0:00

It came to a point

0:00

for me where it was like, okay,

0:03

yes, writing checks to someone

0:03

else is scary because you're

0:06

seeing that money leave, right

0:06

that you have. And at the end of

0:09

the day, if I write this check

0:09

to someone on my team, and they

0:15

can bring those zone of genius,

0:15

then that's giving me more time

0:18

that I can bring in more money,

0:18

right? I can find more clients.

0:22

So that way, the money that's

0:22

going out, well, there's gonna

0:25

be more that's gonna come in. So

0:25

we just kind of switch that

0:27

mindset to. I'm losing it. No,

0:27

no, no, I am opening the doors

0:32

to get more in return, right.

0:37

This is

0:37

The MindShift Podcast where we

0:39

share real stories, real

0:39

strategies that will help you

0:42

find real success. This is the

0:42

place to hear from people just

0:46

like you who have taken their

0:46

ideas, goals and dreams from a

0:49

point of inspiration to

0:49

realization or when life knock

0:53

them down from a point of break

0:53

down to break through. I'm your

0:56

host Darrell Evans. Let's get

0:56

started with today's episode.

1:03

Hey, my friend welcome back to another episode of The MindShift Podcast. I'm

1:05

your host, Darrell Evans. I'm

1:08

excited to have you here. Thank

1:08

you so much for taking time out

1:11

of your day to, spend it here

1:11

with us. If this is your first

1:14

time here, I would encourage you

1:14

to hit the follow and subscribe

1:17

button so you never miss an

1:17

episode. That is of course, if

1:20

you love today's episode, and I

1:20

know you will. Today's a special

1:25

episode for me because I have my

1:25

show's producer. On the show

1:30

today. Her name is Leah Bryant.

1:30

She is a former fraud

1:35

investigator, turned podcast

1:35

editor and producer she went

1:39

from fighting crime to

1:39

conquering ums and uhs is

1:45

basically the same thing. She's

1:45

a strategic Podcast Producer

1:49

helping coaches launch and

1:49

maintain their podcasts so they

1:53

can share their inspirational

1:53

and helpful messages without the

1:58

podcast taking over their lives.

1:58

And let me tell you, we're going

2:02

to talk about how it was taken

2:02

over my life. She takes her

2:05

superpowers from being an

2:05

investigator, which I can't wait

2:08

to pull apart and share with you

2:08

because I know a little bit

2:10

about that. It's her attention

2:10

to detail. It's her ability to

2:14

look over a problem at a 10,000

2:14

foot level. But then dig in and

2:19

find a solution and a strategy

2:19

that best fits your needs. When

2:23

it comes to podcasting, in

2:23

addition to helping manage and

2:28

launch over 200 episodes on 13

2:28

different shows. She helps

2:33

coaches learn how podcasting can

2:33

grow their audience of raving

2:38

fans and increase their income.

2:38

She has a custom approach in

2:43

launching and managing shows.

2:43

And she really can work with you

2:46

if you're thinking about launching a podcast or if you're listening right now. And you

2:48

already have a podcast, but it's

2:51

taking over your life and kind

2:51

of like I was I don't know how

2:54

many months ago, I was just

2:54

loving the show, but drown in

2:57

the back end. She has an ability

2:57

to show up confidently and

3:00

inspire you to take the action

3:00

you need to get your message out

3:03

there. And I remember when we

3:03

first met and when we got

3:06

introduced, I thought her

3:06

tagline on her website. It just

3:09

spoke directly to me. You're in

3:09

front of the mic behind the mic.

3:14

Leah Bryant. Welcome to the show.

3:15

Thanks, Darrell. It's a pleasure to be here.

3:18

Where do we want

3:18

to start fraud investigator?

3:21

Let's just get right into it

3:21

fraud investigator to a Podcast

3:24

Producer. I am not seeing the

3:24

bridge doesn't work. Tell

3:32

everybody first of all a little bit about yourself where you from? And let's start there.

3:34

Sure. So I

3:36

I am currently

3:36

outside of Cincinnati. And

3:40

originally I'm from Kentucky

3:40

farm girl here. So funny farm

3:45

girl to fraud to podcasting.

3:49

We're gonna laugh a bit y'all today, just so you know.

3:51

Yes!

3:52

Every Thursday, we have our production meeting. And we spent a bunch of time

3:54

laughing. So hope y'all are in

3:56

for some fun today.

3:58

Yes, life is fun

3:58

and serious at the same time.

4:01

Right. So just to give you a

4:01

little backstory, I actually

4:04

started as a bill collector. And

4:04

while that was great, it just

4:10

wasn't a good fit for me. And I

4:10

had a manager at the time, say,

4:14

you know, I think that you'd be

4:14

really great at investigation

4:19

because you have their skill

4:19

sets, right? You're able to dig

4:22

into the details, find the

4:22

missing pieces and kind of like

4:26

see how they all come together

4:26

in the end. And I was like,

4:31

Okay, let's do this. So I went

4:31

into investigating credit card

4:35

and debit card fraud. And I did

4:35

that for almost 10 years. And it

4:39

was so amazing. It was so much

4:39

fun. Fraud is just something

4:43

different every day. You wish

4:43

that they would utilize those

4:46

skills for the good of the world.

4:50

Right.

4:50

Committing crime,

4:50

because they're very, very, very

4:53

smart what they do. Then you get

4:53

to the point where I was ready

4:57

to start a family with my then

4:57

new husband David, we've now

5:01

been together for almost 10

5:01

years. And it was very stressful

5:05

for me my job. And so I was

5:05

like, You know what, I should

5:08

probably just go home as they

5:08

say, and try to start a family.

