Latest / The Favourite Self Podcast / 6. The Mirror Effect: What Your Life, Brand, and Leadership Are Reflecting Back to You
Transcript
- 0:00SPEAKER_00: Your beliefs shape your actions, your actions shape your results, and your results reinforce your beliefs.
- 0:08SPEAKER_00: So your brand isn't just mirroring your audience, it is mirroring you.
- 0:12SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Favorite Self Podcast.
- 0:14SPEAKER_00: I like to think of it not as your future self or your best self, but your favorite self.
- 0:17SPEAKER_00: My favorite self.
- 0:18SPEAKER_00: It just makes me feel the truest version of me.
- 0:21SPEAKER_00: What lights your favorite self on fire?
- 0:24SPEAKER_00: I'm Carly Ottaway, founder, author, storyteller, and a woman who learned that building a successful life means nothing if it doesn't feel like yours.
- 0:32SPEAKER_00: This podcast is for women who are building businesses, raising families, leading movements, and asking themselves, is this it or is there more available to me?
- 0:41SPEAKER_00: This is your invitation to come back to yourself.
- 0:44SPEAKER_00: Let's dig in.
- 0:46SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Favorite Self Podcast.
- 0:51SPEAKER_00: I love saying that.
- 0:52SPEAKER_00: I don't think I'll ever get sick of it.
- 0:54SPEAKER_00: I'm having so much fun in my podcasting era, and I'm just so, so grateful to you for listening and for all the messages.
- 1:03SPEAKER_00: It just makes my day every time.
- 1:05SPEAKER_00: And I am back with something really special today, another solo episode.
- 1:09SPEAKER_00: And I want to start this episode with something that honestly might shift the way that you see everything.
- 1:16SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna make that claim right now.
- 1:18SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about your business, your relationships, your clients, your kids.
- 1:24SPEAKER_00: None of it is random.
- 1:26SPEAKER_00: And it's all reflecting something back to you.
- 1:30SPEAKER_00: And when you learn how to read the mirror and stop trying to fix everything outside of you, but actually start transforming from within, everything changes.
- 1:43SPEAKER_00: So in my book, Coming Home, I write about something called the mirror effect.
- 1:49SPEAKER_00: And it's something I've been working on behind the scenes for years.
- 1:53SPEAKER_00: And it's a concept that I believe that once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
- 1:56SPEAKER_00: And I see it everywhere and I see it reflected back to me.
- 1:59SPEAKER_00: But it's really this concept around how what you reflect, you attract.
- 2:04SPEAKER_00: So, in other words, the way that you view and treat yourself is mirrored in how others experience you.
- 2:10SPEAKER_00: Your internal world reflects your external reality.
- 2:15SPEAKER_00: And I've really seen this play out everywhere, not just in life, but in branding and marketing, in leadership and in motherhood.
- 2:23SPEAKER_00: Motherhood has been such a big one and really hit this home for me because our kids are, I always say, such tiny mirrors.
- 2:30SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna get into that.
- 2:32SPEAKER_00: But it really started for me in marketing, actually, because it's rooted in this idea of mirroring, which shows up both in psychology and in marketing.
- 2:43SPEAKER_00: And in marketing, mirroring is about reflecting your audience back to them.
- 2:49SPEAKER_00: So their ideas, their desires, their challenges, ultimately their language so that they feel seen.
- 2:56SPEAKER_00: And what I've found is that your brand is actually doing that too.
- 3:02SPEAKER_00: Not just in the way that most people think.
- 3:04SPEAKER_00: Your brand isn't just mirroring your audience, it's actually mirroring you.
- 3:08SPEAKER_00: What's really interesting about this is it's not just a mindset concept.
- 3:13SPEAKER_00: There's actually science behind it.
- 3:16SPEAKER_00: We have something in our brains called mirror neurons.
- 3:20SPEAKER_00: And their job is actually to help us understand and connect with other people.
- 3:25SPEAKER_00: This is rooted in our nature as human beings.
- 3:27SPEAKER_00: And it's done so by literally mirroring what we see and feel.
- 3:32SPEAKER_00: It's how we pick up on someone's energy.
- 3:34SPEAKER_00: It's how we can feel when someone is feeling off or when they're holding back, or even if they're just like saying all the right things, but it's not feeling true.
