Ep. 063: Building True Community & Speaking Out Publicly w/ Kia Young
Thinking about money and budgeting can make even the savviest entrepreneurs sweat. So much of how we think and feel about money is based upon learned beliefs and mindsets that don't really serve us. But as business owners it's crucial that we face our fears, know our numbers, and make a financial plan.
On this episode I'm joined by Financial Coach Keina Newell to help you understand what to look at, what to do with those numbers, and what might be holding you back. Plus we talk about how knowing your numbers can empower your decisions from hiring help to raising your rates.
BIO:
Keina Newell helps hardworking and passionate single women and soloprenuers create possibilities with their money. She is passionate about her work and finds no greater satisfaction than helping her clients start approaching the way they manage their money with joy because they’ve learned to feel possibility where they once felt shame, guilt, overwhelm, and anxiety. When she is not coaching, Keina is spending quality time with friends and family and encouraging herself to go to workout! To learn more about Keina head over to Wealth Over Now and explore her tips to manage your money well.
LINKS:
Website: wealthovernow.com
Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wealthovernowcommunity/
Instagram: @wealthovernow
OTHER LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED TODAY:
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Erika Tebbens: On today's episode, we are joined by a very special guest, my friend, Kia Young. Kia is a social strategist and mentor obsessed with helping business owners focus on what matters most on social media, her agency, the Social Crown, support, service based businesses, personal brands and nonprofits internationally.
Her family currently resides in Maryland and she's almost positive it's their forever home, as her husband inches closer to retiring from the army. She's a mom of three plus Loki, the golden doodle. And chances are very high, that right now she's planning a Disney trip and eating tacos.
So I'm incredibly excited about this episode. I've wanted to have her on for a long, long time, but she's a very busy woman. She, as you'll hear in the episode, she runs multiple successful businesses and she wrote an article recently that I mentioned in, um, in another recent podcast episode, that is all about using your own voice, uh, the way that you show up in your business and for your community as a way to talk to, or speak on, um, big national or international things and events and movements that are taking in place and how there are three different sort of main ways that you can show up like three different styles and, she's gonna mention, uh,examples of each of those. And we're going to talk about it in context of what it means to build a community and show up for them and how to really, uh, build it around, who you are and who you like, how you show up in your brand, how you want to be known.
So that when something very large happens and you have to speak on it, that the way that you show up for your community, isn't coming out of left field, it doesn't feel disjointed from how you are showing up, uh, the rest of the time. So this is a really great sort of cap, like a, an end piece on the series of blog posts.
I've been running recently about, uh, being authentic and being vulnerable and really showing up as you on attracting the best repelling the rest. And just every other thing I've been talking about these last several weeks, I felt like I really wanted Kia to come in and emphasize this from the point of view of somebody who helps brands do this, uh, through their social media channels.
And so that way you could get, and another sort of objective point of view, it's different from hearing it from me all the time to show you and empower you, how to build that community around your authentic personality and how to have those people who are going to love you for you and are going to really be on board with what you're all about and really resonated with resonate with it. So again, this is not about having an audience of clones of you, or like weird, creepy, like fanatics. It's not like that. It's about building real true community around your brand and then feeling comfortable and confident speaking out on things that's, are outside of the normal day to day have business, but certainly impact the normal day to day of business. So I know you're going to love Kia. I love Kia. This episode is just jam packed with awesomeness. Uhm, I mentioned at the end, but you can find her at kiayoung.com and @kiaknows social on Instagram.
And the article that we refer to is right on her website on her blog. So, it'll be in the show notes. Show notes as well, but definitely go check that out after you listen. All right. On to the episode.
Hi Kia. Thank you so much for being here on Sell It Sister. I have wanted you on forever because you are my you're my business twin, and I love you and I know people are gonna get so much out of this episode. So thank you for being here.
Kia Young: Thank you for having me, Erika. I feel so honored. Um, and I love that I could still it to my business, birthday twins. So.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah.
Kia Young: This is a much needed conversation too. So I'm, I'm excited to chat about it with you with one of my favorite people.
Erika Tebbens: Thank you. Yeah. And so why, uh, why we say that we're business birthday twins is so I know Kia from when I was in direct sales, we were both leaders. Uh, we actually met coming back from a leadership incentive trips. So we, we met each other in the airport and we started chatting and we became friends and were connected ever since. And then. We both happen to leave and branch out to start our own companies right around the same exact time. And I don't remember the exact date that I started air contaminants consulting. So I know it was right around when she started the social crown and I'll let her explain all that to you. So she was like, you can just borrow my birthday. Cause I remember when I started my business and I'm like, sounds great. So it's been kind of cool to be on this journey together of being really familiar and doing the same thing in a previous company. And then even though our businesses now are very different just to see each other grow over the last several years.
Kia Young: I mean, it's such a great, uh, I can't think of anything better, this gift that we have to be able to say, "Hey, like, it's been two years, it's been almost three years." Um, and to see you again, like how much we've both changed even within our own businesses and, um, to be able to bounce ideas off of each other, even our clients have changed. Like there's been such evolvement since we started. So yes, our, our business birthday is September 24th, 2017.
