The Rising Conker Podcast acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land which this episode is being recorded, the yugen Bear region. We further acknowledge country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and terrestrid Islander peoples. Today. Hello and welcome back to the Rise and Conquer Podcasts. This is the podcast for
ordinary people who want to do extraordinary things. Hello and welcome back to the Verizon Ponker Podcast. It is your host, Georgie Stephenson, lawyer turned entrepreneur, mum, business owner, all the things. Welcome back to another Tuesday episode. Today we are chatting expanders. If you don't know what that is, hold tight. We get right into it and I have a whole bunch of examples. You're going to feel so inspired after this episode. But before we get into it, a little update on
my week. Honestly, not too much to update. Had a very chill weekend. Wanted to spend a lot of quality time with Ivy and Tim. I just feel like we've had a whole bunch of weekends where we've had, you know, stuff on like friends' birthdays and this and that, and I just I wanted to spend a weekend at home. I even got a massage. It was lovely. I was also quite exhausted because I had a huge work week, obviously in the NH warehouse recording this. Pody and I
also had a very exciting photo shoot. I did some stories a little sneak peek. I can't tell you exactly what that project is actually, I think I can tell you next week. Oh my god, I'm so excited. So I tell you guys about that next week. But it went really well. It was just really funny because before I got there, I was actually chatting to my EA Ellie,
and I was so nervous. And it's like I've done photo shoots a lot, like I've been there, done that, it's not something new, and I was I was so nervous, and I had all these kind of thoughts running through my head of just like, you know, who am I to do this? You know, I'm six months postpartum, like oh, you know, worried about what I was gonna look like. And then like, you know, all these people are here for me, and I just I don't know. I had.
I had a bit of like a moment where I was just like encompassed in Yeah, who am I to do this? In postera syndrome? And I really had to like put on a good song, pet myself up and be like I'm an ordinary person doing extraor ordinary things. And I had to give myself that pep talk. And I just wanted to touch on it today because I think, no matter how many times you get out of your comfort zone, it's still the same feeling of just being so uncomfortable. But like I say to you guys all
the time, that is where the magic happens. That is where the good shit happens. And I know that getting out of my comfort zone just leads to so many good things. So put my hype music on, I got on the zone, and I just had the best day. And yeah, I'm body excited. I hopefully get to tell you guys about that. But guys, this episode is a goodie. I hope you love it. Let's get straight into it,
all right, guys, today we are chatting expanders. This is a term I coined, didn't coin this term, but I feel like I haven't really heard anyone talk about it.
To be honest, I hadn't heard anyone talk about it when you brought it up. But I knew the concept but not the term expander. But then in the past week I've seen it a few places.
That's so weird. I think the actual words expander is something I made up. Yeah, but then the actually what we're talking about is like not a common thing. But it's like, it's not the idea. Yeah exactly, let's just go where I coined it.
When your Google expanded, it comes up with braces. So really, oh my god, I didn't even know this term.
It's because I just go off simple words as well. So in the project I would have been like, use this as your expander, and then I'm like, this is Expanders's that's how the term came to me, if that makes sense. So guys, today we are chatting expanders and if you don't know what that term means. So basically this has come about from my teachings in my seven week manifesting and self development cause the project. So in the project, I teach you my manifesting formula, and you know,
we go through everything. This is not a part of the formula. This is like a manifestation hack that I will teach people as a way of basically how to get around a block they have with what they want to manifest. So, you know, in the course, a big thing I say to them is like, you have to dream big and you have to listen to your heart.
So I call them like heart desires, Like you can't get it wrong if it's on your heart and you're following your intuition, even if it doesn't make a lot of sense, but it was put on your heart for reason. And then so people come back to me and they'll be like, you know, I on my heart, I've got this huge dream, but it doesn't make sense, and also like who am I to do this? But what I would then say to them is, well, you need to
find your expander. So for example, they might be like, you know, I, let's just use me as an example. So you know, I've created two seven figure companies before I was thirty. That was my big goal of wanting to build a business, not just be an influencer, but also this huge thing of I wanted my businesses to be purposeful. I wanted to have you know, fun every day, and you know, I've got various goals anyway, So lots of people will be like, you know, my goals are similar,
but how can I do what you've done? I don't have a following, or I don't have a brother, or I don't have a Cooper, I don't have a Cooper, And they will often get hung up on the Oh, but you know you can do that because of this and that, and then so my response to them is, yes, that is a fact about me. But also I guarantee you I could find someone who has done exactly what I've done without a following, without a Cooper, et cetera,
et cetera. So previously, when I have a huge goal, and I almost because to manifest a goal, you need to believe you can do it. Otherwise there's no way you're going to attract this thing in because that's just not like how the universe works, because like attracts like. So, if you don't believe something's going to happen, look it's not.
