Navigating Entrepreneurship as a Mirror to Inner Healing - Nicole Faith is RightOffTrack

Anya Smith:
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Write Off Drop podcast, where we venture into extraordinary journeys of individuals who have fearlessly embraced unconventional paths to success. Join us as we dive deep into the inspiring stories of our guests uncovering the pivotal moments and decisions that have shaped their remarkable lives. Today I am so thrilled to introduce an exceptional guest, Nicole Faith. Nicole is not only a social media maven and savvy entrepreneur, but also the heart, soul, and co-creator behind the recently launched program. Creative Collectives, CC. This ultimate course and community are designed to help you transcend to the next level in all aspects of life, business, and personal growth. With a perfect blend of self-development and entrepreneurship, CC empowers individuals like you to unlock your true potential and achieve greater heights. One thing that sets, I'm gonna start that, one thing that sets Nicole apart is the authenticity, big heart, and approachability she brings into her work. Her expertise in social media is unparalleled, as evidenced by her impressive track record of building thriving online presences for top entrepreneurs, therapists, coaches, speakers, nutritionists, CEOs, publishers, authors, and many others, transforming the social platforms from a few hundred or thousand followers to a staggering two million or more. But Nicole doesn't just talk the talk, she walks the walk. Personally, she has successfully applied her know-how. to mass a social media following of over 250,000 across all platforms, with content reaching an astounding 40 plus million views. So get ready to be inspired as we delve into Nicole Fei's remarkable journey and learn from her experiences in entrepreneurship, social media mastery, and self-development. We're excited to have her share the journey behind her success and introduce you to the transformative power of creative collective. So whether you're a budding entrepreneur, so whether you're a budding entrepreneur, a creative soul. or someone looking to take your personal growth to new heights, you're in for a treat. Stay tuned for a captivating conversation. Welcome, Nicole.

Nicole Faith!!:
Hello! Oh my gosh, thank you so much for having me. I loved that introduction. I'm honored.

Anya Smith:
So I have to give a shout out to your mom, Judy, who

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes,

Anya Smith:
was on

Nicole Faith!!:
we

Anya Smith:
the

Nicole Faith!!:
love

Anya Smith:
podcast

Nicole Faith!!:
her.

Anya Smith:
earlier. And she's such an amazing blessing into my life. Did you tell you how we met? Like,

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes, yes, through Gary

Anya Smith:
Yeah,

Nicole Faith!!:
V's post, right?

Anya Smith:
yes. Yeah, she's like, Anya, have you thought about writing a book? I was like, oh, little do you know?

Nicole Faith!!:
Hey guys, I love it!

Anya Smith:
And then she's like, you know, my mom's doing, I mean, my daughter's doing a little bit of marketing. You should reach out. She's fantastic. I'm like, OK. And then I talked to you and you were just genuine, sweet, amazing. And then I was like, OK, let's connect on Instagram. I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm friends of a famous person.

Nicole Faith!!:
No, oh my gosh, but thank you. I appreciate it.

Anya Smith:
But this is gonna be, I knew this was gonna be lots of fun, but just to get people started who don't know you, could you give us a little bit about your background, like where you are now, but also a little bit of the background, how you got to where you are, and like what inspired this passion for marketing, for social media, for helping people? Just give us a little bit of a context.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, definitely. Okay. I'll try and make this as short and sweet as possible.

Anya Smith:
Or don't make it long make it long as in details

Nicole Faith!!:
Well, even as far as my mom goes too, I kind of grew up with two entrepreneurs. Both my parents are entrepreneurs. So, you know, it was obviously on that roller coaster of highs and lows. And so I kind of learned along the way, I always kind of thought, okay, I'm supposed to be doing something entrepreneurial. Even though there was like part of me that really was yearning for stability. And I'll talk about that in a second. Even when I did move into corporate, I kind of knew like, okay, my spirit isn't being led here. And so I walked through my own trials and tribulations. Obviously, you know, my mom wrote that book about losing our money, 95 million food stamps. And then basically, I just kind of grew into my life, had my own trials, went through a lot of my own stuff, dated some really bad people. And I just found myself basically at the last semester of college thinking, okay. I feel lost. I don't know who I am, what I'm doing, but I knew I wanted to get into the rooms with the right people. And so I actually like forced myself into Ed Mylett's inbox. And so Ed Mylett is like top 50 under 50,

Anya Smith:
Woo!

Nicole Faith!!:
you know, but yeah, he's amazing.

Anya Smith:
Power one more.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes, power one more. He's one of the, you know, top business experts, peak performance experts in the world. Just amazing. And he was somebody that was in my ear a lot through his podcasts in college. And so I knew, okay, I want to work for this guy. I don't know what I'm going to be doing. but I'm gonna do my best to get in there. And so I finally was offered the lowest level position, started working on his media team, kind of worked my way up and eventually he started to notice me, connect with me. And then we, you know, he ended up becoming one of these mentors in my life. I learned so much, I was able to watch, literally one of the top entrepreneurs in the world, how do they schedule their life?

Anya Smith:
Hmm.

Nicole Faith!!:
How do they show up for people? How do they keep going when they're struggling? How do they delegate? How do they lead? And it was fascinating to me and it just kind of continued to... create this spirit of entrepreneurship and helping people in my life. He was able to coach me too and I had actually had a coach starting at 14 years old. I tried out therapy, but I started coaching early and so that she really had a huge impact in my life. But anyway, so I'm working on Ed Milett's media team, 2020 happens. I start kind of getting. close into this, I want to work corporate, see how far I can take it. See everything that I've learned and see, can I scale myself? Can I take what I've learned and put it into a business and see if I'm actually what I think I might be? And so I went into corporate, ended up scaling probably in six months, became a director of marketing for a large logistics company. And during that time, I knew that it wasn't, I mean, it was logistics, so come on. I mean, it can only be so fun, I knew that I wanted more. And so I always knew that I was going to help people. I just didn't know to what degree. And I'm also young. I was like, I got to get some skin in the game. I'd had a lot of pain in my life, but I wanted to create something of my life so that I knew I could teach somebody. And so I got my nervous system regulation certification. I was able to, I went through the Tony Robbins breakthrough intervention program. So I'm able to give people breakthroughs. Yeah, I loved it. Did a lot of studying with polyvago theory and understand the science of the mind and how we operate and why we really are the way that we are. That was kind of like a question I always had in my life. Um, and then I kind of just started my coaching business. I just was like, you know what? I'm going to just see what happens. I was able to really bring it like, it just skyrocketed very quickly. Um, and I kind of pulled out the carpet from under me and was like, all right, I'm leaving corporate, I'm going all in. And there was definitely highs and lows. I don't know if I would fully recommend that to people,

Anya Smith:
No!

