Coral Abood Appearance on Manifest the Big Stuff
Coral Abood Appearance on Manifest the Big Stuff[00:00:00]
Welcome to Manifest the Big Stuff. We have a very special guest today. You know I love bringing people to you.
So they can share from their place of abundance. I love having guests who bring good energy and good experiences. And today I've got just that type of person for you: Coral Abood. Coral is a Brand Strategist.
She's also a Business Development Consultant, a Social Media Strategist, and a Corporate Image Consultant. And she performs all these roles through her Louisville-based company, Willow Tree Imaging.[00:01:00] And, Coral, is it fair to say that you are also a manifesting marvel?
Coral Abood: Yes.
Greg Kuhn: Someone who, you forward script your life to the best of your ability for personal and professional success and fulfillment. Is that a correct statement?
Coral Abood: That is correct. Yes. Guilty.
Greg Kuhn: Wonderful. I'm excited to talk with Coral today and allow her to share some of that energy and experience with you.
Coral, would you please say hello?
Coral Abood: Hello! I'm so excited to be here today. Thanks for having me on, Greg.
Greg Kuhn: Absolutely, absolutely. I wanna start by referencing something that Coral and I discussed just a bit before we started recording. Quantum Physics reveals that we all manifest a unique version of reality, our own unique version of reality, in each moment of our lives.[00:02:00]
And, of course, we also get to engage with the reality we manifest in each moment.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: This February I started doing a live-audience version of Manifest the Big Stuff. Where attendees join me without appearing in the episode, but, afterward, we have an open forum discussion about the topic. In February, I did the initial episode about how we manifest reality.
In March, I did my second episode about how to prepare to engage with reality. And in April, this April 13th, I'm doing an episode about how to engage with reality.
And I'm really excited, especially, because, Coral, I consider our conversation today [00:03:00] a hand in glove match with April's topic. And I really can't wait to hear what you have to share about it in many different ways. Because from where I'm sitting, helping people engage with reality is actually what Willow Tree Imaging is all about.
Coral Abood: That's right.
Greg Kuhn: Is that a fair statement?
Coral Abood: I absolutely think so, yes. Mm-hmm. The intentionality. Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: Well how fun that must be, when it's fun, to have a career where you are helping people do that.
Coral Abood: Yeah. You know - it's wonderful. It's fun for everyone.
Greg Kuhn: The opportunity to be of value to someone else is not one that I take lightly. I'll certainly say that.
I wanna start by giving some highlights of Willow Tree Imaging, just so you know[00:04:00] the types of things that Coral does professionally. Willow Tree offers help and solutions in four primary areas. Creative brand design. I think that's the thing that caught my attention first.
Willow Tree specializes in concept development and brand building.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: A really cool topic to me personally. They help Louisville businesses develop their brands, tell their stories, and engage customers.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: Willow Tree also does custom strategic imaging. Willow Tree will create custom photos and images for your commercial use. For websites, for social media.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: So that you're not stuck using stock images that everybody else has seen a million times.
Coral Abood: My goodness. I need you to come with me to my presentations. Just put you in my pocket and let you be my new spokesperson. [00:05:00]
Greg Kuhn: All right. Well, I'm enjoying it so far. So if this is the audition, it's fun. Willow Tree also does event photography.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: Professional photography for events, obviously to celebrate you, and help you celebrate, recording your history and, perhaps, bringing marketing materials to life as well. And then the fourth area that Willow Tree provides services is with professional photography. Offering portrait photography for individuals, which I know is very important, putting our best face forward.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: Is that a complete enough portrait of Willow Tree, Coral? What else should we know about your company? Tell us a little bit more.
Coral Abood: I think you nailed it. Let's see. I'll tell you a few more things. So I am Louisville's only woman-owned strategic corporate photographer. And I actually hold a niche [00:06:00] in kind of the branding world, in the way that I work with people.
Whether it's businesses, thought leaders, solopreneurs, the way that I step in and not only help them create or develop an authentic brand and tell that story in a compelling way, but I actually can help them navigate the marketing world. So I have trusted partners that offer different marketing services, whether you need direct mail or to delegate your social media, or you need a website, I mean, all the different you need, commercials on the radio or TV or all the things.
I have trusted partners and believe me, I've been through a few. I always like to say I know about a hundred different web developers in this town and I work with two, cuz they're my favorite. And they,their standards for excellence and handholding and compassion and intentionality to care for their clients, it's up to my expectations. And there's very few that [00:07:00] will reach that benchmark.
So I actually just had someone approach me about a month ago. They weren't even calling about pictures or brand or anything. They said, "Hey, so-and-so told me that you helped them find a web developer." I said, "Yes!" So we sat down and we talked about what their needs are.
