Kaitlyn Rhodes (0:00)

Welcome back to another episode of Call Her Creator, powered by Stan. I'm your host, Kaitlyn Rhodes, and today I've got a really good episode for you guys. It's based on Mindset and growing your Instagram and growing your business, and it's real life things that I've gone through that I know some of you are probably going through. We're gonna walk through all of that, but I'm gonna be telling you tips, teaching you tips, I guess. How to stop hiding, how to start showing up, and how to build a business that you actually want. Something that's gonna give you passion and make you happy and fulfilled. And I'm really excited because there's a lot of you out there that are holding back from sharing this magic that you have inside of you because you're scared of whatever other people think. And I've been there. I've done that. I don't care anymore. And as soon as I stopped caring, there was this shift in my business and my offerings and my videos. And so today, I'm gonna walk you guys through that. And I think that by the end of this episode, you are gonna be moving and grooving on Instagram with your business. And I know you're gonna send me a DM thanking me, because this. This episode's really good. In today's episode, we're gonna explore what it really costs creators and small business owners like me and you to play small. From the fear of judgment to inconsistent posting to staying in your comfort zone. I'm going to be breaking down all of this, how this mindset can keep people like you and me from building that life and that business that we really want. And then I'm going to flip the script here, and I'm going to show you guys how you can show up boldly, how you can build real momentum and start taking up space online. Okay? There'll be examples, tips, question quotes from top entrepreneurs. I'm giving you permission right now. Listen. Listen closely. I'm giving you permission to be seen. Okay? This. This is going to be a breakthrough day for you, all right? So before we get into today's episode, I'd love for you to download this episode. When you download my podcast, it shows my producers, it shows me that you like what you're hearing, so I can continue to share this goodness with you. I'm also looking for some reviews right now. I haven't seen a bunch flooding since December, so it's time for you to take a second pause episode right now and leave me a review Let me know how you, like, call her creator. I'm hoping it's a five star. I really do pour my heart and soul into this podcast, and I'm doing it for you guys. So the least you could do is give me some feedback and I'd love to hear from you. All right, so I want to be honest with you guys today. I used to hide on Instagram, and I know you're probably like, caitlin hit from Instagram, Go look at her videos. That girl did not hide from Instagram. Yes, I did. Not to be dramatic, but I hid from Instagram in the way that looks like this. Okay? I only posted when it felt safe. I edited my captions 47 million times before posting, during posting, after posting, I'd hold back opinions that I had because of the fear of being judged. And I avoided posting things. Reels, videos, post being because I was worried about someone from high school that might see it, or I was worried about what my family would say, or I was worried about what my best friend would think. And that's silly. The thing about all of this is I wasn't scared of strangers. I was scared of people who already knew me, who knew the version of me before I started showing up on Instagram, the version of me running a business, building a business, showing up with confidence, trying new things. I didn't know how to show her to people that were already in my life. Like my husband. He knew already. But there was people in my life, friends, close family, they just hadn't seen this side of me. So I was scared to show up and be myself. Authentically, uniquely, boldly. And maybe you're feeling that, too. You've got these ideas. You've got an offer in mind. You have some goals you want to hit for yourself, but you're just still playing small. You're still shrinking. You're still filtering your content based on who might be watching. But here's the truth that I had to learn the hard way. The people who will support you, the people who will support your business the most, they are almost always strangers, not the ones that are closest to you. So why are you trying to build your business for the approval of people who were never meant to be your customers in the first place? The real cost of you playing small isn't just that you're staying stuck, but. But it's. You're never going to become that person that you were meant to be if you're always worried about others. So today, I want to give you permission to think about yourself, to put yourself First, I want to help you change this mindset. Okay, so we're going to talk about a few things today. We're going to talk about the real and sneaky ways that fear of judgment holds you back. We're going to talk about why playing small on Instagram means staying stuck in your business. We'll talk about how to start showing up daily things that you can post without having to overthink it. We'll talk about how to engage boldly and start building real relationships that open doors for yourself. And then I'm going to leave you guys with some real life advice from successful creators and entrepreneurs who've stopped hiding and they have chosen to be seen. This episode here is going to call you up because there's too much on the line for you to continue hiding. So let's just break it down. The hidden cost of you playing small, let's just call it what it is. You're not lazy can guarantee you. You are not lazy because you're listening to this episode. You want to do better in your business. You want to do better on Instagram. So you're not lazy. You're not unmotivated. You're not bad at Instagram. You're afraid. And that's okay, because I was afraid too. That's where most of us start. We're scared and afraid. We say we're waiting for the right time or the perfect context or the exact moment when everything will feel ready. But most of the time, what