Latest / Serious Lady Business / When You Lose Your Voice, You Lose Yourself

Transcript

When You Lose Your Voice, You Lose Yourself · Serious Lady Business

• LESLIE YOUNGBLOOD (00:03) Hey there, I'm Leslie Youngblood and this is Serious Lady Business, the podcast where we get real about what it takes to build a business as a woman today. From late night Google searches and client curveballs to the wins that make it all worth it, I'm talking about the stuff no one puts in the highlight reel. Each week, I'm bringing you honest conversations, lessons learned and stories from women who are out here doing the work. Messy, meaningful and unapologetically bold. Whether you're just dreaming about starting a business or deep in the grind, this podcast is your space to feel seen, supported, and fired up. Because let's be honest, this journey is hard, hilarious, and absolutely worth it. So let's dive in. Leslie Youngblood (00:50) Welcome to Serious Lady Business. I'm Leslie Youngblood, your host, feminist and founder of Youngblood MMC, a marketing media and content agency. Today's guest is Alaina Shearer. Alaina is the creator of the Find Your Voice Cohort Program, a transformative experience that helps professionals uncover their personal brand, define their voice, and show up with purpose to reach their most ambitious goals. With over 20 years in branding, marketing, and storytelling, including founding of groundbreaking digital agency way back in 2009, a national women's network in 2016, and then running for Congress in 2020. She brings deep experience and radical empathy to every session. Alena specializes in coaching people through major career pivots, giving them the clarity and confidence to speak up, stand out, and move forward. Plus, she's the co-host of her own podcast, Citizen Rebel. Alaina welcome to Serious Lady Business. Alaina Shearer (01:50) Thank you, Leslie. so happy to be here. Leslie Youngblood (01:53) I am so excited to talk with you. We chatted a little bit before coming on this episode together and there's so much that you have done. There's so much for us to dig in here. You know, we're talking about when you lose your voice, you lose yourself. You've run for Congress, you've built platforms, you've led communities. When did you first realize maybe you started losing your voice in all of those amazing things? Cause it feels like She must have her voice like all figured out. So I would love for you to even just start at the beginning and we can just unpack all that goodness. Alaina Shearer (02:28) Yeah, and again, thank you for having me. I'm so honored to be here. And I really want to give your listeners a journey today, and I hope you listen along. And if you hear anything that's resonating with you and you have follow-up questions, you can reach out to us, to both of us. We're here for you. ⁓ Yeah, and this is a journey. And Leslie, I know you've gone through your own journey on this path, quitting your corporate job, right? To get to where you are today, takes a ton of courage. Leslie Youngblood (02:32) Thank ⁓ 100 % I hope so. Yes. Alaina Shearer (02:57) For me, the start would have been when I graduated from college and I went into the world thinking, all is fair, all is equal, the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, it's all in the past. all right, like we did and they taught us that and my parents did, we grew up in an egalitarian household. so I get out into the real world and I'm in radio on a morning. Leslie Youngblood (03:11) We thought we had it made, baby. Alaina Shearer (03:26) radio show. And I remember struggling so hard to unearth who I really was. And my co-hosts were of no help. I mean, they were trying to pigeonhole me into a particular role of being the deer on the show and laughing at their, they called it dick dork deer and laughing at their jokes. And they're like, your job is to laugh at our jokes and play along. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (03:36) No. sure. No way, is that like a common phrase in radio? The dick, the dork, or the deer? I have never heard that before. I feel like anybody listening will think of the radio shows that they listen to now, because I feel like there's some locally here in Metro Detroit. I'm like, I can see that. Alaina Shearer (03:54) Yes. Yes. Yes. And at the time there was only Dr. Laura Schlesinger. She was this advice show host and she was so conservative. I mean, she was, but you know, that was it. And there were very few role models, you know, so that was the beginning of my journey. And then it just continued. And of course, there's a lot of overanalyzing. There's a lot of critiques when other people are quite literally listening to your voice and telling you how to change. Leslie Youngblood (04:10) Mmm. Yes, sure. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (04:32) and trying and trying to put me into this box that I did not fit into. So that was the beginning of that. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (04:35) Yeah. Yeah. Ugh. Yeah, I mean, and that was early. So when did you decide to move on from that and, you know, continue trying to figure out? And you knew it was probably not working for a while before you found the courage to leave, right? As with any job that's not right, like what was next after that? Alaina Shearer (04:54) Yeah. Well, yeah, and I was in radio for seven years. That was the only path I saw for myself. And I had won two Associated Press Awards. But the guys, after I refused to play the role, they turned off my mic for certain periods of the show. And then they fired me six months later. So I actually got fired. It wasn't by choice. And yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah. Leslie Youngblood (05:06) Wow. No way. Whoa. That is wild. Okay. Alaina Shearer (05:20) And I'm friends with these guys today. They're great guys. This is just a formula from the 80s. It didn't work for us. Their show is their show. I see that now. At the time though, I was absolutely heartbroken. And I'd say they were too. That was not easy for them. here, that