So I'm sort of the safe person, right? A lot of times I'm introduced as the photographer and then it evolves into really the advocate for their business that helps them understand who they are, what they need to say to their audience, and then get them in the hands of the right partners that are gonna be quality marketing partners, do what they say they're gonna do, and have lasting relationships with my clients.
So that's kind of a niche that I hold that a lot of people don't know about, right?
Greg Kuhn: Yeah. So sometimes the roles that you are playing, the hats that you are officially wearing, wind up being good ways to be [00:08:00] valuable to other people, to clients, in ways that, perhaps, they might not even expect.
Coral Abood: Right. Yeah. A lot of them just need an advocate in the marketing world. They don't know what they don't know and they need someone they can just trust to guide them in the right direction. Not even necessarily sell them anything. Just say, you know, sometimes I do. I have people say, "Wow, what do you think?"
And I say, "You know what? You guys are on it. I wouldn't go to this more expensive social media company. I wouldn't do this. I think you guys are doing great." And anytime I can even just affirm what a company is doing and see that look of relief and peace of mind on their face. That's what I wanna do is just help businesses, individuals, just feel confident about the marketing part of their business. You know.
Greg Kuhn: It's very important. And for me, it is something that I'm fascinated by. And if you don't mind if we segue in that direction.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: Because I wanna mine from your [00:09:00] rich vein of experience and understanding. Can I start by saying that when it comes to branding
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: Based on my limited understanding of branding, I might say that I'm obsessed with it. I am at least ultra fascinated with it. And I'm really excited to explore its implications for individuals as well as companies, especially for people that are intentionally manifesting better versions of their reality.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: So can I start by asking you what is branding.
Coral Abood: Ooh, what is branding?
Greg Kuhn: Yeah. And why is it so important?
Coral Abood: Why is it so important? These are good questions. So over the years, I've been doing this 13 years, I've learned that there's some [00:10:00] translating that can be beneficial, right? Like you just said, what the heck is branding? And in the last three years, this has become more of a buzzword. Which has somewhat been beneficial to me cuz now I have people coming to me and saying, I need branding.
But I do still frequently get the "What is branding?" And a lot of the ways in the past that I have helped translate this to consumers is your reputation. It's your reputation. If we're talking about a person or maybe a company, there is a reputation that you have associated.
I can give you an example of a very powerful and positive brand which would be Starbucks. I love to use Starbucks as an example. Because, as you know, as you've traveled the world, Starbucks is everywhere and they have absolutely nailed their brand experience. So a lot of times people think, oh, a brand is my logo, right? No, it is the entire experience. It is knowing that whether you walk into a [00:11:00] Starbucks in Louisville, Kentucky, or in Glasgow, Scotland, you know what it's gonna smell like, you know what it's gonna sound like, you know what it's gonna taste like, you know where to go get in line, you know, probably, what the products are. There's a consistency that is happening and that's what makes it a strong brand is when there's a consistency. When things are consistent, we can trust them. We feel like we know them and we trust them.
So that's an example of a company that has just absolutely hit the nail on the head, right? We can all probably imagine some companies maybe they have more than one location and they're not exactly the same, and you're like, well, they kind of like different living organisms, you know what I mean?
And depending on the business, that can be a really good thing. But what they're lacking is that consistency. And so there's a break in the strength. Does that make sense?
Greg Kuhn: It sure does.
Coral Abood: And then thinking about it with regards to a person, cuz I know that's what you're interested in is the personal branding. I once [00:12:00] asked a fellow that I was working with, he's in the trades, he has an amazing, amazing business that he is running, and he's a speaker and he has a podcast. And we were working through his personal branding and one of the questions that I asked him was, if you could choose any celebrity to play you in a movie or be the lead of your brand, who would that be?
And his answer completely was not what I thought he was gonna say. And it was amazing. He said, Matthew McConaughey, right? So right now you have an image of Matthew. You kind of know his swagger. You can hear his voice. All right, all right, all right. Like, you're getting that chill vibe. This is his personal brand.
Celebrities have nailed their personal brand. The older they get, the more they get fitted in their ways. There's an intentionality, how they show up when they go out, how the paparazzi catches 'em, how they stand. You kind of get what I'm saying. So these are examples that I [00:13:00] give that I think help consumers wrap their head around the concept of personal brand or your reputation or your image.
Greg Kuhn: Interesting. Coral, who would you choose to portray you in a movie?
Coral Abood: Goodness. This is tough. Someone asked me this recently and I kind of went around and around about a few different people, but I will say, and this might surprise you, everyone thinks I'm gonna say Kate Hudson, because I get compared to her quite a bit. They're like, "Oh, you're so much like her."
Greg Kuhn: Yeah.
Coral Abood: But I actually love and adore Emma Thompson.
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: I think that when she puts on her silly hat, I would love to see her, like, being me. So maybe a hybrid of the two. I don't know. But I just think she's amazing. So, of so many different hats I've seen her in, I think she's wonderful. What about you? Who would you choose?