Nicole Faith!!:
but it was something I ended up doing. I did that and I loved the coaching and I still coach and the Sisterhood is going to relaunch later on, probably the end of Q4. But what I found was that I'd taken so much of my time learning how to coach, how to help people, how to guide people. But I loved working with entrepreneurs and I wanted to be, I was an entrepreneur at that point. So I wanted to collide. both of my expertise as much as an expertise as I have at this point into something that I could really help other people with. And that's why me and one of my business partners created the Creators Collective because we wanted it to be a space of basically, like we don't know everything obviously, we're not scaling eight, nine figure businesses, but what we do know is how to get it off the ground and what kind of minds that you need to have in order to take it to the next level, to even the first level. And so. That was really kind of our hearts of heart passion project. And that is launching on August 14th. So we're super excited about that.

Anya Smith:
Well, I can't wait to dive into that if you don't mind I'm gonna there's so many things I was like writing down I want to ask

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
this is why Z so one thing that we briefly mentioned is that you just got internship at Edmell Do you mind sharing a little bit more of the backstreet and more like the mindset? Because

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
that's what that's what I really want to talk about is like not just like oh I did this and that was like What happened but I'm sure it's hard, right? Like when we go for something crazy, I know in my head like that's a little bit crazy I'm still gonna do it. What

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
was your mental process? Like what did it take to actually? actualize something

Nicole Faith!!:
You know

Anya Smith:
like

Nicole Faith!!:
what?

Anya Smith:
that.

Nicole Faith!!:
I was going through, so I actually was living in Arizona at the time. I was, it was my last semester of college and I had to leave Arizona halfway through because I was going through a really abusive relationship. And I remember like basically packing up all my boxes in my apartment, knowing I had to leave the next day. Like I decided in like three days, basically my safety's not okay. I have to leave. And I remember sitting in my apartment floor and being like, I'm going to DM Ed. Like I'm just going to DM him and I still have the video. And in the video I say, I've never talked to him in my life. I say, I want you to remember me because this is not the last time you see me. And then I basically go to Dallas. I did 75 hard. I kind of adapted this mindset that was really like, if I don't, I think it's good for the season of life that I was in, but my mindset was there is no other option. Like I know that I have to fight for my life right now. I need to rebuild. I need to heal. I need to grieve. I need to move on. I need to trust that part of my life I can't go back to anymore. And so that was why it was so important to get into the right rooms because I knew it was almost like a protective mechanism of if I can put myself in the right spaces and I can learn enough, then I can make sure that this doesn't happen to me and maybe I can help make sure it doesn't happen to anybody else.

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
And so when I, my mom actually was on Andy Frisella's show because she had won some it was like crazy. And then Andy Frisella met this, had Vaughn, the pastor of disaster who used to be like his cohost and I think is going to continue to be his cohost. But We all connected and then Vaughn knew somebody. And then I reached out to them who knew somebody. And it

Anya Smith:
Thanks for watching!

Nicole Faith!!:
was like this constant, like it was probably like a telephone of 12 people

Anya Smith:
Wow.

Nicole Faith!!:
until I finally got to Ed Milett's CEO of his media team at that point or media company at that point.

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
And I reached out to her a million times. I was like, oh my gosh, I really want to work here. I'll do anything. You don't have to even pay me anything. And they offered me an internship and then. things fell through the cracks. I was living in Dallas. They're obviously in California. And I just remember I was heartbroken when I found out they didn't have an internship for me. And I was sitting at the table with my brother Clint and he was like, you know what, Nicole, like you just need to keep reaching out. Like just, I have a feeling you shouldn't give up on this. And I was like, you know

Anya Smith:
Ugh.

Nicole Faith!!:
what, whatever. Again, there's no other option. I have nothing to lose. Let's just go for it. And

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
there's something really powerful about having your back pressed up against the wall

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
you're able to make decisions that maybe you wouldn't have if you were in a space of like complete comfort. And so I kept reaching out. And then eventually she called me back and she was like, listen, um, we have an interview. It's going to be for the lowest level of position. Um, there's going to be a bunch of other people interviewed for it. You have it tomorrow. Do you want it? And I was like, absolutely. And

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
I basically paced up and down my kitchen, uh, my kitchen with notes and like studying and figuring out like, what am I going to say? How am I going to articulate myself? How am I going to basically sell myself to get this position? And it was just a breeze. Everybody on the team was amazing and I ended up getting it. And it took a few months. Like obviously Ed is very high level. He's a high caliber guy. So he's not going to be talking to the lowest level person on his team. But eventually he saw what I was doing and how fast I was moving. And he really appreciated that. And so he was able to like be the great leader that he was and reach out and celebrate me and that's kind of how we started to bond. And yeah.

Anya Smith:
Hey, thank you for showing up so authentically and

Nicole Faith!!:
Oh,

Anya Smith:
sharing

Nicole Faith!!:
please.

Anya Smith:
parts of life that are very personal, right, and not kind of glossing over that. So thank you.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, yeah.

Anya Smith:
And one thing that I find really interesting is like in this journey, I'm just starting my entrepreneurial journey, I am so amazed by people who are willing to help, right, at very different levels. And what it keeps Right,

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
and we have this conception, like if somebody has this level or title, makes a certain kind of money or followers, they're different than us. And sure, I get people are busier, but a lot of people, they're just people. And

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
if you have that persistence, you're like, I really wanna help, and you're genuine, you're respectful. A lot of times things, like really amazing stuff can happen when you get down to like, they're just people, I can still reach out to them, I can still offer them. Was there anything like that you learned or something similar that kind of like from that experience that shaped your understanding how to get in the room or get in front of these big people as part of you going through this experience and connecting with Ed Mylet as well.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, I mean, and I don't know if this answers your question, but where I'm going with it is I really feel like getting close and being able to see all of the people. And even my boyfriend now, he's in a business with a lot of very high level people. And so you get closer to them and you see them in real life and you understand, wow, they really are just normal people who have made the decision every single day to show up as their best self and do the best that they can. And I think Ed would say like day in and day out that It really is not like every single person is special. Every single person has a purpose. And so finding that purpose and trusting in it and just showing up to do the work is like the most important thing. And I think a lot of people, what happens is we just don't have that faith and belief in ourselves. We don't have like, and that's also the beauty too, right? Like imposter syndrome only shows up when you know that you care enough about what you're doing to look at what you're doing. It's the people that are the frauds that... don't care about what they're doing. Don't care about if it's the right thing. Don't care about if they're really helping people that

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
actually can sometimes make it a little bit farther early on because they're not paying attention to all of the background noise. And eventually

Anya Smith:
Right.

Nicole Faith!!:
everybody always gets found out. But yeah, I would say that I've found that, and I have my own struggles, I think we all do, but I found that. Wow, there really is a place. Like whatever dream and calling you do have on your heart, it's because you have been called to it and you are qualified for it. And maybe you won't get it even this year or next year. But if you stay the course in five to 10 years, the truth is if you put in the work, you'll get there.