we're really doing is we're hiding. We're hiding behind busy schedules. We're hiding behind the idea that our business isn't big enough yet to show up boldly. We're hiding behind Canva templates and half assed captions because somewhere deep down, we're scared of what might happen if people actually saw us for who we are and what we love to do. But you want to know the cost of that? I want you to understand this. There is a very real cost to playing small. And I'm not just talking about confidence. I'm talking about actual tangible losses. Playing small is going to cost you opportunities to grow, connections with dream clients or brands, visibility in front of your ideal audience. Money. You. You're leaving money on the table. You're not making that money because you're not showing up. And above all of this, it's gonna drain your self trust because every time you shrink, you are proving to yourself that your fear is more powerful than your dreams. Woo. Caitlin's getting deep almost today. For most creators and Small business owners. The fear isn't even about the algorithm or the lack of followers. It's the fear of you being misunderstood, rejected, laughed at, talked about, especially by people who know the old you. The high school friend who still follows you. The cousin who watches every story that you post but never engages. The ex coworker you haven't talked to in years. Guess what? I see you. And I've been you. But here's the truth. The people who will support you the most on this journey, they're strangers. People who didn't know you before you started building your dream. People who follow you because of your vision, not in spite of it. So why are you watering yourself down for the people who aren't even your audience? Hey, girl, I see you. Why are you watering yourself down? Why are you filtering your message for people who aren't even paying clients or customers? Let me hit you with this and listen carefully. Turn that volume up. You cannot live your life for the opinion of people who aren't even living theirs fully. I'll say that one more time. You cannot live your life for the opinion of people who aren't even living theirs fully. You are not here to dim your light so someone else feels more comfortable in their shadow. You're here to build something real, something that sets you free. Your heart, your family. Something that impacts others. And that doesn't happen by playing small. That doesn't happen by only showing up when everything's polished and perfect. It happens when you decide to be seen as you are, messy and in motion. And I'll give you a real life example of this. I try so hard sometimes to look polished and prim and proper. And I mean, y'all are probably like, Caitlin, you never look proper. I do try to polish my videos. I do try to have makeup on. If I don't have makeup on, I'm, you know, having a filter. I try to look good, right? Well, what's funny is when I don't look good, when I'm not wearing makeup, when I'm sweaty, my hair's greasy up in a bun, but I just get up there with a real message. Those are the videos that go viral for me. Those are the videos that get thousands of likes and thousands of comments. And my DM on is going off and I get flagged by Instagram because they're like, holy crap, this post is going off. Yeah, it's cuz I'm being real and authentically myself. You cannot grow if you don't show. And so if you're always Waiting for that perfect moment. You're always waiting to look perfect, be in great lighting, you are not going to grow. Okay, let's have this little coming to Jesus moment. What I mean by all of this is that if you're half in, if you only show up when it feels easy or fun or you're in the mood, your business is going to grow just like that. Half in, half committed, half hearted. I'm not asking you to be perfect. Nobody really wants to be perfect. In fact, people relate better when you're not perfect. You just have to be consistent. You don't need the perfect hook, the perfect background, the perfect hair. You do need to be in the game. Your momentum is built in you showing up. And when you post once a day, even if it's a story, a reel, a static post, I don't care what it is, but I want to see you show up. You are creating the kind of brand presence that gets remembered. Another thing I need y'all to remember here, too, is that your confidence comes from repetition. And this is something I teach my son because he just moved up to 10U for baseball. So he was used to coach, pitch. I think there's. At some points it was even a machine. And so this year, he's got these talented kids that are throwing a ball at him super fast. And it's been scary for him to make this transition. But I told him, you know, the best athletes out there, I used to grow up thinking that they were just born with this special technique or this special talent. And, you know, I do think that there are people out there that do have, like, a knack for stuff. But the reason they are so good is because they do it over and over and over and over and over again. Repetition, practice. And so I tell my son that daily, like, if you want to get up there at that plate and not be scared, you have to practice. When you're not at regular practice, when you're home and you're just hanging out, go throw some balls at the wall, ask dad to go out there and hit balls with you, which he does. My husband's a great husband and he instills us into our son, too. They're always out there practicing, but we have to keep telling him that your confidence is gonna come from repetition, doing it over and over and over again. And it's the same with you guys in Instagram or your business, whatever it is, there's probably a task that you have to do that you're not very good at. So the only way to get good at it is for you to keep doing it. And it sucks. And it's like blah when you have that task. Yesterday I was working on a website for a friend, and it was in a website builder that I'm not a hundred percent familiar with. And I hated my life yesterday. But guess what? By the end of, like, I was in there for about four hours. By the end of those four hours, I was like, okay, I could do another website like this, like. And I just needed to sit there and do it and practice. Confidence won't show up and knock on your door. It gets built in the doing, so you have to just do it. It's built in the quiet moments after you post a reel and your heart's pounding because it was little too real. It's built in the DMs you send when you're scared someone might not respond. There's only one way to get better and more magnetic and more clear in your message, and that is to keep showing up. That's it. Reps build results. So there's something I want to talk to you guys. It's called the compound effect. So think about this. If you post once a day for the next 30 days, that ends up being 30 chances for you to build trust. 