315: Stop creating content for your 3rd grade friend | Ivana Ivanek

What if the real reason you’re not showing up online isn’t strategy… but fear of judgment?

In this episode, I’m joined by mindset coach and business strategist Ivana Ivanek to unpack the real reason so many brilliant, mission-driven women hold back from visibility.

We talk about the fear of societal rejection, outgrowing old circles, and why you’re overthinking your third-grade cousin’s opinion instead of focusing on the people who actually need your work.

If you’ve ever felt cringe hitting “post,” worried about who’s watching your stories, or watered yourself down online… this conversation will shift something in you.

This is about personal branding, yes.But more than that? It’s about identity, courage, and stepping into the leader your business needs you to be.

If you LOVED this episode, make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag us @contentqueenmariah and @⁠⁠ivanaivanek_⁠.

⁠⁠⁠⁠LEARN THE DETAILS OF A CONTENT STRATEGY WITH MY FREE AUDIO GUIDE⁠⁠⁠⁠

KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS 👇

✨ Why fear of judgment is really what’s stopping you from showing up

✨ How to stop creating content for your friends and start speaking to your ideal client

✨ Why confidence isn’t required to get visible (and what actually is)

✨ How to build visibility as a skill - not a personality trait

✨ The mindset shift that helps you outgrow old opinions and step into leadership

SHOW RESOURCES 👇

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @contentqueenmariah⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Other than that, enjoy - chat next week 💕

ABOUT THE GUEST 

Ivana Ivanek is a keynote speaker, mindset coach, business strategist, and host of the Online Business By Design Podcast helping service providers build an online business that makes money and impact. After more than a decade of observing and connecting with people, she discovered a powerful truth: Fear of societal rejection and judgement is the hidden reason most people hold back from chasing their dreams. Coming from a background where entrepreneurship wasn’t an option, and hitting rock bottom after failing a business in her early 20s, Ivana is on a mission to teach people how to stop playing small with their potential and build impactful businesses and personal brands.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Mariah: [00:00:00] This is episode 315, and I'm talking all things mindset and not caring what your childhood best friend thinks about you when you're posting about your business on social media. And I have an amazing guest, Ivana Ivanka. Welcome to the Content Queen podcast. I'm your host, Mariah, entrepreneur storyteller, digital nomad, creator of content bootcamp, and founder of Content Queen.

With over 10 years experience in marketing, this podcast is here to help you create your ideal content marketing plan by blending storytelling and strategy. So let's get into it. Hello, game. All right. We're filming the podcast for either the last or the second last time in a house because our bus is gonna be ready on Friday.

I'm so excited, honestly, so excited. So stay tuned for podcasts in the bus. It's gonna be incredible. All right, let's get stuck into today. I mentioned in a couple of episodes ago when I had a guest on chatting about marketing and [00:01:00] mindset that I did a call out on social media for guests to talk about the concept of consistency being important.

But if you don't believe in your message, it doesn't really mean that much. And I was flooded with emails. One of them from Ivana. And one of the things that really spoke to me, and I'm gonna get up her email, um, part of her email anyway, because I just wanna share some of the things that she talked about.

So I will read her bio, but basically in the email she talks about how she works with mission-driven, conscious, mission-driven women, about building a business where they know their work, they know their intellectual property, and they know they can have a positive impact on people's lives. So she really helps with this personal brand element to craft the visibility strategy to help you stand out.

And really, one of the things that she spoke about is how most of her clients and most of the people that she works with, overthink their [00:02:00] third grade best friend, cousin, teachers, mothers, brothers, aunts, opinion, and how we have so much knowledge and so much to share. But we are held back by the fact that we care too much about what people think and how we can shift that lens.

So I had a really awesome interview talking about personal brand coming up from this like mindset shifting lens, and I'm very excited to chat with her. I will introduce Ivana and we will get stuck into the. So Ivana is a keynote speaker, a mindset coach, a business strategist, and the host of the online business By Design podcast, helping service-based providers build an online business that makes money and impact.

And after more than a decade of observing and connecting with people, she discovered a powerful truth. Fear of societal rejection and judgment is the hidden reason most people hold back from chasing their dreams. [00:03:00] Coming from a background where entrepreneurship wasn't an option and hitting rock bottom after failing a business in her early twenties, Ivana is on a mission to teach people how to stop playing small with their potential and build impact businesses and personal brands.

Amazing. Tick, tick, tick, tick. Let's chat with Ivana. Welcome to the podcast, Ivana. I'm so excited to have you on today and chat with you. To kick us off, tell us a little bit more about your story. How did you get to where you are now? 

Ivana Ivanek: Is my privilege to have this conversation with you. I'm so stoked and I can't just wait to, you know, to deep dive right in.

The thing you should know about me, folks, is I was always good in school. I loved education, but never the educational path. I remember myself on a very early age in school wondering why I needed to know everything about the a Nebo virus and how it spreads in the human body. But nobody could explain to me how [00:04:00] Beyonce formed her band, Destiny's Child, being only nine years old, because I had a vision of my life that nobody could really grasp.

It was a little bit too, too wild, too crazy, too big, especially too big for a working class girl with an immigrant background. 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: And all I wanted to do is travel the world, live by the ocean, do meaningful work as someone who helps people and become famous. But I was told that that's not for me, my family.

You need to imagine they worked very, very hard to settle in a safe country after they immigrated before the Yugoslavia war in 1991. Mm-hmm. Growing up in Austria was a privilege. I cannot deny. Having access to free education, being in a safe city, going to school, having friends, opportunities and opportunities, but all I [00:05:00] did was feeling guilty for not wanting to follow the path that was paid for me.

So, I mean, I did it anyway. At some point you just, you know, as a young woman, you just give in and you just do what you're told to do because you don't know any different. And if there's nobody else who paves the path for you, you just follow those, you know. Those roads that are, that have been paid for you.

So I went to school, obviously went to university, and there it started being icky again. Like, oh my God, what am even doing here? Why I am doing this? Because I had this vision, I had this wild dream, not knowing how to bring it to the world, but at some point I just decided to quit corporate life because I noticed that I was declining promotions.

I didn't want to, um, you know, to, to sell my life and my freedom and everything for a little bit more money in a job that titled me. [00:06:00] So what I did, I quit corporate. I went into that and I started a education to become a health and mindset coach. And then I started a new business. So the world would have cheered if I would've gone in depth for buying a car, a house, and do all the things that are legit for society.