Greg Kuhn: Hmm. I [00:14:00] haven't given this any thought
Coral Abood: Right.
Greg Kuhn: beyond this moment. I guess I would pick Jim Carrey.
Coral Abood: Really?
Greg Kuhn: Because, well, I think that Jim Carrey is fun, he's friendly, he can be funny.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: And I think he's very kind, and smart. And he listens well. And he's got some really interesting ideas about life and how it all works.
Coral Abood: Yeah. Here lately especially.
Greg Kuhn: So I guess I've just given myself a bunch of compliments there, haven't I?
Coral Abood: Yeah. Well, I'm pretty sure that in our reality, Jim Carey and Emma Thompson would probably get along really well. And you can always text me later if you're like, "Actually, I changed my mind." It's okay. I'm not gonna, we're - listeners - we're not gonna hold him to this.
Greg Kuhn: All right. Because I was thinking The Rock, you know?
I don't think, I think that, I don't even know if I would want to be The Rock. Being The Rock would require too much time spent [00:15:00] lifting weights, I think.
Coral Abood: So funny. That's so funny.
Greg Kuhn: I guess. So, Coral,I get what you're saying. I think that's a very interesting exercise is, you know, who would portray me in a movie?
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: And so we're thinking about the attributes that we hope we're portraying, we hope we're putting forward. And that really, I guess, is a good segue
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: to another question, which is why is branding relevant
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: and important
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: for an individual and of course for companies as well.
Coral Abood: Yeah. Great question. I would start out answering that by just noting that everyone already has a brand.
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: Whether or not you are being intentional with how you are showing up in this world, you are showing up, right? You have a reputation. Are you [00:16:00] the friend that everyone knows is gonna be about 40 minutes late or are you the person who's always there early with all the things for everyone, You've thought of everything. You have the checklist, right?
You already have a way that you're showing up, whether it's your mannerisms, your attitude, your presence, your style, all of that, right? And I think that deciding to get intentional with how you're showing up in the world is the same thing as deciding to be intentional with your brand.
I think that your being intentional and saying, I'm going to build a brand takes it a little bit more goal oriented. Whereas I'm gonna be intentional with how I'm gonna show up in the world, really just stems from a place of personal development.
Greg Kuhn: Um hmm.
Coral Abood: You know, a few years ago I went to a local store in [00:17:00] town and was smelling all these different perfumes. And was like, oh, I wanna have a signature scent so that when you hug me you smell this warm vanilla or something like that, right? Cuz I'm all about the entire experience of a person and getting intentional with that, right?
Greg Kuhn: Yeah.
Coral Abood: So whether it's how you're showing up in that way or maybe it's, you wanna be a better listener, you wanna be a better parent, you wanna be a better friend, you wanna be a better manager in your workplace. We should never stop working on ourselves. We should never stop a journey of personal growth.
I doubt any of your listeners wouldn't know what that is, but there's certainly a substantial amount of resources and fabulous coaches that can initiate that journey with you. But I think as long as you're naturally on a journey of personal growth, I think you already have some awareness of your personal brand.
Greg Kuhn: Interesting. You are really making me think about something. The difference between [00:18:00] being intentional and, let's say, going by default. Or maybe another way to say it, rather than default, is to say that rather than be intentional about my brand, what I'm assigning to myself and putting out, maybe I'm letting other people assign me.
I'm giving too much credence to other people's expectations or their influence, their expectations for me.
Coral Abood: Yes.
Greg Kuhn: That intentionality is a big piece of it, isn't it?
Coral Abood: Oh my goodness, yes. So the type of person that you just described, they're significantly different, right?
They're being tossed by the waves. They're trying to people-please, they're trying to fit in. They just wanna be whatever they need to be for that person or for that job. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's a beautiful thing.
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: But the opposite of that is confidence. Hey, you know what? I don't know that this is the right job for me [00:19:00] because this is where my giftings are and this is where my strengths are. And I need to make sure that I'm living those out on a daily basis or whatnot. So I think then here comes the conversation of are we confident in who we are? Or do we need to explore more of who we are and then grow that confidence, so that we know how we can show up in the world?
And that's necessary, whether you are a stay-at-home parent, or if you're an Uber driver, or if you're a CEO. It doesn't really matter where you are on the ladder of so-called success or the corporate world or whatnot. It's how you feel at the end of the day with yourself.
Greg Kuhn: Hmm. Yeah. I'm picturing myself as that people-pleaser where I'm less concerned with the authenticity of my brand and more concerned with meeting the benchmarks that I feel I need to for you. [00:20:00] And that people-pleasing motif, one of the downsides to it is that when I do hit the target in that scenario, I'm not actually accomplishing things that come from me, that honor my authentic self.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: I'm hitting targets that are more about what I think you need me to be or expect me to be.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: So for individuals, and you mentioned personal growth and working on ourselves, where do you go to get yourself in touch with the authentic Coral? And do you bring that practice or how do you bring that practice into your work at Willow Tree?