30 chances for someone new to discover you. 30 chances to practice showing up as your future self. And those 30 moments, they compound, they stack. And before you know it, people are saying things to you like, oh, my God, you're everywhere. That's not by accident. That's by intentional consistency. And that's one of the biggest tips I teach my clients or my students in my coaching programs. Like, it's consistency. You don't have to overthink it. You just gotta keep showing up and being consistent. Don't ghost your business because you didn't have the perfect post today. Just show up. I had a conversation with one of my employees on Friday because we didn't have a post go out. And I was like, what happened? Well, Fridays don't do well. I'm sorry, what? Friday? What? Fridays don't do well? What are you talking about? Who cares? Post it anyways. The thing with reels is that there's a shelf life of two weeks. So even if you post it on Friday, it doesn't perform as well. Guess what? It still has two weeks to catch up and gain momentum. I don't want to hear that you didn't post because Fridays don't perform well. And if that's something you tell yourself to throw it out the window. That is an excuse. I need you to show up. And if you don't feel like it that day, go find a reel or a post that's already performed well in the past and re download it and reshare it again because only 20% of of your people will see your post anyways. So you gotta show up. If you don't show up, you will not grow professionally, Instagram wise, whatever it is your business. You're not gonna grow if you don't show. You're not gonna grow if you don't show. Maybe today you can think of that in your head when you're like, should I post today? Yes, you should. You're not gonna grow if you don't show. All right, so Caitlin, you're talking to me about posting, but what, what, what do I post? Got you. I got you. So content pillars that you can keep on deck that you can just reuse. First one is education. Give them a top tip. Top three tips for xyz. What's a goal they want to hit? How to. How to XYZ something that is specific in their industry. How to do this? Breakdowns. Break something down. Here is how you get from X, Y to Z. Then there's entertainment memes. Memes are great. They're shareable, they connect with people. Relatable stories, relatable reels, point of view reels. That's what those are. When you're like point of view, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. People relate with that. They share it in the DMs, they share it to friends, they share it to their stories. They like it, they comment on it. Poof. Inspirational. So that's quotes, storytelling, vulnerability. There's a girl that does really good with this. She does a carousel. So the first slide is something like, girl, you need to hear this or something. It's like, it's like a good first slide hook and then you scroll and it's different quotes that you need to hear as a business owner or whatever it is. So you could always do that too for someone in your industry. You can also promote. Don't be afraid to promote. That is the only way to sell. The more you talk about your product or service, the more you're going to sell it. So talk about your offers. Talk about why getting this offer is going to help with xyz. Talk about how your client Bambi got this product and now this is happening in her life. Super. There's just so many ways to show off your product without being salesy. But you do need to be salesy sometimes, too. But maybe you talked about your offer yesterday. Pretty salesy. So today you want to talk about it in a genuine, like, way that so and so accomplished this because she had this. Like, you can totally do that. Storytelling is what that is. And then engagement. This is a couple different ways that you can use the engagement. Show up on stories using engagement stickers for them to click. Or you can use a poll on a reel. Or you could do a reel that says, do this, not that. And, like, it's the text is coming down on top of you while you're saying, do this, not that. Even if you just post a story that says, hey, I'm showing up today, even though I don't feel like it, that counts. That's real. That connects. I promise you we'll probably get some DMS from doing that. All right, so we've talked about the fear, the hiding, the cost of playing small, and how showing up consistently can help you build momentum. So I want to get into some power tips to help you show up boldly on Instagram in your business. Not halfway, not when it's convenient, but boldly. And these are quotes from real life people that are already successful and doing the dang thing. And, you know, they tell you to get in the right rooms or they tell you that. I keep seeing these quotes that say stuff like, if you talking about your successes is bragging you're in the wrong room or you're hanging out with the wrong people. I love that. Like, get with people that share the same goals as you, that live the same lifestyle as you. That's the only way to level up. Just want to throw that out there. All right, so the first quote I have for you is Sheryl Sandberg, and she says, done is better than perfect. And that is one thing I tell the girls here at the agency. Again, when I'm like, where's our post for today? Oh, well. Nope. Done is better than perfect. Let this quote tattoo itself on your creative heart. Okay, so many of you are sitting on gold offers. You haven't launched reels. You