5:13

So we did that. And being a

5:13

mother, I'm blessed. And I don't

5:18

mean to say this to sound any

5:18

other way than that. But I was

5:21

kind of like, I need something

5:21

for me, I need something to

5:24

occupy my time to mentally

5:24

stimulate me, help me to use my

5:28

strategic side that I love to

5:28

do. And someone said, Well, you

5:32

know, you could be a virtual

5:32

assistant and work from home and

5:35

still have the time to spend

5:35

with your son. That was

5:38

brilliant. I was like, Okay,

5:38

let's do that. And while virtual

5:42

assisting was great, it was very

5:42

busy. I had a lot of fun, had

5:46

great clients, but I wasn't

5:46

fulfilled in the way that I

5:49

wasn't utilizing all those skill

5:49

sets that I missed using. So

5:53

someone said, you know, Leah,

5:53

you love podcasts? Yes, I do.

5:57

I've listened to podcasts for as

5:57

long as I can remember, just

6:01

kind of listening really, to

6:01

everything, mostly true crime,

6:05

you know, it's always got to

6:05

find who did it and why they did

6:08

it and all those good things.

6:08

But I was like, Okay, let's look

6:14

into what it takes to manage or

6:14

edit or produce a podcast. And I

6:18

found a course, that was able to

6:18

support me and all this

6:21

learning. And I was just like,

6:21

oh, my gosh, this is the best

6:24

fit ever. And so it just kind of

6:24

transitioned from there. And my

6:28

business has just grown

6:28

exponentially in the past half

6:31

of the year, I would say,

6:31

because, you know, when you find

6:35

something that you love, and

6:35

that you're good at, then your

6:38

clients appreciate the fact that

6:38

you do your job well. And then

6:41

they would then in turn, spread

6:41

the word, right? Like, she's

6:45

great. So and that brings us to

6:45

where we are now. And I get to

6:48

work with you. So it's so much

6:48

fun.

6:51

Yeah, you know, a

6:51

few things to really unpack

6:53

there that I think just a couple

6:53

of themes that I heard, and I

6:58

want the listener to hear. And

6:58

that is, you know, your decision

7:01

to start a family, there was a

7:01

little bit of emptiness there.

7:05

And there was this gratitude and

7:05

this lovely idea of starting a

7:09

family and being home. But

7:09

there's a unique skill set and a

7:12

unique what I like to call it,

7:12

you've heard me say this

7:14

superstar DNA that's inside of

7:14

you. There's these unique

7:18

skills, these unique gifts,

7:18

these perspectives and insights

7:21

that you only have and you're

7:21

thinking, but now I can't use

7:25

those. And so there's this

7:25

natural wrestling right of

7:29

unsettledness that I can't do

7:29

what I'm actually gifted at

7:33

doing. And so I love that you

7:33

said, Okay, let me now figure

7:36

out how to pivot and align those

7:36

skill sets, because you'll be

7:40

wrestlers. And if you're listening to this, you know what that feeling is like, you know,

7:42

when you're out of alignment

7:45

with your gift, and you feel it.

7:45

So I love that you said, let me

7:49

just start looking around,

7:49

because some people just sit in

7:51

it and end up unfortunately, you

7:51

know, things could be

7:54

depressing, they could have

7:54

anxiety. And so you're just

7:57

like, let me figure out how to

7:57

make this work with my home

7:59

life. Um, so I love that. Number

7:59

two, was this going towards your

8:04

passion, like you already

8:04

enjoyed listening to podcast.

8:08

And so you follow that itch. And

8:08

we talk a lot about like, Don't

8:11

do something just because it

8:11

makes money, don't do something

8:13

because it aligns with your

8:13

skills, even do it because you

8:17

actually enjoy the work. Like, I

8:17

already am interested in that.

8:21

And so I love those two, two

8:21

ideas. So talk a little bit

8:24

about you said your business has

8:24

grown exponentially. In the

8:28

last, you know, several months,

8:28

by the way, we're a year and a

8:30

half into a pandemic at this

8:30

time of recording this. And so,

8:35

talk a little bit about your

8:35

business growth. And you know,

8:38

what has led to your business

8:38

growing? And obviously, for

8:42

those listening, who are not

8:42

running a podcast, talk a little

8:44

bit about that growth story, because I think a lot of entrepreneurs who start they

8:46

think how could I get my

8:48

business to grow exponentially.

8:50

Right? So a big

8:50

piece of that is finding what

8:53

you love to do, right? What gets

8:53

you excited to get out of bed

8:56

every day, be able to get up and

8:56

be like, Oh my gosh, I get to

8:59

make a difference. I can help

8:59

someone have time so that they

9:04

can go and spend with their

9:04

family or do things that they

9:07

love to do. And once I was able

9:07

to really hone in on that, and

9:12

then also kind of like zero in

9:12

on whom I wanted to help in that

9:17

regard. As far as having as a

9:17

client. I went from serving kind

9:21

of like anybody who wanted to

9:21

start a podcast. I'm your girl

9:26

being really niched down as they

9:26

say to coaches, right? It helped

9:31

me to be able to speak to that

9:31

client in a way that they

9:37

understood and it resonated with

9:37

them. And I feel like that's

9:40

what's really helped grow my

9:40

business. And then also kind of

9:43

like investing back into myself,

9:43

right? Like we can invest in our

9:46

business. At the end of the day.