It's not. So what I kind of explain to people is like, you need to believe it, and if you can't believe it, a great way to start believing it is like surrounding yourself with people who have done the things you want to do. And you know, the whole thing of you know, the five people you surround yourself with.
Love that is like you're the average of the five per people you spend the most amount of time with.
Yes, and so many people like holy shit, because you know, maybe they don't spend their time with the right people. And then also a big thing comes about of you know, well how do I find people you know, who I want to hang around with? And my example is always will go buy their books, listen to their podcast, research them. You don't have to be best friends. But for example, what I used to do on the bus when I was going to my law job is I used to
listen to podcasts. So technically every single day I'm surrounding myself with people who like I wanted to be. It was just before and after work. It wasn't during work, if that means.
And even if they weren't physically there, like their influence was on you for X amount of hours of the day.
Yes. Huge. So to the point, expanders is basically a manifestation hack, so you can believe in your goal and your manifestation. So we thought it would be a bit of fun today for me and a tea to come to you guys with some stories, well they're not stories because feral facts. Some a minor stories though, because a big thing too is expanders don't always have to be people. They can be movies, they can be books. Basically they are a person or a thing that expands you to
believe in yourself. I didn't think about it like that. I doubt people. No, Yeah, And that's why I truly believe in the concept of like who the five people surround your the average of the five people you surround yourself with, But not so much that because to be completely honest, like a lot of my five people, like who knows that amount of people? No, But like my close friends, group and family, isn't necessarily people who are doing the same things to me or people I inspire
to be. They're like just friends I want to surround myself with. And then people I inspire to be is books and podcasts and movies for me.
Yes, And it's like it just comes down to like how important it is to choose the content you consume carefully because it has an impact on.
You huge And I think also once it's so it's the premise of the four minute mile. Have you heard about this? Stia, I haven't. Oh my god, So I'm gonna butcher this. I do it every time I saw I've said it on this podcast. Actually I said on Rachel Dyllon's podcast, and I butchered it. So basically, the premise of the four minute mile is I believe it. It's like in America or something in the seventies, no one could run a mile in under four minutes, like
just no one could do it. And then so what happened is one guy did it, and then no joke, after the world found out this one guy did it, like hundreds of people started doing it. So like that's such like a feel a cool thing of they thought it was impossible, and then one person did it, and then everyone was like, oh easy, I can do it too, and then people started, like hundreds of people started breaking this record, and that's such amazing. Isn't that such a
testament to you know what we're talking about? So literally, for example, if you have big goals, or even not big goals, if you've just got goals and you're struggling to believe in yourself, a huge thing that I have done is surround myself with inspiring people or inspiring content to then make me believe it, and then you you bet I've gone and done it. That's awesome. So I've got about four or five stories. A Tear has got some.
My stories are more like in my personal journey, and then A Tear has got some great just like huge one, huge one. She told me about them. I was like, what. So we thought it would be a fun episode to get your brains thinking about expanders. Tell you some inspiring stories, and then your homework for this week is, after this episode, think of what your huge goal is, think of what the block is, and then go and find either a person or a piece of content that tells you that
you can achieve that goal. I love it, love Okay. Also, you know this is the whole concept of our new mancha that you know, we're just ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Yes, so what you're about to hear is just ordinary people doing extraordinary things. And guys, this is such a huge thing in manifesting too. This is such like a great
manifesting hack and also just a very quick plug. I've kind of teas this in previous episodes, but the project is coming back for one Yes, so the project is coming back for one live round this year. I honestly just like don't have a lot of time this year between exciting projects and IVY, but I did promise you guys, and so we are excited it's coming back. It looks like it's going to be a July start date, but
more to come. And yeah, I don't know. I'm now that we have gone back into the podcast and I've started talking about manifesting, like I so to do it again. I live for this shit. And then oh my god, just like the transformations that come out of the project is just it lights me out. So anyway, let's get into it. I'm going to start sounds good and this
is like, this is going to be funny. But these were my expanders when I was in high school, when I didn't know expanders were a thing or what was even happening, or I didn't realize I was manifesting things. So these were my expanders that made me believe I could do my law degree. So I went to a public school. No one in my family has gone to university.
You know.