Erika Tebbens: I love it. I love it. I'm so glad you're keeping track. So, yeah. So I know when you first started your agency, you were like a Jill of all trades, you were sleeping like three hours a night, doing everything for everyone.
And now you've evolved and you have. A really successful, uh, social media management agency called the Social Crown and recently you are branching out into mentorship. So I know I talked a little bit in the, uh, in the intro about you, but why don't you explain more about what it is that you do?
Kia Young: Yeah, so, Oh, I just had flashbacks.
You're going back to the not sleeping. Um, so, launched the Social Crown and knew that I could support people with social media, but also wanted to do some VA work. Um, my husband was deployed. He's still active duty, but he was deployed at the time, we had three children and, um, so I was just excited to launch this new thing.
And the reason why I can remember that date so well, Erika is, it's also the date that I got my first client. So the day that I announced it, I got it. There's a really great client. And so I can remember that day, cause I remember starting working with her, um. So start at the Social Crown, um, and really just use that first year to kind of finesse and figure out like where I really fit and where, um, my happy place was in, you know, I started out, um, not charging enough. And so I had a lot of work and it got a lot of great experience, but it was, was at the detriment of myself, um, and even my business. So when I was able to hire people, I couldn't pay them enough because I wasn't asking for enough, so that was one of the first big business lessons that I got is you have to, to charge the right amount, not just for yourself, but if you want to bring others along with you, um, you have to be able to pay them.
So I'm over there course of three years, I've really found my niche in what makes me happy through trial and error and that is supporting service based businesses, personal brands and nonprofits, and helping them align their entire brand strategy with their social online digital footprint.
So, um, social strategy is, is where we really hone in on and helping people to build really thriving, healthy, happy communities filled with their ideal clients. So that is, that is what we do. And it's a lot of fun.
Erika Tebbens: I love that. And soon you will also be teaching and mentoring people on how to start their own social media management businesses. Right?
Kia Young: So, so excited about social media startup. So this has actually been a dream from the beginning. I've always known that I wanted to figure this out so that I can help other people, um, and other women do it as well. Uh, being a stay at home mom, um, for a little bit and being a military spouse. I know how special it is to be able to build a thriving business around your family and not even just around your family, but around yourself and your own needs.
Um, again, going back to not sleeping, I remember like I'd be not sleeping and then you'd be like out on a walk and I'm like, "How is she doing that?" But you've always prioritized, that's one thing that I've loved watching you. You've always prioritized. Um, your needs within your business and built your business around; what makes you happy as well, not just your family and so, um, we have a focus on what matters most in social media startup. We'll hopefully be able to, to get a lot of women and families back to what matters most for them.
Erika Tebbens: I love that. That is a really, really cool and very needed opportunity. I feel like especially now, Uh, it's just, it's so easy to have a real viable business of your own that you can do that is flexible. So that's really awesome that you're doing that.
Kia Young: Yeah.
Erika Tebbens: And I know because community is your jam and it is your #whatmattersmost, you also have some other companies that you co-own with some other amazing women that really focus on community and specifically the military community. So.
Kia Young: Yes.
Erika Tebbens: And I know because community is your jam and it is your #whatmattersmost, you also have some other companies that you co-own with some other amazing women that really focus on community and specifically the military community. So.
Kia Young: Yes.
Erika Tebbens: You're free to share a little bit about it, that's you?
Kia Young: So Milspouse Media is, um, a, an agency it's a full marketing agency, we'd call it a "full spectrum marketing agency" that I co-own with two other military spouses, Crystal Spell, and, um, Lakeesha Cole and we all kind of, um, Put together our zones of genius in order to help brands and organizations reach a military community or in touch military community.
So I handle brand strategy, social strategy. Crystal's all about influencer marketing and Kesha handles public relations. And, um, inside of Milspouse Media, we, um, host some lab events. So you might've heard of make her a male spouse retreat. You were, you were a really amazing speaker for our 2019 inaugural retreat last year.
Um, and so we host those retreats, but we also offer marketing for specifically for brands, your everyday brand. But when they're ready to reach that military market, we kind of have like that insider of how military thinks and acts and what resonates with them. And so, so yeah, that's, uh, that's Milspouse Media.
Erika Tebbens: I love it. And I will say that I have, I just really enjoyed being involved with the maker community because community is a big value for me. And it's something that I really focus on. And in terms of building my own business is cultivating those relationships and building a sense of, of community within and like, around my brand.
So even though as of the time of recording this, I don't have any group coaching programs or anything. I really love having this sort of feeling around my brand of, you know, you can hang out in my Facebook group or you can come to a training I'm doing and be with other likeminded people. And I, I really know that like, just in what you've done and, and watching you in all the iterations of your business, you really do infuse that sense of community, of like purposeful, intentional community around what you were doing in your business.
So why. Why is that important to you? And why is it something when you work with your own clients, why it's important for you to weave that throughout their social strategy?