- 3:44SPEAKER_00: So when you think about your brand and your content and your leadership and your business, remember that people aren't just hearing your words.
- 3:52SPEAKER_00: They are truly feeling what's beneath them.
- 3:55SPEAKER_00: They are responding to your level of self-trust, to your safety in being seen, and ultimately to your belief in what you offer.
- 4:06SPEAKER_00: And they mirror that right back to you.
- 4:07SPEAKER_00: So there's an anchor in this too, actually.
- 4:10SPEAKER_00: It's something called a self-fulfilling prophecy, which is essentially this idea that what you believe to be true, you start to create evidence for.
- 4:19SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of like when you're shopping for a car and then you suddenly start seeing that car everywhere.
- 4:25SPEAKER_00: It's this idea that if deep down you don't fully believe in your value, you might start overexplaining, over-justifying, you might undercharge and you might hesitate and hold back in how you show up.
- 4:40SPEAKER_00: And then the response that you get from others reinforces that belief.
- 4:44SPEAKER_00: But the wonderful thing is that the opposite is also true.
- 4:47SPEAKER_00: So when you start to trust yourself, when you start to own your voice and your story and you decide that you are available for more and you actually step into that belief on not just a conscious level, but a subconscious one as well, you show up differently and people respond to that.
- 5:03SPEAKER_00: And then that's the loop.
- 5:05SPEAKER_00: Your beliefs shape your actions, your actions shape your results, and your results reinforce your beliefs.
- 5:13SPEAKER_00: So your brand isn't just mirroring your audience, it is mirroring you.
- 5:17SPEAKER_00: And that is why the self-work is the most important work.
- 5:21SPEAKER_00: That's why we know you're not just building the business, you are building yourself.
- 5:25SPEAKER_00: Because your brand reflects what you believe about yourself, what you believe you're available for, your level of self-trust, your capacity to be seen.
- 5:34SPEAKER_00: And it's not just communicating who you are, it's really revealing who you believe that you are underneath it all.
- 5:42SPEAKER_00: And that's why you can have the beautiful website, the best strategy, the most perfectly laid content plan.
- 5:50SPEAKER_00: But if your identity hasn't caught up yet, your brand will still feel off.
- 5:54SPEAKER_00: There will still be a disconnect and your audience will feel that because your brand will never outgrow your self-beliefs, just like I've shared in a previous episode.
- 6:02SPEAKER_00: So coming back to the mirror effect, I want to dive deeper into this because it is not just a surface level concept.
- 6:08SPEAKER_00: There are actually multiple layers to it.
- 6:11SPEAKER_00: And the first is your conscious mirror.
- 6:13SPEAKER_00: And this is what you know consciously that you are putting out there: your messaging, your visuals, your tone.
- 6:20SPEAKER_00: It's the strategy ultimately, the things that you are intentionally choosing.
- 6:24SPEAKER_00: And this is where most people focus.
- 6:26SPEAKER_00: They start tweaking their words, they're always looking to updating their branding, trying to find the next hack to optimize how they're showing up.
- 6:36SPEAKER_00: But underneath that is your subconscious mirror.
- 6:39SPEAKER_00: And this is where it gets really interesting because this is what is actually running the show.
- 6:45SPEAKER_00: And it's often what you're not fully aware of.
- 6:48SPEAKER_00: It's the self-doubt that creeps in, the hesitation before you hit publish.
- 6:53SPEAKER_00: It's that fear of being seen that you can sometimes feel in your body or your body shows you signs of before you even realize it.
- 7:01SPEAKER_00: It's those questions around your worth, especially when it comes to money and visibility.
- 7:07SPEAKER_00: And if you, even if you don't say those things out loud, people feel them.
- 7:14SPEAKER_00: Even if you don't recognize them, people feel them.
- 7:17SPEAKER_00: This is the energy ultimately that's underneath your brand.
- 7:20SPEAKER_00: And it's often the thing that influences your results the most and has the biggest impact.
- 7:28SPEAKER_00: And then there's the deepest layer, which is your identity mirror.
- 7:33SPEAKER_00: And this is about what you believe you are actually available for.
