0:10

Hi, I'm Joelly,

0:10

your Branding Badass, and

0:13

welcome to season two of

0:13

Branding Matters. Today you are

0:17

in for a real treat because my

0:17

guest is someone who when I

0:22

decided to launch my podcast,

0:22

she was at the very top of the

0:25

list of dream guests that I

0:25

wanted to have on. And full

0:28

disclosure, it took a bit of

0:28

time but she finally agreed and

0:32

I am so thrilled to have her

0:32

here today. Her name is Romi

0:36

Neustadt and she is a former

0:36

lawyer and award winning PR exec

0:40

who traded in the billable hour

0:40

to become an entrepreneur,

0:43

author, speaker and business

0:43

coach. And for a dozen years

0:48

Romi has been helping women find

0:48

more time, purpose, money,

0:52

balance, authenticity,

0:52

fulfillment and possibilities.

0:57

And I quote she is having a

0:57

frickin blast doing it. Her

1:01

first book get over your damn

1:01

self the no BS blueprint to

1:05

building a life changing

1:05

business received a gold award

1:08

from the nonfiction authors

1:08

Association. And her latest book

1:12

you can have it all just not at

1:12

the same damn time was published

1:16

last year and was a Success

1:16

Magazine must read book for the

1:20

new year. Romi has been featured

1:20

in Forbes, Inc, Fast Company and

1:26

success. And she has appeared on

1:26

Fox Business News and morning

1:30

shows around the US. I invited

1:30

Romi to be a guest on my show to

1:34

talk about her huge brand. I

1:34

wanted to learn how she

1:38

differentiates herself with her

1:38

no BS approach. And I was

1:42

curious to learn how a former

1:42

lawyer who grew up in Montana

1:46

became a successful

1:46

entrepreneur, best selling

1:49

author in demand speaker, and

1:49

pretty damn good wife and mom

1:54

Romi. I am beyond thrilled to

1:54

have you here today. Welcome to

1:59

Branding Matters!

2:01

I'm so happy to

2:01

be here. Thank you for having

2:03

me. Oh, it's just so lovely to see

2:04

your beautiful face in least

2:07

four years when I first met you

2:07

in Nashville. What an amazing

2:10

trip. So I'm excited to hear all

2:10

about you. I want to start off

2:13

by talking about your amazing

2:13

career, you've seems like you've

2:16

done quite a few things. You

2:16

went from lawyer to PR and then

2:19

now you have your own business

2:19

and author and speaker. Can you

2:22

share first of all, what did you

2:22

do in law? What kind of lawyer

2:24

were you? I was a business litigator when

2:25

I was in law school, I had

2:30

aspirations of giving a voice to

2:30

the people that didn't have one

2:34

and, and I had some really great

2:34

internships and then I had law

2:39

school loans. I went into

2:39

private practice, and I loved

2:45

the gentleman that I was working

2:45

for. But I hated litigation.

2:50

Joey, it turns out that I wasn't

2:50

meant to fight with people for a

2:54

living, I was meant to create

2:54

things and build people up. And

3:00

that wasn't happening. So I went

3:00

into the wrong type of law for

3:03

me. And that is why among other

3:03

reasons, I'm encouraging our two

3:07

children to take time off before

3:07

grad school to be out in the

3:12

real world and figure out who

3:12

the hell they are outside of

3:14

academia.

3:15

Oh, wow. Good

3:15

for you. My son graduates this

3:17

year in grade 12. And he's

3:17

already told me he wants to take

3:20

a gap year before he goes to

3:20

university and I'm like, Okay,

3:22

well,

3:23

Okay, you know

3:23

what, first of all, huge

3:25

congratulations. But as a mother

3:25

with a sophomore in high school,

3:29

my heart goes out to you.

3:29

Because this is so hard right to

3:33

watch them grow. But just like

3:33

we know, with ourselves, you

3:37

know, get real quiet. Listen to

3:37

what I call our heart voice. It

3:40

tells us what we need our kids

3:40

tell us what they need. Yeah.

3:44

And if your graduate is saying,

3:44

You know what? I'm not ready for

3:48

that. I think you know, we got

3:48

to respect it.

3:51

Yeah, for sure. And it's funny.

3:51

So you I think you have a

3:54

daughter whose big time into the

3:54

arts right into theater. Is that

3:56

correct? So Bibi is our 12 almost 13 year

3:57

old

4:02

going on? 20 probably

4:04

Going on 30. We

4:04

have two very old souls in the

4:09

house are raising me I like to

4:09

say so BB is huge into dancing.

4:15

And she's been in musical

4:15

theater, and she's got a great

4:19

voice and dancing is just her

4:19

life and she really wants to go

4:23

pro. And so it's really fun to

4:23

see our children who are so

4:28

passionate about their

4:28

respective things and and to see

4:31

where it takes them. And I'm so

4:31

so grateful that I was able to

4:35

build a life that is allowing me

4:35

to be so present during these

4:41

years of middle school in high

4:41

school where I found the kids

4:47

need to more mentally

4:47

emotionally right when they were

4:50

itty bitty, we could kind of

4:50

phone it in right we could. We

4:54

could be doing other things and

4:54

as long as we were physically

4:57

present, that's what they

4:57

needed. But once they To hit a

5:00

certain age, you got to be all

5:00

in. I'm very grateful that I am

5:03

able to do that now, especially

5:03

with how fast it goes, right? It

5:07

goes at warp speed. Oh my god so fast. I have my son

5:08

who is the graduate, and he's

5:12

hugely into theater too. And he

5:12

does everything. So that's his

5:15

passion. So that's why I can

5:15

relate to what you're saying.