But what happened then? Actually when I started my first business in my early twenties, what started is a journey of moving myself that I can live, the life that I want, that I can be successful. And with that, I completely denied or I completely overlooked what was actually important into succeeding business, which was visibility, building skill, becoming better in selling myself, et cetera, et cetera.

I was so blinded for running after money and having to prove that I can, and that was my first failure story [00:07:00] because only after four years I hit drop bottom mentally, physically, financially, and it ended up being back in corporate. The world was happy again, that Ivana is, you know, she finally got back to herself.

She's finally, you know, um, she's settling in. She will have a proper job. But what people didn't know, because I stopped speaking about it, that this corporate few years were just a huge prep for comeback. But I learned that I'm sharing this only with a certain type of people and not with everyone. And yeah, there I was again, 2018, I left the country.

I living by the ocean. I traded my trench coat for pink flipflops, and that's life now. 

Mariah: Oh my God, I love that. And I feel like so many people resonate with that of, you know, not wanting to fit into the mold. You know what, not wanting to build something that feels unrealistic, right? Like, oh, that only happens to some people.

Like it's not realistic [00:08:00] to think that you can, you know, work by the ocean and have your laptop and create income from, you know, wherever you want to be. But there's, I've found it's that intention, but then the action that comes with it and just like seeing how it works, right? Like giving it a chance. And I love that.

I obviously totally resonate with that, having done it myself. Um, and I think, you know, a lot of the times we take the path that everyone else wants from us and not the one that we actually want. So you are inspiring us with your story 'cause 

Ivana Ivanek: Absolutely. I mean, Mariah, it is wild. There is just an idea and something that just exists in your head and then.

You just need to see how you bring it to the world. Like this thought alone is just so crazy wild. But with having today in innovation and possibilities, it is so damn possible. It's just that probably 85% of all folks don't believe it because they're stuck in their old [00:09:00] thinking. And I think this is something that we need to just leave aside and be like, you know what?

I feel that so deeply. This is my life. 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: And go for it unapologetically. 

Mariah: Yeah, I love that. And look, thumbs up from Zoom, but yeah, it's so true. And I think, um, as you're sort of saying, like a lot of the times the beliefs really hold us back from thinking that is possible for us because, you know, you might see it online or you know, like you come across other people's experiences and stories and you think like, oh, how, how am I gonna do that?

But I think it is definitely that like intention of like, this is how I envision my life. And then you just start slowly taking those actions and the next thing you know, you're like, oh, like I always think that to myself sometimes if I have, have a bad day, like. 20 19, 20 18, Mariah would be like, so excited that this is what I'm doing.

Like they wouldn't even believe it. And I think that's when you have those bad days, it does put things into perspective of going like, yeah, I actually did all the things that I wanted to do. It's just like, obviously we're in a society where we, we more [00:10:00] and more always chasing more because that's just what happens, right?

Ivana Ivanek: Yeah. 

Mariah: Never. 

Ivana Ivanek: I can tell stories about it. Loads and loads. I mean, we often forget where we comes 

Mariah: from. Yeah, absolutely. So you, uh, your work is all about helping women know their impact, which we actually love, and like how much impact they can actually have yet A lot of them still don't show up. And I, I mean I've had this conversation literally with a client today, like, and all three of us on the call, none of us actually share the amazing work we do nearly as much as we should.

'cause we're just like always in the doing right. We're always thinking about everyone else and also like. I'm, I'm keen to know from you, like, why do you think the visibility and putting ourselves out there does feel so vulnerable? Even if we know, like our intention is to have that impact, is to do that work and we had that passion within us.

Why are we just still so afraid of like showing that, 

Ivana Ivanek: [00:11:00] Ooh, I always like to give two sides to the spectrum. 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: One side is what will people think of me? Because this was very important in my life because it was so important what people thought of us leaving. Home country having to found a new base, you know, to, to, everybody was wondering are they're doing good?

And as soon as people saw that we are doing good, you needed to get better. So it was so important what you bring to the family and to the family's name. And if anybody has experienced, um, things like, uh, don't tell grandma because what is she gonna think about this? Don't tell dad, don't tell auntie, you know what, we keep this for ourselves.

It's okay, but don't tell, uh, this was my whole life. I wasn't supposed to tell anything. So everything that I did that was off the path was already considered to be judged. I mean, I knew it, right? I mean, I used to [00:12:00] have long red hair back in the days, so, you know, I was always the outsider. So everything we do that people do not understand is suddenly exposed on the platform for judgment.

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: And the other side to that is that, you know, we know deeply that we can change people's lives. That doesn't come just overnight because we are bored. Because nobody ever wakes up saying like, you know what, today I'm bored. I'm gonna start a business. No one ever. But because we had, we have heard all these stories about, uh, what we should and should not do, suddenly the question appears, who am I to do this?

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: And then we double down on our own. Who am I to do this? Am I good enough for this? Um, am I supposed to be doing this? Should I listen to the others? And then also with that, it's all on us. We become the center [00:13:00] of not being good enough, of not worthy of our dream while we overlook the entire external environment.

That has huge impact on us. And there's a duality to it. You are not, not confident, you were told, you are not confident, or something has happened to you that was, you know, that failed or that was not good enough. And we become so vulnerable because we are suddenly public F figures. The moment we click on that profile saying public, the moment you show up online on podcasts in traditional media, on stages, every single word you say matters.

It has an impact on people. And then although we know our work can change the world or someone's life, you're playing small because it's just a platform for judgment. 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. So interesting, isn't it? And and what I loved [00:14:00] something that you said when we were talking via email. Is that, um, we're overthinking that, you know, the third grade cousin's opinion or, um, a friend from years ago.

I remember for me it was the housemate that I was living with. He, um, I'd always be thinking, oh my God, he's gonna see my stories and, and like, oh, I feel silly. So then you like, play yourself down or you either don't post it or you post not what you like. Something really boring that like no one really cares about because like, you're trying, you're not, you don't wanna show too much of yourself.

And I thought that was really interesting because, oh my God, like, I feel like everyone in this always says like, oh, well I've got friends that follow me, or old colleagues on LinkedIn that, you know, from another job. Like, why did these irrelevant voices like have such a grip on us? Especially when it comes to being on social media or starting a podcast or you know, all the things that come with even just putting ourselves out there really as a business owner, which is.

Really important. If you want people to see you and see you as that [00:15:00] expert and, and all of that, and like, you gotta do things that are really uncomfortable. But in the back of our minds, we're always like, oh, you know, there's someone watching. 

Ivana Ivanek: Thank God someone's watching. This would be all irrelevant if nobody would be watching.