Coral Abood: Hmm. That's a great question. I spend [00:21:00] intentional time meditating, reflecting. I need that quiet time to ground myself. Recenter and rebalance what is important to me and remind myself what my goals are, right?
Because the example you just gave is, oh, I can chase all these benchmarks and I'm hitting my goals and... but these are like temporary little fillings of your cup, right? Your cup is draining
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: almost as fast as it's filling because you're not fulfilling yourself, right? So being able to have that time to center up and remind myself purpose and goals. But what I have found is that I am not the type.
So that's step one. But then step two is, knowing myself through a lot of work, I do better verbally processing that. So I actually really benefit from having a couple of people that I can talk with and process and move [00:22:00] from my dreams and my feels and all the things that I want to, okay, how do we move forward?
And it's so funny because this is what I do for everyone else. But then when it comes to me, I absolutely need someone else to do that. And I was just joking cause I have a girlfriend in marketing and she called me and she was like, I need you to help me. And so we're gonna, you know, we're always helping each other cuz you can't brand yourself into some capacity, right?
So, for me, I have people that I talk with that help me make sure that, as I continue to learn and grow, that I'm applying the things that I'm learning and not being, not like learning, knowing it up here and then not actually fleshing it out, right?
Greg Kuhn: Right.
Coral Abood: But then as far as business goes, I think it's actually so much easier for me to implement these things because I am helping other people. Cuz that's when I'm
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: in my flow zone is when I'm helping someone else. So it'll be so much easier for me to execute [00:23:00] something with a client, almost more than it is to execute it in my own life. Does that answer your question?
Greg Kuhn: Yeah.
My thought, Coral, is that you must be a very good listener. That to be successful with your business absolutely requires it. And to be a person who is constantly growing and expanding your capacity, your capabilities, your self-image, that listening comes in very handy as well. Being able to listen to yourself. Is that something that you've intentionally cultivated?
Coral Abood: Uh, well that was a really key thing that you picked up on. It actually came to me, yes, I did very intentionally cultivate it. I used to, as a hobby, I should say, not as a part of my work, I spent a significant amount of hours and days and months [00:24:00] and I think, altogether, maybe about six years working with a nonprofit ministry that just provided care for people, families, groups in crisis. And I think if you'd met me 15 years ago, you would be like, uh, I don't think she's gonna be very good about that. She couldn't be very good.
One of my first deepest dives into understanding myself a little bit better, having my blind spots shown to me was the Enneagram, which I think you're familiar with. And I didn't just do the free one where you find out your one thing, I looked at all nine and my measurements and my resourcefulness and all this. And it was all, it was a big journey for me.
And it stemmed from a conversation with a loved one who was really having everything in her life get turned upside down. And I was the one she called and I was there. And she was like, I just, I don't even, you know, losing their house all of a sudden. I mean, all [00:25:00] kinds of things. And she was just like, I just, "I'm paralyzed. I don't even know what to do," right?
And then, so my gifting comes in of: we can figure this out, I'll get you a plan and then we'll do it, right? The strategist comes out and I execute. But come to find out later, what was significantly lacking in the way that I was showing up for her was the empathy.
It was just so interesting because earlier in my life, people would've marked me as an empath. But then there was a shift where I went full feminine to masculine in some ways, right? And I was all strategy. And through the self-development, through the Enneagram, I realized that it's not always helpful to your loved ones for you to be the person who's always pointing out the silver lining, right?
Like, oh my gosh, your house is on fire, but you know what, at least it's not cold. You got that going for you. That's not always welcomed, right? So there became this very intentional journey of slowing down. Listening. [00:26:00] Not just helping, not just jumping in, but listening and comforting. And learning how to do that as an adult with adult relationships is very different than what you naturally do as a child, right?
So,
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: that sort of fed me into that several years of just so much time learning, training, being taught different techniques on how to listen, how to respond in ways that make people feel heard, all kinds of stuff. So I have a significant amount of training from some people who I think are the best in the world, very fortunate to have learned from them.
But I don't always, you can ask my partner, my kids, I don't always execute this well now that I'm out of that flow . But I do think that has absolutely contributed to the intentionality that I attempt to bring when I'm sitting with people. Yeah. Many of my clients will share things. And say, God, I overshared. I don't normally, I don't normally share this much. And I say, well, a lot of my branding sessions turn into therapy sessions.
Greg Kuhn: [00:27:00] Once again, an example of taking advantage of a role to expand the value.
One of the things, I think I mentioned this to you, that I had an aha moment in my former profession as an administrator as a high school administrator.
