The first piece starts with the discovery. And that's an introspective look at what is it you came to the marketplace to have this energy exchange
with your potential buyer? And once you're clear on what that purpose is, and once you're clear on what value you bring to the market and what problem you're solving, if you can clearly identify those, and get those on paper, and imbue your energy and your essence into them so that you can understand exactly who you are and what you are and why you are, then you can start with your brand
message. And your brand message is going to be the pillars of content that you're going to show up in your infrastructure of your world and your digital marketplace.
This is The MindShift Podcast where we share real stories, real strategies, that will help you find real success. This is the place to hear from people just like you who have taken their ideas, goals and dreams from a point of inspiration to realization or when life knocked them down, from a point of breakdown to breakthrough. I'm your host, Darrell Evans. Let's get started with today's episode. Hey, friend, welcome back to The MindShift Podcast. We are excited to have you here today.
And I want to first of all, thank you for taking some time out of your day to spend it here with us. You could have been anywhere else in the world. And you're going to spend some time listening to a dynamic duo entrepreneur team out of the East Coast. They say they own the Carolinas, so we'll dig into that in just a minute. But if you like today's show, please do us a favor. Hit the follow or subscribe button wherever you're listening so you never miss an
episode. And if you're interested in ongoing support, development and mentorship inside the MindShift business community, head over to www.MindShiftBusinessAcademy.com. Start your free trial, and join us every Monday for our MindShift Monday conversations. I have today, a dynamic visual storytelling duo. They go by Lisa Staff, and Devo. They are the owners and founders of Sprout Connectors, which is a brand imagination accelerator.
They help small businesses and entrepreneurs craft and develop their brand messaging with compelling and strategic content for ignition and optimization. And we're going to break that down throughout today's conversation. They say that they're a bespoke visual photography and video company that independently started in two different places. They both started their own agencies. They came together to start Sprout Connectors to really help businesses scale and I think it's a very interesting
conversation. We'll get to pick apart both of their backgrounds and how they merged together. But they're also serial entrepreneurs. And that's one of the things I love to pick apart is the brains of serial entrepreneurs starting and growing multiple things that help them succeed past the six figure mark. And they also host their own podcast called The Mind Body Business Podcast. Devo and Lisa, welcome to the show.
Thanks, Darrell. Thanks for having us.
That's a great introduction. Thank you.
I like the dynamic duo. It reminded me of old school Batman with some graphics, pow, ka-pam.
Yeah, we jumped out of the Marvel verse and went over to DC for a hot second, but yeah, I'm a fan of Batman too. Yeah, we have to give 'em that.
Is that okay?
Show him some love. It's not okay with some but if you're a fan, you're a fan. But anyway, really glad to have you guys here. We've talked a few months ago. I'm glad we finally got here to the recording studio. Why don't you introduce yourselves to our audience? Tell us who you are. And a little bit about your backstories.
You go first woman
You go first.
No, you go first.
I knew this was going to happen. Let me have, let me have to play referee with you two. Audience when I say they're a dynamic duo, they are just full of charisma. We're gonna have a lot of fun. We're gonna laugh today. I'm sure Deevo's gonna crack a lot of jokes. He's got this sense of humor. And Lisa's gonna keep him in check. Let's go.
Deevo. I have a last name as well. And I've been a photographer for, don't even want to tell you how long. It's been a long time. We're going to say over two decades. And we'll just stop there. I know it's more, it's way more, and have been just working with people here in South Carolina. I'm based out of South Carolina. I do a lot of fashion, commercial work, work with magazines, all of that editorial stuff and have been able to connect with some
really great people. I've rebranded my business three, four years ago, and took it on a different direction. And then this guy here, slid into my DMs about four years ago, didn't know who this guy was. And you know, we're all involved in our social media. Whenever anyone connects with us, leaves a comment or anything, we want to engage. We want to get our followers up so we engage with everyone. Engaged with him . . .
Including me.
. . . including him.
That was before you knew what you knew, right?
That's right. And then four years later, we started a business together. Combined our superpowers.
It was more like a hostile takeover.
It was a hostile take over, yes. But it was one of those things
She took over.
Lisa took over. That's right. That's right. Deevo, you learn early. I'm glad you learned.
Dude, we're just cogs in the wheel. That's it. Nothing more.
I hear you dude. I've just wanted to make sure you understood the rules. That's all.
Oh I'm clear. We like to pretend that we're in charge. But we're very clear, actually.
Crystal clear.