- 7:37SPEAKER_00: So the level of clients that you believe you get to work with, the level of money that you believe you are capable of holding, the level of visibility that you feel safe stepping into, because your brand isn't just communicating what you do, it's reflecting who you believe you are, like I said.
- 7:55SPEAKER_00: And this is why your brand is not just a marketing tool.
- 8:00SPEAKER_00: It is ultimately an identity amplifier.
- 8:03SPEAKER_00: It amplifies what is already there.
- 8:05SPEAKER_00: So if something's feeling off, if things aren't landing, if you're not attracting the clients that you know you're capable of, it's not actually about doing more most of the time.
- 8:16SPEAKER_00: It's about looking at what your brand is reflecting back to you.
- 8:21SPEAKER_00: Because your brand will always calibrate to your self-perception.
- 8:25SPEAKER_00: Over time, I really started to realize that this isn't just a concept, it's a process.
- 8:31SPEAKER_00: Because once you see what the mirror is reflecting, the question actually becomes what do you do with it?
- 8:38SPEAKER_00: And that's where I developed my mirror framework.
- 8:42SPEAKER_00: I love a good framework.
- 8:44SPEAKER_00: And I'll walk you through that now because mirror stands for map, illuminate, release, reclaim, own, recognize.
- 8:54SPEAKER_00: So let's get into map, the first step.
- 8:56SPEAKER_00: And this is where you really start to understand who you've been and who you're becoming.
- 9:02SPEAKER_00: Because most of us are still operating from an identity that was shaped years ago.
- 9:06SPEAKER_00: Your childhood experiences, the environments that you grew up in, the version of you that learned how to stay safe in order to be liked or be accepted.
- 9:16SPEAKER_00: And even in business, there's usually an earlier version of you that's still running the show.
- 9:21SPEAKER_00: The one that maybe was just starting out, or the one who didn't fully know or believe in what was possible yet, or the one who learned how to play small because it felt safer than actually being seen.
- 9:32SPEAKER_00: So this step is about bringing awareness to that.
- 9:35SPEAKER_00: Who have I been operating as?
- 9:37SPEAKER_00: And is that still aligned with where I'm going?
- 9:39SPEAKER_00: And then we move into illuminate.
- 9:41SPEAKER_00: And this is where the mirror gets a little uncomfortable because now you really start to see the patterns, the clients that keep showing up, the income ceilings that you keep hitting, and the ways that you hold yourself back from being fully visible.
- 9:56SPEAKER_00: And it's not random, it's all connected, which is really cool once you think about it because it's all reflecting something.
- 10:04SPEAKER_00: And this is where the work really begins, but it's also where most people stop because awareness is powerful, but it's also often deeply uncomfortable.
- 10:13SPEAKER_00: And awareness alone doesn't actually change anything.
- 10:16SPEAKER_00: It's really what you do with that awareness.
- 10:18SPEAKER_00: And this is when we get into the next step: release.
- 10:21SPEAKER_00: This is the one that really most people avoid because it requires this letting go that can be so uncomfortable.
- 10:27SPEAKER_00: It's letting go of the identity that got you here, but won't get you to where you are going or have to go next or want to go.
- 10:34SPEAKER_00: And that's the fear of judgment, the need to overexplain, the habit of overworking and over-delivering in order to prove your worth.
- 10:42SPEAKER_00: So these patterns served a version of you.
- 10:45SPEAKER_00: They had a purpose, but they are not meant to come with you into your next level.
- 10:49SPEAKER_00: And this is where you really need to loosen your grip on them.
- 10:54SPEAKER_00: And where it really gets uncomfortable is when it impacts relationships and you start shedding many different areas of your life because you realize that those relationships, those environments are not serving this next level of your identity.
- 11:10SPEAKER_00: And sometimes that's ultimately uncomfortable because certain relationships are also mirrors reflecting back and can be keeping us small because we can be shaping our habits and behaviors to try to keep that other person comfortable.
- 11:26SPEAKER_00: Because some people in your life and business are not comfortable with you changing, with you putting in certain boundaries, because it is an inconvenience to them, or it reflects back maybe a part of them that they have had resistance to changing.
- 11:40SPEAKER_00: And that's when it gets so fascinating.
- 11:43SPEAKER_00: Okay, so then when you release, you can step into the next step, which is to reclaim.