5:18

Yeah. And he does drag, but

5:18

that's a whole other episode.

5:24

We got to talk more about that offline. Yeah, he's a famous drag queen

5:26

in Calgary. But anyway, that's

5:29

our kids. I just wanted to so

5:29

you went from being a lawyer? So

5:33

how did you go from being a lawyer then to into PR, Because I want to get the hell

5:35

out of law. So I was miserable.

5:40

After just a couple years in law

5:40

night, I was looking around at

5:43

all of the partners, and

5:43

especially the female partners,

5:47

and this was back in the mid

5:47

80s. Yes, I'm dating myself. I'm

5:51

51.

5:51

Okay, I'm older than you, by the way.

5:53

Damn, don't we look good girl.

5:55

Oh, it'sour skincare, right? Anyway.

5:57

So I was looking

5:57

around. And you know, when, when

5:59

you're in an environment, a

5:59

career environment, you're

6:01

looking at the next steps up

6:01

from you, you never really love

6:06

what you see, because that's

6:06

where you're headed? Well, I

6:09

didn't love what I was seeing.

6:09

And I knew if I allowed myself

6:12

to get what is called the golden

6:12

handcuffs, you know, find the

6:17

life partner and have the kids

6:17

and get attached to the income

6:20

and whatever, go on partner

6:20

track all of it, it would be too

6:23

late, and my soul was dying. So

6:23

I thought, What the hell am I

6:28

going to do? And I had a

6:28

background in journalism from

6:31

USC School of Journalism, go

6:31

Trojans, if anybody's listening,

6:35

we've gotten a little bad rap

6:35

lately, but still a damn great

6:38

school. And I thought, okay,

6:38

maybe I can talk myself into PR

6:42

job. Because I know how to write

6:42

I know how to speak. I know, all

6:45

that kind of stuff. And I'd

6:45

always wanted to live in New

6:47

York, but I didn't want to be a

6:47

New York lawyer. So I sold

6:50

everything and moved to New York

6:50

and talked my way into a PR

6:54

firm. And that started a 12 year

6:54

award winning PR career.

6:58

That's amazing. So you had no experience, you just went and sold yourself and

7:00

good for you.

7:03

Yeah, you know,

7:03

like with everything Jolie, I

7:06

thought, Okay, what's in it for

7:06

them? What's in it for these

7:09

agencies? And it turns out, I

7:09

had a lot to offer them, you

7:13

know, oftentimes we think, Well,

7:13

gosh, I couldn't possibly do

7:18

that, or throw my hat in the

7:18

ring. Because either I don't

7:21

have direct experience, I don't

7:21

have the right thing on my

7:23

resume. But if you really think

7:23

about your broader experience,

7:28

and the skill set, and the

7:28

intrinsic things that come with

7:33

each of us as individuals, what

7:33

could be of use of service to

7:38

this person, or entity or

7:38

company, or nonprofit or

7:42

whatever, or cause it's a whole

7:42

different conversation. That's

7:45

what I did.

7:46

And so did you know anybody in New York when you went or you just packed your

7:48

bags and went by yourself?

7:50

So I had a couple

7:50

acquaintances, not super, super

7:56

close friends from law school,

7:56

but a couple friends, nobody

8:00

super tight. And I figured I'll

8:00

just meet people. And another

8:05

thing I did, which I've done my

8:05

entire life, and John and I

8:09

always encourage our kids to do

8:09

is I went through the mental

8:12

exercise of what's the worst

8:12

thing that could happen. I write

8:16

about this in my second book

8:16

about, you know, fear can

8:19

completely paralyze us. Right.

8:19

So if you ask, okay, what's the

8:22

worst thing that could happen

8:22

and come up with this

8:25

fantastical notion? I mean, make

8:25

up the wildest, most

8:29

catastrophic, scary story. And

8:29

then okay, but what do you know,

8:34

factually, what do you know to

8:34

be true right now? And it's

8:38

always Oh, so back then it was.

8:38

So I move. I

8:42

Love that. Yeah. I love that. That's great. And we're gonna totally get into

8:43

your book, because that book

8:46

changed my life in so many ways.

8:46

And I loved reading it. But

8:48

first of all, talk about your

8:48

first book, because that was my

8:51

introduction to you. You know,

8:51

back in 2017, I started doing

8:56

side business. So somebody

8:56

recommended this book called Get

9:00

over your damn. So I had no idea

9:00

what it was about. Where did you

9:04

come up with the title? And then

9:04

can you share a little bit about

9:06

the book?

9:07

Yeah, so all

9:07

props for that title. Go to my

9:11

dear, dear friend, and one of my

9:11

most important direct business

9:16

partners in my skincare business

9:16

props go to Bridget Kavanaugh.

9:20

Here's the thing, writing books

9:20

is really effing hard.

9:24

You're not the first to tell me that. I've had a lot of authors and they say

9:25

that

9:26

Yeah, it's like

9:26

this masochistic love affair.

9:30

And people come to me all the

9:30

time. So I'm thinking, Should I

9:33

write a book? Should I then my

9:33

answer always is if you have

9:37

something in you, whether it's

9:37

fiction or nonfiction, that you

9:40

have to get out. Like if you

9:40

don't get this out, it is

9:44

literally going to choke you.