Were the puppeteers, basically. But we ran into a lot of opportunities within our own separate businesses where we would be questioning each other. How do you do this? How are you doing that? What are you finding in this situation? How are you creating growth? So through our business connections, we started
to work together, didn't we? And then through that, we found that a lot of people were asking us specific questions on branding, on strategy, on social media, all those things, and we thought, hey, the universe is trying to tell us something. So we started Sprout Connectors.
Gotcha. Deevo, what's your story?
So my story is basically what she just said. I have an interesting background. I worked straight out of college. I followed the American dream, went to college, got married, had two and a half kids, two and a half dogs, still missing for the other half, bought a house, white picket fence, all those things, did the nine to five, I never knew I wanted to be a "photographer". And I use that in quotes, because I was just sort of the hobbyist at the time.
Okay.
And that was something, I would go to my nine to five, and I'd come home and do my six to midnight taking photos. And I just was perpetually unfulfilled across the board in all areas of my life, including my marriage. And it just sort of came to a crossroads at one point and I was like, why am I wasting my life doing unfulfilling work, when I should be doing something that makes me smile and want to get up every morning? And so I was just like, sayonara and
walked away. With not much of a plan, trying to figure it out.
Yeah, yeah.
So I actually launched a couple of different companies simultaneously to going full time photography. One of them was a sporting Social Club, which actually grew to be, I ended up selling that for a nice chunk of change back in 2014. And then headed full speed and diffusion. And then met this scallywag in 2014, I did slide into her DMs. I was blown away. I had not really been on social media. And to this point, people are surprised when they hear this but I'm a really private
guy. You know, I like small groups of people, intimate crowds. I had no intention other than just I was fascinated by the fact that Lisa traveled the globe. And this is the power of
social media. So there's a point to all this, you know, five years later when I engaged in running a startup company that had some arguably really great successes, but I slid into her DM because I was really blown away by, ummm not only her, she's a specimen to look at, but the fact that she was traveling the globe was something that I had always wanted to do. And I had never been anywhere.
That was all green screen.
Green screen. See, so we're gonna uncover a secret here to your brand visual storytelling secrets. Is that, is that what it is? It's green screen. Now I'm just playing.
Fake it till you make it.
I hear you.
That's our story. I met her. And before you knew it, we were just kind of going back and forth and just hit it off in all directions of life. And we complement each other really well. Sprout was born in 2018, sort of a soft launch, because we needed to funnel money that we were making from doing workshops and education stuff outside of our individual brands. And it wasn't until we were like, ahhh we're pretty good at this. And gosh, darn it,
our mom's really like us. Maybe we can do something with this. And so we were like, that's kind of where it all began.
I think it's taking on those passion projects in our
Gotcha. lives, right? You get to a certain stage in your life where you're like, what's the meaning of life? And am I really loving every minute that I'm spending on my business or what I'm spending my time doing? So I think it was a bit of left brain, right brain combining together and doing those things that we find satisfying. And things that as you do that introspection are your talents or the things that you were just really enjoy doing.
Are you the left brain or am I the right brain? Or are you the right and I'm the left?
Let me ask Lisa, this. So Lisa, you're a photographer obviously, because you've been doing this for a couple of decades. But talk about your traveling the world component of running your business and traveling the world. What was important to you about that?
I think as far as social media goes, it is a very social thing. So it's something that when I started when I rebranded my business, I was all about making connections with people. And that's the one thing that, you know, someone reaches out to you, you respond to them just like you do in a conversation. It's the new sort
of networking. And we network with all sorts of people because we don't realize, not doing it in a selfish sort of way, but you just never realize where that connection is going to lead. And we've been in places, I've been in airports in London, where someone that I've been connecting with, and having discussions, I met someone in Greece too, that called me out on the street. I don't have that large of a following.
That's awesome.
But it's connecting with those people, that you're just kind of creating friendships, and we've done that through our business and through our podcast has been fantastic. You know, we sort of really and I'm kind of going off topic, but we've sort of really hit that hard when COVID started, because all of a sudden we're like, hmm we're just kind of sitting in our homes and not that, we love our friends, but our friend group aren't always the five people you want to surround
yourself with. So we were able to surround ourselves and connect with people that just gave such great value or insight or accelerated where we were at or gave us other ideas or conversations that we could have. And we've been able to do that through all the facets of our businesses, through our social media, and being able to connect with those clients that elevate us, that we're able to make a difference with and they are able to make a difference
with us. We're able to kind of streamline our process as well, since we started and be able to align with those people that we believe in as well. I think we all make decisions in business when we're starting up and partnering with people because you're like, I gotta make some money. You know, we've got to get this business going. And then you create those relationships that aren't as
positive. You learn from them but maybe they aren't as positive and the people that you want to connect and create that relationship with.