- 11:48SPEAKER_00: And this is so empowering because it's actually where you get your power back through your voice, through your leadership, through your intuition.
- 11:56SPEAKER_00: And these things were always there, but they were just buried underneath layers of conditioning and old patterns and limiting beliefs and doubt.
- 12:07SPEAKER_00: And it's really where you stop looking outside of yourself for validation and start trusting what's within you.
- 12:15SPEAKER_00: From there, we move into own because it is one thing to feel your power, but it is a whole other thing to express it.
- 12:22SPEAKER_00: So this is where you really need to get clear on what you are here to be known for: your message, your voice, your perspective, your experiences.
- 12:32SPEAKER_00: This is where your brand ultimately starts to take shape.
- 12:35SPEAKER_00: And you can see how so many people skip the other stages and jump right into the strategy.
- 12:41SPEAKER_00: But the identity work is the key.
- 12:44SPEAKER_00: And then finally, we get to recognize.
- 12:47SPEAKER_00: And this is where your brand truly becomes visible in the world.
- 12:51SPEAKER_00: Your content starts to land, the right clients start finding you, the right opportunity just start landing in your inbox.
- 12:57SPEAKER_00: You truly start manifesting your dream desires, and things start to flow more naturally and just feel more aligned.
- 13:06SPEAKER_00: And you start to really feel that momentum driving you forward.
- 13:10SPEAKER_00: It comes with more ease and more flow.
- 13:12SPEAKER_00: But again, this is where most people have this expectation that this is where they start.
- 13:18SPEAKER_00: They jump right into visibility, into putting out the content, into more better strategy, but they're not doing the work underneath it.
- 13:27SPEAKER_00: So recognition is not the first step.
- 13:29SPEAKER_00: It really is the result.
- 13:31SPEAKER_00: And this is where I felt so inspired to get into this work because working in a marketing agency, starting out as a copywriter, helping brands get clarity on their message and share their story with the world.
- 13:44SPEAKER_00: I was realizing in that done for you approach, we were starting at the last step.
- 13:48SPEAKER_00: You know, yes, we were bringing the awareness, like that was my favorite part, diving into the brand therapy, but we were still just touching the surface because we brought awareness to it.
- 13:56SPEAKER_00: And we, you know, I was able to be a mirror to my clients and reflect back those parts of themselves, the really confident, empowered parts of themselves and the belief that I had in them and I could see through their story.
- 14:09SPEAKER_00: But it's one thing for me to reflect that back.
- 14:11SPEAKER_00: If they are not doing the work to truly step into that and to work through all the pieces holding them back, then they are not ultimately going to see the results.
- 14:21SPEAKER_00: Because again, you can have, you know, the best strategy, the high converting sales page, the beautiful email sequence designed to convert your ideal client.
- 14:32SPEAKER_00: But if you are not in a space to hold that in your business and step into that next level of growth and success, then it's not going to last ultimately.
- 14:42SPEAKER_00: You might still reach it, but you can't hold it.
- 14:45SPEAKER_00: Okay, so let's make this real for a second because again, this isn't just a concept.
- 14:49SPEAKER_00: It shows up in very tangible ways.
- 14:52SPEAKER_00: And in your business, it's most often becomes obvious when you see that your clients aren't fully valuing your work.
- 15:00SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're questioning your pricing or they're not seeing the depth of what you bring.
- 15:06SPEAKER_00: And that's a reflection for you to take back to you and ask yourself, where am I still questioning my own value?
- 15:14SPEAKER_00: Where am I over-explaining and over-delivering, trying to prove myself instead of simply owning my value and worth?
- 15:22SPEAKER_00: Because again, your clients aren't just responding to what you say, they respond to your beliefs.
- 15:27SPEAKER_00: They can feel it.
- 15:28SPEAKER_00: And this shows up in leadership too.
- 15:30SPEAKER_00: I had a moment earlier this year, Luke and I were sitting down, mapping out our goals for the year, and I had to ask myself a really honest question that was so uncomfortable.
- 15:39SPEAKER_00: Am I actually the CEO of the business that I say I want?
- 15:46SPEAKER_00: And if I'm being honest, there was definitely a gap.