9:46

That's great. But what's

9:49

important is, is you as an

9:49

entrepreneur, investing in

9:53

yourself, whether that be

9:53

furthering education, self care,

9:58

or you know, anything that We'll

9:58

help you as a person grow,

10:01

because I think that you growing

10:01

will also help your business

10:05

grow in the end.

10:06

Yeah, you work

10:06

from home, right?

10:08

I do.

10:09

And you have a

10:09

son, right?

10:12

Yeah, I have a three and a half year old.

10:13

And talk about

10:13

work life balance in the home

10:17

when you know, you've got a

10:17

young child in the house. Let's

10:21

talk a little bit about that. How do you manage?

10:23

Sure. So I love to

10:23

get up really, really early. And

10:26

I also go to bed really, really

10:26

late. So in the early,

10:32

you said, Lucky.

10:32

Did I You said lucky? I don't

10:36

know. You shouldn't say that to

10:36

me. I can't that's the first

10:41

time I heard that one.

10:41

I just for some

10:41

reason don't require a lot of

10:44

sleep. And so I'm grateful for

10:44

that. Right? Because it gives me

10:47

those extra hours.

10:50

We're not gonna

10:50

digress, but oh, you know, you

10:55

don't need very much sleep. What

10:55

are you not human? Anyway,

11:01

alright, we'll come back to that later.

11:04

But those early

11:04

morning hours, when the house is

11:06

really quiet, I usually just

11:06

like jump in and do a lot of

11:09

like editing work. And then in

11:09

the afternoon, if there's nap

11:13

time, if I'm blessed with

11:13

naptime, any moms out there who

11:17

have toddlers know exactly what

11:17

I'm talking about. Or at night,

11:22

once everybody has kind of gone

11:22

to bed, or we're kind of

11:24

settling down for the evening is

11:24

when I jump in and like either

11:27

continue editing or do other

11:27

like business tasks that I need

11:30

to do for clients. So it's just

11:30

kind of the great thing about

11:33

being an entrepreneur, it's not

11:33

me working to fit someone else's

11:37

schedule. It's I'm working to

11:37

fit my own schedule. So if

11:41

working in the early morning

11:41

works, then I do it. If working

11:44

in the afternoon works, then I

11:44

do it. And that's such a

11:47

blessing, I think in regards to

11:47

being an entrepreneur as being

11:50

able to set those times.

11:52

Do you ever feel

11:52

overwhelmed by the variation of

11:55

scheduling throughout the day,

11:55

because obviously, with a three

11:57

year old, you know, nap time

11:57

could happen? Nap time couldn't?

12:01

Course, we've had plenty of

12:01

meetings where he's walked in

12:03

the room, and I see a little

12:03

angst on your face sometimes.

12:06

And I'm thinking it's all good.

12:06

Like, it's all good. But talk to

12:09

us about that. Let's keep it 100

12:09

Right.

12:12

Yeah, at the

12:12

beginning, it was stressful. I'm

12:14

not gonna lie, right? Cuz, you

12:14

know, I'm trying to building a

12:17

business I'm trying to set you

12:17

know, how I...

12:20

Professional expectation, yeah.

12:21

Exactly, exactly.

12:21

And, you know, having, you know,

12:25

a guest come on my Zoom calls,

12:25

and he's three and a half. And

12:28

it's just like, what's your

12:28

name? You know, it's a

12:32

production assistant.

12:34

Exactly, I love it.

12:34

But, you know, it's just kind of

12:38

like, being able to understand

12:38

that I've set those expectations

12:42

at the beginning, hey, I work

12:42

from home, I have a toddler,

12:46

like, you are gonna see him. My

12:46

clients understand that. And I

12:49

think that realizing this, and

12:49

also I've starting to hire a

12:54

team, it also kind of helps

12:54

alleviate some of that stress as

12:57

well. So those two things

12:57

together, I think have really

13:00

helps with the stress side and

13:00

being able to balance

13:03

everything.

13:04

Yeah, I think

13:04

it's, you know, I use the phrase

13:07

work life integration.

13:08

Yeah

13:08

Especially when

13:08

just the life of an

13:11

entrepreneur, this is even

13:11

before I was working 100%. And

13:14

we went 100% virtual with my

13:14

company. But the idea of work

13:17

life balance can often mean we

13:17

win or lose in one of the

13:21

categories of the other. And I

13:21

just don't think that's a fair

13:24

assessment, and it can weigh us

13:24

down. I think it's about coming

13:27

up with an integrative approach

13:27

to both activities, because you

13:33

love them equally, right? You

13:33

love your family, love your time

13:36

with your child, you love your

13:36

time with your spouse, but at

13:38

the same time you love this

13:38

passion of yours. And so I

13:40

really believe it's work life

13:40

integration, I'm talking a lot

13:43

about that. You are building a

13:43

team now. And that's exciting.

13:48

And talk to the audience.

13:48

Because there's a lot of

13:51

solopreneur solo practitioners

13:51

who get started in their

13:54

entrepreneurial venture and make

13:54

the mistake of doing it too long

13:58

by themselves. I'm raising my

13:58

hand here, for those that are on

14:02

audio only. I've done it too

14:02

many times. But the value of

14:07

expanding your team and making

14:07

the investment talk a little bit

14:11

about that at this early stage

14:11

in your business.

14:13

Sure. So I will

14:13

preface this by saying that when

14:16

I started producing podcasts,

14:16

managing and editing, I had no

14:22

want to start a team. I was

14:22

like, that's not really my

14:25

thing. I'm gonna do me, I'm

14:25

gonna do my business and serve

14:28

my clients and we're be great.

