← The Mindful Marketing Podcast (Formerly Known As The Savvy Social Podcast)
The Mindful Marketing Podcast (Formerly Known As The Savvy Social Podcast)
Mindful Practices for Business Success with Jill Lanier
00:33:26
Are you stuck in the “hustle mode” of running a side business while working full-time? Or wondering how to approach marketing without the overwhelm? This week, I sit down with Jill Lanier, a certified mindfulness instructor, to chat about her...
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- [00:01]
A
When you transition from working a full time job to being in your business full time, a lot can change, both in your business and with your mindset as well. And that's why today I'm excited to have Jill Lanier on the podcast to talk all about it. Before we dive into this episode of the Mindful Marketing podcast, I gotta give a shout out to our sponsor, Riverside. Riverside is the all in one podcasting tool that I use to manage and record and promote my show. I love that they make editing the episodes very easy with their magical AI tools and also they make promoting on social media easy with their magic clips feature. One click and I have 10 ready to go. Social media clips makes my job a whole lot easier. So if you want your job to be easier to click the link in the show notes and use the coupon code to get your discount today. Now I'm excited to have Jill on the podcast today. Jill, welcome to the show.
- [01:01]
B
Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
- [01:04]
A
Yes. I'm excited to just dive into the work that you do and really share it with our listeners because I feel like I got a little bit of an inside peek since you're one of our members, but, but share a little bit about your journey. So you started your business while you had a full time job. What, what excited you or sparked that interest in starting your business?
- [01:25]
B
Well, I believe that whatever you do, whether you're working full time or not, you still have some sort of obligation to express yourself and give back to the world to make it a little bit better than it was, you know, when you came. And so I felt like mindfulness, which is what my business is built around, is a way to do that. It's a way to help people cope and navigate better with the stresses of modern life living, whether you're working or whatever you're doing, the climate, what's going on in the world, and I feel that it's a way to tap into your inner resources for doing that. And so that was what I felt excited me and I felt would be something that people would find helpful as well.
- [02:16]
A
Yes, yes. And you know, I'm all about the mindfulness piece as well. I think our minds can be such an amazing thing and also they can be our worst enemies sometimes. So talk to me about this mindset shift for you, transitioning from part time entrepreneur to full time entrepreneur, because this is what you're doing full time now. So what was that shift like?
- [02:39]
B
So it took a lot of prep work. I wasn't, you know, I wanted to make sure I wasn't jumping out of one frying pan and into another and not being prepared. So I took a lot of time just working around, what are my offers, how do I reach my audiences, and really getting grounded in that. And then as I got closer and everything evolved and started to fall into place, I realized I need more time just to get the business to the next level. And so at some point, I made a decision that I have to make a choice. And so I finally took that leap earlier this year. And doing that created much more spaciousness to think about what is it I want to do? Just to be able to hold that. Because when you're in that grind, like, you don't have a lot of mind space or capacity to even think about those things in a way that allows you to work on them. So once I did that, I got a lot more spaciousness. I had more time to think, be creative in a way that I didn't before my time opened up. So that's a little bit above the benefits. And I write about this in my newsletter because part of what I'm trying to tell people is it can be as simple or as complex as people want. If you only get the ability to just be calmer. That's a lot. But there's so much more you can get depending on how much of a habit you make it. And so I wrote about that transition around the time when I made it, and just how my mindset just shifted and I just felt freer. And so I write about how it is my experience to live in a city like New York City, where I live and had worked, and just to be practicing it, you know, day to day. And just the ways I incorporate my environment into that practice, that gives me a little bit more. What do you call it? Resilience.
- [04:59]
A
Yeah. Yeah. And I love that you called out this calmness that has come with this kind of transition into the next chapter of your career, which is owning your own business and being that full time. I'm wondering how mindfulness played into that journey even more. You mentioned that you kind of lean on some tools to guide you through this process. Are we talking like meditation, journaling? Like, what are some of the practices that help you balance working and enjoying your life?
- [05:31]
B
So I do do meditation, and I, as I said, I have a regular practice. And by practice, I mean something that you do on a recurring, regular basis over time, which is also known as a formal practice. You have an informal practice, which is when you kind of do it ad hoc, as needed or as things come up during the day. So I have a daily practice. And another thing that I try to focus on and now have more time to do is to build and connect with community. And so being with others is so important to your well being. And specifically by that, I mean supportive community that feeds you and then you feed others. I had listened to a podcast by someone who was writing about stress and he said microstress is like the slow silent killer, but in order to maintain a healthy balance, you should find and connect and situate yourself with others doing similar things things and doing those things together in order to improve your well being mentally and physically. So this being with other people of like mind towards a positive goal is very key. So one thing that I did have time to do once I had more discretion over my time. My partner is a creative writing workshop leader and he's tapped into a lot of creative communities. So one of them is a small writing group. We meet once week, we have over the summer we'd been meeting in a community garden, which is a nice setting. And so in that way I'm able to express other parts of myself. It's not just business, business, business, go, go, go. It's this creative outlet that I have. So that's one thing that I have focused on and I want to expand on that. But that was one thing I was able to start doing in June when the summer hit. That is another part of my practice.