9:44

Okay? If that's what you're

9:47

feeling, absolutely. Put your

9:47

took us down in that chair and

9:51

write the damn thing. Okay. If

9:51

not, don't do it because it is

9:55

ag and me, but I love it. And I

9:55

can write books What I'm not

10:01

good at, I can title the

10:01

chapters like nobody's business,

10:04

but the titling the actual books

10:04

is so effing hard for me. So I

10:09

went to Bridgette, who is just

10:09

such a brilliant marketing mind.

10:14

And I just, I love the way your

10:14

brain works. And she talked to

10:17

me about, well, let's talk about

10:17

all the things you actually say.

10:21

And she says that I've actually

10:21

said this on numerous occasions.

10:25

So get over your damn self is

10:25

the book that I wrote, I think

10:29

it's over five years ago, now.

10:29

It was released, I wrote it to

10:34

teach people how to build a

10:34

business like I had done in a

10:40

way that I don't think had been

10:40

done up till then in the way

10:45

that I think and talk, a No BS

10:45

blueprint to how to build a life

10:50

changing business. And I had to

10:50

do it, because of the size of my

10:55

organization had grown so large,

10:55

in addition to the hundreds of

11:00

1000s, in the greater field

11:00

that's working with our skincare

11:04

company, I just wasn't able to

11:04

answer all the requests, and all

11:08

of it tonight, I love more than

11:08

anything to help serve and help

11:13

be some kind of a change agent

11:13

for other people, even if it's

11:16

the smallest little spark,

11:16

whatever. And I couldn't do it.

11:19

So I just had to sit my ass down

11:19

and write it. And you know,

11:25

whenever you're doing something

11:25

that is audacious and scary, you

11:30

know, it's not something you

11:30

absolutely have to do. It's not

11:33

life or death. Or, you know, I

11:33

mean, I didn't have to write the

11:36

book. What finally got me to do

11:36

it Jolie is that I figured, you

11:41

know what, I could tie this to

11:41

fundraising, the sales of this

11:46

book, because I knew there was a

11:46

need for it. There was such a

11:49

great need for literacy

11:49

programs, both abroad and

11:53

domestically. And that was the

11:53

thing that finally got me to sit

11:58

down and do it. Because that

11:58

became my why for doing it. Even

12:01

though I had so many other things that I could have spent my time with. And based on the

12:03

sales, we've been able to create

12:07

literacy centers in South Africa

12:07

and help with schools in the

12:12

United States and during

12:12

hurricanes, put proceeds toward

12:16

medical supplies and things like

12:16

that. It's just felt really good

12:20

and a way for me to continue to

12:20

pay forward the success of my

12:23

business.

12:24

I didn't know that about the book. That's amazing. Congratulations. That's

12:25

great. I want to back up a

12:28

little bit, because I think we

12:28

skipped a step from PR to direct

12:31

sales. So I never going to

12:31

please but that's okay. You

12:34

mentioned your book. So you did

12:34

the PR. So then how did you go

12:37

from that and what inspired you

12:37

to then get into direct sales.

12:41

So I had done

12:41

pretty much everything there was

12:46

to do in PR in 12 years, being a

12:46

part of the industry, you know,

12:51

from the big flashy New York

12:51

firms and, and then later on, I

12:55

moved to Seattle. And that's

12:55

where I met my husband to

12:59

hanging my own shingle and being

12:59

a PR consultant. And I've done

13:04

every types of thing, fortune

13:04

500 startups, international

13:08

nonprofits, getting cupcake

13:08

wrappers on Martha Stewart cause

13:12

related stuff, litigation

13:12

support, I mean, everything. And

13:17

when our son, Nate was three,

13:17

and our daughter Bibi was six

13:21

months old, I just remember

13:21

saying to my husband one night,

13:26

okay, I'm kind of on board. I

13:26

think I've done everything there

13:30

is and I'm tired of being at the

13:30

beck and call of my clients, I

13:34

really want to own my time. And

13:34

for me, I was hitting my head

13:39

against an earnings glass

13:39

ceiling, because that was the

13:41

billable hour, the fee for

13:41

service model. My husband,

13:44

naturopathic doctor, he was in

13:44

the same fee for service model.

13:48

And I didn't want to work more

13:48

hours because I had these little

13:53

ones, I couldn't find leverage

13:53

in PR, meaning the only other

14:00

option would be to open my own

14:00

agency and be able to profit off

14:05

of the work of others. So I

14:05

remember to saying John, to

14:08

John, I don't know what the hell

14:08

is going to be but I gotta find

14:12

something that I can use all of

14:12

my skills and experience and,

14:18

you know, talents and things.

14:18

I'd love to actually be able to

14:22

have more flexibility and I do

14:22

want to earn more money and I

14:26

want to make a difference. And

14:26

my husband is the kind of guy

14:30

who says as he did, okay, you

14:30

got to have faith. It's out

14:35

there. You just have to just

14:35

keep your eyes open. And

14:39

literally, I think it was 1012

14:39

days later that the company that

14:45

we work with landed in my lap,

14:45

and at the time the founders of

14:49

our company, first of all, it

14:49

was skincare and I was what the

14:53

hell was it 38 Almost 39 And you

14:53

know, two little kids and all in

14:59

If I wasn't looking so good I'm sure. I mean you look great.

15:07

I'm just saying as a woman I

15:10

started using when I was 50. So

15:10

yeah, I right now I get

15:15

compliments on my skin all the

15:15

time. So I'm sure you do too.