14:28

Call it a day. And it got to the

14:31

point where I was getting very,

14:31

very busy, which I am so

14:36

grateful for. And it just got to

14:36

the point where I was like,

14:38

Okay, let's be smart about this.

14:38

I need help. It's like, Hi, I'm

14:43

Leah and I need some help. So I

14:43

was able to voice that out and

14:46

it felt good. And for a long

14:46

time, I was very stubborn. I'm

14:52

gonna do this myself. I'm gonna

14:52

do this myself. Well, at the end

14:55

of the day, you really can't do

14:55

things by yourself if you want

14:58

to grow a business In my

14:58

opinion, but I was able to kind

15:03

of hone in, I know that this

15:03

phrase was thrown around a lot,

15:06

but narrow in on that zone of

15:06

genius, right, which is I love

15:10

to edit. And editing takes up a

15:10

big chunk of my time. So I was

15:14

able to kind of sit down and

15:14

realize, okay, I love to edit.

15:19

Let's find someone to help me

15:19

with transcriptions, or let's

15:22

find someone to help with show

15:22

notes. Because I am not a

15:25

copywriter, I don't do well with

15:25

that. So it's able to like,

15:28

okay, that's easy enough, let's

15:28

give it to someone else. And

15:31

then, you know, find someone to

15:31

help with editing for YouTube,

15:34

because now podcasts are going

15:34

from audio only to audio and

15:37

video, which I think is really

15:37

amazing. And just various

15:41

different aspects of the

15:41

business that I could find

15:44

someone else who that is their

15:44

zone of genius. And we can come

15:47

together and serve clients

15:47

really, really well. And it's

15:52

kind of like happened within a

15:52

span of like, 35 days.

15:55

Wow.

15:55

When I was like,

15:55

I'm gonna do it all myself too.

15:59

And I work with five women, and

15:59

it's just amazing. Like, I am

16:03

grateful for them and their

16:03

service to the clients that we

16:06

work with. And their abilities

16:06

and skill sets that they bring

16:10

to the table is really amazing.

16:12

Leah, that's such

16:12

a, if you're listening this, you

16:15

don't miss what she just said,

16:15

she needed to zone in on her

16:19

zone of genius, I call it that

16:19

superstar DNA. And then every

16:23

minute, hour week, month that

16:23

she was doing the other stuff

16:28

that was outside of her custom

16:28

skill. She was not only going to

16:32

hurt herself, but her business,

16:32

there's something else in there

16:35

that in order to get to that

16:35

place, you have to keep the main

16:38

thing, the main thing and that

16:38

is sales, right? She had to go

16:41

acquire customers. And in order

16:41

to acquire those customers to

16:45

then say, you said something,

16:45

and I want to go back to you

16:48

said, you got to the point where

16:48

like, do I want this to be a

16:51

business? And if so then I need

16:51

to get some help. Something like

16:56

that is how you put it.

16:57

Yeah.

16:57

And I think there

16:57

lies the distinction. I'll talk

16:59

about myself, in this case, when

16:59

I started this show. I didn't

17:03

know what I wanted to do with it

17:03

other than to record cool people

17:06

and talk about the journey from

17:06

inspiration realization from

17:09

break down to break through now

17:09

it's, you know, sure, there was

17:11

a bigger idea of maybe what I

17:11

wanted to do, but I wasn't

17:13

committed to that. It was just

17:13

like, hey, let's start

17:15

interviewing some cool people.

17:15

And, of course, now there's The

17:19

MindShift Business Academy and

17:19

all the things. And it was let

17:22

me see were two years and we've

17:22

been working together for what,

17:25

nine months now. Something like

17:25

that.

17:27

Yeah.

17:27

And so it was

17:27

finally when I made that same

17:30

distinction for this business to

17:30

say it is a business. It's not

17:34

just a podcast. And the minute

17:34

you make that distinction, that

17:39

it's a business, then now you've

17:39

got to treat it differently,

17:42

which is and I think from the

17:42

time I spoke to you, we were

17:45

working together within weeks,

17:45

was it? I mean? Yeah, it was

17:48

long, because I was done. I was

17:48

cooked with editing this thing.

17:53

I was years, and it took my

17:53

executive assistant say, why are

17:58

you doing that? And so it

17:58

doesn't matter how long you've

18:01

been in business, we all go back

18:01

to if it, I can do it better

18:05

than anybody else. Like we all

18:05

make this mistake as

18:07

entrepreneurs. So I just wanted

18:07

to share that because you made

18:10

the distinction. And then you

18:10

made the investment. And I know

18:14

a lot of people listening to the

18:14

show, they're afraid to start

18:16

writing checks to other people.

18:16

Right, I want to talk a bit

18:19

about how do you manage your

18:19

team? How do you find your team?

18:24

Let's talk about those two

18:24

points. Because I talk to a lot

18:26

of entrepreneurs, they're afraid

18:26

to put people on payroll, or

18:30

into a contractual agreement

18:30

where there's a monthly

18:32

recurring expense. And there's a

18:32

distinction of what was it for

18:37

you? And how do you manage that?

18:38

It came to a point

18:38

for me where it was like, okay,

18:42

yes, writing checks to someone

18:42

else is scary, because you're

18:45

seeing that money leave, right

18:45

that you have. And at the end of

18:48

the day, if I write this check

18:48

to someone on my team, and they

18:54

can bring their zone of genius.