Anya Smith:
Yeah. And Ed Millett, one thing I remember from his podcast is talking about being that like, being that person who changes the trajectory in the family, right? For somebody who decides

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
like, I'm going to do something different. And that resonated with me because a lot of times like maybe we, we want to motivate other people or we want to change people or whatnot, right? Or we want our children to do something good in their life. And really all we can do is be that change.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
And I love that your parents had this entrepreneurial spirit. I was talking to somebody the other day, like I didn't have that and not good or bad, but I was like, well then my path is to go to school, get a job, all that stuff. And I was like, I don't know how, I don't know if I can be an entrepreneur. I don't know anybody doing that. But then when you start venturing out, you find more people like that. You kind of normalize this idea. And to like really value this conversation, we can share like, it's okay to struggle and be imperfect

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
and still take time. and get there and that's not a sign that you're failing. It's

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
just a sign that that's the process.

Nicole Faith!!:
Oh my gosh. I think that was really one of the biggest takeaways too is hearing Ed be like, even the best of the best, they struggle. Like struggling is kind of mandatory. Have you ever heard of the, um, the gift of the one thirds?

Anya Smith:
No, but elaborate.

Nicole Faith!!:
Okay, so there's these Olympic coaches and they train their athletes and they basically teach them, okay, when you're going after your dream, like the most important thing in your life, you have to recognize that everything is gonna be one third of something. And so you have three of the thirds and the first one third is, sometimes things are gonna be really amazing. High highs, everything's gonna be perfect, you're gonna love it. Then the other one third is, things are gonna be kind of mediocre, you're gonna get bored, you're gonna lose patience. It's just gonna be like, whatever, it's just

Anya Smith:
Mm.

Nicole Faith!!:
like, okay, I just gotta do the work. And then the other one third is gonna be really painful. It's gonna be like, I am struggling, I am doing really hard work and I am doubting myself. And so anytime those one thirds get out of a different mix and you start doing way too high highs or way too low lows, you need to kind of look at it and pivot and be like, okay, am I doing the hard work? Am I doing too much work? Am I burning myself out? And really sitting with that. And then we can trust like, okay, I'm struggling right now. And it's part of the process. It's almost a prerequisite. You're not really going to become an entrepreneur without not wanting to pull your hair out a few times. My extensions.

Anya Smith:
Absolutely, absolutely.

Nicole Faith!!:
Pull,

Anya Smith:
That's

Nicole Faith!!:
rip

Anya Smith:
why

Nicole Faith!!:
out

Anya Smith:
I have

Nicole Faith!!:
my

Anya Smith:
it

Nicole Faith!!:
extensions.

Anya Smith:
always in the back, mom hair.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, yeah,

Anya Smith:
Always prepared for Ks.

Nicole Faith!!:
little

Anya Smith:
No, I love

Nicole Faith!!:
bun, yeah.

Anya Smith:
what you said, and to your point, then we can be role models and be genuine, inspire others who want to go on this journey. Like, hey, it's okay. Wherever you're at, you'll find it. And one thing that I learned, I was actually like, I was like, I wanna do something more while I was working at Meta, but I wasn't sure how to start. And what honestly gave me a lot of comfort is I was. I'm on a board of directors and also on a marketing committee for another nonprofit. And talking to both of those founding members, they were saying like, hey, I didn't have it figured out. It's kind of like I had an issue or something, a cause that I wanted to help with. And I just kind of started working towards it. I was like, oh, you mean like I don't need to be like having the cure for cancer? Does it start being an entrepreneur?

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
Okay, that sounds more manageable.

Nicole Faith!!:
Absolutely. Yeah. So much more manageable. I think we all have a gift and it's like when we can kind of drop our ego and say, okay, do I want to use my gift to help people or am I going to manipulate it to help millions of people or like, you know, it's, I think it's about trusting in your gift and then surrendering up the outcome. Because when you're in a lot, when you're in alignment to what you're doing and the, and you're getting energy from it, anything can happen. And you'll always have enough. You'll always, yeah, you'll

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
always be abundant. You'll always, so I think trusting that is really important.

Anya Smith:
And what I found, it also helps me not stress out about the future as much. When you give up some of that future what ifs, like, okay, I'm just going to focus on the moment. What can I do right now and find

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
that? And you mentioned also about when you started your own work, it was a little bit crazy.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
But could you share that? I am so curious about those moments. How did you make that jump? What were some of the most challenging things if you don't mind sharing?

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
And what would you share in terms of tips for others? And maybe you're thinking about it or I'm there, what can we learn?

Nicole Faith!!:
For sure. Well, a couple of things I would have done differently is I probably would have stayed in corporate a little bit longer. And then all of the salary that I was making, paying what I needed to pay to live, but then investing all of it into coaches, a marketing team, just more help, like hiring freelancers, hiring an assistant. I think that in the moment, like I was doing that whole like, oh, I'm just going to burn all the boats. And I think that. You know, it depends on your mindset. Like you can totally burn the boat and make something great of it. But sometimes burning the boats leaves you to burn on the island. And we have to be a little bit more concrete about what we're doing. I would say too, you know, a lot with my mindset is, especially when you're trying to achieve and do big things, like now I'm in this position where I'm making six figures, I'm in a great environment, I have stability, I'm good, I'm great. I've never really had. strong stability because like I said, my parents were those entrepreneurs that were also riding the highs and lows. And so I really had to get right with my mind of like, I'm going to leave this and I'm also not a quitter, but sometimes we have to quit the things that aren't fulfilling us and making sense to us anymore in order to find out what is really for us. So Yeah, oh, I had something I wanted to say, but it'll come back to me.

Anya Smith:
Yes, I have those moments too. Like, ah!

Nicole Faith!!:
Oh. Ahhhh.

Anya Smith:
You know, and you mentioned the thing about being, having your back against the wall. And I also had the same regret. Like, I wish I started earlier while I was at Meta. But then part of me, and this is just like me brainstorming, I really don't know if I could have done it differently. And one of my friends,

Nicole Faith!!:
For sure.

Anya Smith:
Earl Taub, is like, timing is always perfect. And

Nicole Faith!!:
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith:
I was like, if I didn't have to get my butt kicked out at Meta through layups, like, I probably wouldn't have the urgency to be like, okay. get my shit together, figure

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
this out. Or like, what is your purpose? Like now that you have a fresh start, what is the opportunity there? And so I kind of feel like, yes, I wish I could have done it sooner. And if you're like listening to this and you like, yes, I can do something sooner, amazing, do it. Like you will be so grateful for that. But if not, and you get yourself in a place where you're against the wall, I think incredible stuff happens on both ends.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, because there's literally no other option. That's the power of it. And I don't like to glorify that because I don't think we have to go there, but I also think that most of the time people move when their back is pressed up against a wall.

Anya Smith:
Yeah, or you get really clear about like, what is it I wanna do?

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, and what you're gonna focus on, yes.