My three older brothers were plumbers, my dad was a palmer. No one I really knew was going to university. Wow. Yeah. Out of my friend group, I don't think anyone went. And so I had this dream that I was like, I want to do something like prestigious, Like I wanted to be like a lawyer or doctor or you know, something like that that like my parents could be proud
of me for doing it. It was very much that vibe and I had done legal studies at school and really enjoyed it, but I had this weird block about it. I was like, I can't be a lawyer. Lawyers are boring. Lawyers are boring, and also just didn't think I was smart enough, even though at that point in like my legal studies subject, I was getting like a pluses. I was doing well, it's cute, dear, heypusses, I know why
we see this, So no joke. I watched Legally Blonde was obsessed with Reese with Esperion, and after watching that movie, I was like, oh my god, I could be a lawyer. It's so fun you get to work cut out bits. No, but it was more about she could have because I was very much that girl. I loved fashion. You can tell by the person I am, what sort of person I am, and I like, yeah, I just love that she could do both. Yeah, And it was the first time that I kind of was opened up to that idea.
So then at the same time, my oldest brother had a girlfriend who just got accepted into law at university and she very much like came from a very low socio economic background and you know, really had to put She would not call her off naturally smart, she had to really put in the work. And then yeah, so she got into law and was like really excited about it, and like, both those things together were literally the reason
that I went into my law degree. That's amazing and maybe not yet, like not when it did it bit believed that you could, that I was worthy enough to go and do it. That's so cool. I love it. Watch yours.
I'm going to start with start with Serena and Venus Williams love So have you watched King Richard?
Yes?
Yeah, best movie ever, honestly, right, and I for them For those of you who haven't seen the movie or don't know, they had a very rough upbringing. They had a lot of siblings, they were living in a very low socioeconomic area in America at that point in time. There was still a lot of racism and segregation and all that sort of stuff, and they were the youngest out of their family, and their dad took them to the tennis courts almost every day, rain, hail, sunshine, and
they would train every single day. And this was never verified, but it is a plot that's followed in the movie that he wrote this plan for them before they were born, that he was going to make them the Michael Jordan's of tennis, and no one believed him. Everyone thought he was crazy. And you'd all know now that he actually did that because those girls worked so hard. And one thing that really stuck with me, especially from that movie, was he said we've got doctors, lawyers, and two tennis
stars in this house. And I was like, yeah, sure, that's a line from the movie, not a line from the movie. Their siblings are doctors, one's a lawyer. Like incredibly successful family that just had very hard working parents that taught them the right values and taught them that they could do anything, and they have done everything. He got them scholarships when people said, no, one's going to
pay for them to learn tennis. At that time, it was obviously a sport that people who are very wealthy could do because you.
Had to pay a lot.
He found someone that moved his entire family, gave them a house, food, electricity, paid for all their bills for all these years because he wouldn't let the girls compete to the point of finally letting the girls compete and them smashing it and taking over the world. But for them, like for me, that's such as.
Are MoPo And now you know the movie.
Yeah, now you know the movie, but I highly recommend it. It's a great watch. But that was a very eye opening thing for me because I just assumed that they were wealthy, yes, because I saw them from when I've seen them. I saw them as being wealthy, and I saw them as being super successful. And I was like, there's no way that they came from nothing, and they have literally come from nothing. And that's what I find
so inspiring because its huge. They were very young when they did it too, like age was not an issue for them.
Yeah, I love that and that, Yeah, can confirm that is the best movie. And I think that's a huge thing of a lot of people. When they're talking about goals or you know, wanting to do things or inspiring people, they're like yeah, but you know they came from a wealthy family or you don't understand, like I had a very rough upbringing, and it's like that can also be true while you're still, you know, achieving things.
Yeah, don't let don't let having a rough upbringing or a rough childhood stop you from doing great things, because usually that makes the things you do even better.
A great story love. Okay, So my next one, and this is like a very specific one, but there is an influencer who I used to follow called well still follow, Amanda Boucci. At this time, I had just quit my law job and I kind of didn't know what I wanted to do. But I had quit my law job and I was doing the influencing thing. But I had this like huge thing that it's like I didn't want to be an influencer. I wanted to be known as
more and do more. And it's almost like I had this kind of chip on my shoulder that it's like I wanted to transform my personal brand from not just being a fitness influencer. And so a man Da Booty at that time was also a fitness influencer who had made a huge pivot into being a business entrepreneur and I can't actually remember what she did, but I think she did like courses or like that side of things,
and I actually did some coaching with her. Bit you know, previous to that, she was someone in the space who was a fitness and film flat, who was a fitness influencer who pivoted and then was really established and well known, and she was also only huge podcasts like Lewis Howe and those ones, and she was well known to you know,
do this huge pivot. And so at that time it was huge to me because that's what I wanted to do, and I felt very stuck because I was like, oh, but everyone's just going to think of me as an influencer. They're not going to take me seriously. But then I used her as well, look she has done it, and yeah, she just did some like really cool things and completely changed her personal brand. But it worked so well, and so I again used her as a well she can
do it, I can do it too. Yeah, And it was such a like huge you know, she was female, she was a couple of years older than me, Like I'm very like my expanders are usually me as a person previous years, and that's what works well for me was other people that doesn't matter too much.