18:54

And that's giving me more time

18:57

that I can bring in more money,

18:57

right, I can find more clients.

19:01

So that way, the money that's

19:01

going out, well, there's gonna

19:04

be more that's gonna come in. So

19:04

we just kind of switch that

19:06

mindset to, I'm losing it. No,

19:06

no, no, I am opening the doors

19:11

to get more in return. Right? So

19:11

not only am I helping someone,

19:18

by working with them, right as a

19:18

subcontractor on my team. And I

19:23

typically am working with women

19:23

only because I like the whole

19:26

effect of empowering women in

19:26

this space, because behind the

19:29

scenes is predominately male,

19:29

such as to be able to build a

19:33

team of women but you know, to

19:35

You don't have to

19:35

shy away from you. Yeah, I'm

19:38

working with women. I'm trying to elevate my people.

19:42

Exactly. And you

19:42

know, and just kind of realizing

19:46

that switching that mindset from

19:46

oh I'm losing something No, no,

19:50

no, I'm not only am I helping

19:50

someone else by giving them the

19:55

opportunity to either like train

19:55

on the job learning or just come

19:58

exactly with their zone of

19:58

genius and do what they do. But

20:02

I'm also opening up those doors

20:02

to bring in more, right, bring

20:06

in more clients help more

20:06

people. And I think that that is

20:09

really the key thing to think

20:09

about when you're a wanting to

20:12

start a team or grow a team, and

20:12

it's like, oh, I don't know,

20:15

think about that, instead of

20:15

losing, you're actually gaining.

20:19

At first, it may not seem that

20:19

way. But believe me, it will

20:22

happen. And when it does, you're

20:22

gonna be like, Oh, my gosh, why

20:24

didn't I do this sooner, but

20:24

it's been really amazing. And

20:29

just getting really clear on

20:29

what you want your team to do, I

20:34

think is also important as far

20:34

as the managing aspect, because

20:37

once you get clear on your zone

20:37

of genius, what you need someone

20:40

else to do or help you with. And

20:40

then you bring those people in,

20:44

then it kind of like all lines

20:44

together, you know, you do your

20:47

part, and then it just kind of

20:47

all falls into place of each

20:49

person who does theirs. So it's

20:49

been pretty phenomenal in that

20:53

regard.

20:54

Yeah, it's kind

20:54

of interesting, because, you

20:56

know, and I love the way you

20:56

think about it. And there's so

20:59

much about how you're thinking

20:59

about entrepreneurship. Is this

21:02

your first entrepreneurial venture?

21:04

It is.

21:05

Well, I would say

21:05

that there's a lot of great

21:07

thinking that you exhibit as a

21:07

entrepreneur who's not had a ton

21:12

of experience in

21:12

entrepreneurship, because it's

21:14

literally you're making great

21:14

decisions. You're making them

21:18

early. One aspect of being a

21:18

great entrepreneur is making

21:22

decisions. A lot of times we be

21:22

grudge making the decision to do

21:25

certain things because of fear

21:25

or those. No, you're making

21:29

great decisions to expand your

21:29

team stick to what you do best.

21:32

I want to ask about editing in

21:32

general, what's the worst part

21:35

about editing to you?

21:37

Oh, the worst part?

21:37

Um, no, I'm kidding.

21:42

Because I know what it is for me. But what's the worst part for you?

21:45

I would say

21:45

probably when someone doesn't

21:49

use a microphone. They're

21:49

talking in their computer

21:52

microphone.

21:54

hint, hint hint

21:54

for show producers and or guest.

21:58

Right? Yes. Have a

21:58

microphone.

22:01

Get a microphones?

22:03

Yes. Yes, you don't

22:03

have to have a shure.

22:06

That's right.

22:08

Or Yeti, just make

22:08

sure you have you know, a good

22:10

quality dynamic mic that fits

22:10

the space that you're recording

22:13

in. And then also someone who

22:13

doesn't wear headphones, because

22:16

the Echo is sometimes hard to

22:16

get out.

22:19

So actually, that's funny, we're gonna come back to some tips, because I

22:21

want to give some tips and best

22:23

practices for those who are both

22:23

guests, as well as people

22:26

running their own shows. So

22:26

we'll come back to that. I want

22:30

to ask about the if you don't

22:30

mind me asking. You sit all day,

22:35

in this role? And if you don't

22:35

mind me asking, you could say,

22:38

Darrell, we're not going to go

22:38

there. But you've had some back

22:40

trouble.

22:41

Yes.

22:41

That not just happened this year, but some recurring. And I'd like to talk

22:43

about adversity and how you

22:46

fight through that. And I, if

22:46

you don't mind us talking about

22:49

that. Can you share a little bit

22:49

about how do you manage pain and

22:53

still make progress.

22:55

So if you don't mind, I want to take it a little bit further. And just kind of

22:57

like talk about how you know

23:00

just what it is. And then what

23:00

happened this past year, just

23:03

because it kind of helps sets

23:03

the stage per se. So in 2011, I

23:06

was actually diagnosed with

23:06

Cauda Equina Syndrome. And I had

23:10

to have emergency surgery for my

23:10

L4-L5 on my back. And the

23:16

surgeons said after surgery was

23:16

if I had waited six more hours,

23:19

I would have been permanently

23:19

paralyzed. And now I do have

23:22

partial paralysis from the waist

23:22

down. It's kind of like, if you

23:27

sit for a long time your feet go

23:27

to sleep, I kind of have that

23:29

all the time. So it makes for

23:29

fun walking. But, and then

23:35

earlier this year, I started

23:35

working out again and then bent

23:39

down to pick something up and

23:39

inadvertently slipped another

23:42

disc at my S1-L5. And let me

23:42

tell you, that was a real downer

23:49

for a moment.