- 15:49SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't in the strategy and it wasn't in the vision.
- 15:52SPEAKER_00: It was in how I was showing up, in my decision making, in what I was tolerating, and in how I was leading my team also and truly stepping into my role as CEO.
- 16:02SPEAKER_00: And I could see in that moment when I reflected where I was hesitating, where I was still holding on to things that did not belong in my calendar and where my standards weren't fully matching the level that I wanted to step into.
- 16:18SPEAKER_00: And that was the mirror.
- 16:19SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't a failure.
- 16:21SPEAKER_00: It wasn't about as much as that hard to recognize because our inner critic can be so loud.
- 16:27SPEAKER_00: And I remember in my head feeling like, oh my God, why is it taking me so long to figure this out?
- 16:32SPEAKER_00: And having those thoughts.
- 16:34SPEAKER_00: But I think again, I needed to go through every experience that I went through to get to where I am and who I am now.
- 16:41SPEAKER_00: And it's all feedback, it's all data because the mirror isn't about showing you what's wrong.
- 16:47SPEAKER_00: It's about showing you where you're ready for what's next.
- 16:50SPEAKER_00: And I have to tie this back into motherhood because this is where it really hit home for me because I really believe and see evidence every day that your kids don't just mirror your words, they mirror your patterns.
- 17:04SPEAKER_00: So they see how you regulate your emotions, how you handle stress, how you speak to yourself when things feel hard.
- 17:13SPEAKER_00: And they feel all of that.
- 17:14SPEAKER_00: They are little sponges and they reflect it back to you in the most honest way, to the point that it often catches you off guard.
- 17:23SPEAKER_00: And it can feel confronting, but it's also such a beautiful gift and such an opportunity because motherhood is so much more than, you know, our relationships with our kids are not just about how they're how we're guiding and teaching them.
- 17:38SPEAKER_00: They are also guiding us.
- 17:40SPEAKER_00: And in our parenting, we have this opportunity to reparent ourselves.
- 17:44SPEAKER_00: I've been seeing a lot of content lately about how whatever season of childhood kind of was the most challenging for you, maybe with your own parents.
- 17:53SPEAKER_00: When your kids become that age and they start reflecting that back to you, it's like it can be so deeply uncomfortable, but also such an incredible opportunity to heal that inner child.
- 18:04SPEAKER_00: And I think it's so true.
- 18:05SPEAKER_00: And I've just felt that so much in my own experience.
- 18:08SPEAKER_00: And when something's off with my kids, instead of questioning like what's going on with them, my first thought now, because I've built this muscle, is okay, how is my energy reflecting onto them that and that they're responding this way?
- 18:22SPEAKER_00: You know, and it really is such an opportunity for more self-awareness.
- 18:25SPEAKER_00: So our kids show us these parts of ourselves that are ready to be seen, are ready to be healed and shifted.
- 18:33SPEAKER_00: And that is such a powerful and beautiful mirror.
- 18:36SPEAKER_00: When I look back on my own journey, I can see this everywhere.
- 18:40SPEAKER_00: Those moments that felt like breakdowns, rock bottoms that felt so hard and confusing and misaligned, they were not random.
- 18:50SPEAKER_00: They were truly reflections.
- 18:53SPEAKER_00: They were showing me where I was still playing small, where I wasn't fully trusting myself and where I was being invited into something bigger.
- 19:00SPEAKER_00: And every time that I chose to actually look in the mirror, instead of avoiding it and feel everything that was coming up for me, everything started to shift.
- 19:10SPEAKER_00: And this is exactly why I wrote my book, Coming Home, because I started to see that every moment of my life, the fire, the business, motherhood, my relationships, none of it was random.
- 19:23SPEAKER_00: It was all a mirror.
- 19:24SPEAKER_00: It was all reflecting those parts of me that were ready to be seen, healed, and reclaimed.
- 19:31SPEAKER_00: And what I've learned is that sometimes all it takes is actually seeing yourself reflected in someone else's story to realize that you are not alone, you are not behind, you are not broken.
- 19:44SPEAKER_00: And that is why I'm so passionate about sharing my own story and helping others do the same, because our stories are this incredible opportunity for connection and can be such powerful mirrors for the other people in our lives, in our world.