Yeah, like you can use well, I found even when I was trying to research expand is the one that the ones that initially came to my mind, they were all female, they were all within the sort of industry I wanted to go in. And then I was like, oh, maybe you need to include some other stories.
Yeah, well, I think like your expander, it really does need to be someone you resonate with who has well, that's the whole point is because you can see yourself in them.
Exactly, and so there's no point like I obviously don't want to be a tennis player and is inspiring as Venus and Serena are that more just a reality check for me when I'm feeling down about not being able to do something huge.
And see that's also a great point a tear because they don't have to be as specific as I'm talking. They can just be almost like a motivational sort of one. But also I do definitely encourage you to find like very specific ones too, and that's it. Okay, who's your ex? One?
Another huge one and I actually didn't know this much about her, but she bounced around before she ended up where she did. But it's Sarah Blakely And for those of you who don't know, she's the founder of Spanx.
Oh my god, I love her.
I've listened to how I built this with her. She's amazing, amazing. And so she first of all her parents one was an artist and the other one was a trial attorney. So obviously nothing crazy entrepreneurial or anything like that. She wasn't handed the reins to any business. And she has one brother who also became an artist. And she actually initially became an attorneity attorney. She became attorney an eternity.
She is forever.
So she became an attorney, and we'll.
Just say lawyer.
Yeah, she was becoming a lawyer, and she scored very low on an admission test. So she instead went and worked at Disney World for three months and bounced around as a stand up comedian in a few places and really just experienced life. And then she started working at a sales company and she sold fax machines daugh to door and she became promoted to the national sales trainer by the age of twenty five because she was that good at selling these Fax machines.
Wow.
And from then she obviously had some body image issues and that sort of stuff, and that's where spanks was born. But she literally built this business from nothing. It says here she spent five thousand dollars in savings and researching, researching and developing the idea for spanks.
And I remember a story from how I built this where she says when she got her first like kind of break with I think it was Sacks. And basically what she did is so SAS was like, yeah, we'll pick up you know, your spanks. They would you know, stock her in store. She would go to SAS and buy out the spanks herself, so it looked like she was doing really well, and so she would go to each store and buy it out, so then they wanted to place a bigger order. It's like clever. It's like fraud.
But yeah, a lot of people say that, but it's it's genius. It's like, say it's clever because then it creates, you know, the hype, the hype. And that was just like like one example that I thought was, you know, it's like costing her money, but it's putting it back in the business. But it was just like just the little thing she did was like really incredible in her story.
Yeah, And another little thing she did that I love was she sent a basket of Spanx to Oprah Winfrey's TV address with a gift card and it just also a letter explaining what she was trying to develop. And in the end Oprah ended up picking it up and finding out about the business and bringing it up on her TV show saying they were one of her favorite things, which at that time was huge.
Wow. Yeah, oh my god, do you remember you told me that story about the person who like jumped the Kardashians fence. She's amazing tell us about that. Her name is, It's Olivia something, and she's the founder of a business in Melbourne called Silk Olivia Carr. So she started a silk brand in Melbourne and she really really wanted to
get the Kardashians on board. And the way she did this was she saved up, bought a ticket to La literally jumped the fence to their house and left a basket of products and like a five page letter about who she was. She was a single mom at the time, raising her daughter very young.
Mum.
I think she had her daughter when she was about twenty years old and she'd started this brand, and they endorsed the products, and the Kardashians order from her now and her brands built to this amazing thing. And what I really loved about that story was it was nuts, but she did it such.
A risk, big risk, because they could have just got it and been like, yeah, we get a thousands of these.
Exactly, and she was. I think what's important as well that Sarah did is that they both showed themselves in it, Like they didn't just send this perfectly packaged PR box. They went there themselves, they dropped it off, they wrote a letter explaining who they were and why their goal was so important to them. And then the other thing she did was she did the same thing with the Beverly Hills Hotel, so they manufactured the Beverly Hills Hotel PJ.
And she did that by going to Beverly Hills Hotel, finding out who was the person in charge of that beforehand, and going to actually meet them in person and making that effort even though she was technically still a tiny business, and not letting that stop her from going for those huge clients.
Love, I'm excited, what's the next one? I love this episode. Shit's getting me excited. Yeah, all right, next one. So this this was like a recent expander. So I had a lot of limiting beliefs around getting pregnant and having a baby and you know, still being successful in business and so content that I really kind of looked for and consumed when I was pregnant was like other female entrepreneurs who you know, were either pregnant or had kids. And someone who I found who I love is Jenna Kutcher.