Kia Young: Yeah. So community is, um, I feel like it's starting to, like, everyone is starting to grasp this word, but it really evokes a special emotion for me.
When I think about community and being surrounded by people who believe in you, believe in what you have to say and what you have to offer, but that will also support you and it's mutually beneficial. Right? So even for, um, anyone who's a thought leader or an industry leader, you know, Getting that immediate feedback, getting, um, you know, hearing people say, okay, this helped me.
It helps you as a leader to be able to say, okay, that resonated as well. So for one, it's just built in feedback, right? When you, when you have a community that that's the type of information that you need in order to continue to grow your business, like you need market research, you need to be able to say, okay, what do people actually need?
And how can I offer it to them? And if you don't have a community, then how are you going to get that, that feedback for them? But also, a community as a safe space. I mean, look at where we are today in the, in the, um, in the world, and being able to have a place to go where you know, that people care about you, um, have the ability to give you some grace, you know, like if you trip or, or make a mistake or fall, they are so close to you to, um, and believe in you that they're willing to go through that and navigate, um, any missteps with you too is super important.
So it's just like having your own little family, just the same way we need family. Um, it's basically your business family is your community and not just your peers, but also people that can give you feedback on the, on the, on the projects that you're working on too.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah, I really, I really liked that. And I think it's definitely important, like an important thing to note that it doesn't necessarily need to mean that it's like a group of people all hanging together. Like when I think of my own community, I think of this podcast. And I think of my Instagram page where I hang out the most in terms of social media.
And I feel like even though those aren't spaces where my people are congregating together, it feels like my personal community. And I feel like when I post something in stories, or if I'm asking questions or polls or anything like that, that I am getting that immediate feedback loop, which is really, really impressive for me. And I love, like you said, like when people I say, "Oh, Hey, I just listened to this podcast episode and this one part really spoke to me." Or "I found this really helpful."
I need that. And I don't know if it's like an ego that I have no idea what it is, but like, I don't want to speak to an empty room.
Like I really enjoy like when I'm doing public speaking or teaching or anything. I, it is important to me to pay attention to the feedback that the community is getting to be like,"Okay, are you with me?" " Are you hearing this?" " Is it resonating?" " What do you need more of from me?" Maybe like less of, so I love that you mentioned that it is it's that important feedback loop.
Kia Young: Yeah. And another thing about community, I had said earlier that it kind of evokes emotion for me. Um, back in been our, in our direct sales days, you might hear this phrase of have heard it quite often that face to face means heart to heart. Right. Um, and, but I also believe when you do social media, the right, the way that you can have those same really strong ties as to people over social.
And I feel like the people who have built a strong community, get that, like obviously yes, me hanging out with you. Yeah. At the maker retreat or whenever, um, is always going to be more fun. But I don't feel any less close to you because we do social. Right. Um, and I know that I can pick up and you're a part of my community and I'm part of yours as well.
Um, so it's, it's, it's that, um, being that one degree away from, okay, I can't be there with you in person, but I can still be there with you.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah. Yeah. It's like how I feel. Uh, and I, I definitely want you to. Explain your best practices for building that community around a brand. But whenever I hear people say like, "Well, I hate, I just like hate social media or I don't." Um, Like, especially like Instagram or something or, or they're really trying to like overthink a strategy or, uh, I don't know, just all those like nitty gritty. I'm kind of like, you, you just sorta like connecting with people. I just, in my, in my brain, like at a gut level, it's all social media always feels to me like.
If you're at a, I don't know, a house party or something, and you're just sort of wandering around and you're scoping out who you want to talk to, who feels like they appear aligned with you, who you'd want to have a conversation with, and then just like chiming in and getting to know them. And it's funny, cause I have people who live like literally live all over the world.
I've never met them in person. But I feel like I'm like, you're like a friend, you're like an instant friend, but like I genuinely consider them a friend, even though I may literally never meet them in person, but I formed such a deep connection with them that it feels super like a super real friendship.
Kia Young: Right. And I think so. And it's funny because I often don't realize that people don't think about what I feel is like, second nature, right? Asking people questions or talking about their area every day thing. So one of the big things that I've learned from, from, um, businesses and brands and personal brands that they feel like the moment that they become a business, that they can no longer be like who they are in their real life.
And they can no longer talk about those things because it has to be sell, sell, sell all the time. And the truth is no one wants to be sold to all the time. Absolutely no one. And especially if you're service-based. Like that you, you have to embrace the fact that people are going to work with you if you're service based because they like you.
And if they never get to know you, then they're never going to be able to say, Oh, I like that person. I'm willing to do business with them. And so one of the first things that I introduced, um, to, to my clients, um, as far as building a community is we have to. Insert your personality, weekly. So I don't care what your objectives are.
I don't care. Erika, if you're launching the new thing and all you want to talk about is the new thing as a social strategist, I'm telling you. Absolutely not. Like we can talk about the new thing, like one to two times a week, but we, what are those things? Um, the first question that I love to ask them are, what are you known for?