15:18

Yeah. And my

15:18

skin was never my thing. I've

15:21

always had great hair, you know,

15:21

great teeth. I used to have

15:24

great boobs before. But I liked

15:24

the idea of, okay, skincare

15:29

makes sense. It's a consumable

15:29

product, and people want this

15:33

stuff. But the other thing that

15:33

got me and here's why I didn't

15:37

even think about, oh, what are

15:37

people gonna think? It was

15:41

because the company was founded

15:41

by already established

15:46

physician, entrepreneur global

15:46

success stories. And I just

15:50

figured, again, what's the worst

15:50

thing that could happen? I just

15:53

figured, okay, these two women

15:53

can afford to screw with their

15:58

own reputations and their

15:58

fortunes. So this has got to be

16:01

good. And at the very worst, my

16:01

skin will look better. And even

16:08

if we have just enough to start

16:08

really funding the college funds

16:14

and the retirement funds,

16:14

because even though we were to

16:16

professional household, we

16:16

weren't getting ahead. It wasn't

16:20

happening. And now all you got

16:20

to do is talk to people. And I

16:22

figured I could do that. So what

16:22

happened was in the most

16:25

unlikely of places for a UVA law

16:25

grad who ended up being a PR

16:32

executives, I ended up finding

16:32

the most fulfilling and

16:37

lucrative career doing something

16:37

that was never on my radar

16:40

screen, which is connecting

16:40

people with skincare products,

16:45

and building and mentoring a

16:45

team to grab whatever they want

16:50

out of an opportunity and become

16:50

better versions of themselves in

16:54

the process. Well, you're very passionate

16:54

about it. There's no doubt about

16:57

that. And obviously, that's a

16:57

huge secret or not a secret. But

17:00

that's a formula for your

17:00

success. I've seen you speak. I

17:03

don't know if you remember I saw you speak in Nashville, actually. And you are just

17:04

incredible. And I can see how

17:07

all your talents have prepared

17:07

you for this journey in this

17:11

business that you're on now. So

17:11

congratulations for all your

17:13

incredible success. So that's a

17:13

great story. So then you wrote

17:18

your second book, and 2020 20 I

17:18

think I read in 2020. Was that

17:23

right? Yes. So you know, it's

17:23

funny, actually, I when I was

17:25

reading your second book, so

17:25

your second book, you can have

17:28

it all, not just at the same

17:28

damn time. Love it. I actually

17:31

pre ordered this, by the way,

17:31

when it first went. And I wrote

17:34

it and I read it when I was in

17:34

Vegas. This is a great story. It

17:37

was February as my boyfriend's

17:37

birthday, we were in Vegas, and

17:40

I was at the pool. And I'm

17:40

reading the chapter, don't you

17:42

remember this where you talk

17:42

about how you had to escape, and

17:45

you went into a hotel room in

17:45

Vegas. And I was reading that at

17:49

that hotel about you being

17:49

there. And I think I actually

17:51

did a post about and tagged you

17:51

because I thought oh, that's

17:53

ironic. I couldn't read this

17:53

book fast enough. It was such an

17:56

amazing book. And I really think

17:56

this book is for everybody. I

17:59

just want to read this. You talk

17:59

about how in your forward you

18:02

say "For every woman with big

18:02

dreams who want to live a

18:04

fulfilled authentic life without

18:04

feeling stressed, exhausted,

18:08

inadequate, or batshit crazy -

18:08

this is my love letter to you. "

18:12

Well, is that not every woman

18:12

pretty much?

18:16

It absolutely is!

18:16

I wrote this for every woman

18:21

because we're all suffering from

18:21

an epidemic called unrealistic

18:25

expectations. Yeah, about who

18:25

we're supposed to be how much

18:30

we're supposed to get done in a

18:30

24 hour period. And what we're

18:34

supposed to look like, well,

18:34

we're doing it and

18:37

unfortunately, what's happening

18:37

is we're not taking the time to

18:41

figure out what is it that we

18:41

really want what's truly

18:46

important to each of us at any

18:46

given point in our lives because

18:49

it changes all the time, right?

18:49

Totally. Yeah. And really

18:52

learning how to figure out where

18:52

to spend our time. And what to

18:57

say no to and I had to learn to

18:57

do that. That's what led me to

19:03

that hotel room in Vegas when I

19:03

ran away from home with

19:07

encouragement from my house.

19:07

Yeah, because I was experiencing

19:11

this meteoric success. You know,

19:11

from the outside. I was just I

19:17

was living it baby. I was so

19:17

stressed, exhausted,

19:21

overwhelmed, saying yes to too

19:21

many things. I had lost the

19:26

ability to hear inside of

19:26

myself, what is it that I'm

19:30

doing? What do I want? And I had

19:30

to create and gather the tools,

19:37

the habits, the mindsets to

19:37

recalibrate my life. And so once

19:43

I was able to do it, I knew that

19:43

I had to share it. Remember I

19:47

talked about if you've got to

19:47

get it out? Well, at the time, I

19:51

didn't really want to write

19:51

another book. I had other stuff

19:54

but it was choking me. I said if

19:54

I don't share this with women, I

19:57

feel like I'm being negligent.