haven't posted content that never left your notes app because it's not perfect. Perfect isn't relatable, guys. Perfect isn't profitable. Perfect isn't even real. Post the thing, launch the offer, adjust as you go. That is something I have done so much in my business. When I posted my reels challenge, it wasn't perfect. And I. I've adjusted that reels challenge so many times, I refresh it quarterly with bigger and better ideas. But I had to post it. And guess what? That first week that I launched it, I made $10,000. Had I listened to myself and that little voice in the back of my head that says, don't post that. That's not perfect, Caitlin. That'd be $10,000 short. Just do it. Just post it. Just share it. If you're not embarrassed by your first version, you launch too late. This is by Reid Hoffman. And oh my gosh, this one can totally relate to. If you scroll down my Instagram feed to the very first post, it is so embarrassing. So embarrassing, so cringy. I used to laugh at this quote, but now I live it. Your first version, it's not supposed to be polished. It's supposed to be proof that you started. The people who go on to win big in business, they're not the ones who waited until everything looked curated. They're the ones who had the courage to move while it's still messy. Energy is more magnetic than aesthetics. This is a quote by moi. It's one of the biggest lessons I've learned. People don't connect with your fonts or your filters. They connect with your energy. And that's why I am so high energy. On my page. You'll see me dancing if I'm having a day. You'll also see that energy. Like I just show up boldly with my own energy. The way I talk, the way I walk, the way I show up, my excitement, my passion. If you're vibing with what you're doing, your audience is going to vibe with it too, no matter what your feed looks like. Another quote that I've told people is, treat your Instagram like a business and it will pay you like one. If you're not treating your Instagram like a business, you've just got a hobby. Those are a couple of things that I've said to clients on coaching calls, things that I've said to our social media management clients. You can't expect Instagram to deliver clients leads, brand deals. If you treat it like a hobby, would you ignore your emails for a week? If you were running a legit business, would you skip out on sales calls because you weren't feeling it? No. So stop ghosting your audience on Instagram. If you show up like a CEO with consistency, clarity and commitment, this platform can become one of your biggest income generators. That's no lie. Show up like your future self would. When you're unsure what to post or whether it's good enough, ask yourself this, what would the million dollar version of me do? Would she stay silent? Or would she post the message that could change someone's day or their life? Would she wait for permission? Or would she act like she's already belonging in that room? Those are just little things to think about. Show up like someone is about to DM you with the biggest opportunity of your life. Honestly, that's how this all works, okay? Opportunities don't come from overthinking. They come from visibility. From the right person watching the right post on the right day because they had the guts to publish it. Your dream clients, partnerships, income. They're waiting for you to stop shrinking. So go. Post the thing. Start the messy version. Show up like you mean it. It's not too late. You're not too small. You're not invisible. You are literally just one bold decision away from momentum. All right, friend, if you take one thing from today's episode, let it be this. Stop playing small. Take up space. Be seen. Be messy. Be loud. Be imperfect. Be real. Because that version of you, that's the one who builds something unforgettable. No more hiding behind fear. No more overthinking. No more watering yourself down for people who aren't even a part of the vision you're building. You have permission to go all in, to be bold, to take the leap, and to finally show up the way your future self needs to. Now, if you liked today's episode, I pray that you won't keep this message to yourself. Share this episode with a creator friend, someone who's been playing small. Maybe they need a little tough love today. Share this podcast episode I challenge you guys to post something authentic, real and bold this week. And I want you to tag me. And I want it to be unpolished and messy and just whatever's on your mind, I want you to post it. And if you need help with content ideas, I'm going to put a free 30 day content calendar in the notes of this show so you can steal it, start working on it. You've got 30 days to post. It's all in this calendar. I even give you tips on getting the most visibility on those posts. Engagement hacks, all the things. I've also got a 28 day engagement challenge available now in my Stand Store. This challenge is going to help you show up boldly. It's going to help you increase your engagement, get more likes, comments, shares, views, eyes on your profile. It's going to help you grow your business, grow your Instagram page. It's honestly not that expensive. It's pretty low ticket and you need to get it today. This is your sign to go grab that 28 day challenge. I promise you, you will not regret it. I've had almost 500 people test it before I even launched it to the public, so I've got good feedback from it. It's going to help you change your mindset on Instagram and really show up as yourself and grow your business and your brand online. And if you want deeper support from me and my team, more strategy, more growth tips, more momentum, come join us in Club Influence or hire us for social media management. You can connect with me in the show notes. I'll leave my Instagram page, my website, and remember this, this is the last thing I'm going to tell you. You're meant to lead. You're not meant to blend in. So let this be your sign. Today is the day you stop playing small and you finally go all in on yourself. I'll see you in the feed. Thank you guys so much for listening today. Download this podcast, leave me a review. I'll see you next week.