Oh my gosh. I have a story for, for you guys, like, when I started my podcast Online Business by Design, I knew I wanna have a podcast. English is not my first language, so, but yet I wanna do it in English. And I remember this first episode that I was recording. First of all, it was scripted. There was no camera on.

That was too much. There was nobody at home. I was alone in my home office in Greece. I was recording this episode, I believe a hundred times. What felt like a hundred times. Mm-hmm. And I was sobbing, lying because first I was afraid that nobody will listen. Why I'm even doing. And then once the podcast launched and I got like, I dunno, 50 [00:16:00] downloads, I thought like, oh my God, people are listening.

And then it started, who is listening? Because you don't know who is listening. 

Mariah: No. 

Ivana Ivanek: And if I thought, you know, why? I would be so better off if I would know the list of the names who is listening. So I can either adjust myself to them, which is true if you speak about your ideal client. But yeah, you're never adjusting to your former friend from school.

You haven't been speaking in 20 years to, because you don't know what they're up to. Nor your third grade cousin opinions who doesn't understand the industry. Right. But I felt this could be a safe anchor. However, never found out. But um, the truth. Still waiting said Oh yeah, yeah. Still waiting for that list.

Um, you said irrelevant voices. I don't think they are really irrelevant, and I think that's the whole, um, you know, issue behind it like. Society teaches us that if you have that one dear friend, if you have that circle or family, it is the next natural, you know, the life logical things [00:17:00] to stick to them because, you know, we are seeking belonging, we are seeking our community.

We are social, you know, social beings. And I mean, and on the other hand, who, you know, you, you might be thinking who understands you better than, uh, your best friend you grew up with. I mean, going through stages of, you know, puberty growing up together, going out, first boyfriends, et cetera, et cetera. Like they, there is no one who understands you better unless you outgrow them.

And this is what we don't get. Taught that at some point, at one stage in our life, whether you start a business, you have a family or you, you decide to do something differently than your circle, the circle starts spreading. Yet those people are still relevant in our lives because they played a huge role.

What we need to learn here is to find a different circles where we can speak business, where we are understood, B, that we are [00:18:00] supported because that friend will not understand will or will not, but usually they don't understand if they're not on the same journey. Why you're doing this to yourself. I, why you doing this?

This is so exhausting. Like you are telling, it's exhausting all these failures along the road like yeah, I know, but on the other side there is so much happiness and fun in the work I'm doing and not even that I will understand. So the moment you start getting better and better. In service of humanity, making this world a better place, you will outgrow 99% of the people surrounding you.

And this is the result why we are start overthinking what they think. Because again, who am I to do this? Why am I better than they are? The truth is, you are not, you are just doing something else that not everyone understands. 

Mariah: Mm. That's really powerful. And I think this comes up a lot too, when, like [00:19:00] you do create a business and in the beginning or your friends and family give it a like or wanna support you and then after a while, like they don't react to anything.

They don't share your stuff. Like I, you know, do social media workshops back in my hometown and one friend always shares it. She, she actually also like thinks of clients I could work with, so she's great. But like a lot of my friends and like friends don't share it. And I know they know people that have businesses.

And I always felt like, why? Like, why don't they do that? Like, why wouldn't you support a friend? And it doesn't mean they're not my friend, still their friend, but they just don't, as you're saying, they don't understand that you need a community to keep group building and growing what you've created. They don't understand 'cause they're not in that world.

And I think like when you start to accept that, I think you can have a different relationship with them, but there's no expectation that you know, or they're even gonna buy your product. Say you own a product that they could buy, potentially. Like, doesn't mean they are going to. And I think, yeah, of course like we would love our friends to support [00:20:00] us, but also at the same time, like, I don't think we can always rely on them to like, like our social media post or share it or, you know, comment on it because they just, they don't get that world.

And I think that's, that's okay. And that's what you're saying, like, it is really powerful to find people that do get it and they end up becoming the people that you can share things with. Or like, you know, you get, I got on a, have a really good friend and we always talk about Yeah. If we work really late or something.

Something like that. You wouldn't admit that probably to your friends 'cause you're meant to be growing this business, but to another business person, they understand some days you do have to work late. Like, or if you're in a different time zone or whatever it is, like it's just, yeah, they're not meant to understand.

I really like that. It's like, it's not that they're irrelevant, they just like you outgrow the space that you've been in with them and yeah, 

Ivana Ivanek: I think Maria, you will agree that we are giving away so much power to these thoughts and those people who are irrelevant and you said they don't even like your stuff, they don't even share your stuff.

They are not going to buy your stuff either. So I extremely radical and I'm [00:21:00] teaching these my people too, like you need to understand there is no point in having this person, your auntie, let's say, she might be cool and it might be so great to have with her coffee and cake and to visit her every now and then, but if this person.

Someone, you who is on your mind when you are speaking into camera and you are not speaking to the person you actually want to speak. We need to take our power back and be just extremely radical and get those people out of the list. This is not go, like, these people are not going to pay your future bills.

And all it does, it takes from you, it takes from you, it takes from you. It takes thoughts, it takes e energy from you while you create and speak. And often people ask me like, yeah, but are they gonna be, you know, embarrassed, uh, like not embarrassed, um, um, sad, mad, whatever. 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: Uh, if I kicked them out of my list, I said, well, they just might be, but [00:22:00] that's okay.

You still have the power to explain them. Listen, this is my work. 

Mariah: Mm. 

Ivana Ivanek: Here is my private WhatsApp number. This is where we are going to talk in the future. 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: Period. And this is just such a, yeah. Sound simple. It is very, very, very, very hard to do. But it's such an empowering move that has helped me and so many people 

Mariah: along.

Yeah, no, definitely. And I think like it's that expectation, but then at the same time, when you are going to create a piece of content or share, share something on social media, you do get consumed with what people are gonna think. And as I said before, the content changes. And then you wonder why you're not attracting your right audience.

'cause you're not creating it for your audience. You're creating it for your cousin, your best friend, your ex-roommate. You know, all the things that, like, as you say, they're not, they're not gonna be your customers and that's okay. Like they still can be in your life. But I, I find that that's quite freeing because Yeah, I, I've had conversations recently even for like ex-colleagues and [00:23:00] stuff like that, like people in the industry that maybe are worried they're gonna.

Call you out, but like they're not in it from a business lens. Like, you know, especially say for example, you are a marketer and you're doing marketing out on your own and you've got your old colleagues that follow you. It's like, oh, I don't want them to like think that I know. Like I know something. And then they say like, oh, that's wrong.