19:57

And so that's what I did. And I

20:02

share exactly what I did and

20:02

still do all the time to create

20:10

a life filled with all I want

20:10

without the stuff that I don't

20:13

One of the things that I loved in the one of the many things I loved is

20:15

when you talk about your time

20:19

and how all your time is worth

20:19

something and put a price tag on

20:22

your time and all of it not just

20:22

I love that you say not just the

20:25

working time, but even you know,

20:25

if you want to sit and watch

20:28

Netflix, put that in, that's a

20:28

priority. And you need to put

20:31

that in can you elaborate a bit

20:31

more on that, because I thought

20:34

that whole concept was really

20:34

helpful.

20:36

We spend so much

20:36

of our days doing so many

20:40

things. But if we truly

20:40

understood what our time was

20:44

worth, it would make it a lot

20:44

easier to either delegate or

20:48

delete certain things. Now this

20:48

time exercise, it's a formula

20:53

that I came up with years ago.

20:53

It's so important, I put it in

20:57

both books, quite honestly. But

20:57

I found that it's not as

21:02

powerful as if you do the entire

21:02

exercises that I lay out in my

21:09

second book, which is before you

21:09

figure out what your time is

21:13

worth, you got to figure out

21:13

what the hell your priorities

21:16

are. And then what are the goals

21:16

that serve those priorities.

21:20

Because Jolie, here's what the

21:20

problem with me was. And what I

21:23

found with 1000s of other women,

21:23

is that we've never taken the

21:28

time to figure out our

21:28

priorities. My whole life up

21:32

until I was in my early 40s. I

21:32

had confused priorities and

21:38

goals. I thought they were the

21:38

same thing. I was a goal setter

21:41

and Slayer. I mean, even as a

21:41

little kid, I would set a goal.

21:44

Dammit, I would hit but here's

21:44

the thing, a goal is something

21:48

that you work toward in the

21:48

future that you're trying to hit

21:51

a priority is something that's

21:51

non negotiable to you right now

21:56

what is so important to you that

21:56

not serving it is simply not an

22:01

option, and you say it in the

22:01

present tense. And then the

22:05

goals that you set? Well, they

22:05

have to serve those priorities.

22:09

And whenever I take people

22:09

through this exercise, and the

22:13

beginning of a new year is such

22:13

a great time to do it. Whenever

22:16

I take people through it, they

22:16

find that wait a minute, they've

22:21

been setting these goals, saying

22:21

yes to things going for things

22:25

making thing, you know, certain

22:25

goals important in their lives

22:28

that actually aren't really

22:28

important to them. It's things

22:32

they think they should be doing

22:32

or something they've always

22:35

done, but it's no longer feeding

22:35

their soul to getting them where

22:38

they want to be. And this can be

22:38

in your personal life,

22:42

relationships, health career all

22:42

over the place. Once you figure

22:47

out that stuff. And in the book

22:47

I walk you through exactly Okay,

22:50

once you figure out what you

22:50

want, then how do you

22:53

relentlessly edit your life and

22:53

take away all this stuff, then

22:56

the calculation of what your

22:56

time is worth is the

22:59

mathematical proof that you need

22:59

of where to delegate and delete

23:05

and it takes the emotion and the

23:05

guilt out of it. Definitely.

23:08

It's just numbers baby, it's great.

23:10

And I love that

23:10

it's a bit of a workbook too. I

23:12

mean, you were you make the

23:12

reader and I felt accountable to

23:15

fill out you know the sections

23:15

where you're like, Okay, don't

23:18

read on until you do this part,

23:18

right? And then you do that

23:20

part. And then you go on from

23:20

there. So such a helpful book.

23:23

And like I said, I couldn't get

23:23

through it fast enough. So I

23:25

want to talk about branding,

23:25

because this podcast is about

23:28

branding and I think that you

23:28

have such a such a strong brand.

23:33

I can be completely transparent

23:33

here. I have a girl crush on

23:36

you. I'm not the only one I'm

23:36

tons of people I know are in

23:40

love with you. So what is it

23:40

about Romi? What is your secret

23:43

sauce that you connect with your

23:43

audience and that you get them

23:46

to fall in love with you.

23:47

Okay, so this may

23:47

surprise you. It may surprise

23:50

some of the folks listening

23:50

granted, I came from the PR

23:54

world PR marketing all of it

23:54

when it came to launching my own

24:00

business. And our business is

24:00

unique in that we're working

24:03

with another brand. And we're a

24:03

source for those products. But

24:08

we're also offering our services

24:08

to help others be entrepreneurs,

24:14

right turnkey entrepreneurs, as

24:14

I put myself out in the public,

24:19

whether it was one on one

24:19

meetings or on social or in

24:23

front of large audiences, I

24:23

never thought about how am I

24:28

going to brand myself what was

24:28

so freeing and so exciting for

24:33

me was instead I thought now I

24:33

get to fully be myself is

24:39

actually the truest form of

24:39

branding whether your company

24:44

right I see it with my husband's

24:44

dietary supplement company, I

24:47

all of it. He's reached such

24:47

heights because he has shared

24:51

his authentic self that is

24:51

imprinted throughout his entire

24:56

company. I just was myself and

24:56

the more I gave myself

25:00

permission to be unabashedly

25:00

unapologetically me, the more I

25:06

found the people that I was put

25:06

here to serve, I'm not

25:09

everybody's cup of tea, you're

25:09

not gonna be whether you're a

25:13

company, an individual, a

25:13

service provider, you're not

25:16

gonna be for everyone, your job

25:16

is to find the people you were

25:20

put here to serve. And the more

25:20

I just lean into everything I

25:25

am, well, I found my peeps.