Anya Smith:
Yes, and then you have like this full force and you're sharing of the world and incredible stuff can really happen as you start doing that. So that's my own little finding on that. But

Nicole Faith!!:
I love it.

Anya Smith:
I love this conversation. I was like, this is gonna be so fun. One thing that you mentioned is like finding your purpose. And I think that's the sexy thing is like, find your purpose and then

Nicole Faith!!:
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith:
everything is gonna fall down. I was like. Well, I don't know what my purpose is. I don't know, like talking to people and like reading, what is my purpose

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
there? Honestly, I was like, I don't have a purpose. Like I have no clue how to, like, I'm not, again, I'm not creating AI tools. I'm not curing cancer. Like for me,

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
the purpose was like big monumental kind of purpose. Like what was your process in finding something that was like here, I think this is my purpose and I'm gonna move towards that. Was there some kind of process or timeline where you followed that journey?

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, I think part of it was I, one, I knew like the umbrella was that I wanted to help people. Like I knew that when I sat across somebody and they had like for exist, for example, when my coach would have me have a breakthrough in a session when I'm 18 years old, I was shook. I remember walking out like and feeling so free and liberated and like clear and had with just so much I knew where I was going in those moments. So when I was able to do that for people and I learned how to do it and understood the techniques and then I saw their eyes light up and the light bulb happen, I'm like, I don't care what I have to do. This is this is where I want to go. This is the direction I want to head in. Anything that I think like that there's a six human needs by Tony Robbins, but the last two are. growth and contribution. And I think if we can like focus on growth and contribution in any form or any way, that is really probably our purpose. Because I also think like my purpose today is going to be different when I'm, you know, in 10 years from now. Like maybe my purpose in 10 years from now is I am going to be a mom or I'm going to be an aunt or I'm going to, you know, we never know. And I think letting go of the grip of needing to know our purpose, like our like right now, my purpose is to be on this podcast. Like, and I think when we can simplify it, it gives us a little bit more space to show up as we really are versus like this curated image of who we need to be when we're 10 years from now or whatever it may be.

Anya Smith:
I can completely hear you. I think people say, what do you wanna be when you grow up? And we ask our kids that a lot. And it's not meant to be mean, right? It's just

Nicole Faith!!:
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith:
like a fun little question. But I think to your point, we're always learning and adjusting. And the way the world is, you don't have just one place in your life. I'm done, I'm done learning. I'm gonna be in this job forever. That's who I am. And we need to embrace that. And even if our kids, don't ask them what they wanna be when they grow up. Ask them what are their different passions? Like... Get them thinking about this being an evolving pattern and journey of life where you're not

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
just gonna be confined to one end destination.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah. And I think remembering to like, to go after your purpose means you have to try a ton of different things, which means your purpose might feel a lot more like you're failing more than you're succeeding. But if we can get a little bit more comfortable with failing, which I myself struggle with, but like if we can get comfortable with failing, we can get closer to where we are supposed to go anyway.

Anya Smith:
I'm gonna ask you a question about failing here in a moment. Actually,

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes. Yay!

Anya Smith:
I'm gonna go ask that question, because I have, oh no, here we go. What I wanted to say is, you know what's funny? People are like, you wanna help people. And I want to have a cause that helps people, but I'm not sure what that is. I don't necessarily feel like, oh, if I'm just naturally helping people, that makes me feel great. That's exactly what I wanna

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
do. So if it helps anybody listening, what I want to challenge is maybe the helping people. in itself doesn't have to do something that aligns with you immediately. But maybe it's like, what do I really enjoy as part of that? So for example, like what I really like, I enjoy having these conversations. I enjoy learning from people and sharing those learnings of others. Or like I enjoy, um, again, sharing the stories of others. So in this whole essence, I'm helping others by sharing stories, but to me, it doesn't feel like this, like all like, it's all about Kumbaya and helping people, like when they get really specific about what you enjoy. that is helping people that might help you align to this whole purpose. So sometimes to me, it's like too big. Like maybe I'm not this altruistic person who just wants to help people.

Nicole Faith!!:
For sure.

Anya Smith:
It sounds so intimidating, but when I got really specific, I like connecting people, I like learning, I like sharing learnings. And I was like, oh, yeah, that is helping people.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes, no. And I think that that's so true, like especially in today's world, like you do not have to have your purpose be in like direct service to others. And that sounds kind of wrong, but it's like, it's the son. Like we don't know, we don't know what your purpose is. Maybe it's

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
something else. And I also think like at the end of the day though, it all will trickle down into some sort of contribution because even your podcast now will help other people, but the intention was never. like,

Anya Smith:
Mm-hmm.

Nicole Faith!!:
I'm going to do this podcast and help a bunch of people. It was more like I'm going to do this podcast because I love it and I'm going to learn. I want to help other people learn. Well, I guess

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
you did. But yeah. Hey,

Anya Smith:
But that's

Nicole Faith!!:
yeah.

Anya Smith:
the point. It doesn't it doesn't sound right about like this whole ad to help people. But I think it's helpful. Because when we stop looking at things like from this how it's supposed to be imperfect and just get like, let's get real about what that could mean for you and where it could actually make sense. And

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
then you can actually take action and then it becomes useful.

Nicole Faith!!:
Even comedians, like they don't go like, oh, I'm gonna go on stage and help somebody, but that's what they're doing by making them laugh.

Anya Smith:
Yeah, or being able to talk about things in a way that kind of crosses barriers and kind of social norms and whatnot

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
and gets us thinking. So I love that.

Nicole Faith!!:
I love it.

Anya Smith:
Okay, fun topic for me, failure. Let's just go there. So one thing I personally really strongly believe is our attitude towards failure really dictates how successful we can be and like how we can persevere through things. So could you share like your own perspective? Like, how do you approach failure right now? There's no right or wrong answer. I'm just always fascinated. people who are successful, what their attitude toward that is.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, I see failure as, you know, I actually, I read this quote like a long time ago and it was, if you knew that it was gonna take you 50 rejections to make like a million dollars, every time you got rejected, you'd be like, wow, great, okay, next one, next one, next one. And so I think if we can understand that, like, cause we don't like failure because we're gonna feel, we feel rejected by that thing. like whether it's that business or the people that didn't buy from the business or whatever it may be. And if we can understand that everything is a learning experience. And the only way I think I ever got comfortable with failure and still I struggle, I'm not going to pretend like that's not a real thing, but the only way to get comfortable with failure is to fail. It's to put yourself in positions where you're like, wow, I'm probably not going to be able to do this at all, but I'm going to show up and I'm going to try. And that could be as like big as... I'm going to start this business or I'm going to launch this thing. I'm going to do it and just like whatever. Or it's like, Oh, I've literally never played volleyball in my life. I'm going to go play with random people at a court and watch myself fail through it so that we can build that muscle. Like even in school growing up, you're getting graded on A, B, C, and D. And sometimes we're learning differently or whatever it may be. And so when we're not coached properly or we're not taught properly and we get a big F. when we never even took the time to understand the information in the first place, sometimes we feel like we're just inherently failures. And so looking at the root too, has really helped me of like, where did I get this belief system that I wasn't smart? Where did I get this belief system that, uh, failure was not allowed that I wasn't allowed to make mistakes. Like who told you weren't allowed to make mistakes? That's crazy. Like, and I remember the first time I ever even started doing podcasts on my, myself, and I would be like, so nervous and I'd be like, oh, I gotta say this and do this and blah, blah. And now I'm like, why was I trying to protect myself from stuttering or my lip quivering or being human? Just being human. We bypass the fact because I think social media curates it as certain image about everybody else. And it's like, no, we probably make mistakes every single day. And I think looking at them objectively and with a little bit less emotion. and kind of getting like my mentor, one of my other mentors, she always says to me, she's like, Nicole, you just gotta get gangster with your thoughts. And I'm like, you know what?