So she actually has the Goal Goal Yeah, Goal Digger podcast. She's great. She's on Instagram as Jenna Kutcher and she is this. So her backstory is she was a photographer and she would work a week. She like photograph weddings, so yeah, she used to do weddings, so she'd work all weekend edit photos during the week, and you know, it was not sustainable. So then she started an online course all about teaching I believe it was like other photographers how to market, because she got so busy that
she couldn't keep up. So she had obviously like you know, found a niche or whatever. So then she helped other photographers market. So then she started doing like online courses and that's her bread and butter now is online courses, so she teaches about marketing in a very simplistic way, like she has courses about like Pinterest and just how
to utilize things. And then also herself, she has a backroun of you know, having three miscarriages and she puts a lot of her personal life online, so you know, you know her and you you feel like you know her. So then she has this really beautiful story of you know, finally having a pregnancy that went to full term. And what she did was she like really prepped her team and had a whole process of she wanted to take
time off, so maternity leave. And also another thing is like her husband, like she was the breadwinner and her husband the plan was to stay at home with baby and she would go back to work. So similar with me and Tim as well. So like I found her and I was like, oh my god, Yes, she's my expander at the moment. And she has this really cool episode where she she always does like a year in review where she'll literally tell you like the number figure
of like how much she earned. Wow. Yeah, Like she's very transparent, and in this episode she was going like the year of I think it was like twenty ninety and so that's the year that she had her baby. She was on maternity leave, but she had prepped her team so they could still work, still launch, but she you know, wasn't working and she got time with her baby, and then you know, she came back to work and she said, it was the year that I spent the
least time in my business. And I'm pretty sure they like double their income. Oh my god. Yeah, so she's like, this is the most I've ever earned and it was like seven million, seventeen million or something ridiculous like that while having her first baby and being on maternity leave. That's incredible. It was, and it was incredible, and it made me believe. I'm like, oh my god, I have so many limiting beliefs around getting pregnant and around running
my business and around having our baby. And she was just such like an expander for me during that time. And then also what I love too is she also a huge thing we did with Naked Harvest was like really prep so I could take time off with Ivy and have maternity leave and be like really ahead. And she was like a catalyst for like doing that and that's what we did, and that was like really good to you know, be really prepped. Yeah. Yeah, So she
was such a huge expander for me. Of and she still is in regards to She just had her second baby and she still like the company still runs. You know, her husband is at home with the kids, and she's just such an inspiration. I love that, love love her.
Okay, I'm going to start this by reading out an Instagram post to you, and then I'm gonna say who it is. This wasn't posted by that person, It was posted by someone else. The Instagram post is by Holly Branson, which is Richard Branson's daughter, and it says ten years ago, while at a music event for up and coming artists with some friends, my then fiance grabbed me and pulled me over to a makeshift stage and said, you've got
to hear this young guy sing. He's amazing. On stage was an eighteen year old guy on his own with his guitar, and Freddie was right. He blew me away. I'm going to ask if he would if he would want to play at our wedding. I don't think I've ever seen Freddie so excited. We were both delighted when he agreed and said, I've never been to the Caribbean, so if you book my flat and give me somewhere
to sleep, then I'm game, he said. Eight months later, as our wedding loomed, he had released his first hits and pretty much broke the internet on SBTV and appeared on Jules Holland. I don't know what that show is, Bud seem it's big. There's no way he's still going to come. Freddie I insisted he's a superstar with the heavy heart of a bride to be. I emailed saying we completely understood if he could no longer make it, and congratulated him on his much deserved huge success. His
reply stunned me. A promise is a promise. I still haven't managed to get to the Caribbean. I'll be there. We genuinely couldn't believe it. Your promise made our wedding even more special. Last week, Freddie and I had yet another magical evening watching one of the most successful artists of the last decade on star Age in London performing at his tenure anniversary concert at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. It was so nostalgic for us as we watched him in the same spot ten years ago when people were
only just starting to get to know him. Congratulations, you deserve every ounce of your success. You're amazing, Freddie. And I could not be happier to have been at the event on that fateful night. And that's about Ed Sheeran.
Stop how crazy. And he's like literally the number one artist on Spotify. Now. I love Ed Churan, I love Edcheeran just like he's amazing. I just I'd adore him. And so what's the backstory.
