciting things coming up in 2020. It's all about finding more joy and food
freedom...you're not going to want to miss any opportunities! Stay in the loop, get on the list!
Xo,
Tan
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