Anya Smith:
Ha

Nicole Faith!!:
You

Anya Smith:
ha ha.

Nicole Faith!!:
are so right. Like sometimes you get all these belief systems like, oh, I failed, I rejected, I got rejected, I'm not good enough. Oh, look, now I have all this evidence that the first time I ever launched a course ever, it didn't work. Like, what did you expect? Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. So I think it's really important to, to kind of bring out that gangster self of you of like, okay, I'm gonna fight back. I'm gonna go to war with whatever it is that I'm feeling. I'm gonna continue to show up because that's the arena that I'm trying to win in.

Anya Smith:
And what I noticed in some of your posts on Instagram is like you have this point of view. Like in this X amount of years, imagine what you could have accomplished by getting here. I love that

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
because when you start something, we're always like, oh, it's like,

Nicole Faith!!:
I know man.

Anya Smith:
I'm gonna climb a mountain, here we go. But

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
what about the perspective, like what can I accomplish at the end of it?

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
And also like, what's that small step? Like to me also, what I think people, to be honestly, the biggest part of failure is just regret. of not doing something.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
And sometimes I motivate myself, being like, how much would I regret not doing it? I don't mean like crazy stuff that like, you know, dangerous for my life, but most things, I say, I

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
try anything twice.

Nicole Faith!!:
Well, that's so true because it's like, yeah, you may fail now, but what really is failure? I think failure, like true failure would be getting to the end of your life and being like, whoa, I could have been so much more than I was. And I think it's easy to not sit in that discomfort now because it's not here. Like we're very instant gratification people. We'd rather sit in the comfort of now versus... the discomfort of now. And so like the reality is, I totally resonate with you can't miss what's for you and everything that's yours, it's there for you. But I think the really hard, scary truth is that people every day turn 80 years old and they didn't do what they wanted to do. They didn't, and not even like build an empire or save a hundred orphans. Like Sometimes it's like I didn't even enjoy it. I didn't even understand that I had a purpose I didn't even show up every day in the way that I wanted to and I think that that's Something like a hard truth that we need to kind of sit with of we're just here on a floating rock like going through the universe

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
and If we can just leap a little bit more and I'm saying this to myself too. Like if we can just leap without the fear or with the fear, like regardless of the fear, I think we'd be surprised of what our life could actually turn out and turn into.

Anya Smith:
What resonated with me, you said a little bit earlier about our education system and how it, you know, it creates a certain kind of process for how we should be thinking and how we're graded. And then it says like, well, I'm not good at this. Why should I even bother? And what resonated with our discussion when we first met was like, I really want this, these conversations and all listeners to be like, what actually makes me happy? And not just something, oh, instantly, I'm like, I'm happy. But I mean, what is your success journey? Forget success goal, like money, whatever, that end part, it's a process. And I'm not always perfect about it, but I have to keep in mind, like, how do I wanna live towards the life that aligns to my values? And sometimes I'm failing at that, right? Sometimes I'm working too hard,

Nicole Faith!!:
Right?

Anya Smith:
I'm like, that's not how I wanna live. But that whole mindset reminds me, A, it's unique, that means like what I'm doing and my values are not gonna be yours. And if you're just trying to imitate somebody because they have money, success, they have a certain way set, whatever. I promise you, if you just even got there exactly where they are and had those goals, that would not make you happy, unfortunately.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
We all have our own journey and goals. That's my success and that's the whole journey about this class. We are very different and we have to honor that. We have to honor our unique purpose, our unique journey, and spend time reflecting and finding that.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, yeah, that's so powerful. I love that.

Anya Smith:
I appreciate that. That's what came to mind when you were mentioning that, just honoring your whole journey. And let's talk about you. I was like, there's so many things I could ask you. But

Nicole Faith!!:
I love it.

Anya Smith:
now you're doing this amazing work with the Creative Collective. Can you talk about how did that start? And what are you most excited about getting out of this work?

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah. So, um, my business partner Astrid, she was actually one of my very first group coaching clients. Yep. And we connected on social media. We had similar backgrounds. And so when we got on a zoom call, uh, to basically just like figure out, okay, is this a good fit? Is it not? We just hit it off and I was really able to, and this is kind of a rarity when a coach becomes or a coach and client become friends, become business partners, but it just worked out for us. And I was able to guide her, but really it was her doing just amazing work. And she was able to, she was working in corporate. She left her corporate job, scaled her business. I mean, now she's a photographer. She's an amazing photographer, has a huge business, is basically booked out through 2024, has four photographers under her. She just crushes it. And she's, yeah, she's a systems girl strategy, has a very, uh, large background in marketing as well. And so just watching her do that. And then we just got closer and closer and we were just sitting, we weren't on a campfire but it feels like that's how I'm imagining it. We were probably on a Zoom call.

Anya Smith:
I love it. If hot

Nicole Faith!!:
We

Anya Smith:
cocos.

Nicole Faith!!:
were just, yeah, right? You know, it actually just happened so fluidly. Like I'd like to say it was some big break. Like we were like, oh my gosh, yeah, let's build this. But it was like a moment. And then all of a sudden we were like, okay we're doing this. And we actually got on Canva and we were like joking around on making a logo. And we made the logo right there. And we were like, this is, and I had actually meditated prior where I was like, what do I want this to be called? And something about the creators collective just really like touched me and Asher had loved it. So we moved on with that, but we knew that we wanted to build basically her full framework of marketing consulting, photography, how she grew and scaled her business. And then a little bit of my framework, but adding in the neuroscience, like how are our brains working, the psychology, the nervous system, how do you regulate yourself so that you can show up? How do you look at your inner wounds and your trauma and clear it so you can actually become the person that you're meant to be? And we just wanted to collide it and build out an eight week program where people could do step by step, kind of like get everything condensed into a period of time where it took us years, I mean years to figure everything out.