What's even crazier is that he was bullied all through school. So he had a speech impediment, he had his glass and red hair. He had his red hair, so people bullied him a lot, and he had a rough time in school. And he also had a surgery that went wrong and left him with a lazy eye and even worse speech problems. So the bullying just got worse and worse. Yeah, to the point that he couldn't even talk in class, Like he'd put his hand up to answer a question
and nothing would come out. Speech therapy didn't work for him at all, Like he kept going and going and going. Nothing worked, Nothing happened and the thing that changed was when his dad bought him Eminem's record and Ed Sheeran loved the rapping, you know, the really really fast one, and he made sure to learn every word. And that's how he got out of having a speech impediment, is by learning Eminem's rapping because he wanted to rap as fast as Eminem.
Should I buy Eminem.
Next episode, guys, George's going to be daring some Eminem just rapping. But basically from there, when he was pretty much a nobody, still in school, still very young, he began writing his own music and singing, and his starter disappeared, and from there he would just start gigging. And he was like thirteen years old and he'd be like doing two shows every night, just digging wherever and whenever he could.
And when he got to fourteen, he dropped out of school, took his guitar, packed some clothes and went to London and was like, I'm going to be the next big thing.
Oh my god, fourteen years old, like grade nine, and so he went to London.
He'd couch surf or sleep on the subway if or not subway but underground train if there was no one to take him, and he was just busking and started playing a lot of small venues until he until sort of social media happened in twenty ten and he started showing his videos online and started gaining a little bit
of a following. But the massive catalyst was when he was I think, busking in LA and he was invited to go on a radio show and the host let him sing and it was just a local radio show, nothing big, and he got a standing ovation from people in the studio when he played. And that was Jamie Fox's radio show. And then he also slept on Jamie Fox's couch for the next few weeks until he started getting some bigger things happening.
Love, Oh my god, I love you bringing out the big boys. Yes, Sharon, and I just never would have guessed. Yes. And this is like such a huge thing. As you'll notice, like with the really inspiring stories, they often had a lot of adversity. Huge Yeah, like bullied all through school? Yeah, love Okay, my next one, so wow, I'm really just making mine all about myself. But it is my podcast exactly.
That's fine. But otherwise I just don't have good examples because like when do I have the time of course it's about me. So another great expander and this is honestly more as I use this. I use this a lot in the project when people are like I want to start a business, but I don't have a following like you Georgia blah blah blah. Like a huge example of that. And we've actually had her on the podcast
and will link the episode in the show notes. Is Priscilla who started Bang and Body love her, which is like it's the firm and cream. It's amazing, it's in the yellow tube. You'll know what it is. It's in the yellow tube. So she has this really cool story where she's not an influencer. She never wanted to be an influencer. But the way that she like built her brand was she created in Instagram, which was just like an inspo Instagram, and she kind of it's like, you
know a form of blogging. And then she really kind of went a different way than how everyone else was doing it. And then she had you know, like a vip list and like she had a marketing strategy that was just different and outside the box. Yeah, and had a huge launch and like recently she's gone in Mecca and like just like done some really cool things, and I just love it because I feel like a lot of businesses right now are built off followings and Instagram.
Like this morning, I was telling a tear about the Uninspired boys, the what's it called unemployed, uninspired? Unemployed? Yeah, no, inspired, uninfluenced. So I was just listening to the Shameless podcast and they were saying how those boys they started to be a company and it is the fastest growing beer company in like eight years. Insane, insane. But anyway, like that's a great example of like off a following. Yeah, so I just love her story because it's a very like
Instagram social media business. But it's like, no, you don't have to be an influencer exactly.
You can just put the work in and grove following without starting from nothing, essentially, Yes, exactly. Well my next one. So these girls are pretty young, which is why I think I relate to them a lot as an expander because I am a little bit young too. So I have picked these girls as expanders because it's very much sort of the industry vibe that I want to go into, and they've just done incredible things. So they're called Barlow and Bear, So their actual names are Abigail Barlow and
Emily Bear. Emily is twenty, I think or twenty one, and Abigail is about twenty two or twenty three. So it was very inspirational because I've always felt like, oh, and I noticed a lot of my other friends feel like I can't yet, I'm too young kind of thing. People won't take me seriously when I'm twenty something. Huge block, Yeah, massive block. And this really told me to sort of just get off my high horse and just start working because there's no point and what am I waiting for?
But they watched bridgeton the first season when it first came out and was so inspired by that they wrote a musical around it. But what I love about what they did is they shared it on TikTok straight away, like it was never a oh, people are going to take our idea. Oh we're gonna get in trouble with copyright. There was just no blocks. They shared every song they wrote.
They did Instagram lives during the day while they were writing songs for people, and that was still sort of during COVID lockdown ish, so they had a lot of engagement and they grew a massive following from that and people loved being included in the process, and that in itself is like a marketing strategy because it's the process
as the product kind of thing. And that's how they grew this huge community and following to the point that they were able to produce this musical theater album without a record label and still get away with Like there were obviously legal discussions because it's now been branded as the unofficial Bridgeton Musical because.