Like when your friends hear this word? What makes them think Erika? So for you, you and me, um, the Hobbit, right? Roller Derby, um, really cool hair. Your hair is always fun colors. Um, like I just, and there are several things I can go down the list, but like, you should have a thing and you need to hold onto that thing and talk about it often.
Um, for me, it's Disney and tacos. Everybody really knows, and it's starting to be lipstick. I didn't realize this, but people are starting. Like, I have a new affinity for lipstick, so people have started to look for them. So that is what humanizes you. So it doesn't matter what you're selling. Find the thing that you are known for that you love, that you're obsessed with, I use that all the time on my brand and talk about it and talk about it often.
And it might be just that you are just, um, really loving your time with motherhood right now, and your kids are young. And that's, what is, um, making you I'm most happy and the things that you're doing with your kids outside.
People can resonate with that. People can connect with roller Derby, with lipstick, with Disney and it has nothing to do with your business because one fact that we forget, right, we're always looking for our ideal client, but we forget to think about that adjacent, that person that's adjacent to your ideal client.
Right? So I have a lot of people that follow me that. Probably will never use my services, but guess what? As soon as they have a friend that needs their services, they're sending them to Kia because referrals are like my happy place. I don't have to run ads. like my whole business has been built off of word of mouth because I found it way to not only connect with my ideal client, but connect to the people well that are adjacent to my ideal client.
Um, and that's a big part of building your community too. You don't just, you do want a community full of people who are going to buy your products for sure. But you also want to be known for the people that were in those circles too, so that they can be a good referral source for you.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah. And I think that is super, super important and really good to point out because I do think that we, we get that nervousness of well, if, if I am my true self.
And people reject that it's going to hurt a lot, but I think on the flip side, uh, not doing it out of that fear, actually prevents the best people that you would love working with, or they would be happy to refer you, it prevents them from finding you. And I think that that is a real shame. And I think one thing that you and I did, which is interesting because honestly at the time I did, this was not an intentional, purposeful thing.
Again, this was just like, I was like, well, this is best practices, but you and I both in the world of direct sales, we built personal brands within the brand that I think really helped us stand out. And that is something that I've carried through. Cause we all know, like we all have competition, like, right.
I mean, in direct sales, you're literally competing with people who can sell the exact same thing at the exact same price. So you need to stand out and you need to be a little bit galvanizing for your, like your right people. And then like, you know, there are other business coaches, there are other social media strategists.
So the only way that we can really kind of like signal boost ourselves is to let our uniqueness, or our freak flag fly in a way.
Kia Young: Yeah. Yeah. And that word authenticity gets thrown around a lot and people are like, I don't even know what that is. And it really is just, you're like, that's the thing about being authentic.
There is no magic formula to being authentic. You really just have to think, think about, okay, what. Do people think about when it comes to me? Like, what do people gravitate toward? What are the things that I talk about? What are the things that I do? What are the things that I post that are just everyday posts that people really chime in on conversations?
That, that one question that I've been seeing, going around Facebook is, um, if I were to give a. "If you were to give a speech about anything for 30 minutes and not have to prepare for it, what it is that thing? Um, I have a whole list, and I'm sure you do too, but that is a good indicator of what makes you, you. That's authentic, that's unique.
And it, it might look very similar to someone else's list, but they don't talk to them when you talk. And so if you're speaking in your tone and with your voice in the way that you say things, it's always going to be authentic. Um, and so, so yeah, you have to find those, I call them personality peaks. You have to find those personality peaks and then show them to the world so that your people can gravitate toward you.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah, I really love that. And I love that phrase, personality peaks. I think that that, that is really helpful. Is there any other best practices that you like to teach people in terms of building community? Like, so you start with, what are your personality peaks? You put yourself out there, you kind of, be a beacon for those things, for those other people. Is there anything else that you suggest people do?
Kia Young: Yes. There's this one thing that people forget all the time and that's to start conversations yourself. So the engagement factor, right? So you're you can't just post something and just sit and wait for people to come to you. If you, um, know, okay, my people really hang out in this particular hashtag then, you should be visiting that hashtag and starting conversations with them asking questions.
If somebody okay post a picture of their cute baby, like telling them that their baby is cute and asking a question about, about the child or whatever that leaving meaningful, meaningful, well comments. That's what I always say. Like, not just giving them an emojis. Not just giving them an emoji and saying, "Oh, I love that." But really starting true unique conversations with people and then I'm going back to them.
So it's okay for us, to start the conversation, to start the relationship. Um, and that works better always than just hoping and praying and waiting for people to come and find you. So starting those conversations, yourself, seeking out your ideal clients. So easy to do on Instagram. That's why it's my favorite platform.
It's not the easiest platform, but it is the easiest platform to find your people. Um, and so that's one of, one of definitely a best practice. Take 10 to 15 minutes, a few times a week, and just spend some time talking with and saying what your ideal clients are doing online. You might also get some really great insights, um, about what they need in their business, too.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah, I liked that. And I feel like even on Instagram because of stories that has made it incredibly easy, because you can watch somebody's stories and the moment you respond, you're responding as a DM. So you were making that deeper connection right off the bat. And I love it when people find me and do that with me because, then it gives me a reason to be like, "Oh, who is this person?" "What are they all about?" Like, let me get to know them and I think that that is why I genuinely think Instagram, why it feels the most fun for me is because it feels more like a hangout where I'm actually just getting to know people and see some behind the scenes.