ended and I decided to break out into marketing and advertising. So that led to much longer story, but... Leslie Youngblood (05:29) community. ⁓ no. I know. Alaina Shearer (05:45) I end up creating my own agency in 2009. And that's when I first started to become into my voice, my true voice, owning my own company and having to be online, having to be on social for clients and for my own agency to promote it. So that's when that started to evolve. And then from there, I started Women in Digital, which is now together a digital and it's a national women's network. And I grew it from. Leslie Youngblood (05:52) Sure. Mm-hmm. sure. Alaina Shearer (06:13) Columbus, Ohio to 20 chapters across the country, using my voice and my spirit, just rallying the women together, all of us to join forces and collaborate with each other and start tearing each other down. Then one of the women asked me to run for Congress and I ran for the United States Congress in 2020. So yeah, yes. Leslie Youngblood (06:18) amazing. Mm-hmm. my goodness. Okay, I have a lot of questions. I want to back up with starting the agency because as somebody that was also in a corporate, you path, like not entrepreneurship, never thought I would be an entrepreneur. When you, when I'm sure you relate to like you look back now at your childhood and you're like, yeah, I was super entrepreneurial. I didn't even realize it. Selling candy or doing this or that. And you're like, wow, the seeds were there. But growing up, it's like, I'm going to college. And I felt very fortunate to find advertising and marketing and it was super fun. You get to be creative. But then when you leave to start your own thing and you realize you have to step into that leadership role, you are the one that needs to have a vision. You are the one that people are going to come to, that clients are going to look to for guidance. They don't want somebody that is a senior director level, right? They want a boss. They want somebody that gets it. They're going to be giving you this money investing with you and they want somebody that knows their shit. so stepping into that role, even like as a female, you're like, okay. I do like if it's going to succeed, I do have to find my voice. I do have to step into my power. so realizing that, you know, can be overwhelming, can be surely as scary. Alaina Shearer (07:30) Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (07:55) right, as entrepren whether it's an agency or a store or any type of business, right? Any type of business. It's like, ⁓ okay. And there was just even, I believe an article in the LA Times Today that came out about Emma Greed. And the quote is like, her reason for success or the reason why she's so successful is she has the audacity of a man. And I really like this word audacity. Alaina Shearer (08:00) Sure, any business, yes. yes, Leslie Youngblood (08:21) I feel like Alaina Shearer (08:21) yes. Leslie Youngblood (08:22) it's so about audacity. It's the audacity to just freaking do it. And so I would love to hear more about like how you stepped into that role as the leader of an agency in 2009. And then surely you had leadership skills because in, know, motivate an energy that rally people together because then you started the network, right? And then I'd love to hear about that and then I want to go to Congress because I just think that's also so fascinating. Alaina Shearer (08:53) Okay, okay. So the agency and starting it, it was audacious because looking back, you know, think I was, how old was I? had, so my son was three. I had a three-year-old. I was a single mom. So I had actually started blogging as a single mom while working at an agency during the day. So I became an SEO and social expert. I knew more than anyone in the room because I was doing it. Leslie Youngblood (08:58) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (09:20) ⁓ for myself for fun because it was and it was that blog saved my life and it saved so many of my Readers like lives. We created a community around each other ⁓ Being single mom is so hard, but starting an agency. I felt I had to I was being Sexually harassed by my boss at the agency so I had to quit so again I was this is interesting you're asking this because I was forced I wasn't Leslie Youngblood (09:20) Right? Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (09:44) I interviewed at the other agency in town, the other big digital agency, but the guy who was going to be my boss actually took me out with a team to recruit me and he was married with kids and he slipped his hand out of the table and grabbed me in the butt. So that happened. So I was like, what the heck? Yeah. So I put my beer down at the bar. I walked out, I went and I walked home and that's how I decided to start my agency. So I think this is interesting because men and men are often Leslie Youngblood (09:46) Mm-hmm. Stop it. I believe it. Alaina Shearer (10:14) Um, they run for public office too, by their own will. Women have to be asked. in the, in this case, I was forced to create, I ha it wasn't a time where you could work remote. This is 2009. I couldn't leave the state. My son's father was still involved in his childhood at the time. And so I started my own thing and I knew I could do it really well. What I didn't know was how to sell to men alone. The decision makers were always men. Um, Leslie Youngblood (10:18) Yeah. Yes. I'm convinced. and I'm here. And... and... Alaina Shearer (10:44) How to sell to men. I would win women clients like Clockwork, the men constantly questioning my judgment, which was really frustrating. So I have a sales background too. Also, obviously I think you might be picking up, I have ADHD. So I have all these different expertise areas. Anyway, so yeah, I sold. The women started to sell the men, got pretty frustrated when the men who I was selling to, Leslie Youngblood (10:50) Wow. I love that. Alaina Shearer (11:08) I just hit my limit in the sexism. Something happened. broke inside of me. I was 37 years old at this point. My agency was billing two million in revenue. had a team of 18 people. And I said, I am going to start this group for women and no men will be allowed in. And that's what the rule was. No men were allowed. And it was an instant overnight sold out every city. Just imagine being able to go to a digital networking event, a tech event without men. was a Leslie Youngblood (11:09) Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ Alaina Shearer (11:37) Wonderful experience. Leslie Youngblood (11:39) Mm-hmm. Yes. And it's so... The collective of, like, female friendship in the female community is just... It's hard to put into words. It's magical, right? But it's also... It's so frustrating. And as somebody that was in the advertising field as well and in the agency world, I remember I attended the... I think it was the 3 % conference back in New York. And I want to say it was 2000... 