23:50

Yeah.

23:50

But, you know, I've

23:50

found that through trials, right

23:56

trials fear, anything that

23:56

challenges us, it's not

23:59

something to be scared of, or to

23:59

get down about. It's really to

24:04

say, Okay, this has happened,

24:04

how can I take what's happened

24:08

and A) learn from it, and B)

24:08

maybe help someone else who is

24:13

going through maybe not the same

24:13

thing, right? But something

24:16

similar or through a hard time a

24:16

tribulation? And how can I set

24:20

an example or help them inspire

24:20

them that hey, just because this

24:24

happened, doesn't mean it's not

24:24

going to get better? Or that the

24:29

lights not gonna shine again, or

24:29

whatever you want to say? You

24:32

just got to keep going. But I do

24:32

have pain, you know, I mean, I

24:36

have a slipped disc.

24:37

Right

24:37

I've had injections

24:37

and physical therapy and all

24:40

that fun stuff. But now it's,

24:40

you know, have another surgery

24:43

or just kind of deal with it. So

24:43

it's just kind of, I'm dealing

24:46

with it. You know, it just kind

24:46

of take life and just go with

24:49

it. And I'm grateful that I'm

24:49

walking and all the good things

24:52

and just really think about the

24:52

positive and not so much the bad

24:56

things right. Like I respect the

24:56

bad things because they've

24:59

helped shape me into who I am,

24:59

but kind of not dwell on it and

25:03

just kind of be grateful.

25:05

You know, thank

25:05

you for sharing that story. I

25:08

want to say that there hasn't

25:08

been, you know, I know that

25:12

during that time of the incident

25:12

earlier this year, you know, of

25:16

course, I'm extremely empathetic

25:16

to that situation. And I know

25:20

that I don't know that we even

25:20

canceled a meeting

25:23

I don't think so.

25:23

Through all of

25:23

that, you know, you're like, Oh,

25:26

well, we can meet a 10. I got to

25:26

be a doctor at one. And they

25:29

might do surgery today, or they

25:29

might not. But we can still

25:32

meet. And I'm like, What are you

25:32

talking about? What? What do you

25:38

mean, we can still meet? And

25:38

it's so I just so A, I just want

25:43

to highlight that and it's not

25:43

about toughness, it's not about

25:47

there's something else there.

25:47

It's like, No, I've had this

25:51

condition. That ain't going away

25:51

at this moment. Yes, they may

25:54

have to do surgery this

25:54

afternoon. And you know, how I

25:57

think about the mind shift

25:57

method, and you just exhibit

26:00

this idea that okay, the facts

26:00

are the facts. And I still have

26:04

a business to run. And if we

26:04

have to meet at 10. Well, my

26:09

surgery, is that 1? What Are you

26:09

talking about what we're not

26:16

going to meet today? No, we're

26:16

not going to meet today.

26:20

I have a job to do.

26:21

Yeah, so I but I

26:21

appreciate that. Because I get,

26:25

you know, we've got to be

26:25

willing to work through those

26:27

uncomfortable moments, we've got

26:27

to be able to say, Okay, if I am

26:31

going to be there, because I

26:31

said I was going to be there. A

26:36

lot of times we let ourselves

26:36

off the hook as entrepreneurs as

26:39

well. And there's obviously we

26:39

got to be careful with going too

26:42

far. Because back injury and

26:42

where you're at is extremely

26:45

serious, you know, be serious

26:45

about that. But I wanted to

26:48

highlight that mental tenacity

26:48

that you bring to the table. And

26:53

it's a soft spoken tenacity.

26:53

Because, in my mind, I'm sitting

26:56

there thinking like, I just

26:56

didn't know that that's that was

27:01

your character. And that's rare.

27:01

You know, it's just rare,

27:05

dangerous, but rare. Like, I

27:05

don't want you sitting in front

27:10

of me talking about a show

27:10

right? Now, we can pause that

27:12

whole process. So anyway, what

27:12

is changed about your thought

27:17

process between being an

27:17

entrepreneur and being an

27:20

employee? For all those years?

27:20

What's different now that you're

27:23

an entrepreneur?

27:24

Well, I will say

27:24

that, shifting that mindset, and

27:28

that has been probably the one

27:28

of the top five things hardest

27:33

for me to do. From being you

27:33

know, an employee with okay,

27:38

I've got this this and this to do. And this is when I have to do it, and I'll get it done. And

27:39

I, you know, live and breathe by

27:42

somebody else's schedule. And

27:42

yes, I'm there. Yes, Yes Yes. To

27:46

now. I'm running my business, I

27:46

answer to me, right. And to, if

27:53

I'm working with a client, and

27:53

I'm like, Oh, I'm really not

27:55

feeling like we are not

27:55

connecting, we are not on the

27:58

same page. You know, I am to the

27:58

point where it's like, okay, I

28:02

can respect myself, I can

28:02

respect my client. Be like, you

28:06

know, what, we are not a good

28:06

fit for each other. Right? To be

28:09

able to say that has been one of

28:09

the biggest things for me right

28:13

to be able to take the mindset

28:13

of always saying yes, to being

28:18

able to be more of a decider,

28:18

right, and to make those

28:22

decisions. But yeah, so it's

28:22

been a very interesting

28:26

experience to kind of go from

28:26

that mindset.