Anya Smith:
sounds amazing. I looked at it, the site looks beautiful. And

Nicole Faith!!:
Thank you.

Anya Smith:
I think as everybody can tell, like in the audience listening to like, you are so genuine and authentic. And I know you also had your own challenges throughout the journey as an entrepreneur and just like, you know, like everybody has struggles. And so I love that healing aspect because to the point of this whole conversation, like, people like sometimes like, oh, why should we really focus on all this mental health and our inner self and inner work, but really your attitudes towards yourself? And those things that are limiting us are in our head a lot of times. It's

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
not like, it's not, you know, your actual skills. And what it's really the inner work that's limiting or enabling us. And so

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
that's why I love the program that you're offering because that's the root of it and you have this practical expertise and this marketing and other valuable areas that are going to help somebody.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah. And I would even say like, I like to call entrepreneurship as a mirror into your wounds. And by mirror, it's really like a magnifying glass, because when you step into the arena of trying to be an entrepreneur and putting everything on your shoulders and the pressure is on, all of a sudden, like your doubt is going to be screaming at you. The, the belief systems that were planted in you when you were little, like even, and I know I mentioned this when we first talked, but I had a speech impediment when I was little. And so that really, ingrained in me like, oh, I'm not smart. And so maybe I was smart at other things. But then when I got to entrepreneurship and organization and details and like people had been in my ear telling me that I wasn't those things. I had to fight really hard to break down those beliefs and say, wait, I am those things and reinvent my identity. I think, and this is one of the things that Ed talks about and really, really coached me through is you're only going to get out of life. What your standards are and who you, what you believe you're worth. And so all of that comes from what your identity is, your personality, how are you showing up? And all of those things are formed in your behaviors, but you can't change your behaviors without thinking differently about who you are and bringing truth and light to the beliefs and false systems that you've carried along with you. So your identity is, it's why like, even if you're signing up for business programs or you're doing this, it's like, you can only get so far and you can execute, but at some point we're gonna bottleneck and I've been there where you lose momentum and then all of a sudden, The loss of momentum is now not like, oh, I'm failing, that's a part of the process I'm gonna move forward. The loss of momentum is I am a failure, that is my identity now, because I didn't have a foundation of truth when I started. So I truly think it's almost everything.

Anya Smith:
Oh my gosh, I was like,

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah

Anya Smith:
whoo. Evelyn, thank you for joining this podcast just

Nicole Faith!!:
Uh,

Anya Smith:
by proxy.

Nicole Faith!!:
yeah, right? He's in my brain.

Anya Smith:
Special guest, special guest.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, yeah, special guest, Ed Myleth, but not really Ed Myleth, just the voice.

Anya Smith:
The voice of wisdom, and that's another question that I had, if you don't mind us touching on it a little bit, just out of order. But the role of mentorship, to me it's a fascinating subject and a lot of people, they wanna have mentors, but they're not sure how to even approach that subject or what value there is to it. Do you have any advice for a, what is the value? It could just be your personal experience, obviously, right? What is the value in seeking out a mentor? And how do you bridge that, how do you form that relationship? Because one thing is that it's like, hey, I like you, you're smart, can I be a mentee to you? And another thing is to actually make that a fruitful relationship. And both parties have to show up and you have to nurture that from my experience. So

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
any advice for people who are looking for that, and then if maybe they're starting it, how do you get the most out of it?

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, I would say it's a couple things. I mean, one, like it's still shocking to me that me and Ed were ever even able to connect based off of the way that it worked out, but it was just kind of like a miracle. But I think mentorship is so important. One, I started getting mentored by reading. Like I read everything I could get my hands on. I let those authors be my mentors. I looked for books and podcasts and... speakers and everything that I could get my hands on that I felt like there were people ahead of me that could teach me on where to go. And that's actually even why I started listening to Ed and why something dawned on me like I need to be in that room. I think too like you'll have different mentors for mentors for different seasons of your life and trusting that and putting yourself in rooms with like that are networking events I've or in a church or whatever it is that you believe but like putting yourself in position. to open your heart to be like, hey, I need help. Like, I think so many people are afraid of asking for help. Even where I'm at, at my level, I still need help. I need a lot of help. I think everybody probably needs help, even the best of the best. And having the humility to say that is the thing that's gonna get you ahead. Like, trusting like, okay, I'm a student for life. That is the dynamic, I think. Even Ed has taught me, like, being a student for life, always learning. I would say too, if you don't have anybody in your environment, like there are other creators or other business people around that can guide and develop you. And sometimes that is as simple as like, Hey, I would love to be mentored by you. Or it's like, Hey, the thing with me and Ed is I did not get mentorship from Ed until I worked for him for a while and I provided something. I was providing a lot on his media team and I think that opened his eyes. that caliber of people, you got to bring something to the table. Don't ever reach out to somebody and say, I'll buy you coffee or, or I'll buy you a lunch. Like, I just don't think that, I think that actually can work against you. Um, and I would focus too on, I think trusting that the right mentors are going to come into your life, but you have to take action to look for them. Nobody's going to come up to you and be like, can I mentor you? And I would also say investing in if you have the means or even a little bit of the means to invest in people that have gone before you that are even a step ahead of you, because then they can be hands on and they can guide you through the process. I wish I would have gone to mentorship much earlier. Thankfully I had a coach as well, but yeah, very, I think it's probably people don't go very far. I think that's actually what they mean when they say if you wanna go far, go together. I think it's when you wanna go far, go with people that have gone before you and let them help pull you up.

Anya Smith:
I love that. I love that. You're just full of quotes. I love

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, just a quote girl.

Anya Smith:
it. You know, it's funny, just a moment ago, you were mentioning some things that we had to overcome. And what's funny of me doing this podcast is I love my mom. Just going to preface it. But my mom's Russian. So she's like, she tells you how it is.

Nicole Faith!!:
She's

Anya Smith:
Right.

Nicole Faith!!:
intense,

Anya Smith:
So when

Nicole Faith!!:
yeah.

Anya Smith:
I was a kid, she's like, Anya and I got excited. I made a little song for her and I performed it to her. She's like, Anya, you have the voice that goes better with music. I was like.

Nicole Faith!!:
Oh, no.

Anya Smith:
And my mom, like, I love my mom. She's

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
amazing. But she said that, and I was like, as a kid, you're like, oh God,

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah,

Anya Smith:
you

Nicole Faith!!:
that

Anya Smith:
know,

Nicole Faith!!:
must

Anya Smith:
you take...

Nicole Faith!!:
be bad.