25:25

That's what it's all about,

25:27

though.

25:27

I mean, every

25:27

I've talked to, you know, CMOs

25:30

and leaders of huge brands and

25:30

big industries, and it's all the

25:33

same thing. It's, the more

25:33

authentic you are, the more

25:35

you're going to connect with your audience. You know, I have to tell you, when I saw your

25:37

speech in Nashville, and you did

25:41

that presentation, I don't know

25:41

if you remember, and you told

25:43

the story about how you went,

25:43

and you have this woman that she

25:46

wants to do business, but she

25:46

wasn't sure. And then you did

25:48

some posts with you pick it up

25:48

dogshit in your backyard, and no

25:51

makeup. And then she's like,

25:51

okay, I can relate to you I want

25:54

to work with you now can't be

25:54

any more authentic than that.

25:56

And real than that. And so yeah,

25:56

so what advice would you have,

26:00

then for someone who's

26:00

listening, who is an

26:02

entrepreneur, whether they want

26:02

to get into the direct sales

26:05

industry, or any sort of

26:05

entrepreneurship, based on your

26:07

experience?

26:08

Well, I think you

26:08

first have to do the work, the

26:12

hard work of figuring out who it

26:12

is you are, what you stand for,

26:17

and what you want in this life.

26:17

Because if you don't know

26:20

yourself, or aren't at least

26:20

actively engaging in the

26:24

exploration of who you are, and

26:24

who you're evolving into,

26:28

because we're always in an

26:28

evolution, right, if you're not

26:31

doing that work, you can't

26:31

possibly put yourself out in

26:35

authentic way. Because you don't

26:35

know that's the first most

26:39

important thing. And whether

26:39

it's using my books as a

26:43

catalyst for that, or Brene,

26:43

brown or whatever podcast or

26:47

whatever it is, but do the work

26:47

therapy, I'm a huge fan of

26:51

therapy. Yeah. Figure out who

26:51

you are, and know that you have

26:55

to share that. And I think it's

26:55

really important to look to your

27:00

left and to your right for

27:00

inspiration, but not for direct

27:06

modeling. Don't think you have

27:06

to do it like somebody else, you

27:10

got to do it like yours, even if

27:10

it's scary, because here's the

27:13

great thing, especially in this

27:13

day and age of social media, and

27:17

15/32 reels we put out there,

27:17

it's over and done with and

27:21

gone. And you can keep playing

27:21

and evolving and messing with

27:25

it. It shouldn't be scary. It

27:25

should be exciting. And you get

27:29

to learn what resonates.

27:31

That's great advice. And you know, you mentioned earlier about how

27:33

you're part of this big brand,

27:36

and then you're your own, I know

27:36

you didn't go out to create a

27:38

brand. But ideally, you have one

27:38

and it's because you're so

27:41

authentic and what you do, what

27:41

about the idea of working for I

27:45

love what you said about working

27:45

for a big company, whatever

27:48

industry you're in, or whatever

27:48

company you're in, but then

27:51

still having your personality

27:51

shine through. Like you said, if

27:54

everyone is doing this, then

27:54

don't blend it lean into what

27:57

they're not doing and take that

27:57

and run with that and do that.

28:00

And that's how you're going to

28:00

differentiate yourself. What do

28:02

you think about that? Do you

28:02

think that there's people who

28:05

tend to just follow along, like,

28:05

if we're always doing it, then

28:08

I'm going to do it because she's

28:08

successful, I'm gonna do what

28:10

she's doing. And I'll be successful.

28:12

I think it's

28:12

important. And what I've always

28:14

coached people to do, not just

28:14

in our profession, but in a

28:19

multitude of careers is that

28:19

you've got to understand when

28:24

you're being conservative about

28:24

sharing yourself, whether it's

28:29

in a large corporation, or if

28:29

you're a solopreneur. On social,

28:34

I think too often people are

28:34

stuck trying to fit into a mold

28:39

of what they think they should

28:39

be. Yeah, and there's that

28:42

should word. Everyone needs to

28:42

stop shooting all over the

28:47

place. And it's really about

28:47

figuring out what do I bring to

28:52

the table, even if it's the way

28:52

that you think what you have to

28:56

offer a different perspective,

28:56

in a big meeting with a whole

29:00

bunch of people in your

29:00

corporation, you have no idea

29:04

where the great ideas gonna come

29:04

from. And if you just keep

29:08

showing up as you like, I have

29:08

in this gig, I came to be known

29:14

for certain things, and people

29:14

kept coming to me for those

29:17

certain things. I attracted the

29:17

people who were looking for more

29:21

of that in their lives. But I've

29:21

always said to people who say,

29:25

you know, I just want to be like

29:25

you. No, no, no, no, no. You

29:28

want to be the best version of

29:28

you. Yeah, if I'm putting out

29:31

some things that are igniting

29:31

something within you and making

29:34

you grow and stretch and think

29:34

more and work on yourself more

29:37

well then hallelujah, that's why

29:37

I'm here. But you have to become

29:41

the best version of you. We need

29:41

all different voices. We need

29:46

all different perspectives in

29:46

every aspect of our society.

29:50

Right? problem right now is

29:50

everybody's in their flippin

29:53

silos. I think it was Steve Jobs

29:53

who defined great intelligence

29:57

he measured some of these

29:57

intelligence by What kind of a

30:01

different intersectional

30:01

perspective that they could

30:05

bring to the table. And that

30:05

comes from being able to connect

30:10

disparate things based on you

30:10

know, your DNA, your life

30:14

experience, the lens that you

30:14

viewed and gone through the

30:17

world with.