28:29

I love that

28:29

distinction. My from always

28:31

saying, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

28:31

To say, No, I get to decide.

28:35

Right.

28:36

And I do love the

28:36

fact that you have you, we've

28:38

talked a number of times about

28:38

these decisions about good

28:42

clients, what they look like,

28:42

and I tell a lot of people that

28:45

I work with, and you've got to

28:45

decide who is your ideal

28:47

customer and not this whole

28:47

superficial? How old are they?

28:51

What industry? Are they in? Are

28:51

they a coach or not a coach, you

28:53

got to get underneath what

28:53

behavioral characteristics

28:57

exhibit who I want to spend time

28:57

working with, I could care less

29:00

how much you pay me. You know, I

29:00

use my own things. If you're not

29:04

likable, if I don't like you,

29:04

like if there's just if you talk

29:08

a certain way that I don't talk

29:08

and you just want to talk, I

29:10

don't have to do that. Like you

29:10

have to decide what you want. If

29:14

you want to fuss if you want to

29:14

be late, if you don't want to

29:17

keep commitments to yourself, if

29:17

you don't reply to emails, I'm

29:21

not waiting, you know. So

29:21

anyway, I just love that you

29:26

have made those distinctions and

29:26

decisions and it's hard because

29:29

what it means as you now say no

29:29

to revenue.

29:32

Yes.

29:33

Right. But it's

29:33

not the right revenue.

29:35

Yes. I love that.

29:35

Right.

29:38

So let me ask you

29:38

this. Do you have coaching AND

29:40

and OR mentorship Have you

29:40

gotten coaching and or

29:42

mentorship in your journey as an

29:42

entrepreneur?

29:46

So I've received

29:46

like, I have a coach like a

29:49

podcasting, kind of like that

29:49

aspect of it. It's funny that

29:53

you asked this just this morning, I was like, you know, I really need to get a "business

29:55

coach", right to help with that.

30:00

aspect of it, but her name is

30:00

Lauren, but she is my podcasting

30:03

coach kind of like with that

30:03

side, it's been really great

30:07

because not only is she coaching, but she's also a mentor. And I feel like go to

30:08

her and be like, hey, and ask

30:12

all kinds of questions, and

30:12

she'll direct me to like, the

30:15

right answer. And I'm not

30:15

spending hours on Google right

30:18

or getting the wrong answer. But

30:18

she's also able to apply her

30:22

experience with what she's done

30:22

in podcasting to kind of help me

30:27

have those niche down answers.

30:28

Yeah, what's your

30:28

12 month goal? We're right now

30:32

recording at the end of 2021. If

30:32

we were sitting here a year from

30:36

today, what would you like to

30:36

have had happen in your business

30:39

one year from now.

30:40

So I've, I've had

30:40

podcasts that I've launched,

30:44

launch and be in the top 100.

30:44

One show, actually, in

30:49

particular was top 100 in two

30:49

different countries. I would

30:53

like to in 2022 make that to be

30:53

like a top 50 or top, you know,

30:58

25 we're gonna shoot for the

30:58

stars here. Joe Rogan look out.

31:01

We're coming for you.

31:03

Okay, which niche

31:03

is the show?

31:06

They're an art.

31:06

They're an art company.

31:08

Gotcha. So for

31:08

those listening, right now,

31:11

let's break down some best

31:11

practices if they're running a

31:14

podcast. And so if you're not

31:14

running a podcast right now,

31:16

we're not even thinking about

31:16

it. We won't spend too long

31:19

here. But let's take a couple

31:19

minutes and break down. If

31:22

someone is currently listening

31:22

to this, and they run their own

31:24

podcast, and they're editing it

31:24

themselves, and they were like,

31:28

I was looking at iMovie and

31:28

GarageBand. And going back and

31:31

forth, and thanking me, by the

31:31

way, was I doing an okay job

31:34

before? We?

31:36

I think so. Yeah.

31:39

dude, all right.

31:39

You know, do it i right. But the

31:42

problem is I was just doing all

31:42

right, you see, she said, You

31:44

were doing all right. But if you

31:44

want to take your game to the

31:47

next level, a couple, two or

31:47

three best practices for what a,

31:51

a show host should be doing to

31:51

prepare for a great podcast,

31:57

when they work with a producer like you.

31:59

So I will say that

31:59

one of the best tips I can give

32:01

anybody is that a great episode

32:01

starts with your audio. Right?

32:05

And great audio begins before

32:05

you even hit record, you know,

32:10

meaning, the space the recording

32:10

in the equipment that you're

32:14

using, and not just you, but

32:14

your guests. Like where are they

32:17

recording? Are they recording in

32:17

a banquet hall? You're gonna

32:22

have a lot of echo. Are they

32:23

in their car?

32:24

Right

32:25

At the airport?

32:26

Right?

32:27

Like we've had it we've had, and we've had to make some rules, right? Yeah.

32:30

Yeah, you know, and

32:30

don't be afraid to make those

32:33

rules, right? It is, at the end

32:33

of the day, your show, you're

32:37

giving them the opportunity to

32:37

come on your show, and just talk

32:41

about whatever subject we're

32:41

gonna be talking about. So don't

32:44

be afraid to set those

32:44

boundaries, set those rules, you

32:47

know, set those requirements.