When a teacher that I worked with, with whom I had a rather up and down relationship, told me that I was arrogant. And it really caught me off guard. And I just thought, well, that person's an idiot. They don't know me at all. They can't evaluate human behavior, because if they really knew me, they would know that most of the time I walk around here feeling inadequate. I'm not arrogant.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: Aside from that initial reaction, I did allow myself to explore that comment, though. And what I found, when I really started [00:28:00] listening, is that when I started feeling inadequate or insufficient, I was often trying to make sure other people didn't know that I was inadequate and insufficient.
And the best way to do that, the best way to make sure other people know that I'm not inadequate, is to be adequate, obviously, right?
Coral Abood: But an inauthentic adequacy is what was coming off as arrogant.
Greg Kuhn: I mean, but that takes work. So if I don't have time to do that or I'm not willing to do that, the only real thing I can fall back on is either disclose that I'm inadequate. But if I'm not willing to do that, then I want to try to diffuse the situation somehow. Either extricate myself from the conversation as quickly as possible, or maybe poo poo that other person's concerns, or change [00:29:00] the subject, or make some jokes. But anything at the cost of letting them know that I was inadequate.
And once I was able to hear that and see that, it didn't just change the way that I engaged with reality, the way that I presented myself to other people, it helped me understand other people a little better as well.
Because, of course, there are many ways that I am coming across that aren't truly reflective of what's going on inside of me. And that can be sort of a Gordian Knot there. When you are working with clients, is it important for you to be clear in that regard, to be able to really help them?
Coral Abood: Is it important for me to be clear in what way?
Greg Kuhn: For you to be reconciled, for [00:30:00] you to be connected inside and not be carrying around a lot of cognitive dissonance. Where you're centered and connected with yourself. That you're being authentic. Is that a really important part of helping your clients find that place?
Coral Abood: Absolutely. Energy is everything. So, you know, I try to center myself, spend some time, prepare mentally, get in a bit of a flow zone for the client before they walk in. And 90% of the time clients walk in, or maybe it's a Zoom, and maybe they got in traffic on the way here. Maybe they were on the phone having a fight with their spouse. Maybe they just found out that one of their employees quit, you know? I mean, there's all kinds of stuff that they walk in here with. And time after time, everyone sits back and they just sigh, you know? And if I have an opportunity to [00:31:00] provide a space that invites vulnerability, if I can provide a presence that invites trust, we're able to get to the heart of the issue.
And what I'm doing... and, we say this, we say, "Oh, I work with businesses." I work with people who are in businesses. People make up businesses. But it is all about people. And it is about that person connection.
I'll give you one example. One of my web developers that I collaborate with, we were talking yesterday about a shared client. And busyness and his schedule would prevent him from jumping on a couple of Zooms with the client. And he was like, I can just send an email. And I was like, well, I'm gonna jump on with the client.
It's really important to me that I'm providing an experience where there is a touch every single step of the way with this person. It's just important to me. And part of that maybe comes from a selfish place because that's how I feel that I'm showing up and it's my own expectation that I need to meet, right? They might hate me at the end [00:32:00] of it. They don't usually, but it is my desire to show up and have that person connection. And I can't control what energy they're gonna come in with, but I can control what I show up with. And if I can do that and I don't have any regrets, then that's where I sit with, right?
If everything goes crazy and falls off the rails but I know that I showed up to the best of my ability, then I'm okay, right?
Greg Kuhn: Interesting. Yeah. Yeah.Yeah.
Coral Abood: Just using that as an example.
Greg Kuhn: Because that would and does, I'm sure, apply to any situation.
Coral Abood: Any situation. Yeah. Your family, anything, your friends. I think it just comes back to how intentional we are with ourselves. And I am human. And you are human. And as more intentionality as we can bring into the interaction that we're gonna have, the richer that it's going to be.
Greg Kuhn: Interesting. Well, you're right. I am a human being. Thank you for recognizing that. And that makes me think, [00:33:00] as a human being, one of the things that I strive for is the ability to highlight my value to other people. And, part and parcel with that, I'm just as concerned with providing that value when given the opportunity.
But, right now, I feel we're also highlighting that projection of that value. And so I'm wondering, and I'm asking you, can I benefit from branding myself? From being more intentional about that? Whether that is concerning how I'm presenting and also what I'm presenting? So a second question might be, how would I go about doing that?
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: How might I envision and build and create my brand? [00:34:00]
Coral Abood: Yes, these are both very good questions. How can you benefit? Man, the ways are countless. You may have a trait that is a very positive trait that everyone loves about you. And you might think, well, I probably don't need to work on that, right?
But what if you just looked at how you could expand that into more of your life, right? The benefits to the people around you for the things that you do so well, the giftings that you have. Take, for example, this podcast. Your evolution from beginning your journey into the manifestation and how you said, you know what, it went from a small voice to now I'm gonna megaphone it, right?