Or you know, I think all the time where always thinking about the wrong person on the other hand, not the actual person that we are going to impact, you know? 

Ivana Ivanek: Absolutely. 

Mariah: Yeah. 

Ivana Ivanek: And people already have an opinion about you. You just don't know whether you do the things you like to be doing or not. People already have an opinion about you.

And I have to say that it takes courage too to call you out on that. Most people don't have it. They'll keep it in their small gossip circle. You will never hear from it. And honestly, once you get to the point that people call you out on it, then you've made it. 

Mariah: Yes. 

Ivana Ivanek: And I want to see everyone this shift.

Mariah: And it's [00:24:00] true because people are listening and they care enough to respond. And I think we, yeah, we always say that when you get hate or you get feedback, it's, you know, you've made it. And, um, I've had to explain that to many clients in the past. They're like, well, what if we get paid? Or what if someone says a negative comment?

It means enough people. 'cause what happens, right, is how just any general social media algorithm works. It's like, it pushes it out to the people that think you're gonna like your content. But if it's pushed that barrier of reaching outside of that, then you are reaching it. Like, like for example, I have a client that runs a food place and like, of course, eventually you're gonna get a bad review.

The more people that you serve, the more chances you have of someone not liking you. That's just. 

Ivana Ivanek: It's part of the game. 

Mariah: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And 

Ivana Ivanek: it's part of the game, and you can't please everyone. And honestly, on your way to, to visibility and building a personal brand, you will get rejected too, not just by clients, but also every opportunity you pitch yourself to speaking on podcasts, uh, wanting to speak on front of, uh, you know, teaching a [00:25:00] masterclass in front of curated audiences of other people stages.

You will be rejected even if you are famous, because even there, you can't please everyone with everything. 

Mariah: Hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: That's okay. 

Mariah: Yeah. Well, we think at the moment as we're recording this, like, um, in the United States with the Super Bowl, bad Bunny is, you know, classified the biggest artist in the world, one Grammy, and, and there's still people that don't think he should be on stage.

And he's one of the most famous people in the world, right? Still has people that hate him. And I think that he, it just is part of the, the gig of, um, you know, putting out your art or your, your mind or your, your impact, like their art is gonna be people that generally just don't. And I mean, it's a good thing, right?

'cause if we were good for everyone, then we would be too busy and we wouldn't get to spend the time on the beach because we'd be so in demand that we wouldn't have any freedom to do the things that we actually wanna do. 'cause we'd be working all the time. 

Ivana Ivanek: Yes. And [00:26:00] I al I was always taught, I see it always from this perspective, I was taught like I do like to work with that insecure woman who I wish I would have found back in the days when I was sitting in my misery of wanting to prove myself that I'm good enough fearing my third grade cousin opinion, et cetera, et cetera.

Mm-hmm. And I was told off like, why do you go to, like, why is this your client? Why are these people your people, because they are not ready to work. They're not ready to make investments because they're still doubting yourself. And I said, you know what? Not true. 'cause I've been there and I wanna be there for those people.

So whoever thinks differently, I'm okay. I'll help you too if you want to, but I don't need to be anywhere because I know where I can make the greatest impact. And this is the whole point behind it, because this is where I can excel in my expertise. This is where I can excel in transformation. This is where I can truly be of worth.

And, [00:27:00] um, in addition to someone's life, in someone's business, that's just freaking amazing. I don't need to go to places where I'm not needed. 

Mariah: That's right. 'cause you, you don't see that impact. Actually, we were talking about this yesterday, um, with a client about like, uh, working with like a media or PR agency and a lot of them wanting to work with people that are at a certain status.

But actually how good is that feeling of working with someone with a really great story? And if you're really good at what you do right, you should be able to get the transformation working with someone that's like in the beginning of their journey, they're ready to work, and you elevate them from here to here.

That's a, like, that's more impactful for you. It's a better story, right? Like it's a better case study rather than working with someone that's like, yeah. Like they know it and they're like already halfway like, or even basically there. And you, they probably don't have that big of transformation as the person that is, you know, in the trenches really feeling it.

And I think, yeah, I'm, I I, we literally, it's so funny you said that, 'cause we were talking about it [00:28:00] yesterday when, um, you know, PR agencies or people look to work with a certain caliber of people, often, a lot of the times they don't put as much work in, 'cause they've already done work to a certain extent anyway.

So, um, you know, it can often feel less rewarding, I think. Yeah. You know, if we think about a business owner, right? And, and we are, we are doing all the things right. We've, we've bought the online course, we've, you know, we've got all the templates, we've got the chat, GPT, you know, all the things to like, make us go all right.

I'm gonna do it. I'm going to post stuff on social media, I'm gonna put myself out there, I'm gonna speak on stage. And then it doesn't happen. What is, how do we sort of support people to bridge that gap? 'cause I see it a lot, right? I see a lot of clients and then yeah, that's why they hire me 'cause they just don't end up doing the thing that they're meant to do.

And I actually truly believe it's a mindset shift rather than a, I don't know what I'm doing. 'cause you can learn for [00:29:00] sure And there always seems to be something holding them back from doing the thing. Right. And, and I like how, what do we do to bridge that gap? 

Ivana Ivanek: So we have now accepted first think that, um, we are good enough and the thinking that we are not good enough comes from, it's an external voice.

It's that third degree crossing opinions. Is that the fear, whether it's relevant or not. 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: We just accept the fact that not all these threshold is ours. What is ours is to start building this kill to be in front of camera. And there is a couple of sides to that. It is the hardest thing to be in front of camera and not knowing what to say made be on a podcast, may be in a simple reel on social media, not knowing what to say, and then grabbing, um, you know, doing [00:30:00] what everybody else is doing.

It's saying it the way everybody else is saying will make you feel like a fool. However, what I always teach people, and this is usually the, the, the biggest, the biggest chunk of the work is like, what do you want to be known for? Because your personal brand is you, and as long as we don't have that clarity what we want to be known for, it's very hard to create content.

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: Then. We need to get over ourselves and share those relevant parts that are relevant. Can you imagine, Maria? How long I was afraid to say that I have an immigrant background. 

Mariah: Hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: How long? For how long? I was afraid to say that my pe, that my family wasn't supporting my business idea. I didn't wanna hurt them.

I didn't wanna put them as bad people. 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: And I needed to learn how to bring across the message to not harm anyone, and [00:31:00] yet make the impact on people who need to hear my message. This is a big junk we need to get really clear on and then get obsessed about it. Obsessed of wanting to share it with the person who needs to hear it.