I think he also wanted you to answer why it was so important that you traveled and what you learned from that?
Well, I think traveling opens up your mind to a lot of different things. I think it can be kind of symbolic of your life and stepping outside of your comfort zone when you throw yourself into something that's unknown. And you're just making ways, you end up communicating with people that you never would have communicated with. People are so nice to you, people reach out to you, they make the difference. And you just, you broaden your horizons.
Not the men in Italy, they're not nice to you.
Men in Italy are not nice to you. You do things you never would have done. I jumped out of airplanes when I was traveling, which I would dhave never done at home.
Yeah, I'm a traveler. So believe me, I haven't traveled to probably as many places as you have. But I love the exploration, the learning, the culture. You'd be surprised at the hospitality. And again, it's not 100% everywhere you go, but you know, the hospitality, the warmth, the greetings. It's almost like we're all a part of the human community, right?
Yeah.
And so that's what I've learned, as I've traveled and, again, just going someplace, and just taking in what the lifestyle is there. But the similarities and the differences and how it all blends in. So it's wonderful. Deevo, you said something. I've got to go back to you. Talk to us about your thought process as you were transitioning. What was it that you sought on the other
side? I always say that we are motivated not just by goals, or, you know, we like some, what is my purpose, I mean, some of that can feel wishy washy and esoteric, we can set goals that don't have meaning, so therefore, they don't matter. But when you make a lifestyle change like that, both in life and business. I know because I've been through it multiple times, that it requires something different inside. And I just want to talk you through that if you can take us back to
those days. And then we'll catch up to today's cool stuff that's going on. But I don't want to miss the opportunity for that big life moment for you.
Yeah, it wasn't anything that I can pinpoint on one particular thing. I heard a quote yesterday. We were watching something and it said chaos is a ladder. And my launch into my new world was sort of climbing a ladder of chaos. And you can interpret that in multiple directions, chaos up or chaos down. I'm an ex-college athlete, I played football and I played professional volleyball, I used to be a professional
boxer, all sorts of things. And one thing I always noticed when I was on the field, you hear people talk about this flow state, but nothing else mattered to me. Like, I literally was in this space and time that sort of froze everything around me. And for those 90 minutes, or for those six and a half minutes where I was getting my ass kicked in the gym, or in the boxing ring or playing football, nothing else really mattered in
that space. And I noticed that when I left college, and I started doing this nine to five stuff, and I got married. And this is not a denigration of my ex-wife or anything, you know.
I understand.
It is what it is. It taught me the failures and lessons that I needed to learn. But I noticed that I didn't have any flow state anymore. I hated getting up and going to work. I hated doing the work that I was doing. It was just like boring. But what I noticed is that I'd be in these meetings all day long. For some people that might be their, their power position. You do you, I'll do me but what I noticed is that I never really got into any sort of a flow
state in anything I was doing. I never had that energy where I was like, I cannot wait to do this or I cannot wait to be part of this. Like, getting in the office every afternoon at four o'clock to sing happy birthday to the next Martha's birthday every afternoon at four, it just wasn't anything that excited me or doing TPX reports and, and filling out spreadsheets and data analysis and all the things that I was doing and mind you I was getting paid almost $300,000 to do what I was doing . . .
Yeah.
. . . as a salary. So it wasn't like I was like this
Yeah. chump. I had climbed pretty high into the business world. And I was doing on the surface really big important things. But every
. . . but still do this. So I literally did the nine to day I'd walk home and I'm like, that's it? I just I put in nine hours, 10 hours doing TPX reports. Now what? But then I noticed when I started really getting back into my hobby of taking photos that when I was in that space with the clients, I was like, I'm doing shit that really makes my soul go on fire. I get goosebumps telling you as I'm thinking about it, and I started noticing that when I was doing something that I really
enjoyed, I was really excited. I was really passionate, it didn't matter if I was there for three hours or six hours, I was doing something that really excited me. So I started really five, well, actually, for me, it was like 6am, because California analyzing that and taking a look at the differences between doing traffic is bonkers. And I would have to drive in two hours against the traffic if I left at
eight. So I'd literally be at the TPX reports and connecting with clients taking photographs. the office from 6am till about 6pm at night. And then I would come home and schedule photoshoots with whomever I TPX reports, photographs with clients. And it's like, you can could possibly photograph, just so I could start building up
that portfolio. And before you knew it, I was like, I'm really effing good at this piece of the world, I'm really excited about just start to see the bandwidth of the energy, get really it, there has to be something to follow there. And I've always excited when I talked about one, and then I would talk about the believed that you can have success in almost anything you do, if you can be clear and aligned with whatever your other and I was like, this is just not something that I want
purpose is to do that. So if that means the best yard man possible, then go be it. If that means being the best pet groomer to do for the rest of my life. And so I started crafting these possible, and that gets you excited playing with Fluffy and Fifi, then effing do it. If it means taking photos, find a way plans on how I could build up one of these enterprises so that to make that fill your mission bucket, and then go out and do I could actually eat and feed my wife at the time and my kids . .