That's an example. There's an intentionality. You may have some scratchy spots, you may have some rough corners that need to be filed down, right? That you can cohesively fit better with your family or your friends. The benefits of the [00:35:00] interpersonal is what I'm saying.
And then there's the personal benefit of feeling fulfilled, feeling found, understanding yourself. I think fundamentally we just need to be understood and we need to understand ourselves and we need to feel understood by the most important people in our lives. And so the benefit of understanding and then feeling confident, again, that you're showing up.
I mean, that's... I would say those are probably the two most important benefits. But you can take that into the corporate space and say, I wanna be the best nurse that I can be. I wanna be better at comforting my patients as they're bleeding out or something like that, you know? Or I wanna get better at sculpting or whatever it is, right? The benefits are endless, especially if you're on this journey.
And then where do you begin to start with that? There's so many different places that you can begin. As far as resources go, I do have a few [00:36:00] different exercises or suggestions that I've, I have always had a mentor in my life. And I didn't really notice that pattern until about five years ago. Then I realized
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: I sought one out when I was in high school and I sought one out when I was in college and I sought one out through all these different, I have business coaches, I have relationship coaches, I have co-parenting coaches.
I so value the wisdom of others and I so value someone who can l gently and lovingly hold up a mirror and show me some of my blind spots. But then also show me where my giftings are. So one of the first things I might say is find someone to talk to. Find someone who can guide you through a bunch of these different exercises.
There's powerful tools like the Enneagram, the Culture Index I love. But anytime you do anything like that, even the emotional scale you have that you can download, I mean, having someone, especially these powerful tools, you [00:37:00] really need to have someone who's beginning that journey with you.
Because some people get really great results from their tests that they do, right? And other people get results where they're not as great. They're like, yeah, this reflects the struggle in my life. And that can push them down even further, right? So I always recommend that we start into this with a partner, an advocate, someone who can you know, walk with you as your self-discovery and your journey of self-growth. I feel like it's...
Greg Kuhn: So important.
Coral Abood: Oh yes. Yeah.
Greg Kuhn: Absolutely.
Coral Abood: So one of my favorite exercises, if I can just give you one more. Something that might just inspire someone to take that first step. One of my most "favoritist", she's an organizational psychologist, but she's just absolutely my secret weapon to life.
She works with businesses and individuals, but she works with me all the time on all kinds of things. And I came to her about a year and a half ago and [00:38:00] said, I feel like I'm doing all the things and I've worked so hard to be able to have that balance, right? But
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: the to-do list never ends, which I'm coming to grips with. You know, single mom, full-time, helping all these, doing all these things.
It's a lot, all the time. And I, and I love it. I love everything that I do. But I said, I want to prevent, in this next season of my life, knowing that I have all these things coming up, give me that wisdom. I wanna prevent burnout. What is this next? We met at the beginning of the year and I said, give me something juicy.
You know, I'm starting a new year. Give me something to run with. What do you think I need? You know, sometimes it's just like that.
And she grabbed a piece of paper, she turned it like this, and she just drew two lines, making three columns. And she wrote "Personal" and then she wrote "Relational" and then she said "Work."
And she said, I want you to make a list of what you need to feel [00:39:00] content in these areas. And that was a powerful exercise that no one had ever walked me through. It was always, what is my to-do list? What do I need to do this week? What is the frog that I need to eat in the morning? What is the, what is the, you know, all of this kind of stuff.
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: And the stuff that was on my list was, you know what, personally, I need to be, I need to be getting in bed at an earlier time. This is what I need to do to show up for me.
The second column, how do I show up for my loved ones? Maybe that's kids, partner, friends. You know, I really wanna have intentional time. I wanna get that lady's night going again. Even if it's once a quarter. It means so much to me to know that I'm getting my friends together.
I love doing puzzles with my partner. I love doing games with my kids. These are the things, right? We need game night.
I come over here to the work section and it's, you know what? That to-do list? It rolls. I've [00:40:00] got assistance. We hit all of our deadlines. Let me just put that out there. But I feel content if I get an hour in my inbox every day. Because if I don't and five o'clock rolls around, I start getting anxious. What's in that inbox? I don't know. I've been in meetings all day, right?
So for me to feel, even though the work may not, maybe it rolls over to tomorrow. You kind of get where I'm going with this.
And that was a powerful mindset shift of if the work, if the life, if the earth just continued to spin faster and faster and faster and maybe it doesn't slow down for a few months, how do I get through that? How do I stay grounded? How do I stay intentional? How do I feel good? How do I not miss any of the beautiful stuff that's going on around me? And it truly comes down to me being centered and me feeling content in these three areas of life. [00:41:00]
Greg Kuhn: It's beautiful.