16 maybe, my oldest was young, but it was based around the premise that only 3 % of all creative directors are female in the agency world. And why is that? Well, sexism of course. Secondly, like the demands of being a creative director at a high level agency is massive, right? It's like, in the agency life, and I loved it, but everybody acts like they're saving the world and curing cancer and you're not, you're making commercials, okay? ⁓ Alaina Shearer (12:29) I know, it's so funny. It's crazy, they're all crazy. Leslie Youngblood (12:31) It's like so pretentious sometimes. Like I never felt in. Yeah, I was like, I don't I mean, it's fun and it's cool, but I don't know. I couldn't like I just couldn't drink that Kool-Aid. But within the agency space, I definitely had experiences of inappropriate behavior with male colleagues and superiors in the agency world. And it's like, OK, I that how do I say it? Like the environment can breed. in appropriate situations where you're working long hours together, you're drinking a lot of times, right? You're cultivating relationships like in a tight knit, like trauma bonding type of way sometimes, right? But the line that was stepped over was just so egregious to me. I'm like, how is this? Like, this is not right on top of all the late nights and whatnot. And so I knew I had to get out of it. But also too, that wasn't like the only instance of bad male behavior that I had in my professional realm and you think it's 20 the 2020 something now right like how have they not figured out that this isn't appropriate like why would you say that's appropriate or like how does this not clock to you that maybe you Alaina Shearer (13:39) I know, it's like, did you miss the Me Too movement memo? Like, did you not read a single article during all of that? And I think that's true. I think we were excited about the movement when we were inside of it, but we are all in our tunnels on social and with the content we consume. We really are. And 2016, if you look back, knowing what we know now, it was the beginning where we... Leslie Youngblood (13:43) Yeah! Mm-hmm, it's true. Yeah. Alaina Shearer (14:04) probably still felt like, if I see this, everybody else sees this story, this great research and article about the Me Too movement and what it means. Keep going. So. Leslie Youngblood (14:08) Right. Sure. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Well, and it's just so fascinating that, like, well, it's a blessing, I feel like, when you are pushed to that point in a way. to start the thing that you know you need to start and that you know you need to create and that is inherently needed. And it's a curse in the way because like, why does it have to be like that? Why does it have to be this bad thing that pisses me off so bad to start this thing that's needed? And in a way that's sort of how Serious Lady Business came about where I was like, this is BS. Like this business thing is just a game and we need to know this. Like there's no secret that these men have that we don't have. We just need to be having more of these conversations because they're not smarter. They're not wiser. Alaina Shearer (14:27) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (14:53) probably weren't well, many of them weren't born rich. Like, so what's the secret here? So it's really not, you know, so you have to have the conversations and come together to, you know, overtake the patriarchy in that way. Alaina Shearer (15:06) Yeah, and you know what? We don't necessarily even want to overtake you guys. We just want to be level with you. And we want to be treated fairly with equal doors open to us. And they are still not. There really was not a ton of progress made during the Me Too movement. The stats are still the same. Yeah, so there we were in that time. So at the time, that's when my voice really galvanized during the group, as you can imagine. Leslie Youngblood (15:11) No, 100%. Mm-hmm. Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Sure. Alaina Shearer (15:36) My full-time job is to go from city to city to city, holding these events and breaking the ice with the crowd, telling my story, which was extremely, was at the time extremely vulnerable to talk about that. And it's on YouTube if you want to find the full story about what I went through at the agency world. And then other women would stand up and tell their stories. And so was always worth it. And then we would trade favors with one another. trading favors, trading power. Leslie Youngblood (15:46) Mm-hmm. Sure. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (16:03) I was so fired up and I could be myself. had no one to, I had my husband's full support, by the way, he was running the agency at this point for me so that I could do this. And thank God for the good men. But that's when I came into my voice and that's when more doors started to open up. So because of that, I was asked to run for Congress by a political consultant who was in the women's group. And yeah, and then. Leslie Youngblood (16:06) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 100%. No. Wow. Alaina Shearer (16:30) The congressional race happens and I'm on a whole new level of voice of feeling like myself. I was in my element. I was running a team, running the marketing and the branding for the campaign, raising a ton of money, motivating and inspiring tens of thousands of voters in the district and sleeping so well at night, even though my bank account, I was completely broke while doing all of this. just got an asterisk that. Leslie Youngblood (16:34) Sure. and have a good goodness. Yeah, I feel like it takes a lot of money, money and time as well as time and effort to run for a political seat, right? I didn't tell you that. Alaina Shearer (17:01) It does. You have to give everything. Yes, you give everything up. And we have a whole episode on Citizen Rebel just about the congressional race that we just published. So if you're listening to this and you're like, want to know everything, there's a whole hour on that. I want to make sure we get to helping others find their voice, but to just that feeling of being on the ticket and fighting for what I believed in and doing my patriotic duty to Leslie Youngblood (17:14) Yeah. Alaina Shearer (17:30) run in a seat that was unchallenged. It was an honor of a lifetime and I can only equate it to flying. That's when I first felt with my voice and what I was saying and my message and where your soul is completely aligned with what you are speaking and how you are living and you are living your truth. Leslie Youngblood (17:33) Mmm. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (17:53) And when the congressional race ended, obviously I lost. The district is so gerrymandered. If it wouldn't have been, I honestly, think we would have won. We ran a better race. Anyway, it comes to a sudden end, a congressional race. is over. And the next morning, is no, it's done. And so that's when I was at this... Leslie Youngblood (17:59) I'm not going to. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. Alaina Shearer (18:18) I was, so I went through my grieving process of losing my team and the race and what had become a job and a passion and what I was fighting for. And, and then due to our financial mess, I had to take a day job. yeah. it's horrible. And, no disrespect to my. Leslie Youngblood (18:32) no. ⁓ no. How does one even do that? Were you like, so depressed about that? Or were you like... Alaina Shearer (18:44) like you know who you are, you know how miserable I was. I was like, this is not my box, man. Like I don't fit here. And I, as soon as I was hired, I was like, did you Google me? Like I'm, it was a conservative SaaS company, you know? So that was not a good fit on so many different levels. At the same time, I did my job really, really well. I love leading teams. I dove into that. And so. Leslie Youngblood (18:54) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (19:07) The public-facing voice, though, and fighting for anything that I believed in, it all went into just trying to get this team through a big transition, ⁓ which was really hard and difficult. And that's when you know who you are and you know how to speak to, how to be yourself in any environment, in any moment. That's a very powerful weapon for you to have during your career, because I did use that. And I survived for about a year until I got... Leslie Youngblood (19:14) Mmm. Mm-hmm. Yes. Alaina Shearer (19:35) Totally fired from that job, which is great. That's another story I can't disclose because of an NDA. ⁓ Let's just say I did not fit in. So then I get another day job and I'm still feeling. Now along this whole course, you guys, let's see, I'm 46 years old. So this was 42 to 46, essentially. Yeah. just, I don't know how to describe it other than to say that my fire was out. I did not have... Leslie Youngblood (19:40) my goodness. Okay. Noted. Mmm. Alaina Shearer (20:04) any of Leslie Youngblood (20:04) Mmm. Alaina Shearer (20:04) the spirit that I used to have. was just being snuffed out day by day as I continued on the path I had to take to get my family where we are today, which is beautiful. I'm self-employed again. We bought a new house. Yay. I knew though I had to do it. And it was just a grand experiment. And this is what happens to your psyche when you can't be yourself. And it was... Leslie Youngblood (20:17) Mm-hmm. Mmm. Alaina Shearer (20:30) I was very depressed, very, very, and then there's also perimenopods. So that makes it even worse. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (20:35) Sure, yes, of course, yes. It's not easy regardless. And then you put paramenopause into the mix and it's like, boy. Alaina Shearer (20:40) Yeah! Yeah, and when you don't know who you are, you feel oppressed. You know, as human beings, we need to be able to speak our truth. And imagine it like if you lived in the, you know, not the Middle Ages. That was a very scary time. Let's take us to like the late 1700s. Okay. And you're walking out into your little village and you're walking down the street. You should be able to be yourself. As women, we were not able to be ourselves in most cultures for Leslie Youngblood (20:50) Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (21:11) thousands of years. It depends on the culture though, of course, because there were matriarchal societies, including Native American tribes, many of them, the Blackfeet Nation as one. So for most of us, we've been repressed or oppressed for generations. We have, this isn't new where men are telling us how we need to speak about ourselves or how we need to laugh at their jokes or what we can or cannot say. This is not new. Leslie Youngblood (21:12) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. you Yeah. Alaina Shearer (21:40) The new element of it is, is that we're working alongside of them. We're in their environment. Every part of the day, we're with men during the day, we're with men at night, we're with men all the time. Yeah. Yes. Leslie Youngblood (21:44) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. That's true. And that's like a new thing, actually. mean, thinking about that, like thousands of years, I mean, like you said, there were some matriarchal societies, but really in the modern day, like dynamics, women working alongside men is a full time, day in, day out, is what maybe since the 60s. Alaina Shearer (22:07) Mm-hmm. Well, even the 60s, yes, we started, but there weren't a majority of us working alongside them, right? So it's very new. For, let's say, a majority of us women working outside the home, maybe the late 80s, 90s. Yeah, and this is pretty fascinating when you start to think about it. And then you give grace to the men, because they're new at this too. Like they, if you've watched Mad Men, it's a great primer for anyone on... Leslie Youngblood (22:15) Right, true, it was rare. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. ⁓ Great. Yeah. Sure. Alaina Shearer (22:38) the women in the workplace and how it's evolved. Leslie Youngblood (22:41) Mm-hmm. Yeah, definitely. mean, like that was the 60s and we were in the out world in the early aughts and it's there was still rampant sexism and I'm sure there is still to this day in that in a month and other. Yeah. Alaina Shearer (22:43) Yeah. yeah, as you just experienced, you just had it happen. Yeah, it's still there and we have a lot of work to go. So what do we do in the meantime? And you know, so I'm coming out of this. Are you cool if I segue to how you find your voice now? Or how I found mine? Yeah? Okay. All right. So I'm done with day job number two. We have moved to Colorado from Ohio. Whole other story, highly recommend it. Please don't raise your kids in a... Leslie Youngblood (22:58) Yeah. Of course, please. Please, let us, yes, tell us. Alaina Shearer (23:22) humid, cloudy state if you don't want to. Even if they say don't move, move. Okay, so we moved to Colorado. Yeah. And we're so happy to be here. But there I am like, what do I do now? What do I do? I just spent four years in corporate America or three and a half, I don't know. And before that, I raised all kinds of hell running for Congress and starting a women's group. Leslie Youngblood (23:24) That's like Ohio. Mm-hmm. Thank Alaina Shearer (23:47) who is ever going to hire me for anything. And so I'm kicking myself. I'm really not being kind to myself and also failing to find the thread of commonality. So I had completely lost my voice at this point. I was three and a half years out of practice and I didn't know where to begin. And this is where I meet most of my clients. Most of my clients in fact aren't... Leslie Youngblood (23:49) Hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Alaina Shearer (24:13) they may not have ever been in touch with it or maybe the last time they were in touch with it was on a college sports team or in college, you know, and they've got, yeah, decades of just silencing themselves for reasons that we all understand because they have to to fit in in their jobs. So I was there where I meet my clients now. So it's about a year ago. And I said, you know what? I just have to publish something. Leslie Youngblood (24:20) Yeah. Yes, sports. love them. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right. Alaina Shearer (24:42) And so I walked up to, in my yard, I have a teepee, which is actually called a lodge by Native Americans, not a teepee, but I walk up into this teepee that the previous owners left in my yard and I'm like, I don't know, let me just go sit in there. It'll give me an excuse, something interesting to talk about. I didn't, I had a sense of what I wanted to talk about, but I wasn't even sure and I go up with my camera. I was having a really hard day though, because I was trying to network and a couple of, one person had canceled a meeting, another person hadn't followed up, someone who was asking advice on something. And I was just low, which I don't know. And I was like, I got to do something. So I turned on my camera and I just recorded a video on how to be a consultant. Like, hey, if you are thinking about going out on your own, here's what you can do. So it was something that I was an expert in. It wasn't something groundbreaking. It wasn't a huge revelation. But what I needed to do was just hit publish on this video. And if you go back and look at that video on my LinkedIn, you will see tears in my eyes. Yeah. And no one knows that. I haven't said that yet, but I was just having a really bad day. I was like, God, I need to do something. But my point here is you don't need to know exactly what the end game is or what you are going to say. But what you do need to do is to Leslie Youngblood (25:40) Mm-hmm. Ha ha ha. Alaina Shearer (26:07) start publishing content and try, however you can, to stand for something. Start with something completely safe and not scary. when you do, so in that case, I was standing for being a really excellent networker when you're a consultant, and this is how you treat people, you show up for meetings, that kind of thing. That's standing for something. So then that's... Leslie Youngblood (26:14) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (26:36) Posted really well and it kind of just No magic happened. I think I actually did get a client from it though and then I Just started to publish again It was just and I again no clue what I was saying and then as I was going through I start to come up with this own realization of my own of feeling better finding my voice again and Then came up with the idea for the cohorts like six months later So the find your voice cohorts take a group of six people in this power pure circle essentially through finding your voice and a time of transition in your life and when you need it the most. And it was absolute magic and my first beta sold out and my second one's going on right now and it's just wonderful. So there's a couple of things that as women, you know, we need to be better at and one of them is to stop believing the lie. Leslie Youngblood (27:15) Mm-hmm. love that. Mmm. Alaina Shearer (27:36) You know, we tell ourselves a lot of lies about how we should be. Leslie Youngblood (27:39) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (27:42) ⁓ one of them is being quiet and nodding along. For example, we all have these lies. So we have to work on reframing our own script. ⁓ the