it. And that was just sort of finally I was like, I'm done with this world. I'm gonna step into this one. And that was pretty much it. .
Can I just add to that?
Yes, you can.
And I'm not a sports athlete. I've never been in that flow state. But I think everybody has a flow state that they find when they really enjoy something.
A 100%.
When you talk about that mind shift change. Sometimes it's not voluntary. Sometimes you're living that life, and you haven't had that aha moment that's like, oh, you know what? This is my routine, but I'm not really happy in it. I was kind of pushed into that mind shift change by my marriage ending. And trying to figure out okay, well, my business had been branded with my partner for X amount of years, nobody knows what I'm doing. So in that instance, I was kind of thrown
into it. And I was speaking to a girlfriend actually yesterday and she's trying to make a change in her life too and she said, you know, Lisa, it's like, when we go skydiving, you know, you're strapped onto someone
else. You're really, really excited about, you take off, you're in the air, he's like shimmying you with your body strapped onto a complete stranger over to the edge and you get to the edge and you know, as soon as you jump out, you're going to have this elation, it's going to be amazing, you're going to have a little bit of excitement, you're gonna be flowing and free and
all of that. But that moment that you're right on the edge of that open door, looking down 1000s of feet, you're freaking out, and you want to step back, and you're like, trying to pull the plug on it.
Yeah.
To have that ability to do that without being pushed is exponentially amazing, right?
Yes.
To be able to make that mind shift change on your own, without being pushed or forced. That's where it's really brilliant, a life changing moment.
I love the backstory and Deevo, I could see the energy and the passion. The point is, I saw the passion, I felt the energy, and Lisa, to your point, whether you play sports or not, I think a lot of times we think about flow. And we think about being in the zone. And we think about top performing athletes, because it is a great analogy. But if you really think about it, if you're an award winning author, actor, you know, if you do great at anything, there is a flow state
that you're in. And I just like to describe it as a point where ease is present, you're in effortless ease, and you feel joy, or you feel an energy, that seems to be a bounding and expansive, right? And then there's this other side where you know you're not in flow, when you feel this pressure coming in. I'm not talking about the pressure of a deadline, because some of the best people on the planet actually operate
best when there's a deadline. If you don't give them a deadline, they just ain't gonna do the work. I'm one of those kind of people.
I am too.
So I think of it as if we could simplify it to say, and again, I'm no scientist on this idea of flow state but I have read, I can't even begin to pronounce his name. There's a book called Flow. It's great. It's a hard read but it's a great book. But I just see it as energy that feels expansive and easy. And I think that is what you saw. I was in a different industry 12 years ago. And I felt the same way. I was over it. It was done. I didn't feel the way I felt in the 10 years
prior. So I appreciate you both sharing those ideas and those stories. And I think that that's going to lead to where I think I want to go now which is talking about the work that you do in brand visual storytelling, because you're not just photographers, right? Anybody can take photos. We all have these pretty sexy devices now. That's not how you guys take photos. Not to say they don't do a good job and they're not
useful in places. But what I remember learning about you guys is this idea of brand visual storytelling. The passion is clearly there. But let's talk about how you now translate that passion into the work that you do for your clients. First of all, let's define what is brand visual storytelling?
Before you define that, I wanted to bring that frame of reference back, I talked about that chaos ladder. You know, what's interesting, Darrell, is that
Yeah. when you do find that flow state, and it's incremental, right? And if you can learn to recognize and acknowledge it for what it is, what that does is it opens up that chaos ladder, that cascade of other opportunities that you would have never had access to had you not at least walked into the rabbit hole in the first place. Of course.