Coral Abood: Might be way more than what you were hoping for there, but...
Greg Kuhn: No, that's exactly what I was hoping for.
Coral Abood: it might inspire you to take next step.
Greg Kuhn: It makes me want to ask you a follow up question before I ask you a final question. You've been really kind with your time today. I don't wanna take advantage of it, but I've gotta follow up and ask you. Because you're touching on this maybe even going even deeper than I realize.
Once you've established your brand. And I realize that there probably may be some facets to a brand that are, you know, open for revision as we grow and learn, but once you've established your brand, how do you ensure that you're embodying it, that you're living in accord with it?
Coral Abood: Hmm. So in this context, are we saying just an individual who just wants to show up for [00:42:00] their family and friends? Or are we saying someone like you who is self-representing a company and a concept and a movement? What are we thinking here?
Greg Kuhn: I wonder what the commonalities are between those two different scenarios. I realize that there are some differences, of course. I'm definitely thinking in a professional vein, but also thinking in a more meta vein where we wanna know whether we have systems in place that alert us or trigger a warning when we reach a certain threshold or we have practices. And if you would start with the professional.
Coral Abood: Well, I would say there is common ground and the answer would be accountability.
Greg Kuhn: Mm-hmm.
Coral Abood: Which I think people can accept accountability a little bit more easily if it's in a mentor situation. So I would go back to who is that person that you can sit with, [00:43:00] paid/unpaid, who knows your goals? And when you come away from that time, you're inspired, your cup is filled, you're realigned. Yes, you're hitting the mark. No, you're slipping. Why? What's going on? I think it needs to be another human. And it's accountability, whether it's personal or professional.
Unless maybe you're a person who doesn't, you're, maybe you're not like me. Maybe you're like, no, I really do better just journaling. Well then there's your answer. If you're better to take a retreat to look through some old journal entries and then write some new ones. And you can hold yourself accountable and inspire yourself in that way. So maybe if you distill it down the most, it's just accountability.
Greg Kuhn: And I love accountability. In fact, one of the methods that I teach to engage reality in my new book is called Create a Positive Checkmate. Where I look for opportunities [00:44:00] to make myself accountable in important areas of my life. Utilizing appropriate people and taking advantage of the opportunities that they give me to let them know what it is that I'm doing, how I'm going about it, and what I'm expecting as a result of my efforts.
It certainly isn't a guarantee that the outcome will be exactly as I desire. I found, though, that it's a wonderful way to set intention. And, as you just referenced, a fantastic way to keep myself on point.
Coral Abood: Right, right. You're either the type of person who can set that deadline 30 days from now. Okay, I'm gonna check in with myself or check in with someone. The accountabilities in 30 days. You're either the person who takes baby steps for 30 days or you're the person who waits till day 29 and a half and then gets it done. But it got done, it got done, right?
Greg Kuhn: Right.
Coral Abood: [00:45:00] Yep.
Greg Kuhn: But it's interesting, you know, the flip side is, of course, just as valuable. Is that when I notice that I'm avoiding accountability, that's often a sign that there's something disingenuous going on. At least in terms of what I'm telling myself I desire versus what I'm willing to do to enable those experiences.
Coral Abood: Right. And you raised a good point too. Professionally it all comes down to our relationship to the thing, right? So from a corporate standpoint, if you are avoiding getting into your budget, if you are avoiding doing your books, there is a relationship problem with your finances, right? Or if you are avoiding initiating your marketing or updating your marketing. If you're avoiding that, [00:46:00] there is a relationship issue. And it is usually that this is outside of your wheelhouse.
And we need to bring in a professional. We need to hire a CPA. We need to call Coral. It's okay to not be good at everything. You have your thing that you're good at. And so the growth comes in, like you said, the pattern of noticing, I'm avoiding this, I'm avoiding this, this is not getting done.
I'm the bottleneck. Why is this not getting done? Oh, you know what, cuz I don't know how to do it. Or I'm stuck.
What people always ask me, it comes up more than you could imagine, how I would describe success? And I think you can be successful in anything if you know what your limitations are and you delegate the rest.
I believe that delegation is the key to success. We're growing our tribe, but we're doing what we're good at and letting other people help us with the things that they're good at.
Greg Kuhn: Well you said a mouthful there. Some of my greatest accomplishments, in [00:47:00] terms of outward success, have been more about finding talented people with skills and resources that they can bring to bear and then putting them in the right seats on the bus. More so than me being some sort of Superman.
Coral Abood: Right, right. You can only wear a one hat at a time. You might be able to squeeze two on there, but if you walk around you'll look pretty silly.
Greg Kuhn: Yeah. Yeah. Well, you, and it's, Coral, you said this. You know, getting access to people who know what they're talking about. Another one of the techniques that I write about to engage reality in my book is to build a mentor relationship. And I actually advocate building a Board of Directors.