And this is invaluable. This is work. I love doing so, so, so much because it goes from zero to hundred within a timeframe that people would. Not think it is possible for them. That clarity piece is huge. And then comes the, the skill of bringing your message across eloquently and that think of the, those lights and camera and how do I do all these things?

And everyone, I dare to say everyone has that one, knows that feeling when you record yourself somewhere and you need to listen back and you be like, oh my God, is this me? Is this my voice? Like we hear a different frequency on audio than we hear 

Mariah: mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: When we speak because we [00:32:00] have like a whole resonance, like our body, um, you know, the frequency travels differently and then we look at, at the video and be like, oh my God, is this me?

And we are so, we are our biggest judge. We don't go and be. Constructive with ourselves saying like, um, okay, you need to learn how to speak better. No, we go and see, ah, that pimple is not good enough for social media. Those wrinkles are not good enough for social media. So what I do in the next step is, um, teaching people how to really be confident in front of camera.

And I don't mean like to appear a set that at a big superstar, you might not be yet, but just being okay to sit with yourself, to look at yourself, to listen to yourself, and to love yourself. Mm-hmm. And showing up every single day and building something that is so much bigger than you can imagine today.

And [00:33:00] honestly, it's an easy part because everybody of us has this freaking iPhone and we do overthink light. We do overthink our makeup, we do overthink our appearance instead of just showing up every freaking day. 'cause what I realized, one thing is starting over is harder. Then creating the smallest momentum.

And I have a sports analogy to this because I wanna run a mar half marathon again, and I'm finding all the time excuses why I can't be running in Austria because it's cold. Mm-hmm. Honestly, breathing in this temperatures hurt. Yeah. But stopping and not doing it and starting over again makes you feel like you know a monkey from back in the days you need to get back into it.

You need to get that rhythm. And the same thing is with content creation. So even if you don't feel like it, teach yourself to do hard things because knowing how to do hard things will set you up and build a resilience for the even harder things to do. And honestly, creating that drill is just the start of the journey.

It gets bigger, it gets wilder [00:34:00] and, and just, you know, inviting everyone put on that camera, look at yourself and love yourself. Get obsessed with doing this every single day. 

Mariah: Hmm. I love that so much, obviously. And it's so true because like as you're saying, if you just do a little thing every single day, like even with that running, like, even if it was like, oh, go for a walk, at least I'm like, then I might run to that light post and walk to the next one or whatever it is.

It is so much harder to get back into something and once you're off that horse, like it can feel like such, and, and that's where avoidance comes in. I find we just avoid it. Like, oh, it has been too long. Like, you know, that email that you haven't replied to for like three months and the lo uh, the days that it gets on and the more you ignore it, the more uncomfortable it feels.

I feel like that happens with being on social media or marketing yourself, putting yourself out there. The more you avoid it, the harder it gets. So even just do, even if it's not perfect, like yeah, of course we love, [00:35:00] I love a content strategy. I love a posting plan. I love all that. But uh, yeah, you can have all of it.

But if it's in a drawer, it's in literally on your Google Docs and it never sees, a lot of the day, it doesn't matter. So it's like, how can I do one thing to at least implement something I've said and it's not gonna be perfect. I think, like I look at my partner, like really good at video editing always has been, but like in the last year, he's like, stepped it up for notch and that just like, we are always getting better at it, right?

Like it's, it's, and like I look back on content or even my podcast, my first ever podcast was one I just did on my own. Uh, not for anything business related, just 'cause I wanted to talk to a microphone. Um, and I listen back to that now, I don't even recognize that person. And even the, the, the, the skill of speaking, the skill of, um, articulating content, the skill of everything has just gone above and beyond.

But if you don't put it out there, you're not gonna get any better. And I think we forget. It's not just magically one day we're gonna be [00:36:00] awesome at it, you know? 

Ivana Ivanek: Yeah. It's like with this half marathon running, like I am a big fan of, uh, visualization practices. It really helps me, but I cannot think myself into finishing that half marathon and finishing it in a way that I want to finish it with a goal and enjoy myself the same way.

You cannot think yourself into visibility and growing your brand if you don't show up. And I always, you know, say there was this, this quote that I recently picked up that says, you don't need confidence to make one single step. And if that one single step is just getting in front of camera and looking at yourself for a minute or two and getting to love yourself, um, then you will already see how things start slowly start unfolding, right?

And it'll go like one after the other, one after the other. And. When we then look at ourselves and look at the content we created to improve skill, let's just, you know, flip the script and be like saying, oh, you don't look [00:37:00] good here. You don't good look here, you don't good. Look here. I always ask myself, is this even relevant to my content, how I look?

And then I, I flip it and be like, okay, how can I give myself constructive criticism? You didn't look, uh, in the camera. Oh, I see why, because you were obsessed. Whether your hair is looking great or not, let's just focus the next time on the person you're speaking to, not on yourself, because this ain't not about you anymore.

You, um, you stumbled, you know, over some, some words and you tried to fix it to appear perfect. Does it need to be perfect or can I just correct myself as I go and make this even a little bit more authentic and be like, Hey, I'm a human being too, and I'm not a robot. Yes, you can. So the next time, just roll over it.

And these are just little tiny things where we learn and build that skill. And you're right, Mariah, it comes only by doing. 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: You can't bypass it. 

Mariah: No, we would like to [00:38:00] and, and 

Ivana Ivanek: Oh my gosh, would that be awesome? Would 

Mariah: be nice. I 

Ivana Ivanek: from, from nothing too famous. 

Mariah: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Zero to a hundred. Yeah, exactly.

And I, I, I love this because I think, and, and I love what you say about kind of this like, confidence piece as well, because, and, and sort of this reframe, I, I'm a really big believer in like the intention that you put behind something. So even that, like getting like, oh, you know, I just need to film something to get it up.

Amazing. But when you put that level of intention into it, like, all right, who am I speaking to? That's my focus. It's bigger than me. It's not about me. Like all this language puts us into that energy where the person on the other end. Knows it's for them. And I think this is why content creators and influence, as I say this, air quotations.

'cause I feel like they're just kind of content creators these days that happen to have influence, right? They are, they treat their content like it's an art form. It's their art and the intention they put behind it and they way they analyze it. And I'm not saying, 'cause [00:39:00] I'm a big believer that we don't have to become full-time content creators.

We just need to learn how to do the ba like show up and learn about our audience. But the wa the reason why their content performs is because of the intent. Intention that they put behind. It doesn't mean you have to spend hours filming it. 'cause they could probably argue some of their most top performing videos were the ones that took five seconds to put together.