And so, by walking into that rabbit hole, and embracing whatever it is your divine spirit wants to do, you can Yeah, you know, I guess the question that I always think listen to that voice. And it may be 600 things. Like, I have 600 things on my list of things I want to accomplish before I leave this shell. But every single time I've followed one of those pursuits, it's opened
something else up. And I was in a relationship and I was doing all sorts of different things that I'm doing today, even in my businesses, when I walked into the rabbit hole of Lisa, and look where it's led us. And so my point in all that is if people can learn to just figure out what it is they like to do, what makes them light up, and if you can figure out a way to solve a problem, somehow or another, get on that chaos ladder and see where it takes
you. Because it takes us to what we're doing today, which you asked what is that brand visual storytelling. I think, really, it's different for everybody. I think that what our job is at the core of what we do is engaging with people and meeting them where they are, reflecting on that moment, and then expanding the potential that they could be on ideation aspects of their business and their brand that they mightn't
have thought of already. And our job is to explore those rabbit holes and opportunities with them to help them clearly define what their juxtaposition is, what problem are they solving by their, their business or their service or their whatever it is that they're offering to the world and that energy exchange that we do, and then helping them tell that story to the type of people that they want to be
buying their story. And I think that's where a lot of people miss that little critical step is that, I had this really cool glass and I have hand printed insignias on it and logos and it's beautiful and it even holds water. And I just want someone to buy this from me. But everybody has glasses everywhere in their kitchens and in the restaurants and everywhere. So what makes this glass unique? Why would I want to buy this
glass from you. And so our job is to be able to tell the person's mission, value proposition, solution statement, and be able to craft that in a store that might engage with Darrel or Lisa or Jerry or Bob or whomever, who also wants these specific types of glasses
and will buy that. And so that's what visual storytelling is, is this, it's crafting a juxtaposition, a position, a mission, a statement that your products addresses, solves, whatever it is for somebody who uniquely is qualified to use that service, or might not even know that yet but they really resonate with that brand. Does that make sense? about is, what's the problem they typically think they have when they come see you?
Clarity.
Unclear on their purpose.
Unclear on the purpose, okay.
And you will say we got from one of our other clients, they can't read their own label from inside the jar, it's the wrong perspective, they need someone else to come in. And they're so busy in the weeds of their own business, that to stop and step back, and take the time to do a proper branding and strategy and find out what their mission is and do all of that. They're not taking that time, they're just hitting the ground running and missing those key steps that they can build on.
And we were talking about this earlier today, like the difference between branding and the different types of marketing and how you can keep investing. Like, people will keep redoing a website. They'll keep every year, they're just rebranding
and creating a new website. And they're trying to figure out why when they're posting things on their social media or anything else, they're not getting any traction, and they just haven't taken those key steps to set them up for success, create that brand and then sell that mission to other people.
Well part of the problem is, is that we're operating in a completely different paradigm than we were five years ago, right? And so the tool belt and the arsenal that we have at our disposal today and the efficacy we can have with our crowd or buyer or avatar is completely different than it was and not a lot of people really quite understand that social media can be used. It's not just taking selfies or putting it on the phone and doing a yoga pose.
Hey, Deevo, I've never ever, I've never ever done that, ever!
We have clients that are like you know, they're wearing a bikini, should I wear a bikini? I'm like, yeah, it's not really your brand.
Go ahead.
I don't think people have clearly thought through how their product can be utilized in a capacity to solve someone else's problems, and use the tools in today's marketing world to share that message with everyone else. And it's because most people are just entrepreneurs and they haven't had that opportunity to go through those lessons, righ?They're just trying to get their product, that really shiny glass, out into the world right away.
Yeah, you guys are in the content world obviously from behind the lens, you bring people to light in front of the lens. But I got to believe that your clients are saying the same things they say to me in my world, and that is, there's too much to do. How do I be everywhere? I don't have the time capacity, the space, the energy to do it all. I'm kind of teeing this up hoping you'll answer it a certain way. Or maybe I'm thinking I know your answer. But what's the myth behind all of those excuses?