30:18

I love that, again, I go back to the word branding, because that's my

30:19

wheelhouse. When you look at all

30:22

the successful businesses or

30:22

entrepreneurs, that's what

30:25

really helps them is that

30:25

they've tapped into their

30:27

uniqueness and use that to help

30:27

leverage that. Is it fair to say

30:30

that you're pretty a type

30:30

personality? Do you tend to get

30:33

everything you go after and

30:33

succeed at it? Is that fair to

30:36

say?

30:36

Oh, good God.

30:36

Yes, I'm Type A okay. I'm a

30:40

recovering control freak. As you

30:40

know, from reading my latest

30:44

book, I am a recovering

30:44

perfectionist, and I can grind

30:49

like nobody I should ask joking

30:49

about that. Nobody's German,

30:54

he'll be he'll be very honest

30:54

with you. Oh, I see what you

30:56

did. You did that. Just having a

30:56

little fun. Cheeky Canadian.

31:02

I know, just having a litte fun.

31:04

So I think it was Brene

31:04

Brown, who recently talked about

31:10

the difference between grinding,

31:10

you know, doing the grind, and

31:14

grit. And so here's the thing, I

31:14

can grind like nobody's

31:19

business, I can work to the bone

31:19

and get the results get to that

31:24

goal, the whole thing, I can do

31:24

that, and I've done that. But

31:27

the difference with grit is when

31:27

you're doing it, because you are

31:33

doing it because of something

31:33

intrinsic to you. I connect that

31:36

when I heard Bernie said that I

31:36

said, Oh my god, this is like my

31:39

priorities, exercise, figuring

31:39

out what your priorities are,

31:42

what's really important to you,

31:42

and what are those goals, when

31:46

you're working on that, as

31:46

opposed to trying to serve these

31:49

external expectations or

31:49

demands, or the made up bullshit

31:52

in your head. That's when you're

31:52

developing grit and resilience

31:57

and all that. And I hope that

31:57

what I'm putting out in the

32:01

world is teaching women how to

32:01

stop the grind, which even if

32:08

you do reach those goals, Jolie,

32:08

even if you do reach success, I

32:11

was living proof that it doesn't

32:11

do you any good because you're

32:14

exhausted and unfulfilled

32:14

anyway, instead of going for the

32:19

grind, to create grit, and then

32:19

to pass these skills, these

32:23

habits, these mindsets along to

32:23

our kids to create a whole other

32:28

generation of people who are

32:28

showing up authentically and

32:32

make the world a better place.

32:33

I love that I've

32:33

never really heard the

32:36

description between grit and

32:36

grind like that I had an ego.

32:39

That's great. I love that it was

32:39

amazing. Brene Brown is pretty

32:42

awesome.

32:42

She is pretty

32:42

awesome. I have to say I was

32:46

overjoyed. I was on one of my

32:46

speedy walks with our

32:48

Labradoodle. And it stopped me

32:48

in my tracks because I was so

32:52

overjoyed that something I put

32:52

out in the world actually works

32:55

in concert with something she

32:55

Yeah,

32:58

That's amazing. Okay, okay,

32:58

that's really great advice.

33:01

Okay, so before you go, I do

33:01

have to ask you this question. I

33:04

know you're on a time crunch

33:04

here. Can you tell me about one

33:07

time in your life where you

33:07

failed really big, and then how

33:11

you overcame it and what you learned from it.

33:13

So my biggest failures

33:13

have come from not listening to

33:20

what I call my heart voice. My

33:20

biggest failures have always

33:23

come when I'm moving too fast,

33:23

or listening too much to the

33:28

loud noise that's either coming

33:28

from again, the bullshit stories

33:32

in my head, or the external

33:32

demands or expectations. So I'm

33:37

not listening to what it is that

33:37

is truly important to me who I

33:43

really am. And I see this happen

33:43

to people all the time. That's

33:47

why I devote an entire chapter

33:47

in you can have it all to quiet.

33:52

Because if we don't get quiet,

33:52

we can't hear that boys. And we

33:57

women are really bad at giving

33:57

ourselves quiet time, especially

34:01

in this age. And I know I know

34:01

many of you are listening to us

34:04

having this conversation because

34:04

you're fit this in while you're

34:07

walking or on the treadmill or

34:07

whatever. I get that. But we

34:10

have to make sure that we are

34:10

taking time without inputting

34:15

stimuli into our ears and our

34:15

brains are constantly that's so

34:20

important. So when I look back,

34:20

I can't give you one because I

34:23

can look back and see a whole

34:23

multitude of things. I went to

34:28

law school. It wasn't the best

34:28

fit, but I did it because of the

34:33

noise and I didn't get quiet.

34:35

Did you want to

34:35

be a lawyer originally? Or was

34:37

that a family thing that was expected.

34:39

I wanted to go

34:39

into journalism when I graduated

34:41

USC School of Journalism. I was

34:41

the top journalism student. When

34:45

I told my journalism professors

34:45

most amazing veterans in the

34:49

profession when I told them I

34:49

was going to go to law school.

34:51

They were so sad and pissed. But

34:51

I was too scared to pursue it

34:58

because I thought that I'd go to

34:58

Podunk market and not be good

35:03

enough to work myself out of it.