And I always say that proximity and familiarity are not qualifiers [00:48:00] to sit on my Board of Directors or mentor me. I've got to A, trust the person. B, they need to be invested in me. And C, they need to know what they're talking about.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: And if they don't meet all three of those criteria, I can love them, be friends with them, appreciate them, value them, but that's not the person that I want sitting in that mentor's chair or on my Board of Directors.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: And you know what? Right now, on Manifest the Big Stuff, we have someone who is trustworthy, invested in us, and knows what she's talking about. So, Coral, the last question I have for you while we have you here, and I know that you have been really touching on this throughout our entire conversation, our audience is full of people who desire even [00:49:00] more success out of life, even more fulfillment than they are currently experiencing. They know that more is possible and they're not settling for the status quo, as it suits them. Especially in important areas of their life.
So I heard you mention authenticity, confidence, integrity. If you were speaking with somebody who was just starting out.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: And they wanted to build a successful brand
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: whether it was related to business or their own personal brand.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: What advice would you have for them? Let's maybe focus on talking to somebody like me, where it's a bit of a hybrid. Where a lot of my business is [00:50:00] my personal self.
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: So the coherence between those two things is great. What would be your advice to somebody who came to you and said, "Coral, tell me how I should go about this. What should I do?"
Coral Abood: How to, how should they step into intentionality with their brand?
Greg Kuhn: Yes.
Coral Abood: Okay. The first thing I would ask them is to tell me, why? Why are you wanting to do this? Like you said, maybe it is professional goals, maybe it is personal goals. That's gonna give me insight. It's gonna give them insight. As to what's motivating them and potentially where they're headed. Where is this coming from or where are we going?
The second thing would be, I would say your brand, a successful brand, is a brand that works. It's a [00:51:00] brand that helps you reach your goals. And if your goal is to set yourself apart from your competitors or to show up in a way with your family or your friends, it's gonna start with authentically, who are you? Authentically, what is your concept, right?
We can put it in the business idea here. We can frame it up. Like, you didn't start a podcast to be just like all the other podcasters, right? You started this movement because you had an idea that was different than everyone else, right?
So, I wanna know, how are you unique? What is your authentic concept? What is your special sauce? What are your giftings? Where do you flow? What are you good at? What do you wanna do? How do you wanna impact, right?
The second part of your brand is who is your audience? Who are we wanting to attract, but who are we wanting to connect with?
Because we don't attract anyone unless we connect with them. So the more that we understand who our audience is, and I don't know if you've ever heard [00:52:00] the saying,
the golden rule is treat people how you wanna be treated. But the platinum rule is treat people how they wanna be treated. And anyone who works at a company with employees understands that everyone wants to be treated different and wants to be, and is, spoken to in a different way.
So your audience has a certain way that they will hear you. So your unique brand message is a marriage of your authentic concept and your unique audience in the way that you connect with them. Does that make sense?
So once you have identified that message, the rest of it's just the fun stuff. How do we build it? What do we do, right?
Greg Kuhn: Yeah, yeah.
Coral Abood: Are we designing the person or are we designing the website? Are we designing the logo? Are we building the product? What is it? But that's the fundamental piece that gets glossed over a lot of times. And it is the most [00:53:00] important piece from which everything must flow.
None of the rest of the stuff can come with successful intentionality without knowing what our message is to begin with.
And that's the average person. So I would say you can also call me and I can think on it some more.
Well, because when I look at, when I am present with different parts of my life, with different parts of my reality, invariably what I'm looking for, you know, I could say success. That's appropriate. Probably even more so, fulfillment. Fulfillment and satisfaction.
Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: And what you said is applicable, whether it's a relationship
Coral Abood: Mm-hmm.
Greg Kuhn: or a transaction. Whether it's a goal, journey, that I'm bringing something to life, building something.[00:54:00] In all of those instances, marrying authenticity, my authenticity, with my audience and how my audience wants to be addressed, whether it's on this vodcast or in a book or I'm speaking to you face to face. Those are great things to spend some time thinking about.
And I've gotten a lot out of this conversation, Coral. I'm gonna be thinking about a lot of the things that you talked about and we talked about.
I'm sure the same holds true for folks that are watching and listening. So I wanna thank you because you've given your time today and there's nothing more valuable you can share with somebody. That's much appreciated. You've also gone places with us and for us today to really bring out some valuable insights and [00:55:00] takeaways.
And I firmly believe that we took full advantage of the opportunity that the time we spent together today gave us to create something of value. And I really want to thank you for how you made that happen.
Coral Abood: Oh my goodness. Thank you. I loved every minute of it. The listeners are lucky we're not gonna go for three more hours, cuz I think we could.
Greg Kuhn: Absolutely.
All right, Coral, thank you very much.
Coral Abood: You're welcome. Have a great day!