- [07:38]
A
Oh, that's so beautiful. I love this so much. I. I think that there's something, especially for those of us who have businesses where we run it online. Right. Like a lot of our interactions are digital and. But there's something that is so magical and powerful when you get in the physical space with community members. And I sense that when you're talking about this, I love that you go into the garden and you're focused on your like creative work. There is definitely a powerful shift that happen when you do that and I love that that's part of your practice. I like that you use the word practice too, because labeling it practice to me definitely makes it feel more intentional because it's something that you do regularly, which I love. Okay, so my next question is about your relationship with your marketing and how that changed when you made this transition. So for example, you mentioned that you write your newsletter. Has anything changed when it comes to content creation or social media when you made the shift from, you know, your full time job to being a full time entrepreneur?
- [08:44]
B
Definitely. So for one thing, I was, since I was still working. I felt very self conscious about putting myself out there because I wasn't yet maybe ready to reveal that part of me and the extent to which I was pursuing that. So I was very self conscious about posting things on social media and I kind of limited myself really to Instagram and Facebook because I felt like, well, with all of the volume of things flowing through social media, you know, it wasn't likely that somebody would see it before I was ready. But once I did leave, I made it a point to get on LinkedIn and my goal had been to do that by June, but I was able to do it a little earlier. So I got on by May. And so that is like a different experience of content creation. Who my audience is like. Facebook and Instagram are more kind of fun, but LinkedIn's a little bit more formal, so I keep that in mind. I'm mindful of what content goes on which platform and a lot of it can go on all three of them. But sometimes I will change up the imagery or I will just post certain things to Instagram and Facebook and then certain things just on LinkedIn. So that's a big shift that I made when I went, you know, to full time entrepreneurship. Yeah, it's just being mindful of, you know, what, who am I speaking to? Who's going to see this?
- [10:24]
A
Yeah. Okay. I want to dig in more to your content plan because it sounds like you have quite a few pieces at play here. You've got the newsletter, you're on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. Walk us through your process. Is there a kind of like signature piece of content that you focus on? And then how much time are you spending on all of this? I want all the details.
- [10:46]
B
So I want to tell you I, of course, have been following you for a while. And so when I first went on, decided to go onto social media, I was doing all the things I was following, you know, my pillars. I had my pillars. I was doing several pieces of content per day, you know, for each pillar and my newsletter and everything, but wasn't really getting that much traction initially. So I had to pull back and I took a break from social media and then just focused on my newsletter. And then after a little while I came back to it, but with more intentionality, which is also a key part of mindfulness. I said, I'm not going to do all the things I'm going to. I started with just one pillar going back. I start back with Facebook and eventually added Instagram back. And I was just going to commit to Those two days. And so my social media content is based on my newsletter content. So I have that structure. I write my newsletter the following week. I create the content based on the newsletter. So following that little recipe that you have is just like a little introduction. Three points, why you should look at this and then an invitation to engage and or please sign up for the newsletter. So I committed to that and that was manageable. And so that discipline of practice of just showing up consistently with what I had committed to and not worrying about being on every day and all of this was very helpful to especially I'm still working time of managing the discretionary time that I had at that point to just show up. You know, when I said just regularly, weekly, then I added LinkedIn and you know, kind of folded that in. So that's really been my formula. And so I would say I spend, I never really thought about it, but I use the weekends to kind of firm up and finalize everything. So as I got more into the habit of it, it was less hard to come up with stuff. And so I would say maybe I'm spending six hours a week just creating the content, doing the writing. The main heavy lift is my newsletter. And even that I've gotten a kind of habit with that, of what do I want to say? Sometimes I have themes for a given month and so I can break my content out into smaller bites that people can handle. Not overwhelming them with like a 2000 word post, but breaking it up and, you know, teasing it out and saying, oh, I'm going to talk about this this week, next week I'm going to talk about this. Stay tuned for that. And so that has made even writing the newsletter a little easier because I am following a theme and creating content so that it's not like, oh, I'm starting from ground zero each time. And then as things come to me, I can intersperse that with stuff that I feel I want to share, you know, Ad Hockley. But again, this structure and knowing what I'm committing to, what I want to share with people, what I think they'll find of benefit, that really kind of shapes my content, you know, formula and format and everything like that.
- [14:20]
A
Yeah. And how often are you publishing your newsletter?
- [14:23]
B
Once a week.