35:03

Because I was listening to all

35:06

the noise. And then I picked law

35:06

because my father God rest his

35:11

soul. He always wanted us for

35:11

kids to have a profession,

35:15

something we could really fall

35:15

back on. He wanted that for us.

35:18

And I couldn't stand the sight

35:18

of blood didn't like math and

35:21

science. So there was no med

35:21

school, no engine, and I could

35:25

talk I could write I could

35:25

advocate Okay, so I go to law

35:28

school. So that was a mistake

35:28

relationships. huge mistakes

35:33

before John, of course, of

35:33

course, do many different

35:36

things. What led me to that Las

35:36

Vegas hotel room having a

35:41

breakdown, that was a

35:41

culmination of a series of

35:45

mistakes. But see, here's the

35:45

great thing Jolie, but it was

35:48

like a breakthrough.

35:48

What didn't you say though? Total breakthrough.

35:50

Yeah, my Jerry

35:50

Maguire moment. But Oh. But when

35:53

you look back at all of the

35:53

mistakes or failures, I see the

35:58

dots, all the dots are

35:58

connected, and even the failures

36:02

are moving you closer to where

36:02

you're supposed to be, and who

36:07

you're supposed to become. So I

36:07

don't regret any of them.

36:12

Because that's why I'm here

36:12

right now doing what I'm doing.

36:17

Having done what I've done, and

36:17

having this I think wealth of

36:21

harder and wisdom to share with

36:21

others. The trick is, whenever

36:26

we make a mistake to stop and

36:26

review, revise, release, review

36:31

it. What the hell happened?

36:31

Okay, what can I learn from

36:35

this? And what am I going to do

36:35

differently next time, and then

36:40

let it go? Letting go is the key Oh, I have

36:42

a hard time letting it go. But I

36:46

That's great way to end it

36:46

because letting it go is key. I

36:48

just want to say I love your

36:48

energy. I can see the passion in

36:52

you. You've got so much energy

36:52

and especially when you're

36:54

talking about John who by the

36:54

way, I think looks like Stanley

36:57

Tucci. Has anyone ever told you that?

36:58

Oh, all the time. And

36:58

he my husband is he used to have

37:02

this long fab. Do you really

37:02

care? And I guess living with

37:07

me. He's pretty damn bald right

37:07

now. But he recently got these

37:12

fabulous glasses. And he looks

37:12

so much like to announce since

37:17

Tucci is having his mega moment

37:17

with the CNN series. Yeah, all

37:22

over the place. And it's bad.

37:23

Everybody's calling him one of the sexiest men by the way. So that's a

37:25

compliment to your husband.

37:27

And that's what I say to John all the time. I said, Honey, you're getting

37:29

better with time and no, it's a

37:32

doppelganger.

37:34

Yeah, I met him

37:34

when I met you in Nashville. And

37:37

I remember that was one of the first things I thought and he was super generous. And you guys

37:39

are so lovely together and you

37:42

can see the love between the two

37:42

of you. And so kudos to you and

37:45

thank you so much for joining us

37:45

today. I would love to keep

37:48

talking with you. But I know you

37:48

have a full day so Romi if

37:51

people want to learn more about

37:51

you and they want to connect

37:53

with you. What's the best way?

37:54

The best way is

37:54

to go to Rromineustadt.com. ROMI

37:56

NEUSTADT.COM You can find me

37:56

there you can also find me on

38:05

social media. I'm having a lot

38:05

of fun these days on Instagram.

38:10

Of course Facebook

38:11

Are you on Tik Tok?

38:12

You know what? I

38:12

am not on tick tock I'm holding

38:15

out and some people say I'm a

38:15

schmuck for it. But again, I

38:19

know right now right now Tik Tok

38:19

is a should and I will not do

38:24

any should so I'm not ruling it

38:24

out. But for right now, it just

38:28

isn't a thing. And another

38:28

reason is our 12 year old

38:32

doesn't have a phone doesn't

38:32

have social media. And I'm not

38:37

gonna go on tick tock until she

38:37

can do it responsibly. And so

38:43

that's another reason why

38:43

because I'm trying to model

38:46

really good stuff.

38:47

Wow. Good for you. That's amazing.

38:49

That's the right

38:49

decision for me, right? I mean,

38:52

yeah, everybody has a different

38:52

thing. And people are doing

38:54

amazing things on Yeah, yeah. So

38:54

for right now you can't find me

38:58

there. But you can find me lots

38:58

of other places. And thank you

39:01

so much for having me he putting

39:01

your incredible light out into

39:04

the world. It was so worth it. So worth it.

39:05

Thank you again, good luck with

39:08

everything and with your

39:08

children. And I'm so excited to

39:12

be connected with you and we

39:12

will definitely stay in touch. I

39:14

would love it.

39:21

And there you

39:21

have it. I hope you enjoyed the

39:23

conversation and maybe learned a

39:23

few things to help you with your

39:26

branding. Most of all, I hope

39:26

you had some fun. This show is a

39:30

work in progress. So please

39:30

remember to rate and review on

39:33

whatever platform you listen to

39:33

podcasts. And if you want to

39:36

learn more about me and what I

39:36

do to help my clients with their

39:40

branding, feel free to reach out

39:40

to me on any of the social

39:43

channels under you guessed it,

39:43

branding, bad branding matters

39:47

was produced, edited and hosted

39:47

by Joelly. Goodson awesome. So

39:52

thanks again and until next

39:52

time, here's to all you badass

39:56

is out there