It's not all polished and everything. So. I love that.
Kia Young: Yeah. That's why Instagram will I always feel like, it's never going to go away. People are like, Oh, it's going to go away. Cause TikTok is taking over, but it's not the same, um, Instagram for business and particularly with Instagram stories and being able to feel like you're having a one on one conversation with people is, um, it's just, you can't it's you can't compare that to the, to the other platforms, for sure.
Erika Tebbens: Absolutely. And speaking of TikTok, I think, cause you know, in the time of quarantine I have gotten onto TikTok, I only have a few videos. I am not like a content producer over there. I'm more just like a content consumer, but I have noticed which I will say I was not expecting, there are a lot of various business owners over there.
Who put out like really funny or informative content. And I was like, isn't it just all people doing dances or whatever, but it's actually not like, there are all different people on there who are like, I mean, like registered dieticians and like lawyers and I mean, just everything and they will put up these videos that are interesting to watch, but you also learn something.
And what I like about it is that you really get to see their personality shine through, and I can make an instant decision, like if I was going to hire that person for whatever, to start working with them, I would know within the 60 seconds of their video, do I resonate with this person or do I not? And I am all about like attracting the best and repelling the rest.
And I think the quicker you can get there, the better.
Kia Young: Yeah. I even saw, um, yesterday someone ran a Facebook ad using a tick tock video and I'm like, Oh, here we go. Like, I liked it. It was enough to make me stop the scroll, which is what you want on a Facebook ad. So yeah, there there's a ton of businesses going on over there.
So if you are listening and afraid to try it out, if you are a thought leader, And your, um, objective is to help people and teach people, take one subject, make a quick TikTok video and watch that baby work.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah. It's, it's so fascinating. It really is. So around the topic of, so you're, you know, you're starting to build your community.
You're being your true self, you're letting people know what you're all about, you're building that community of followers who really dig what you are doing. Now as thing, I mean, gosh, the first half of 2020 is like nothing but national conversations.
Kia Young: Right?
Erika Tebbens: Uh, and so a lot of entrepreneurs have had to very quickly be like, what am I going to do?
And what am I going to put out and how am I going to speak? And you wrote a post recently, which I'll link. In here. I mentioned it in a previous podcast episode, but really using your own personal voice and that community you've built around you to help you speak out when things are really challenging. So I would love for you to speak more on that.
Kia Young: Yeah. So what I'm finding, um, that particular blog post resonated with a lot of people, because let's just be honest here, especially around the topic of race, which is a big conversation right now. If you have been conditioned to not talk about that, no matter if it's right or wrong, we all know it's a human rights issue and not a political issue, but we have been conditioned or some of us have been conditioned that it is, uh, just taboo.
You cannot talk about that thing. So all of a sudden to be told you have to talk about it is scary. Um, you might not have had the time to, to digest everything that's happening around you and so, I really feel like there's this range, um, where you can show up. In your authentic self, right? So if you were already comfortable talking about whatever the national conversation is in this case, it's race, if you're comfortable about that, be bold, speak your truth, do your thing. If you just aren't there yet. You might need to go about it a different way, because what can happen is if you choose the wrong way, if you, if you are not completely resolved in how you feel about everything, but then you just come running out with a super bold statement, chances are you going to get it wrong.
And it's, it's much harder, um, to backtrack after you've said the wrong thing, because you, you know, were all emotional and felt like you needed to come out, um, hot and heavy. So, um, the, the three ways to speak out, or as a bold speaker, as a subtle speaker, and as a facilitator.
And so, if you're listening to Sell It Sister, you already know what Erika Tebbens is. She is our boat speaker. It doesn't matter what the conversation is about. She has a lot to say, and that's great. It's one of the reasons why I love her. It's why her community loves her and why they rock with her because they know no holds barred, Erika is going to tell it exactly how she feels, um, and be supportive in, in that journey of people that are trying to learn as well. So, um, people appreciate that about you and it's because you've shown up as your authentic self, that one, your community already expected that from you, like, uh, like I know anything's going down, uh, Erika is going to be talking about it if it's a national conversation right?
So I imagine if that had been your MO for everything else, you're, you're just this bold speaker around everything in your community knows that about you. And then you get to race and you have nothing to say, what is that going to do to your community? So when you're building a community, you're, you are teaching them, the people that follow you, what to expect from you.
And so your community does have expectations from you, of you.
And so subtle speakers. Um, a lot of people think automatically that subtle means timid or weak or not saying enough, and that's just not true. Um, again, so I used in the post, the example of Nike. So Nike is usually super vocal about a lot of things, but one of the first statements they put out, um, after George Floyd's death was don't think you can't be a part of the change right?