- [14:24]
A
Okay, weekly. So did anything change for you to frame this question? I feel like sometimes when we go all in on our business, we feel the pressure to do more or show up more or show up differently. Did you have that moment where you went from, you know, your full time job to full time entrepreneur and you felt the pressure to show up more or differently in your business.
- [14:48]
B
I didn't because I grappled with that before while I was still working. And even though I have more time, I'm still sticking to that because it's manageable and unstressful to say I'm firmly committing to these two days or these three days. And as other things. So that's opened up space to say, oh, here's something that might fit into one of my other pillars. I'm committed to my Monday post, which is promoting my newsletter on Instagram, and then Tuesday I promote it on Facebook and then I have my Wednesday industry sharing. So something that I'm promoting somebody else. And so those three things I'm firmly committed with. So I don't feel pressure to do more than that. Consistency is the key. And so making sure I'm showing up on those days and then if something else comes up on my Thursday one, which is my thrive with me pillar and Friday is just something fun like I don't worry about those so much. And so like mindfulness, which is a practice which as I said earlier, is something you do recurringly over time. This is my mindful approach to social media, which is making a commitment, being intentional, and then doing that again and again and again, week in, week out till, you know, I'm, people can know to expect me and I feel comfortable of saying, oh, I have something for people to fall into because I'm regular with it. It's not like, oh, I haven't been around for like three months. Here I am, you know, it's just ongoing. So it's not, it's less opportunistic and more, I think, you know, giving to others.
- [16:34]
A
Yeah, I just sense that in all of the work that you do, it's very generous and still very mindful of your own boundaries and your own well being, which, you know, I love. I want to circle back to something you said earlier, though. You talked about how you were hesitant to show up fully when you had your full time job and then you felt freeing when you transition. But I know a lot of people who are listening are in the position you were in. They have their job and they're, they have their business and there's this conflict, this balance of, you know, I'm showing up in my job, but I also want to show up in my business. So now that you've, you're on the other side of this, looking back, is there any advice you'd give to someone who's still in the full Time, role and running their business, especially around showing up for themselves in their social media and in their marketing. Any, any advice for that group?
- [17:29]
B
What I would say, and this is how I approached it, is everything depends on your particular circumstances. And so what I say as a mindfulness instructor is when I lead a meditation, it's always a guidance. That's an invitation. So nothing that I tell people, they don't have to get it right. They're not forced to try and do what I'm saying. If they need to step back from that or adapt it, they can. So what I'm going to offer is, you know, given my particular circumstances, you know, what people might think about one, think about what is your situation at your job? How comfortable do you feel about sharing that? Do people know that you're doing this on the side? Or maybe they don't know. So you have to weigh those two things. If it feels like, you know, you don't feel comfortable to do it, maybe do your social media in ways that still feed you but are mindful of, you know, who might see it and how they might react to that, maybe they are aware of it. So in that case, you might feel comfortable to say, hey, look what I'm doing over here, kind of doing this, you know, on the side right now, or whatever, and they can get a taste of it because possibly they may benefit from what you have to offer. So those were things that I weighed for myself. And even after I made the transition, I was still cognizant of, well, she never talked about this at work. Now all of a sudden she's doing that. People did know that I did mindfulness, and I had even led some sessions for a couple of. For my department and then one that was like a sort of sister department to us. So they were aware that, but not maybe necessarily aware to the extent to which I was pursuing it. So when I did launch my LinkedIn, I wasn't sure whether I should just start posting or make an announcement that I had made this transition. I chose to make an announcement. I got a really good response from that. And I said, here's what I was doing, here's what I'm doing now, here's how I'm feeling about it. And I got a really good response. So there's people that I who knew that I was doing this. And so of course they knew about it and had been kind of following me, but other people were new to it. And so a few people signed onto my newsletter or they follow me on social media. So I Mean, that's kind of maybe a wishy washy answer, but it's just how I approached it and how I felt comfortable. And with each passing day I'm feeling more comfortable to show myself and you know, the kinds of work specifically that I want to do as far as a mindful practitioner and guide. So that's upcoming or unfolding now. So more of, you know, this is who I am as a mindful practitioner and in my business, this is what I'll be doing.
- [20:39]
A
Yeah. And a lot of what I hear you saying is very like values align and values driven. And it's a conversation I've been having a lot with people lately because I think that in order to be values driven, you have to make an intentional, almost like self declaration of what those values even are so that you can kind of weigh in with yourself to see if what you're doing is aligned or not. So for those people who are in this decision making process of trying to sort out what their values are, what are some of the things that you suggest they look at?