I'm yeah, so were they Like the songs were they based off Bridgeton and they just did their own spin on it.
Literally, Like some of the words are exact, so if you listen to the opening number, it starts with the exact word for word narration that Lady Whistledown gives at the beginning of the series. So it's sort of that if you took these songs and turned it into a stage show, it would be Bridgeton Season one as a stage show.
You can go watch it.
Wow incredible and so well written. People loved it and massive following. They grew and they produced this album and recently they've now they got nominated for a Grammy, which is huge for Best Musical Theater Album of the Year.
Wow.
And they were against I think they were against like the redoing of West Side Story and they won that.
Wow, I know and creditcu me.
Goosebumps, yes, because next level and now there their living life. It's been just maybe over a year and a bit or almost two years, and they're now working on another musical in Punt that Dolly partners in. So they've just gone from no one knowing who they were. They just worked really really hard.
And they didn't think that they couldn't, you know what I love. This is also a story coming up, like an x ME coming up for me is Kara our will Labor, who has actually been on the potty as a guest. She has this really cool story of she wanted to publish a book and she got turned down by I think it's like twenty nine publishers, but she was like, no, this needs to be a book. So she's self published and she kept self publishing books and now she's like a best selling author and it's like
she didn't need someone to validate her. She just like went and did it herself and she said it was like, honestly, so much easier. And then it's funny because she then got a book published by a really high end publisher and didn't like the experience and went back to self publishing. Wow. Yeah, that's so cool. Yeah. So it's like you don't have to do it in the way you're thinking.
No, you can do it however you want. And I think as well, people think industries like that are super hard to get into, but just don't think too much to just do it.
They are. But you can make your own seat. Yeah that's not a good quote. Yeah, you can make your put give yourself a seat at the table. Amazing. So we've just randomly brought Cooper in here because it's our new thing. I was talking to Cooper about this before we started recording, and he wanted to talk about his expanders. I love that. So Coop, me and Tear have just gone back and forward with our expanders.
Hello, Hello, everyone, I'm back. You're welcome. One of mine is Jen Czero. She wrote the book How to Be a Badass of Making Money, and that definitely changed my life pretty much, a bit dramatic, but it kind of did. It was, yeah, all things money mindset, how to have a good relationship with money, and that changed everything for me.
I feel like that book Cooper also because I'm much the same on you, but it was more expanded to like believe in yourself to go after what you want. But also, like I think a big thing for that book and me was like doing what you like can also be your job. That was huge for me in Cooper because we grew up with with you don't like your job, you just do it for money, You work eight to five and then you have fun after. Yeah, And that was like huge in that book for me.
So I if you don't know who this person is, you'll know her TV shows. Her name is Shonda Rhimes and she is the creator. She now owns her own production company called Shondaland, but she produced in creatively produced Gray's Anatomy, bridgeton How to Get Away with Murder. She's done a lot of good, huge TV shows, And what I love about her in particular is that she just did the work.
Like.
Her parents weren't in the industry of making movies or TV, which is typically that's how people get into it. But they were just uni professors. One of her mum was worked in admin, her dad was a lecturer. She just ticked every step that you think you'd need to kind of thing.
And she went to.
School, graduated school, went to some really good colleges, studied English and film studies, and then interned and then just worked her way up slowly to the point that she was able to start her own production company. And what I think and you'll love this, she wrote the screenplay for The Princess Diaries too.
Wow.
Yeah, so she did. She did the normal work that you think, and I think people discredit that sometimes because they'll go, if I go through the normal channels, there's no way I'm going to be able to get to where I need to. I need to make this massively and just end up at the end, at the end goal.
But it's not really necessary. Like you can go to UNI, you can study the business degree, you can study the film degree, and then just get the internships and slowly work your way up to your goals, but you still need to know that you can achieve them kind of thing.
Yeah, And I think so with that a tea, it's also realizing enough think has to be a certain way. Yeah, Like I think this whole episode, it's like you don't actually have to do anything a certain way. It's exactly that's that's the gi just yeah, I hear you. What. Well, the whole thing is like we know expanders who have done it the like Shonda Rhymes and she's checked, you know, checked each box then and it's like I don't think there's any right or wrong way. And that's the beauty
of It's like what feels good to you. But a huge thing is if you come from a certain background, or you have certain blocks or certain things that you think are stopping you from, you know, creating your dream life, I guarantee you there's someone out there who has the exact same but has created the dream life. Yeah, or worse. Yes, it's like what Yeah, I get what you mean.