Anya Smith:
So, and I'm doing a podcast, and it's hard for me to listen to my own, and I talk fast and whatnot, but I'm doing it, and every time I listen to it, it gets a little bit easier. It reminds me of things I can do better. Whether it's like, oh, Anja, how about you figure out how to use a mic? Step one, good. How about you listen to yourself and try to slow down and see if you get nervous, take a breather, all those things, or Anya, you say the word right a lot. Like all the things, but like that's the thing, it's okay to have insecurities, but then you can overcome them is where I'm going with this,

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
that it doesn't have to be the ability to, and even if you don't feel confident in something and you wanna do something that aligns to that area, just go for it, because you will get better. And... there's actually a really amazing power to that. Like I'm really grateful for this experience to do something that in my head I was really insecure about and see a good reaction and that's helping people despite it being an area I'm maybe not super confident in.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes, no, I think that's so true. And I actually used to hate, I used to, I don't want to say hate, but I did not like my voice at all. And now I don't really think about it,

Anya Smith:
You have a beautiful

Nicole Faith!!:
but,

Anya Smith:
voice. I like, I don't even.

Nicole Faith!!:
oh, thank you. But I had somebody once say to me, wow, I really love your voice. I'd never been told that a day in my life. I'd actually been told the opposite, like, oh, it's too manly or whatever. And I know people are wild.

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
And I was like, I was like young, but that's the thing about being young. But and I remember all of a sudden it was, I was like, wow, okay. Like maybe that's my truth. And so like, what even is a good voice? Like how, what do we even

Anya Smith:
Sexy

Nicole Faith!!:
know about

Anya Smith:
raar.

Nicole Faith!!:
that? You know? Yeah. Like,

Anya Smith:
That's what people speak like, raar.

Nicole Faith!!:
yeah. Yeah. So I, I don't know. Like, I think it's all relative, but I love your voice and I think it's. It's clear, it's articulate, it's so great. And so, yeah.

Anya Smith:
appreciate it. But you know, we all have our insecurities, but like

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
not letting hold us back is powerful. And then one thing that I just keep thinking to myself when I think about Nicole, like how authentic you are, and I mentioned this a couple of times, but I can imagine it also being hard to stay authentic to who you are and your message, while you are also having the

Nicole Faith!!:
Oh my

Anya Smith:
social

Nicole Faith!!:
gosh.

Anya Smith:
persona. Do you

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
mind touching on that like the challenge is kind of what you learn and advice for others?

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, that is such a great point. And you know, something that I battle with as of like the last couple months too, of I used to be so much more free when it came to creating content, but once my content had a strategy, all of a sudden my art was getting, I was getting confused. And that is something, I don't have all the answers for, but I think what I've really realized is, we think that is like the imposter syndrome. We think that we have to, be a certain way all the time on social media. And sometimes life is great and things are going awesome. And we can talk about that and share that on social media. But I have bad mental health days and we have to, and it doesn't mean that I don't do the work, but it means like that's the reality of it. And I think what we forget is that even the psychology of influence and marketing is. connecting, having an intimacy with your client, which means showing up as who you truly are. And so I think if anybody's struggling with that, something that I've recently kind of conquered through and walked through was to connect with my clients or even get them to like buy, like just transparently, like, oh, I want them to work with me. It is not gonna come from me being perfect because they came to my page because they knew I wasn't and having only perfectly curated content. since they get to me, it's not going to be beneficial. And they're going to see right through it because we all know at the end of the day, we all have our stuff. And so, yeah, I don't know if that answers your question, but sharing authentically, like I think it's actually like we, a lot of people stray away from it, but it is the thing that relates to our humanness. So

Anya Smith:
Absolutely. And I think we crave that in a society that's always showing the perfection. It's nice to see another human being. It was like, oh,

Nicole Faith!!:
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith:
I'm a human being. Let me

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
talk about that. And I applaud you for doing that because you do have a platform, right? Where other people are looking up to you and this is a responsibility. I hope not to put any pressure on you, right?

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah,

Anya Smith:
But

Nicole Faith!!:
yeah,

Anya Smith:
the more

Nicole Faith!!:
no,

Anya Smith:
you

Nicole Faith!!:
sure.

Anya Smith:
see that, like girls and everybody just like, oh, I can be also authentic. And as humans, I think we crave that and we feel that. we really

Nicole Faith!!:
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith:
feel the difference when somebody's saying one thing but doing another thing, or when somebody is really aligned. And like,

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
yeah, so I think it's very powerful.

Nicole Faith!!:
Because, yeah, whenever I see like people, like what hurts our mental health on social media? It is literally seeing people that we think are having perfect lives. So I think it's almost our duty. And we don't have to glorify our pain and say, oh my gosh, like share every single thing and be like, pray for me. Like, I'm not, I'm not okay. Like, time and place.

Anya Smith:
Right.

Nicole Faith!!:
But I think it's actually our duty to be like, hey, Just a reminder, it's not perfect all the time.

Anya Smith:
Right.

Nicole Faith!!:
And I still struggle and I still have my moments because it's dangerous. I think it's dangerous when, and even like I was in that documentary about anxiety and depression, it's dangerous that there are people that are so, we get so full of the way that we're supposed to look. We don't even realize that we're not only hurting ourselves, but we're hurting. who we used to be, the age of who we used to be, 13 year olds, 10 year olds, 12 year olds, 18 year olds, 40 year olds that are sitting

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
in their house like, wow, I didn't do anything and this 20 year old is doing more than me. Like,

Anya Smith:
Yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
it's really important and I think, yeah, it's tricky subject, but authenticity all the way.

Anya Smith:
Yeah, I like to think about like, there are billions of people in the world and like when we compete, we're basically saying, well, I have to, nobody's gonna care unless I'm the best of the billions. That's

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
not true and I learned that through my whole like dorky learning history, is that like, you can learn the same subject and even the same topic from three different people and they could be saying the same thing, but you're gonna resonate with each person differently. And so like, if you're

Nicole Faith!!:
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith:
competing, you're not honoring that difference and the fact that you will have you projecting your own style will authentically align with people who love that about you. And if you try and

Nicole Faith!!:
You

Anya Smith:
emulate

Nicole Faith!!:
know.

Anya Smith:
somebody else's style, you're always going to be second best.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, yes.

Anya Smith:
The no point in competing, it always feels shitty. You're not going to ever win at

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
being the second best of somebody else and people will get drawn to your authentic style. So just my experience on that.

Nicole Faith!!:
I love that. That is so true and even good for me to remember.

Anya Smith:
You have a lot of wisdom, so I appreciate you just sharing some with me and some back. One thing, if you don't mind, very selfish, I'm going to touch on the subject, but

Nicole Faith!!:
Let's do it.

Anya Smith:
you also help people scale up their social business, right? And obviously you've had immense success, again, walking the walk yourself. Do you have any advice, whatever you feel comfortable sharing, and everything

Nicole Faith!!:
Oh

Anya Smith:
that's

Nicole Faith!!:
yeah.

Anya Smith:
not shared, work with Nicole. She's a marketing expert. How do people start their journey in the social media space? There's so much. It's overwhelming. Like what advice

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
would you give people to like focus on XYZ to make some traction?