other thing that, that we all need to do right now in this time in history, for the reasons we just discussed, pick your movement. Pick the climate change climate. Pick the women's rights movement. Pick gerrymandering, pick voter suppression. don't care. There are so many quote unquote. Leslie Youngblood (27:47) Yeah. Mm-hmm, true. Mm-hmm. Mm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (28:12) I'd say neutral, we are humans, most of us agree on these issues. ⁓ Corporate lobbying of politicians. I don't know. What else? You come up with one that's not. Rescue pets. Leslie Youngblood (28:16) Yeah. Right, super PACs. Oh goodness, mean, immigration. mean, the world is on fire. Alaina Shearer (28:32) It is like, that's what I'm saying. Like walk outside your house, look around, just pick a thing. And I said, yeah, like rescue pets, foster care pets. I'd like, it doesn't have to be something that loses you your job. You don't have to be like Alaina. just be. Leslie Youngblood (28:39) Take a think. Great! That's true. So true. But I saw like an ASPCA commercial last night. I'm like, wow. Yes, these animals, they're bulls filled. you know, I mean, it's a simple, like you said, it doesn't have to be a giant political movement. It can be as little as that or like going to a soup kitchen or volunteering time at a hospital or donating presents at Christmas or holidays. Right. Like it doesn't have to be like you said, like you get you fired if you're taking a stand, even though I feel like maybe there should be anyways. But that's like, you know, a lot. But, you know, and there's so many you can feel overwhelming because there are Alaina Shearer (29:08) Yes, yes. Right Leslie Youngblood (29:22) so many things like going on right now at this time in history. But I think that's so great. there's a, and there's pick one and start using your voice and start learning. Alaina Shearer (29:26) Right. Well, and let's say it's within your industry. So you have a business and you're selling X. You probably stand for something surrounding X, whatever that is, and you are passionate about it. That is something you can stand for. And so many of us, we all have these things we stand for and these things we believe in. My favorite thing in the whole world to do right now is to help you figure out how to talk about it in a way that attracts your audience to you like a magnet. Leslie Youngblood (29:41) Yeah. Yes. Yes. Alaina Shearer (29:58) And they will come to you because you will be preaching to them. You'll be preaching to the choir and standing for something of significance, something that is your legacy that you want to leave behind. That's a whole other element that maybe it's tied to your business, maybe it isn't, but it does give you something to take your mind off of the grind of running a business. As business owners, we need that distraction. We need to feel fulfilled if we're not getting it temporarily from our business, whatever. ⁓ Leslie Youngblood (30:11) Yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (30:27) So the other thing that I'd love to talk about is that if you aren't branding yourself, someone else is. Leslie Youngblood (30:32) Mm. Yeah. That is so, my goodness. Yes. Let's talk about that. You are losing out on that opportunity to own your narrative, right? You need to control your narrative. So tell us like, yeah. Tell us how about that, Alaina. Alaina Shearer (30:41) Yes. You do. And yeah. go ahead. Yeah. So if I'm going to take the example of someone who's employed now, actually, you know, let's say you have a listener who wants to start her own business and you're employed. You still need to brand yourself. Every single one of us does. When you walk into the holiday party with family from the other part of the country, what do you say when they say? How are you doing? Or what are you up to? Or what do you do? What are you passionate about? That's your brand in a small microcosm kind of way. But when you're not, I like those examples, because when we think about LinkedIn or online, we suddenly freeze like, what? But it's the same thing. If you are silent and you're not telling your own story, as business owners were guilty of it, as employees were guilty of it, someone else will start to fill in the blanks. Leslie Youngblood (31:22) Mm-hmm. Yes. Alaina Shearer (31:32) And you don't want to leave anything to chance. You want to make sure that your profile is always being updated with what you are standing for, what you believe in, what you're fighting for, what you love to do. so at any time a potential client comes and they see that you are there. If you own your own business, you are founding your business. You are 99 % of the new business funnel. Leslie Youngblood (31:38) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (31:59) You are at the beginning and then slowly that's going to like decrease a little bit. Let's say you actually have a sales team. You know, I've done that before. know, no big, you're still involved and pro tip the clients came to your agency because of you. So it's really hard in a service industry to like replace yourself. But if you are out there consistently creating content, your feeding leads to the sales team. Leslie Youngblood (32:05) Right. Amazing. Yeah. You're still involved. You're still in it. Cause you're the boss. Cause you're the boss. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (32:28) You can't get away from it. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (32:28) Yeah. Right. No. Even if you're not a business owner, like you said, even if you're a professional, you are most likely like think about any type of like, you know, a review or quarterly review there. You're probably like, well, you're you're a great team leader or you're like so creative or you're a go-getter and it's like that's part of your brand too that like people are you know thinking about you or what you're projecting and what you're sharing with others so you have a brand whether or not you realize it and when you can take ownership of that i mean that's when true power and opportunity can really you know propel you to where you want to go and it's not just Alaina Shearer (33:07) Yes. Yes. And I would say like, yeah, and don't do it alone. You know, come, let me know, call me, message me. But there are other people who do what I do, I think, but in a different way. I feel like I'm probably the most authentic personal brand person you'll ever meet. But ⁓ it's really hard to do it alone. I love the cohort experience because you have your peers reacting to your content. There's something really valuable there. ⁓ I also have a six week process that is tested and vetted and it's Leslie Youngblood (33:13) Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes! Mm-hmm. Yeah. ⁓ okay. Alaina Shearer (33:37) So my graduates are posting and they're getting one. She got 500 likes, so many job. She's a consultant, so many opportunities and clients and a gig and an interview and all the things. Let me share it with you guys as we close out the, the rebel framework. This is a cheat sheet for anyone listening today. You can take this with you. this is so we all have our own brand archetypes and Leslie Youngblood (33:42) Amazing. Wait. Yes. Alaina Shearer (34:03) It's so fascinating. There are 12 archetypes that us branding professionals actually use for corporate brands. We turn to archetypes. But what I like to do is actually help you find your own personal brand archetype. The 12 of them, there's the ruler, the rebel, that's me, obviously, the citizen, the joker, the innocent would be like Walt Disney. Leslie Youngblood (34:10) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You Alaina Shearer (34:31) the hero. So, so many of these archetypes and you can find that on my website on GoodisNow.com. Go to find your voice, look at the archetypes, you can buy yourself a deck. We made these great decks. But the first thing you need to do, yeah, it's so fun, is figure out who you are. And that's the biggest question, right? We all, that question's crazy. Like, how are you supposed to figure that out? But here's how to start. Start with what you know you are. Leslie Youngblood (34:45) amazing. Yeah. Alaina Shearer (35:01) Like in some points in our life, we're so lost. I've been in those points where I'm like, I know that I'm a human being. I can't go past that. I know that I've human, yes. Leslie Youngblood (35:08) Yeah, right. I'm a daughter. I'm a mother. It can be that simple though, right? It's important. Alaina Shearer (35:15) It's true. know that, you know, I have children. It came out of my body. It's so weird. So what do you stand for is another question. Again, if you're stumped, just journal on this. You stand for something. You stand for beautiful wildflowers and the mountains being taken care of, I bet. You know, find something. So when you're lost in the dark, take little baby steps toward that. Leslie Youngblood (35:26) Mm. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (35:41) The question who you are is a gut instinct and it could change over time. But here's another way to ask it. What or who would you risk everything for? That's a good starting point. Yeah. Yeah. Leslie Youngblood (35:52) Mmm. Ooh. Ooh, that's, that's a start. I feel like that's really deep. Like that's like a gut punch, like kind of question, like fudge. Who would I risk it all for? What would I risk it all for? Alaina Shearer (36:02) Yeah. Right. Like would you fight? Would I risk it all for my country, you know? And, and, but that's one example. some, yeah, like, so try to take the obvious answer is your family, your kids, try to go past that. Pretend that your kids are fine. What would you risk everything for? So then the second part of this framework, once you have that, is what change can only you bring to the world? So. Leslie Youngblood (36:09) my gosh, yeah, 100%. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Hmm. Alaina Shearer (36:29) What change would you like to see in the world? Again, more wildflowers. I want wildflowers across every highway and every state. Why do we spray? Why do we mow the grass? Whatever. But what change would you like to inspire in others? And then the third part is how do you say it out loud and to whom? And that's the part. Leslie Youngblood (36:39) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mmm. Alaina Shearer (36:53) that you just have to practice. You've got to publish content. How do you say it out loud and to whom? And you can take that framework and use it for your business. You can use it for something that you're exploring, volunteering, or another area of your life. But what I try to get all my cohort members in, I ask them this, Leslie, and I'll ask you right now. And you can see it. You don't have to answer. You do not. can just say rain check. But one of the first questions is, what are you most scared to publish? Leslie Youngblood (37:00) Mm-hmm Mm-hmm. Okay. Mmm. That's a really good question. Like what would I be most scared to publish? I mean, it'd be like naming names for sure. Like I would be most scared to like share an experience and name names. Cause you were, ⁓ yeah. An experience behind the name. I mean, I don't know if I, I feel like that experience is very general or not. Alaina Shearer (37:38) And the experience behind the name is Leslie Youngblood (37:50) you know, like a toxic environment. Do know what I mean? Like, I feel like, because I think we've all been and experienced that, like we were talking before, right? You think like, am I seeing, or, know, like, am I not believing what my eyes are telling me and what my ears are hearing? And you think like, is this real life? And I've like created an instance where I am involved in this situation and like a... Alaina Shearer (37:53) Yeah, yeah. Leslie Youngblood (38:13) accomplice to like a situation like this. There's no crimes committed, people. Don't worry, everybody. But you're like, you know, because you feel like, and it can happen to anybody though, right? And so it's like, there is that strength in sharing those stories, but you're right. That is a scary thing to think