32:47

And because when you do that,

32:51

not only are you helping yourself, but you're also helping your audience. And I

32:53

know that a lot of people have

32:55

podcasts, they primarily do it

32:55

because they want to share a

32:59

message, right? In order to

32:59

share that message. You need to

33:01

share it to where they can,

33:01

people can actually consume it.

33:05

So yeah, that would be my number

33:05

one tip.

33:07

So number one tip

33:07

is get that audio right, it

33:09

starts before you even hit

33:09

record. And I echo you know,

33:14

Leah has given me so many tips

33:14

about things. Every time we

33:17

meet, there is something new

33:17

that she has given me some

33:20

insight on, have you thought

33:20

about, maybe you could. So she's

33:25

not just editing a show, let's

33:25

be clear about that. Right.

33:27

She's not just taking care of

33:27

what I used to do with iMovie

33:30

and GarageBand. And there's a

33:30

lot a lot of different programs,

33:33

you know, Adobe Audition, all

33:33

sorts of tools, right? It's not

33:37

just that piece. She's

33:37

producing, she's listening for

33:40

things in the playback. She's

33:40

giving me feedback every single

33:43

week. I hope that I'm coachable.

33:43

I hope that I take her advice as

33:47

much as possible. I know today I

33:47

had a little scratchy throat

33:51

right before we started

33:51

recording, I've been hitting the

33:53

mute button on the microphone,

33:53

which was another tip she gave

33:56

me. Don't just clear your throat

33:56

into microphone. I didn't

33:58

realize I was doing that at

33:58

times. So she's giving you

34:01

advice. She's listening for

34:01

nuances, all of those kinds of

34:05

things. It's what a producer

34:05

does. So she's not just an

34:08

editor, and I just wanted to

34:08

kind of throw that in there.

34:11

She's listening for those

34:11

things, which allows you to then

34:13

go do what you do best find

34:13

great guests have great

34:16

conversations, right? That is of

34:16

course, if you're doing a

34:18

conversation show. When Should

34:18

someone think about hiring a

34:22

producer like you in their

34:22

podcast journey?

34:25

Well, if you are

34:25

spending hours on Google, how do

34:28

I start a podcast? Let's chat.

34:32

Let's keep it simple.

34:35

I mean, really,

34:35

you know, in the day, we can

34:38

always make more money. We can't

34:38

make more time.

34:40

Yeah.

34:40

So if it's costing

34:40

you time, yeah, let's talk

34:43

whether that be I want to launch

34:43

a podcast How do I do it? Or I

34:46

currently have a show and it's

34:46

taking me X amount of hours a

34:50

week to edit doing all the post

34:50

production work getting all the

34:53

show notes and everything ready

34:53

uploaded scheduled social media

34:56

if you want to do that, all the

34:56

things right or even If you have

35:00

a show and you're doing everything great, maybe you want to strategize, you know about

35:02

something in your show, you

35:05

know, how can I do this? Or what

35:05

can I do and things like that.

35:07

So those are all different

35:07

pieces that I help with. And,

35:11

you know, those are all

35:11

opportunities to reach out. And

35:13

let's, you know, work together

35:13

and create awesome content for

35:16

your audience.

35:18

Yeah, what would

35:18

you do if you give back 200

35:20

hours in your calendar year.

35:22

Right.

35:22

Because that's what I got back in my calendar 200 hours back in the calendar

35:24

year, what can you do in your

35:28

business? So even if you're just

35:28

getting started, and maybe you

35:30

don't have a monetization

35:30

strategy, I guarantee with 200

35:33

hours, you'll figure out a

35:33

monetization strategy. So Leah,

35:36

it has been a pleasure having

35:36

you on the show, we could keep

35:39

going on and on. But if

35:39

someone's listening right now,

35:41

and they're thinking about

35:41

starting a show, or they want to

35:46

think about now moving towards

35:46

hiring a producer, maybe they

35:49

want to have a chat with you. How can they find you?

35:51

Sure. So you can

35:51

visit my website,

35:53

LeahBryantco.com. I'm also

35:53

active on Instagram and

35:57

LinkedIn. LinkedIn is Leah

35:57

Bryant. And then Instagram is

36:00

@LeahBryant_Co. and I'll be

36:00

happy to talk to you, you know,

36:04

it's always free to chat. So

36:04

yeah, don't have a fear to reach

36:07

out.

36:08

Yeah, Leah was

36:08

amazing. When I got referred to

36:10

her. I got on a call. And I

36:10

think we were ready to roll in

36:14

three weeks or so I don't think

36:14

it was much longer than that. So

36:17

thank you, Leah. We're going to

36:17

link up all of Leah's places in

36:21

the show notes. So be sure to head over to TheMindShiftPodcast.com and

36:22

check that out. And Leah as you

36:26

know, cuz you edit the show. You

36:26

know, the last question. For

36:32

whatever reason, today was your

36:32

last day here on this planet we

36:34

call earth? What would you want

36:34

everyone to remember you for?

36:38

I would want to be

36:38

remembered that, that I always

36:42

left any person or situation

36:42

better than I found it, and that

36:47

I was always willing to help

36:47

someone in their time of need.

36:50

I love it. Leah. I'll see you on Thursday.

36:52

Alrighty.

36:56

Thanks for being on the show.

36:58

Thank you so much, sir. Have a great week.

37:02

Hey, my friend. Thanks again for listening to today's episode of

37:04

the mind shift podcast. Listen,

37:06

let's not have the conversation

37:06

in here. Connect with me on

37:09

social @MrDarrellEvans, until

37:09

next week, remember you're just

37:20

one shift away from the

37:20

breakthrough you're looking for.