But it's the intent that they have to resonate with someone on the other end. And I think that's very powerful. So I love what you say about like, and, and that's where that confidence comes too. It's like, it's not about me, it's not about how I look or if I stumble my words or if I. Don't necessarily articulate myself in the way that I would like.

It is about the person on the other end really connecting with you. And I think if you can work on getting that across, yeah, it takes time. And this like whole authenticity thing, I think is an interesting conversation because like people say, be authentic, be authentic, be authentic. But I think we need to learn what that means for us and we can't [00:40:00] learn it without, it's a 

Ivana Ivanek: big word here, 

Mariah: you know?

Ivana Ivanek: Yeah, 

Mariah: yeah. 

Ivana Ivanek: So I mean, learning what is authentic? I mean, we are trying to be authentic and by the time we think we're authentic, we already forgot what authentic means. Yeah. It's just, you know, I think it goes in one, you know, the direction of, um, seeing or trying to follow hard scripts, trying to follow, I'm all about, you know, breaking narratives and rewriting them because nothing needs to be the way someone tells you.

It needs to be, know your content and, um. When I started working, working with someone and I, I rewatch their, um, videos and their work. Often I need to ask the question like, do you feel like yourself when you're speaking? And then it goes, no, because actually, you know what? I would be like sitting like this and being like more casual, you know, or I'm the person that has always my legs up, which I am by the way, always my legs up on the desk or, or you know, having my knee up and I'm leaning on my knees.

Like, why are you not doing it? [00:41:00] Why are you not doing it? 

Mariah: Mm-hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: Why don't you raise your voice when you think you need to raise your voice? Why don't you speed up when you need to think? You need to speed up. Why are you putting yourself into that frame? Like, who said so, and this is something we need to get out, and this is when it becomes authentic.

When you are you and authentic is not what Instagram tells you to do. At some point it just gets like, you know, so messed up between wanting to be professional. Perfect. But no one cares for that. People want to have your real, you know, lived experience, your voice. Mm-hmm. Because this is what connects them to you emotionally.

And this is why we are building personal brands. Otherwise, you could have just been hiding behind your logo and leave it at all. 

Mariah: Yeah. And it, it's like this concept now, like how we are connecting with people on the other end of the screen. It's like, you are just talking to me. You are FaceTiming me. Like we're on a FaceTime right now and I feel like you are.

You right. You are not trying to be, and, and I actually get caught up in this sometimes myself and I have to call myself out on [00:42:00] it. Like, you know, you set your camera up and then I like straighten my back and, but you've seen me on this podcast video. I'm like leaning in, I'm using my hand. You are the same.

You talk with your hands and you know, we really feel into it. And that's just like authentically how we are. If you had a conversation with me, this is how it would go if we were in person. Right. So it's like. It doesn't come natural all the time. As soon, like my partner, as soon as you put a camera on him, sweats, we could have a conversation and I pull out my camera and he starts sweating.

You know, because 

Ivana Ivanek: you know what I think this skill should be taught in school by now? And it's not honestly everybody who feels that, hello, human being because it is not natural to speak into a camera. It's easier now because I have you on the other side of 

Mariah: Yeah, we're looking at each other. Yeah.

Ivana Ivanek: Conversation. But taking that phone and being like, you know, being like all cool, this is the weirdest thing you will all ever be doing. It is weird. And that's why your third grade cousin, you know, thinks it's weird. 

Mariah: Yeah. Because if you think about it, it is 

Ivana Ivanek: be right. 

Mariah: Yeah. [00:43:00] 

Ivana Ivanek: I feel weird too sometimes. 

Mariah: Mm.

Ivana Ivanek: You're like, what am we even doing? But then, you know, you can always, you know, imagine that person on the other side. 

Mariah: Mm. 

Ivana Ivanek: And that's a skill build. 

Mariah: Yeah. And I think as you're saying before, like I love coming back to that message of like, it's not about you at the end of the day. Yes, of course. Sometimes it can feel really weird, like, what, what am I doing?

Like, and especially like when you're not, you haven't grown up with this. Like I, I'm sort of on that cusp of like, I'm a 94 baby, so I'm a millennial, but I'm like a younger millennial. So like, I did grow up with social media to a degree. I grew up with like a video camera making like video clips with my friends and like grew up with that.

So like, but I imagine people, like on the other end of it is like, you just, it just didn't. Like sometimes I feel like that because I didn't necessarily grow up with an iPhone or things like that, like I know Gen Zs and all that, that they're more used to that. But like especially as we are like haven't done this all of our [00:44:00] lives.

Especially like I think about, you know, when you do start your business, maybe you've had children or you know you wanna change your lifestyle up later in life. You've done the corporate thing and then all of a sudden like you're doing, and I find that happens in my clients, they're like, so it just feels weird because I'm just not used to this And like I have to make sure that like I've got a space where I feel comfortable and maybe I've got kids around 'cause they're around in the house or you know, all those things that come up.

And it is because like people that don't get it don't get it. And it's just so hard to explain. Even I had six clients lose social media at one time. It was a very stressful time. I ended up in hospital because I was so stressed. Explaining that to the doctor was so hard. 'cause they're like, oh, some influencers lost their social media.

And I was like, actually it was small business owners who rely on these channels to reach their audience. 

Ivana Ivanek: Yeah. 

Mariah: People just think, 

Ivana Ivanek: I don't wanna make bank tomorrow. 

Mariah: Yeah. Like people just think you're like, just, this is just a fun thing that I do, but it's not, you know? Yeah. 

Ivana Ivanek: I mean, this is how it's sold and it's also like, so, you know, make your three posts and you will be rich.

And, [00:45:00] um, that's just not what it is. Building a personal brand requires you, um, you know, to build a presence, to build a, uh, trust and um, to have all these little things, pieces coming together and accumulate what you're doing. Just to get pictures in Mariah to this, like, I'm born 88 and I didn't grow up with mm-hmm.

Itself is, 

Mariah: yeah. 

Ivana Ivanek: It was just like, just probably on the, you know, on the switch to those people. I had phones, but we didn't care about the reform. 

Mariah: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. 

Ivana Ivanek: So now seeing my niece, she's 10 years old. Jen Alpha. 

Mariah: Yes. 

Ivana Ivanek: This girl is so good in front of camera, those selfies. Yeah. How she films herself presenting her horse poster.

Mm. I'm like, wow. Gimme the skill girl. Gimme the confide. It just shows that they grew up with that and we need to learn, learn it, just as my grandmother probably needed to learn e-banking, right? 