And so that is still a very powerful statement without, um, being as bold as you were with your statement, but still very powerful. So subtle is just taking the time to really listen, um, to ensure that you are saying something that is powerful, that will resonate with your people. Um, but also gives you grace to grow and learn and space to grow and learn as you navigate something that might be a little uncomfortable for you.
Um, and then facilitators. Facilitators are our third way to speak out. And I personally love this because I am, I like to hear I'm an objective person and I love to hear all sides, even if I've picked one. I still like to know how people think. Um, and that's probably just a strategist part brain, a part of my brain speaking, but the facilitator is really just the person that's the conduit that lets the discussion happen. And lets people, um, gives them the space and the platform to hear from several different perspectives and then draw their own conclusion based on what they've heard. But you get to be like the moderator of it. Um, and if, again, if you're uncomfortable or still learning or unsure, that's a really great place to be into because you can hear different perspectives and start not necessarily choosing a star aside really quickly, but start the learning process, um, while you're you're listening and facilitating that conversation. Um, so, so yeah, there are many ways that you can show up without, um, without leaving your community hanging.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah. And I feel like just in some conversations that you and I had about, you know, various businesses and brands and stuff. A lot of it was more around the silence or the, the surprise that something wasn't said earlier or addressed or touched on, or sort of glossed over rather than like an intense critique of what was said, it was more like, wow, we thought that this one company had these values that they demonstrate in all these other ways.
And now they're being noticeably silent on this and that doesn't seem aligned. And that's where the disconnect is because I don't necessarily, and maybe that's just me, but, you know, I don't expect every single brand I've ever shopped from, like, I don't know, general mills cereal or something. Like, I'm not, I'm not like sitting around waiting for, for general mills to make a huge statement on race or anything.
But I think it's just more of, those brands that you already thought their values were a certain way, or you expected them to show up in a certain way and then it doesn't happen, and you're sort of like, wow. Okay. I guess, I guess I was wrong about what I assumed about, about this brand all along. Yeah. At the end of the blog posts, I think I wrote the words.
Kia Young: Someone quoted it for me, cause I don't even remember writing it, but saying that, um, silence leaves, gives people, the space to make their own assumptions about what you stand for and what you believe. I'm sure that's paraphrasing, but, um, that's the last thing that I want. And so that's why it's important to choose a way to speak out.
It doesn't have to be, um, we can't say if it's right or wrong, you just need to say something. And if you don't say anything. Okay, but don't be surprised when people feel a certain way about you or your brand, because you chose, you gave them the space to make that assumption and you left your community hanging, um, that you've built because this is something that the whole world is looking at. Like not just nationally, nationally, we've seen March has take place everywhere , and still silent about it? So, um, so yeah, I, I do feel like silence, shouldn't be an option. That's not with something that big and I'm, and I'm not necessarily saying that I need a brand to pop up in my email inbox.
I'm more interested in what work they're going to do. Um, but at the same time, when you say nothing, you say everything.
Erika Tebbens: Absolutely. And I think, uh, like just again, using general mills, like, cause I, I don't necessarily think. I don't view them as a company that like has built a community. Like I don't ever hear people talking about like, Oh my gosh, I just love their cereal.
Like, they're just, you know, producing product and marketing individual products. Not really like building that sense of community, but what's really funny is so, uh, I was listening to the podcast minority corner and they were going over a list of like, Like corporate sentiments that came out and like listing them.
Like it was like their top 10, like just worst, uh, statements from companies. And one of them was what Gushers, like the candy.
Kia Young: What did they say?
Erika Tebbens: So it was basically like, we couldn't be where we were without the black community, whatever. And I had already seen it like on Twitter and it was and we used right now, I think still it's like, they're pinned post on Twitter and it's kind of hilarious, but one of the guests who was on who was talking was like, Oh, I actually, I like looked into this more and apparently like, Gushers are really like a lot of the people who follow that account are like younger people. Like, I think like gen Z and stuff. And so they were saying that like for their community, really who they're speaking to. Is this much younger, like population who totally does resonate with that statement and was like, like there was a lot of funny comments, but I guess on the flip side, there was a lot of like earnestness in it.
And it was interesting cause me as like an almost 40 year old, I was just reading it from a place of like, this sounds corny as hell. Like it's this Gusher? So I'm like, what are you talking? Um, but to loop it back to community, like when, when I was like educated on the who their community really is that they're trying to speak to.
I was like, Oh, okay. So I guess it didn't totally come out of left field. Like I'm just not their intended committee.
Kia Young: Exactly. And so that's, that's so interesting. Now I have to go and look and see what Gushers did. And I might show my team too, to see if it resonates with her better than, than me. But no, that just goes back to again, like people choose your community and if you're authentic and you haven't built this community of just everyone.