Yeah, like they've come from a worse situation.
Yeah, exactly. Okay, Cooper, you have your last one that you wanted to tell us about, and this is a good one.
Okay. My second one is his name is Aiden. I met him through a naked harvest. Whenever I've had problems with packaging or logistics or even just personal problems as well, I've always turned to him as well as he's turned to me as well, and he's always helped me through.
Yeah.
He's just been a really good mate and plus he's done it, so he's experienced a lot of it. He's a little bit older and he's into his business a lot further along. But yeah, he's helped me a lot throughout everything. And yeah, some sort of challenge that I just think it's impossible. I would give him a call and he'd be like, what do you mean, of course you can do it, just do it, and then it'd be a lot more conversation because he's a massive talker,
but I can tell your ear off. But yeah, he has really helped me.
So that's like such a good example because I feel like menitia have touched on people around you who can be expanders except my first one with my brother's girlfriend, but that's like none of mine. But I think that's a big thing too. You can have both. You can have you know, friends who are kind of doing the thing you want to do, who are like further ahead, or if you don't have the you know, the luxury of having those sorts of relationships of finding it in the books and the podcasts.
Yeah, and do you reckon Like I don't know if we'd call this an expand up, but just sort of friends that remove those barriers for you. And your head kind of thing, because I feel like the purpose of an expander is that when you have those blocks and all you see is challenges to doing something that removes that for you. Would you say friends who when you chat to them, even though they haven't done it, they go, that's not an issue, like why are you stressing about that?
Yeah, for sure, or even you know, just like friends who are like super encouraging of your idea.
If they are friends, they would know you and they would know your problems as well, so they would know a lot more deeper than other people because it's a lot more broad and bigger people and the new stuff.
But yeah, this is the reason why I brought Cooper in. I knew there was something.
Yes, my last one is Georgia, my sister. Yes, actually it's really weird because she's my younger sister. But yeah, Georgia was on her journey with this self development journey a lot sooner than me, and yeah, so she brought me along on her journey as well and has opened my eyes up to a lot of things. And yeah, to not worry, to just dream bigger.
I love it.
Pretty much.
And well, I think a big thing is like a Kooper just did not have a lot of belief in himself. But you've got to we've got to pet them up. Yeah, but that's just coming here.
System. You have to have a good support system, and that's like the key with anything personal or business related.
I literally just brought it in so he could tell you, guys, all right, you can leave now you've done it.
No.
But that's also like if you have, you know, personal relationships that support you and make you feel good, like make sure you keep those people close, and people who maybe aren't that supportive, I wouldn't be telling them your ideas.
When you're starting off something like, Yeah, you've got to be very careful who you share your ideas with because they just can't comprehend it and they're going to bring you down.
So I think also when you're starting something, you probably already have a lot of doubt in yourself. The last thing you need is someone to put like one percent out in your head even more. Yeah, So that's like a huge thing.
Yeah, I don't think it's even if you've got doubt, it's you've got this energy. When you're starting something, you remember like like you're this so much energy and you think it's the best thing ever. And then you're so excited and you had to tell someone and then they shut it down that it just and then that's it that wrecks you. But yeah, so choosual.
Any tips on how to if say, you haven't started a business or you haven't had a huge dream before and you do want to share it with people around you, how do you know who are the right people to share it with you?
To make your mistakes?
You test it, well, I think it's stick skin. Well, my honestly, my thing that I do is I just don't tell anyone. I'm like hugely secretive because if there's a tiny bit of doubt that I see in other people,
I like collapse like I can't. So I make it a huge thing that I'm quite secretive, and that is to protect me because I know what happens, Yeah, once doubt seeps in, And so if you ask someone similar to me, I just would be keeping it to yourself unless you know that person is going to be supportive.
Yeah.
But a big thing I talk about is like it's hard enough getting yourself on board to believe it. You don't need to then have to go and spend energy on getting other people to believe it. All right, guys, Sears, welcome, thanksgiver, Like we love his perspective because it's always so different to us. It's so different. All right, guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope you've got a dose of inspiration and like I said, homework. If you have doubt in your dreams or just your next step, go
and seek how people who have done it. Consume their content, be around them, even if it's like an audiobook or a podcast or Instagram. You know, follow those people, put them on your favorites list on Instagram, so you're just consuming their content because that is such a huge catalyst to then, you know, following your things. Such a great manifestation hack.
Dude.
Yeah, thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Rise and Concer podcast. If you enjoyed it and want more, come connect with us on Instagram at Riseinconquer dot podcast and join our Facebook discussion group, a Rise and Concer podcast community. We're an independent podcast and we have a small team, so we do appreciate your
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