Well, first of all, I would say that you probably need to hone in on that purpose that we talked about at the outset, right? What's the clarity? What's the foundation of your business? Is probably the most important element. And when I say the foundation of your business, what is your brand message? What is it you stand for? And you hear everybody dropping these cliche words, like, what's your purpose? What's your why? All these different things, but really, at the crux of everything, what is
it you stand for? And you can't try to be everything to all people. I would say, especially if you're a small business owner, and you're just now getting out in the open, really hone in on your value proposition. Because when you're clear on what it is you do, why you do it, and how you go about doing it, you're more enabling yourself to talk with passion and purpose in pursuit around the type of person that you
really want to connect with. And if you're spending all of your time and money trying to connect with all these different people, and I want to photograph dogs and newborn baby and naked women and swimsuit models and I also want to do weddings, I also want to do all these. It's like, people have buyer confusion. They're like, dude, are you a swimsuit model? Or are you a wedding photographer? Which one are you? And I learned this the
hard way. I was like, I will photograph anyone and their grandma on dogs, just bring them in. And like, I had dog photos and grandma photos and elders. And like, nobody understood what I was. And it wasn't until I really honed in, I'm going to do one, two, and three. And that's all I'm gonna do, that I really started seeing a purpose behind my work. And people were clear
on what my brand stood for. And that's when I started attracting the real type of people that I wanted to attract into my space.
Gotcha.
Can I just add to that as well, because I took that question in a different way.
Sure.
I think when we go into businesses, people are hanging on so tightly, because it's their business.
Yes.
And it's their baby. Whether it's a solopreneur, entrepreneur or a small business. Maybe there's only five people and they have a really hard time of letting go of the reins. And in that, they're also afraid to step into their potential. Like they have that excuse that I don't have time because I have to do this, this and this. But then they're complaining about sales and getting out there and doing all the other things that they should be doing. But they stay
in that comfort zone. I can cross all these things off my list, I'm really efficient at doing those. But stepping into that growth, it's going to be a little uncomfortable. So we give them that opportunity or take away the excuses so that they can do those things. But they have to kind of like release their grip a little bit. And the thing is, it's not just me going in, it's our team going in. So us saying, hey, what you're trying to do as one person and is overwhelming you, it's taking
a team to do that. And it's okay that you haven't been able to do that. We're going to free up your time, we're going to batch your time, we're going to be really creative about what we're putting out there so that it has results to it. And you're not just going to be all over the place. And we're going to release you from that responsibility. And you're going to be able to soar, fly and be free. And I think that's the toughest thing.
I love it. And I get it right. So it sounds like a lot of your clients are solo, or they're running smaller businesses with not a lot of team support. And this is an area that is just outside their cup of tea. Let's do this in our time that we have left. Let's take the person who's listening to this, if they're feeling like, Oh, I do need to tell a better story. Oh, I do need to get clarity. I need to get a laser focused message. And I do need a better social presence.
Take us through a high level agenda of how that looks when you're working with your clients.
The first piece starts with the discovery. And that's an introspective look at what is it you came to the marketplace to have this energy exchange
with your potential buyer. And once you're clear on what that purpose is, and once you're clear on what value you bring to the market, and what problem you're solving, if you can clearly identify those and get those on paper, and imbue your energy and your essence into them so that you can understand exactly who you are and what you are and why you are, then you can start with your brand
message. And your brand message is going to be the pillars of content that you're going to show up in your infrastructure of your world and your digital marketplace. So that will be your website. That will be your business cards that people still use them. That will be your social media. That will be the way you answer the phone to your clients. That will be your voice message greeting. That will be everything that represents who you are. And all of those things are your brand message. That's
your brand marketing. And once you're clear on those, then you can start creating what we call pillars of purpose or pillars of content. And those pillars of content are what are the five to six to seven, and there's not too many of them if you really boil them down and you can keep refining that market. Within those pillars, what are the five or six, seven, several ways that you really want to show up in
your brand messaging, right? And in today's social media world you have to take into consideration the multiple elements. It's not just, this is Is my product, this is what I sell, buy it. You have to give people a reason, because we have
so many options now. We live in this nation of instant gratification with our thumb, where I can basically find anything I need in a matter of seconds, I can Google it, I can Bing it, I can Instagram it, I can literally find whatever I want in just a few thumn swipes. So you have to be very, very clear on that brand message from the get go so that when people look at your phone for 4.6 seconds, as they're thumbing through . . . . . . they're very clear on what this person is, what
Right. they do, why they do, and there has to be content in that frame, on that website, in your messaging, that draws that person in for a little bit more. It's almost like dangling the carrot, that Pavlovian response, but you have to give people a reason to step into the next space. So we start everything with this discovery audit, where we'll get crystal clear on the purpose of our business. And then once we fill in those pillars, we create these concept designs of how you're going to
show up. So you're in the marketing world. So maybe you're going to show up, let's say you market people in the automobile industry, I don't know your exact industry, or maybe your new businesses. We're going to showcase the ways in which you're solving people's problems. And we're also going to pull back the curtain so people can see who Darrell Evans is. What makes this cool ass dude tick? Why is he GQ? Why does he have this smooth,
flowing voice? Like what are the things that make me really like you Darrell? And so we're going to talk about those things. And we're going to reveal this whole different side of you that you may have had insecurities or fears, this imposter syndrome that everybody has, like, why would anyone want to buy from me? Like there's everyone else? Like, why would I want to do a podcast? Darrell is way more
vocal and better than I am. But the problem is Darrell, people don't recognize is that, yeah, Darrell, is Darrell and he's amazing at what he does but Darrell has his own audiences. There's seven and a half billion people in the world. We can share a few of those people,
right? And so, if you can wrap your head around engaging with the right type of people, then we create these pillars of content with these content streams of the types of photographs, the types of videos that we're going to create for you that tell YOUR story so that when people see that story, they're very clear on what it is in you, that also resides in me.