Right? Because no one can speak to every different person that it might sound like a foreign language to people outside that community and that is okay, that is completely okay. If those are not your people, if it doesn't resonate, um, I have a good friend and we always say that your brand, your brand voice is kind of your own language and that it could definitely sound foreign to someone who doesn't speak that language. Um, and that's why it's so important to, to really understand like, not just your community, but how your community talks. Um, because if you're speaking the wrong language, it will not land. So that's interesting.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah, I know. And I don't, you know, maybe that's not like fully accurate, but that's what they were saying. And I was like, Oh gosh, that's really, really interesting. Uh, and I feel like a person who does a really good example of speaking in a, uh, strong brand voice is Rachel Rogers. And I, like, I know she has her whole team and I know that, you know, it's probably not her crafting every email and everything that's going out.
It's probably people on her team, but they really like. It's this very cohesive brand voice that everything that she puts out is in. And even like in her courses, like even how the modules are named it's, it's very much in like a lingo. It's not like just kind of boring and bland. It's not like, you know, I don't know.
Your marketing framework. Yeah. Right. Like it ha it's like, it's like finesse your framework. Like it's a whole different saying that is unique to her brand. And so I think it's really interesting when you read stuff from her or anyone that has a really strong brand voice, it's almost like. If you saw an email come through and you didn't even know who it was from, just from reading it, you might be able to guess, like, I bet this is from the Hello 17, it feels very on brand for their voice.
Kia Young: Yeah. I mean, that's when you know that you've made it right. When people can look at your, your content and say, Oh, I know exactly who this is from. Um, without having to do. You know, the flip side of that is that back to what you said about attracting your people and repelling the risks.
Like if that language does not land with them, if it doesn't feel good. Yeah. And they're not your people and it's very evident upfront. Um, There was an ad and I won't mention names, but there's an ad that I kept being targeted for in the language, the copy in that ad. Oh no, like I do not want this whatsoever.
These are not my people. This is just me, my crew. Um, and well, some people, Oh, my cringe at that, the truth is that's exactly what your copy's supposed to do. And what your words are supposed to do. It's supposed to let people know, okay, this is, I talk like that. She gets me. So, yeah.
Erika Tebbens: And I think, uh, I would love to hear, especially for people who you've worked with, who maybe were doing their own thing, and then you started working with them on their brand voice and their social strategy and building that more engaged community.
Like, cause I know that a lot of people think, well, I really I'm like really desperate to make money. I need more clients. I need more revenue coming in. I want to be kind of neutral. Cause I want to bring in as many potential people as possible who will want to do business with me. So I'm worried if I maybe am too polarizing or too much like myself or, uh, if I too nerdy or whatever it is that I will actually be keeping money at arms length, but I'm sure that like, maybe you have people you've worked with who were being a little too vanilla and when you started to really find two things and build that deeper community, it was like, no, it actually had the opposite effect where it made people find them more easily, it made them start to get more business close, more clients, anything like that.
Kia Young: Yeah. The truth. The truth is when your too vanilla, I love that. I love that term when you're too vanilla, what you find is you are really great at coming up with offers. And then when it's time for people to buy those offers, it's crickets and why is that? It's because you're not saying anything that, that the next person isn't saying, like it doesn't resonate. So I actually haven't come across anyone who is just playing it super safe. And it's also incredibly, um, incredibly, uh, successful. I have seen, where people have only played it safe in the last few weeks, their entire business has fallen like dominoes, um, because we're no longer in that, um, safe space where talking about nothing works, um, and people right now, more than ever, because we're all in our house, right. For the most part, want to be connected more than ever. And they want to, um, have conversations with people that they resonate with. And when they figure out that you're not saying anything, they fle.
So they might hang around. So I think I was having this conversation with you, that commute, the amount of followers you have does not equal your community. Right? So the amount of people that are following you, they could just be hanging around because you are that very vanilla, um, person that, that doesn't, um, strike any chords.
But when it's time to convert them, nothing happens. The reason why is because you have built followers, but you have not built a community and that's completely different. And so your community is who really, truly, truly rocks with you, who, like you said, Oh, I don't have any coaching. I don't have a community in like a Facebook group right now, or whatever, but you have built, um, people.
Who, no trust, love your work so that when you put something out, they're ready to buy. Um, I'll call that my take my, my money crew. Like people are just waiting for you to come out with something so that they can buy it and that as a community, those are the people who really understand you, who get you,w ho'll be able to give grace to you.
If you make a misstep or, um, that you can reach out to for feedback and say, Hey, I'm really thinking you think about doing this thing. And you're my ideal client, what are, what do you think about, is that something you need? I had someone reach out to me me last night saying, Hey, what do you, you think about this thing?
And I was able to say, yeah, girl, know that, no, you know like, no, that's not what I need right now, but she knows I'm an ideal client and so she was able to, to kind of go back and finesse that. So that's, I think where we get hung up, especially on social media, with those vanity metrics and, and wanting to think that, Oh, I've done this really amazing job at building followers, but you have not done a great job of building actual community because no one actually knows who you are.
They know your name, but they don't know your heart. They don't know what you care about, what you believe in. They just know that you post really great pictures online and that's not the same thing.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah. Not, not at all. And I, cause you know, I'm, I'm all about like doing things the easiest way, like getting the easiest results with like the least amount of fuss or, or anything like that.