Nicole Faith!!:
That's a great question. And I'll never gatekeep because I love to give value because I feel like if you do want to work with me, you'll work with me because I'll help you to implement it. You know? And so, um, but as far as joining, like, I don't have anything magical to say. I would say that you just need to start and you need to get the reps in. I think social media is kind of like an art to it. You know, you can always tell like who's fairly new, who's been on a little bit. Who's been on a long. term, long scale, like even Joe Rogan, when he's like his podcast and stuff, he literally acts like he's brushing his teeth. Like there is, he's so comfortable in that space. And so I think getting the reps in, trusting the process and posting what you like, like posting what's important to you, especially if you're just trying to grow your influence. Like on TikTok, this is how I see it. Instagram is very pretty curated. Everything looks a certain way. all of that. Then Facebook is like a little bit of the older crowd, sometimes political vibes, but overall, it's not like perfectly curated. And then TikTok is like you can do whatever you want, like post it, dance, do whatever. And I think if you don't know what you want to post, starting with TikTok is so great because you could just be like, I'm just going to post my day. I'm going to post this crazy thing. I'm going to. I mean, what am I good at? What am I talented at? Oh, even for me, like I don't have like talents, but I love books. And so for a while there to get practice, I'd be like, oh, let me read this part of this book I like, or these are my top five books. Like I would just talk about what I liked. I would share stories. I think really getting curious without pressure about who, about what you want to post. is really important and then later all of the strategy stuff comes depending on what your goals and objectives are. But I would also say people's number one thing is it's too saturated. Like there's too much going on. People are already doing what I'm doing. And I think that is a lie where like, what are you going to do then? Just consume? You're just going to be a consumer versus a creator. I'm constantly being like... Create more than you consume. And again, I don't do that perfectly, especially because my job is like social media basically. But creating more than you consume and getting curious and using it as a tool, not as something to numb yourself with or dissociate with, using it as a tool. I would say, you know, looking into, if you do wanna start selling, looking into what is agitational content? Like how can I write agitational content? How can I look at my ideal client and then what my ideal client's buyers types are? Building out a strategy of like six months, but knowing each two months, every two months, you're gonna be pivoting and looking at all of your insights. There are so many insights on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook that you can kind of analyze and say, hey, is this doing well? Is it my client liking this? Are they not liking this? Or my follower liking this or not liking this? And then I would also say we get really, we think marketing is so complex and sure we can make it complex. There's a lot of cool things that we can do, but if you follow somebody on Instagram that is doing very well, just go look at what they're doing. Like they're posting every day. There, there are certain things that they talk about. They have a brand, they have brand colors, they have a palette, they have a logo. Maybe they are talking about certain things. They have content pillars. they are posting this many times on their story. Like we make marketing more complex when people are marketing to us every single day. So all we have to do is just look at their marketing.

Anya Smith:
I love that. So people follow Nicole so you can learn from

Nicole Faith!!:
I'm

Anya Smith:
her

Nicole Faith!!:
sorry.

Anya Smith:
and get more valuable tips and just see

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
how you can combine authenticity and social media strategy and everything. And I'm learning a lot from you. I'm following you like, oh my gosh, honestly,

Nicole Faith!!:
Oh, I love

Anya Smith:
like

Nicole Faith!!:
it.

Anya Smith:
I had no experience of TikTok before this, which is embarrassing, but I'm old, who knows.

Nicole Faith!!:
No, I love it.

Anya Smith:
But I'm trying, you know, and I'm learning

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
and I'm getting over a curve. And so I'm like on all social media, it's just it's new and I'm feeling so much, but I'm learning. Okay. that could be a little better. And I'm learning from Nicole and other people who I follow. So it's just a process. And I'm like, well, the only way I'm going to keep better if I don't stop and keep learning. The only way I actually fail is I just stop. So

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes, yeah. Having

Anya Smith:
yeah.

Nicole Faith!!:
the intention of studying the social media versus consuming it, I think, was a game changer for me.

Anya Smith:
Oh god. And my friend, time has flown by. This has been so

Nicole Faith!!:
No, holy

Anya Smith:
fun.

Nicole Faith!!:
cow. I love it!

Anya Smith:
I know. I knew this would be super fun. Was there anything that we missed in all the questions that you want to share about your awesome journey, everything you're doing? Okay, there's

Nicole Faith!!:
I don't think,

Anya Smith:
a...

Nicole Faith!!:
I feel like we covered a lot of really good stuff.

Anya Smith:
Yeah, and can we just read it? So the August launch, August 14th, there's a few spots left still in the Creators Collective, right, for people to check

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes,

Anya Smith:
out.

Nicole Faith!!:
you can apply today. You can go to the link on my bio or the creators collective.cc bio. But we have applications until the 11th and then the course starts on the 14th.

Anya Smith:
Yeah, and your handle is, it's Nicole Faith,

Nicole Faith!!:
Yes.

Anya Smith:
on Instagram.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, it's at, it's Nicole Faith.

Anya Smith:
Make sense, make sense. And I'll

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah.

Anya Smith:
make sure to link all the end descriptions so people can find you and check you out and just like see what an awesome, genuine human being you are.

Nicole Faith!!:
Aww, thank you.

Anya Smith:
My pleasure, it's been awesome. You and your mom have just been such a blessing to me in my life, so very grateful for that.

Nicole Faith!!:
Aww.

Anya Smith:
And to

Nicole Faith!!:
Thank

Anya Smith:
wrap

Nicole Faith!!:
you.

Anya Smith:
up, we do three short bit questions whenever you're ready and then I'll let you enjoy your day.

Nicole Faith!!:
Yeah, let's do it.

Anya Smith:
Okay, first one is, success to me is.

Nicole Faith!!:
freedom.

Anya Smith:
Okay, my current purpose is, okay, like a short bit question, so answer.

Nicole Faith!!:
love.

Anya Smith:
I love it. Oh, that's amazing. Okay, last one. In the positive context, going off track is.

Nicole Faith!!:
figuring out who you are and where you're supposed to go next.

Anya Smith:
You're so on it, like pro, pro podcaster right here.

Nicole Faith!!:
Oh, thank you! Well, you create a really good space to be able to speak. And so, some people don't do that, but it's very authentic and warm and it's amazing.

Anya Smith:
I have so much fun doing it, so it makes it easy. But thank

Nicole Faith!!:
I love

Anya Smith:
you

Nicole Faith!!:
it.

Anya Smith:
also to all of our listeners. Thanks you for joining us. I'm really curious to see what your takeaways are. Please tag us on social media. Let us know what your questions are. I love to see all of your posts, all of your comments, all of your feedback, generally like looking at it and trying to improve. And each and every one of you, like I appreciate you joining Right Off Track and going on this fun adventure with us. And we look forward to having you next time. And thank you again, Nicole.

Nicole Faith!!:
Thank you.

Anya Smith:
So fun.