Mariah: Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's just a different type of tech. It's, it's 

Ivana Ivanek: a skill and it's not the most natural skill. I agree.

But [00:46:00] there's so much potential behind 

Mariah: it. Yeah. And you can, and, and it is, as you say, like it's a skill you can learn. It's not something like, you get used to it. And I even find, like over the Christmas break, I had a bit of a, a break off, um, posting on my own page. I had clients still go and, you know, you have a couple of weeks off and then you're like, oh, I forgot how to do this now.

And like, you gotta do an Instagram story or whatever, and you're just kinda like, oh, and, and it might take you a few takes to begin with to get, you know, get warmed up. But it's that momentum the more you do it, it just, you just whip it out like you see now. Like people don't even think twice if they see a content created down the street.

Just like they're spilling themselves, chitty chatting. Like we don't even, like now you just sort of tune out to it, right? Like people are just like, oh, that's just the way of the world. Like 

Ivana Ivanek: people are looking at me on the street. I don't care. I did it in New York City, I did it in the Caribbean. I do it here in the village at my sisters.

I do not care. And there's one thing, like when you said, uh, it takes couple of takes, it does. And I know from global conversations with very, very successful people worldwide, everyone is [00:47:00] redoing this video twice and three times and still feeling gring when they post it. But there is one thing that I think those people accept, and I really such I'm suggesting doing this, is that there is no hush hush.

This is your work. This is your life's work. And if we just accept the fact that it'll make, take a little bit time till we learn the skill, we accept that we'll need to redo it once or twice, and we just accept that that fear will never go away, that fear of judgment and people's opinions will never go away.

It becomes a normal thing that we do every single day, which means putting on the camera, feeling cringe, redoing it three and four times, and just sit with that feeling. It's okay because we all feel it. There is no hero on this planet earth who is not experiencing it. And I wish I could take this away from you, but it's part of us being human.

Mariah: Absolutely. And especially like as you're saying, like when you wanna create that level of impact, it takes a level [00:48:00] of discomfort. And I think even like, you know, uh, putting yourself out there, putting your life's work, putting your ideas, and you get better as well at putting together what that idea is like how maybe you explained a concept.

Three years ago. Now you, whenever you think of a concept that you wanna explain and you wanna connect back to your work, it comes more naturally. 'cause we just get better with time. And I'm a big fan of exponential growth with time and consistency comes, results. I've seen it with every client I've worked with.

I've seen it with myself. The thing that we don't do though enough of is reflect on that exponential growth because we're always looking for the next thing. I have all the time with clients, like, oh, but I feel like, um, you know, we, we didn't reach that now we didn't do this or whatever. And it's like, yeah, but like, think about if you looked at as like, people look at individual posts, right?

But look at it as a collective. And you go, oh wow. That, you know, and I had that happen to me when I got my website redone a couple years [00:49:00] ago and the woman wanted to ask how I thought the results had come from the website. And I was like, oh, hang on. Yeah. Like this lead and that lead and I got this and I got that.

I actually got like a cold lead that found me through Google and love my website. And it's like, you don't, unless someone asks you don't take the time to sit down and go, oh, well hang on. I posted, like in the whole year, I showed up and posted my videos and I shared my message. And actually, yeah, it did work.

But because we are looking at it from an individual every single post, not like a collective, you know, um, work of our, like our whole entire life's work together. And I honestly think like that's why I really like to make entrepreneurs look at the numbers, not from a like, ooh, like likes and engagement.

No. It's like looking at the growth over time and where we have grown, but then also, like you said before, making that like constructive criticism rather than like, oh, you look like this, or you didn't say it like this. It's like, no, it's actually just telling us a story that, hang on, people resonated with this, but they maybe didn't resonate with that.

So next time we'll try that [00:50:00] video again and maybe just change the way we worded it or something like that. And I think we never take the time for that because we're always moving on to the next thing. 

Ivana Ivanek: I also think many people do not know how to look at data. 

Mariah: That's also true. That's why I do it. 

Ivana Ivanek: And 

Mariah: no one, 

Ivana Ivanek: no one.

That's also a skill learned. 

Mariah: Yeah, 

Ivana Ivanek: exactly. Just because you are an incredible coach, a service provider, whatever you work is maybe, you know, you can be the most amazing coach, service provider, educated teacher, dj, whatever you are bringing to this world. So don't judge yourself because you're already an expert in what you do.

Don't judge yourself for not knowing how to pull up a strategy or how to look at data. Again, it's a skill built. Yeah, it's a skill learned. It's nothing you need to be born with. What is, what you're an expert in and another thing, marketing you need to learn. And I think it's, it is doable. 'cause you've learned already so much.

Mariah: Absolutely. I think, yeah, we do, like when we do start a business, we just expect it all to just turn on and we'll, we'll know how to do it because like we see everyone else doing it. And I think, [00:51:00] uh, what I love about, there's a certain client that I work with and she has a lot of years of experience in like.

Ai, working in corporate, all the things, but she's still always the first one to go, oh, I don't actually know enough about that. And I just love it because she doesn't pretend. And she always plays that beginner's mindset. And even with all this experience and all of her background, she'll always trust the expert that's telling her, even if she's maybe even had a bit of experience.

And she'll always be the first one to admit that. I actually don't know enough about that, but I would love, because we always think if we, we don't know it, it's because we're not good enough or you know, all that. But she'll always be the first person to be like, oh, I actually haven't had experience in that, but like, let me, or tell me about it, or, you know.

And I think that is the best like mindset shift to make is like, I don't know it, I can learn it, but I don't need to pretend. I know. And I don't also need to be like, oh, well I don't know it. So that's it. You know? I don't, I don't need, that's 

Ivana Ivanek: it. I mean, story of my life, [00:52:00] Mariah. This is why my first business failed.

There was resentment. Um, because I thought I need to know it all. I was sitting alone in my corner thinking I'm the only one struggling and asking for help was a sign of weakness. So put that all together, knowing today that yes, I will seek help, I will talk to my peers. I will pay for help because not even I know it all and I don't wanna know it all.

And all the things that I don't want to learn, I pay people to do it. Yes. And 

that's 

Mariah: the joys. Yes. Yes. Yeah. And I think that's a, 

Ivana Ivanek: like, I don't do editing. 

Mariah: Yeah. Oh, me neither. Me neither. And I don't do Canva. You don't want me in your Canva. Trust me. Like that is just not a thing. And I think that, that, that's when you put on that CEO hat right?

When you go like, I don't need to know that. Like, yeah. Cool. There are people, and, and when you trust people to do the thing that they're expert in, you'll get the best result out of that person as well. 