about publishing something like that and being sharing that honesty and that experience. And... Alaina Shearer (38:20) Yeah. Right? Leslie Youngblood (38:39) you know, and I think, or maybe, and I'm curious, do you think that as women, we worry more about the repercussions of that because we are women and it's like weaponized against us or we're that you were asking for, but you're like, was that really, are you sure? Are you sure? I feel like that's like something. Alaina Shearer (39:03) Yeah, no, I think like the thing that we are most scared to publish about isn't, it's not really that bad of a thing and we can't imagine publishing it and that right there is the wall that we need to overcome with ourselves, with our story. And so for example, in your story, you you can tell that entire story without names. Leslie Youngblood (39:20) Yeah, So true. Alaina Shearer (39:27) And you could tell it and publish it as an anonymous account on Substack. And when you would do that, you would feel a release. So what happens is when we keep our story inside, we grow more more discontent. We feel discontentment. feel, I don't know how to describe it, but this huge knot unravels when you do publish the thing. it turns out, as it turns out, the thing that we are almost scared to publish, that is our content goldmine. Leslie Youngblood (39:32) Sure. Alaina Shearer (39:55) That's the place that your audience is going to actually react like you won't even believe. They'll say, me too, me too, me too. again, you can think of a million examples of that that would affect your business positively and help sales, et cetera. ⁓ Yeah, so the thing I was most scared to publish recently, so it's just I'm always trying to challenge myself, but we put a proclamation on our agency website that says, Leslie Youngblood (39:55) So yeah, it's the truth. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Alaina Shearer (40:21) Yeah, we are not for everyone. If you don't believe that we need to save our planet and do everything we can, if you are in support of fascism, we don't want to work with you. And so that was really fun. And my cohost of Citizen Rebel, Chris, he was terrified to publish it. yeah. Leslie Youngblood (40:32) Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Love it. Yeah. I'm sure which is interesting like a man is terrified because right I mean But that means it's even more important to say thing say the thing right and to get it out there Alaina Shearer (40:50) Yeah. And as soon as he hit publish, he'd never done anything like this in his life. He's, you have to listen, our podcast is really fun cause he's the citizen. He's more introverted and like, he just wants to hide under the blankets during all this mess. And I'm like, let's go. You know, ⁓ so we're the opposite in that way, but he felt an immediate release. He felt so much better. He, he, he couldn't even believe it. So I highly recommend you figure out, you know, you all know who you are. Leslie Youngblood (41:06) Hahaha Yeah. Alaina Shearer (41:18) We know who we are at our core, but when we try to put words to it, that's the challenging part, to try to express it on paper. So yeah, I'm here for you if you need me, and thanks for having me. Leslie Youngblood (41:23) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I love that. That's great. Yeah. my goodness. That's amazing. I mean, we could keep talking all day about all of this. And I love that so much because at the core, it's not, and I this is just a good reminder too, we all were taught to seek answers outside. ourselves like in that way, like my voice, like find your voice and you're like, where is my voice? I need to, but in like with what you do and what I love so much and about this whole like conversation too, it's inside you. You know, it's already in you. You just have to give it the grace and like the, you know, the, how do you like, not like the work. Yeah. Yeah. Alaina Shearer (41:59) Mm-hmm. You have to give it space. You have to give it a room. You have to give it a place to live inside of you. And you have to let it come up to here instead of being hidden and buried. You have to say it out loud, you know? Leslie Youngblood (42:13) Yeah. Yes, yes, so true. And I love that so much. And it's so important. And everything you shared today was fantastic. And share again, ⁓ Alaina, before we wrap up where everybody can connect with you and stay in touch and get more information on the cohort and all the wonderful things you do. Alaina Shearer (42:32) Thank you. It's goodisnow.com and you go to the Find Your Voice tab and that's where you'll see the cohorts and then the podcast. You should be able to find a link to that on the website. And all we're doing there is teaching you how to take a stand. If you're listening to this and you're like, I'm scared, we're interviewing individuals and businesses and brands who have taken a stand in one of these areas we've discussed and they're putting everything out there and looking at their results. Which are pretty incredible actually, as you would imagine. They're doing very well. Yeah. They are. Leslie Youngblood (43:00) I love you. Right, they're set free, right? When you're sharing their voice and that's like such an important lesson for us all to remember. So thank you so much for doing the good work that you do and thank you for joining us today on Serious Lady Business, Alaina. It's been a true pleasure. Thank you. Alaina Shearer (43:11) Yes, yes. Thank you, Leslie. Leslie Youngblood (43:21) Thanks for tuning in to Serious Lady Business. If you loved this episode, be sure to follow or subscribe so you never miss a moment of the real, raw, and really wonderful sides of female entrepreneurship. And hey, please leave a review if you're feeling generous. It helps more amazing women find us and join the conversation. You can also connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at at Serious Lady Business and get all of the updates at SeriousLadyBusiness.com. Until next time, keep showing up, keep building, and keep being your seriously amazing self.