And I feel like my brand is, is very much proof of all of this because I don't have the highest podcast download numbers. I don't have the 10,000 Instagram followers. Like. I don't have the biggest email lists that every bro marketer thinks that I should have, but I, I keep moving and along like things keep moving along and in people organically will tell their friends or share in their stories.
Like you have to listen to her podcast. Or, um, I just had a past client yesterday who out of the blue went and her stories and she was like repping a thing that she's going to be enough affiliate for, a program she went through that was run by a friend of mine and so she was giving her a shout out. But in the lead up to that shout out, she gave me a shout out.
She was like, she was my first business coach, blah, blah. It was totally unexpected. I didn't ask her to do it. I like it. It totally made my whole day. Cause we're a Sabbat formation or my level language, but I was like, I was like, wow, like that's free advertising for me, and by all the like guru vanity metrics, whatever, I'm kind of nothing.
I'm kinda like a nobody, but interestingly, when I do speak out boldly, um, cause I know people get really worried about like haters and they're, you know, gonna get canceled and whatever people just quietly leave. I never have drama. And I think it's because like, because my community, like my true community, they know what I'm about and if somebody has accidentally ended up in my community and they don't yet know what I'm about, then when they do, I think they know like I'm very serious and it's not really worth their time or their energy. To bicker with me on something that is like a fundamental value. So they will just unsubscribe or unfollow and, and that's okay.
Like they don't need to be, they don't need to be there.
Kia Young: Yeah. Same with me. I don't really get any pushback, um, on things because you're exactly correct. You have built your community around you, who you are, and because of that, like, it, anyone pushing against that is asking you to change. Who you are not just this one thing that you might believe in, but fundamentally what you believe, and that's not going to change.
So if it's not their place, they'll just softly go away. It's nice. But I mean, the truth is, uh, over the past few weeks, like I, I haven't even been posting much and still growing, still growing, like, cause people are that again, that free advertising, people are talking about you, people are sharing, um, the thing, the content that you have put out and it makes a bigger impact.
Um, people are way more emotionally, um, active when they believe in you than when they're not. And so it's easy to, to, to. You know, click the unlike or the unsubscribe button. But when you say something that resonates with them, they want more, they want to start a conversation they want to, so we tend to recognize that a way more than anyone else that might leave.
Erika Tebbens: Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that just because I've, I've known you for a while, I feel like you, you are really good about letting people know what you're all about. And I know even just talking to you about the lead up uh, to the new wing of your business, the mentorship wing it, there was so, you know, a lot of like, Hey, get, you know, get like a waitlist out early.
And like, there are going to be people who already, they, they are raving fans of Kia. Like they are going to be signing up for what you put out or telling their friends who maybe are a better fit for the offer. And like, just start to get that out there and let people be aware that it's coming because people already know from the get go, what Kia is about what you're here for, what you're not here for and they can very easily self-select and the ones that self-select yes. It's not just like a yes. Like it's like a hell.
Kia Young: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a fun lesson for me too, because it actually worked. So thanks for that. Thanks for that tip coach.
Erika Tebbens: You're welcome, you're welcome. Okay. But yeah, I mean, I think, I think that's the thing, like it's, like you were saying, like, you don't need to.
Spend so much time on all of these massive marketing efforts, when you already have raving fans who will do half the work for you. Like you can do a single post and people would be like, I'm going to share this out because they want to know what you're doing or they want to tell other people what you're doing.
Kia Young: Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot of fun. It's I mean, look, building a community make, makes your job, um, as a service based business or a nonprofit or personal brand, so much easier. Um, organic is always much more fun than paid as far as advertising goes. So, um, so yeah, it's, it should be, yeah, non-negotiable on building a community and, and like you said, that doesn't necessarily mean a Facebook group, you can have a Facebook group. That's not talking, um, it is finding those people who you resonate with and that resonate with you, um, and doing life in business with them.
Erika Tebbens: Yeah, I love that. Thank you so much. I feel like that's like a perfect, a perfect way to end the conversation because I could not agree more.
So people can find you at kiyayoung.com and over on Instagram @kiaknowssocial l and anywhere else that you want to send people to, or let them know what you've got going on.
Kia Young: Yeah, so I'm on all social platforms under kiaknowssocials . So I'm easy to find over on. I play around on Twitter a little bit starting, uh, recently. Um, I'm having a lot more fun over there. So, um, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, all those places. I'm there.
Erika Tebbens: Awesome. Yeah. So if you need help managing your own social media or you want to learn how to do social better or become a social media manager. Definitely go check her out.
Thank you so, so much for being here and chatting with me.
Kia Young: And thanks for having me happy to do it anytime.
Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the, Sell It! Sister Podcast. If you loved it and you want more, be sure to subscribe so that you never miss an episode and then head on over to sellit sisterhood.com to join my free Facebook community group. And as your mama said, sharing is caring. So if you got a lot of value out of this episode, be sure to share it with your biz besties too.
Okay? Now get out there and Sell It! Sister.