Ivana Ivanek: Yes. Because if you build your personal brand, you need to be doing this. [00:53:00] You shouldn't be hiding behind the scenes.

You need to do the thing that only you can do in your company, which is being present, speaking and being visible. 

Mariah: Hmm. 

Ivana Ivanek: Yeah. And then should be time made for that. Yeah. Because this should be actually priority number one, rather than being the best editor. Because 

Mariah: Yeah, 

Ivana Ivanek: who cares? 

Mariah: We don't have time for that.

And also like, to be honest, when clients say to me, okay, cool, like, what do you need from me? I'm like, I just need you to show up and be in the places and attend the networking and do the dms to the ins, the people on Instagram or to to film the videos. Like, I can't be you. I need you to be, you and I can amplify that and I can tell you what I would like you to film or potentially some ideas based on the strategy, but like, I can't do that for you.

So if you, and they're like, and actually a lot of entrepreneurs are like, great, like I can do that. Like that's the thing that I can do. But if you have that mindset of, oh, but I need to be doing this and I need to be doing that, and you don't put it first. It is so much harder to grow because then like [00:54:00] someone like me, like, it's like you have to make up other things to get stuff out or to do whatever.

But yeah, it can be, it does, you definitely can get caught in the weeds. And I think obviously it's that, um, you know, chicken and egg scenario of like, obviously you need to make income to hire people, so then you gotta do the thing. So it's like, it's that balance. But once you get to that level where you can outsource things or you look at your financials and go, well, if I hire this person, it means it frees up x amount of hours.

You know? So it's just Yeah, exactly. So it's like, okay, I just need to make up that like, you know, people that invest in things, cool. I just need to sell two. Like, I remember talking with a client and she wanted to join this program, it was gonna help her a lot. And I was like, well, you just need to make, do one speaking gig to make the money back.

I was like, oh yeah, that, like, that seems so much. Easier than like, oh my God, I'm paying this big amount of money. You know, like, and then because you've invested in it, you're gonna use it. You're gonna get the most out of it and then you will make the money back. But I think [00:55:00] like if we're just doing it all ourselves, we, oh, it's just ticket to burnout.

I remember one of my mentors was like, okay, you are doing all your Canva, which again hate it. And you're spending like three hours a week. Say you charge a hundred dollars an hour, that's $300 a week. It's like, oh yeah, good 

Ivana Ivanek: rephrase. And before anybody can outsource anything, I would always say, uh, I always recommend, you need to get into getting visible and doing the things that matter instead of hiding under a rock and hoping to be found.

Mariah: Yeah, that's great advice. I love that. So thank you so much for chatting with me. I could actually talk to you for hours and I'm excited to, you know, continue connect with you. But how can people find you? 'cause I imagine there's people like, oh my God. This woman is amazing and I want to follow her everywhere and see how she, you know, helps people and puts her work out into the world.

'cause um, you know, I think you've just really [00:56:00] inspired me. So how can people find you and connect with you? 

Ivana Ivanek: So I am a Instagram girl. Ivana Ivanek. It's I-V-A-A-I-V, AE k. I hang out there a lot. My dms are always open. By the way, I am one of these people. This account will never go to an assistant because I love to hang out in dms.

Dms, yeah, ask me questions. You have doubts. I'm so here for the conversation because I do believe in human connection, even if it's online. I have a podcast called Online Business by Design podcast. It is a podcast about marketing and mindset where we speak a lot about personal branding, what personal branding is, why you need it, and how to actually get there.

I have incredible guests on there who are telling their stories about failure and success. So all I wanna tell you that or show with this show is that you are not alone, and there are a gazillion ways how you can build your business and build that extraordinary life you can't stop dreaming [00:57:00] about. So tune in there.

Mariah: I love that. We'll put all the links in the show notes, but I think, yeah, I love everything that you're about and I totally, totally align. I think there's a lot of shoulds online of what we should be doing, and we're not connecting enough with what we actually wanna do. So we need more people like you on the pedestal sharing that because I think we get stuck in the weeds of the scroll hole telling us all the things that we're not doing right.

Um, which is blocking us. So thank you so much, Ivana, for coming on and chatting with me. I've absolutely loved talking with you, and as I said, I could, we could do a whole other episode. Chi chatting. 

Ivana Ivanek: I think so too. Maria, thank you so much for having me. There has been a privilege to be on your show. And folks, if you're listening to this, I would shout out to every podcast host, say, thank you for creating these amazing platforms.

And if you like the show, just go ahead, hit that five star, leave the review because you don't know how important this is. And I think Mariah's doing an amazing work. I'm honored to be on [00:58:00] her show and, um, if you take a moment to review, thank you for that. 

Mariah: Oh my gosh. Guest of the year. Thank you so much. I love 

Ivana Ivanek: that.

Thank you. 

Mariah: All right. I just love having mindset coaches on the podcast, people that understand how the brain works because yes, marketing comes down to a level of psychology for sure, and I've been diving into that as I'm growing and expand my own marketing knowledge. But really understanding what holds you back from showing up, what is stopping you from stepping into the person that you need to be to show up as the leader for your business is so fascinating.

And actually, it's been really interesting following even business owners, journeys, marketers, et cetera, how as their business grows and their mindset evolves showing up and the things that they do to show up changes their. Marketing and how they connect with people. And it's just so cool to see. I absolutely have loved [00:59:00] witnessing a lot of people's journeys as they sort of level up and their content and their marketing and their messaging levels up.

But it comes down to the mindset work, right? So have a think about that. Have a ponder on all the amazing things Ivana said, and be your content queen or king, and remember that developing your strategy and story. Develops your business as well, of course, as your mindset. Thank you so much for joining me today, and please don't forget to share this with all your business and entrepreneurial friends.

If you really love the episode and you leave a five star review or a cheeky little comment, it'll mean a lot. It'll mean that more people will see this show and we get more amazing guests, unlike Ivana, to share their absolute wisdom. And if you want and you like this episode, you can share it to your Instagram stories and tag me at content Queen Mariah, and if there are any topics that you want me to talk about in the future, send me a message you've had.

I've had so many podcast pictures, not just from the call out that I did, but also just from people finding us because we're in the charts and I've gotta sift through those and choose the [01:00:00] more guests. I did like six recordings of podcast guests in the last few weeks, which is very unheard of for me. So we've got so much amazing content coming up, and I'll talk to you soon.

Ivana Ivanek: Bye.

PodcastMariah MacInnesmarketing, marketing advice, how to be authentic online, business ownerComment