And that's where you make that emotional connection, that storytelling that you're telling your tribe, this is why you should buy my shoes, or this is why you should buy my glasses, or this is why you should follow my feed, because there's certain parts of you that also exist in me. And that's where you bridge that gap between buyer and seller. And that's the way we take our photography. It's, it's, it's part woo woo if you will, it's part visual
intuition. It's part architecture, it's part theater, it's part all of these things. Like, we call ourselves content psychologists, because a lot of times when we work with people, we create this persona of them that they didn't even know they had within themselves. Right, right.
And we pull that back so that not only their buyer can see it, but they can see it so that they're like holy, I'm actually a badass mofo, I can completely see that.
Right, exactly.
I think too like, we're constantly surprised that these people that are so influential and amazing at public speaking and all the things that they're doing, but when you ask them to create content, they're like, I can't do a video talking about that. I can't do that. So some of it is that coaching, and some of it when he's saying, Okay, we create their pillars and everything. We calendar for them, maybe calendar for three months, these are cool things that are coming up on your
calendar already. We're going to talk about these. How are we going to talk about them? How are you going to show up? When we come in to create content, we're batching all of that together, boom, boom, boom, boom. You're not creating this all day, every day, it's kind of done. And you keep going on with your business. And then as things come up, we're saying, hey, even if we're not there creating content, hey, just do something really casual. Can you
do a video on this? Here's the three points that you could talk about, bam! And they're doing it. So it's almost a progression with them as well, that they're kind of seeing and then they start to see the connections that they're making with people within their industry and how it's increasing their vision with their brand.
Yeah, it's powerful. You know, I think the way you just described the discovery process, and then this ongoing coaching process, I think is exactly what I wanted people to understand, because a lot of the best speakers, authors, entrepreneurs, talents of any sort. A lot of times they feel great when they're in the zone, but they think it's only in that zone that they're great.
And when they try to communicate outside of that zone, they get in front of a camera when they don't normally use a camera, get behind a mic when they don't normally use a mic. Deevo, you said it's that imposter, right? That shows up. I remember when I started my podcast, I invited 77 people to be guests on the podcast, all of which I knew in some sort of way over the last 30 years. And they all more or less said yes through either a DM in Instagram or a text message or an email or a phone
call. And then when it came time to actually record thed show, I probably only had 24 or 5% of them actually follow through. One of those people just spoke to me. He's actually a coaching client of mine. And he says Darrell, when you invited me to the show, though he's been in business 20 something years, I've known him since we were 23 years old. He's bomb dot com at what he does, he said, I just didn't think I had anything to
say. And I'm thinking, you're 30 years expert in the world of sales, three different industries, you ain't got nothing to say, Are you kidding me? Right? So I love what you said, though, because what you're doing is you're walking people through a place that they just don't reside on a daily basis, right? You're able to come in and ask the questions that they're not asking themselves. You can then take the questions and add your creativity to their facts,
right? In a way that is what your superpower is, right? That's what your superpower is. I've seen you guys not in person, of course, yielding your cameras. And I can tell from just the outside looking in that there's an energy and a to use an earlier word in this conversation, a flow, or you're just really good video editors, one of the two. No, I'm just playing, because . . .
It's the green screen, remember?
Well, some of it, I believe, is green screen, but maybe no, but no, I can tell. I've been in marketing and sales a long time. And I'd love when I can connect with authentic professionals, authentic, what, meaning I can see it. Everybody can put up a really nice website today, everybody.
Yeah.