- 20:03SPEAKER_00: And this podcast has been further evidence of that.
- 20:07SPEAKER_00: I actually was texting with a good girlfriend of mine, a university roommate, because she saw a message that I had shared on Instagram that was a VM someone sent me about the podcast, someone that I didn't know very well, like was an acquaintance, and then reached out about how she was a year into her postpartum journey and how much the podcast has been supporting her and like bringing her clarity in that season of life.
- 20:34SPEAKER_00: And she wrote this really beautiful message and I shared it anonymously in a post.
- 20:39SPEAKER_00: And my girlfriend texted me and she's like, so I read that message, and I literally had to go back to our text exchange to because I was like, Did I write that?
- 20:48SPEAKER_00: Did I send that?
- 20:49SPEAKER_00: She she literally thought she felt like it was her own words in that feedback because that the podcast was making her feel the same way, and she was also in that season.
- 20:58SPEAKER_00: And I thought that was just such a cool and powerful reflection and just like again further validated how important this work is and how much it matters to share your story and your perspective and your experiences.
- 21:12SPEAKER_00: And podcasting is such a beautiful opportunity to do that.
- 21:16SPEAKER_00: So, really, this is the work that I'm continuing to step into deeper right now, and maybe you're on this journey as well.
- 21:23SPEAKER_00: And taking this really ultimately from something that you just understand to something that you actually experience.
- 21:30SPEAKER_00: So you're not just seeing the mirror, you understand how to move through it.
- 21:35SPEAKER_00: You're releasing what's holding you back and you're stepping into the version of you who really is already there and has been there all along, but maybe has been hidden behind many, many layers of conditioning and patterns and old coping behaviors.
- 21:49SPEAKER_00: So I'm really excited.
- 21:50SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be opening up a new program around this soon.
- 21:54SPEAKER_00: And my email list will be the first to hear about it.
- 21:57SPEAKER_00: There will be limited spots.
- 21:59SPEAKER_00: So if you're not The email list already.
- 22:01SPEAKER_00: Be sure to join.
- 22:02SPEAKER_00: You can check out the show notes for the link.
- 22:04SPEAKER_00: My email list always gets first dips on everything.
- 22:06SPEAKER_00: And just also, I send the emails out to my subscribers that I don't sharing stories and content that I don't share anywhere else as well.
- 22:15SPEAKER_00: It really is this like behind the scenes look behind the curtain on this journey with me.
- 22:19SPEAKER_00: It's uh very vulnerable and um yeah, it's sharing also what's going on behind the scenes of the podcast.
- 22:26SPEAKER_00: So if that is your thing, then come hang out.
- 22:29SPEAKER_00: Would love to have you.
- 22:30SPEAKER_00: And if this episode resonated with you, I want you to sit with one question.
- 22:35SPEAKER_00: What is my life or business or brand reflecting back to me right now?
- 22:41SPEAKER_00: And just sit with that.
- 22:42SPEAKER_00: And it's not about judging it.
- 22:43SPEAKER_00: You know, again, let the inner critic, okay, Karen, you can you can be quiet and sit to the side here.
- 22:51SPEAKER_00: I'm not listening to you right now.
- 22:54SPEAKER_00: I'm not rushing to fix it.
- 22:56SPEAKER_00: It's really just about seeing it.
- 22:59SPEAKER_00: Because the moment that you see it clearly, everything starts to change.
- 23:04SPEAKER_00: All right, that's it for today.
- 23:06SPEAKER_00: I hope that that left you, I hope that that resonated and left you with some things to reflect on.
- 23:14SPEAKER_00: And I can't wait to see you again next week.
- 23:16SPEAKER_00: Talk soon.
- 23:18SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to the Favorite Self podcast.
- 23:21SPEAKER_00: If this episode stirred something in you, there's a reason for it.
- 23:25SPEAKER_00: If you could take a moment to share with a friend, someone who's also building something brave, that would mean so much to me.
- 23:31SPEAKER_00: Better yet, leave a review.
- 23:33SPEAKER_00: It helps this message reach even more women who are ready to lead differently.
- 23:37SPEAKER_00: And before you go, remember this your favorite self is already within you, waiting to be heard.
- 23:43SPEAKER_00: See you next time.