Right. But when they're capturing you, when you're in your element doing you, that takes another level of skill, right? So I got a chance when I've heard, you guys don't know this, because I geek out on stuff like this, but I want to know who it is I'm talking to before I talk to them. If we're doing marketing right, you guys like the word Sprout Connectors, I kind of say, can I get to know who they are before I ever talk to them. And you guys did a
pretty good job of that. Number one, I can see it on your Instagram. Number two, I could see through your website. Number three, I can see through your podcast, I can tell from the humor of our very first conversation, some number of months ago, three months ago. I was able to just connect the personality of Deevo being hard to control. I could see that in situations.
Yes. I put a leash on him sometimes.
I can see that.
You're spot on.
I'm just messing with you Deevo. But listen, you guys, it's been a pleasure. I'd love to have you guys back. I'd love to stay connected with you guys. Again, I just love, first of all expert service providers who are not just providing a service, but who are providing a level of expertise above a service because there's a lot of service providers who run around with photography on their tag.
Yes.
Creative storytelling. Yes. What does it I'm gonna say something really short and sweet, because you get mean? But I think we're now understanding why it's those kinds of words, why you're considered a story architect, and, and then knowing the Lisa story about the traveling and the perspective and how all of that plays into it. And just really understanding you guys, as a couple. We came from these two places. Now we're merged together, it's a merging of
those superpowers. And I think I've got a better picture and I hope our listening audience does as well. As we wrap up, what would you tell, because you've built multiple businesses. There more eloquent. Trust your gut and don't underestimate those was a ladder of chaos on one side. Lisa, you've done rebrands over the last, you know, few years. You've both been through it. You're a successful power
couple. What do you know now that you wish you knew then that you would share with an entrepreneur listening to this? things that come easy to you. And you assume that they come easy to everyone else. That's your superpower. That's your talent, explore that. Awesome. Deevo, what have you got?
I struggle with this question. And I toil with it on a daily basis. I don't think that I would tell myself anything. I would tell myself to just trust the process and step on the other side of your fear platform because all of the things that I know today only came about by my experiences of having to go through the suffering or whatever it was that taught me that I didn't understand the concept of polarization, that there's a yin
and a yang to everything. And had I not gone through those experiences, had I not worked for the corporate world, had I not been married to someone who made me unpassionate and dispassionate, I wouldn't have my children, I wouldn't have been prepared to marry this woman. So all of those things that I had to go through, are continuing to teach me everything I need to know. And so I would just say to anybody that if you're unsure of what you want out of life, the answers are only on the other
side of you exploring that. And you can't be satisfied with just saying this is enough. Because if you truly listen to what your inner spirit is telling you, you'll quickly hear that there's a someone else talking to you saying that there's something bigger and I believe that every single one of us on this planet has some sort of divine gift to offer the universe.
Amen.
And it's literally as it says a numerable as the sands on the seashore. So there's opportunity for everybody and if we can just take a minute to be still and listen to that voice and realize that on the other side of that fear there is a ladder of chaos that you can climb, then you'll find those opportunities and then don't be afraid of them when they approach you and just do it. Just start. Start by starting man. Just start by starting.
That's a great way to end. Where can everybody find you guys? Where would you want people to connect with you guys?
I think the best way is just on Instagram because we love connecting with people on the 'gram. Lisa's on @lisastaffphoto. And then I'm on @fusionphotog. Those are our individual brands and then on @sproutconnectors as well. You can find us in any of those three lines.
We'll link all those was up in the show notes. And you guys are an amazing couple. And by the way, also make sure you guys check out the Mind Body Business Podcast, which is where you can hear their antics on a weekly basis, and a number of ways for you to connect and so, Deevo and Lisa, last question I always ask is, if for whatever reason, and you can answer individually, if today happened to be the last day here on this planet, what would you want everybody to remember you for?
Being kind, just being kind.
I allow people to see them in a light that they had never before been able to see themselves. And I do that through my lens. I do that through my connecting with people. Just allowing people to see their own superpowers.
Awesome. Deevo and Lisa, thank you for being here on The MindShift Podcast.
Appreciate it, Darrell.
Thank you for having us, it was so much fun.
Appreciate you guys.
Darrell, thanks, man. Appreciate it.
Hey my friend, thanks again for listening to today's episode of The MindShift Podcast. Listen, let's not have the conversation in here. Connect with me on social @MrDarrellEvans on almost all the platforms, with the exception of Facebook. My Facebook fan page is @DarrellEvansFan. Until next week, remember you're just one shift away from the breakthrough you're looking for.