- [21:13]
B
Well, just one of the key tools that I like, the simplest thing anyone can do is to pause a moment and breathe and then just take some time to notice what am I feeling inside or what's going on around me and to let. Don't try to solve it or answer it, but just be open to what might come to you. And so you may find, oh, my values tell me that I should be more open and visible and share this and it will probably go okay. Or even if it doesn't, you're on that trajectory anyway. So this might be the nudge to kind of go full force. And the one thing I used to perform in another life I used to sing. And there's an experience you have as doing something and then there's how other people receive it. And especially when you're a singer, there's these sort of zones. So there's the people close up. You have to perform in a way that reaches the people in the back row. Everyone is depending on how far out they are from you, they'll experience it differently. So you have to be mindful again of, you know, I'm reaching the people in the front, but I really need to magnify what I'm doing to reach people in the back. And so it may seem like all eyes are on you, but people have so much stuff going on that very likely what you feel is so obvious is not going to translate that way to your audience. I mean, it's even hard enough to get the people you want to see you to pay attention. So that's one thing that I learned as a performer is I would be, when I first got up, I'd be shaking, I'd be nervous, and then someone would say, oh my goodness, you look so calm. How do you stay so calm? So that is one thing that I would tell people is again, how you experience yourself and how your audience is, whoever that may be, and even strangers, is going to be so different than how you're perceiving it. It's hard to notice that. But trust me, that's something you have to take on faith that there's a difference there. So you can probably be a little freer than you think you can.
- [23:36]
A
Yeah. Oh, I love this. I used to be a singer too, so I totally relate to that sing to the back of the room statement, especially since I tend to be very soft spoken. And so even like in acting and things, it's like you've got to project your voice, you've got to be able to be heard. And I love that because I do think, especially in marketing, specifically social media, there's so much comparison to other people. And I think it's very easy for us as business owners to slip into all sorts of emotions when it comes to social media. You know, did our posts get a lot of likes and comments or we see, you know, someone else doing something similar and their post has a lot of likes and a lot of comments. So what are some of the things that, you know, you mentioned your daily practice, and I'm curious if you have any part of that practice that helps you with kind of the emotional journey of putting yourself out there online, Anything that you do to. To keep yourself grounded or just manage your emotions, all of the emotions that come along with this vulner ability.
- [24:40]
B
Well, I don't have anything specific. It's just the practice is what shapes and helps me to manage that, whether it's with the business or in life. So that habit is so important. I can't stress that enough because it builds the muscle for you to have the capacity to roll with the things that are coming, whether you can expect them or not. So part of what my meditation practice helped me to do is to become more tolerant of discomfort. And so when I notice that arising in my practice, I will sit with that and just notice it and say, oh, I'm feeling, I don't know, agitated or nervous or irritable. And so when I noticed that, I just sit with that. And sometimes what I found helpful, I'M a very visual person. I will assign characteristics to that emotion. And it helps you. It doesn't make you suppress it, but it does help you disconnect from it just enough so that it's not overwhelming. And then I imagine, oh, if this was a person or an object, it would have these characteristics. And when you can stand back and look at it in that way, it just breaks that tie where you're embodied in something. And so the key is to be able to toggle back and forth between being embodied, which you want to be, sometimes being able to step back so you don't get overwhelmed. So that comes out of my practice. I have formally practiced since about 2018 or so. So with a daily practice. And I set a time for like 20 minutes. That's manageable. And if I feel pulled to, like, skip it, I'll say 10 minutes. Jill, surely you can take 10 minutes for yourself, even if it's five, just to keep in the habit of it. And however it flows, it flows, sometimes you're really in the zone, sometimes you're a little distracted. Just whatever time you commit to, just go with that. Because that habit of just showing up for yourself on a daily basis is what's going to carry you through on the long term. So that's what helps me manage whatever's coming up with, you know, my social media or my business is things will come up, things will go down. You know, it's not this straight level thing. Once you figure out, oh, I'm doing this, it's a lot of still some things open more questions than when you started with, and that's always going to be the case. So realizing that and then managing that, which I. I've done with my meditation practice has helped.
- [27:28]
A
Yeah, I found the same thing. And the thing that I found too, with meditation specifically is that the more I did it, the more I felt my own, like, my confidence in myself grow because I was able to commit that practice to myself. I will say, once having kids, all the rules went out the window, that it made it so much harder. So I'm still trying to find my practice again, but when I was really consistent with it, I found that even taking those five minutes a day for myself, it. It really set the tone for the rest of the day. And I felt like I already accomplished something for myself that day. So I was able to, like, take in all the emotions of whatever, running a business in life a lot. I wouldn't say it was easier, but maybe more gracefully because I was able to. Yeah, because I was able to like have that time for myself. So I 100% agree. Any last thoughts or questions that you want to leave our audience with today around mindfulness and integrating it specifically with their marketing?
- [28:32]
B
Yes. What I will say is three tools that are just fundamental to mindfulness are these attributes and there's a lot of them, but three main ones are gratitude, compassion, self compassion and humility. So gratitude is just, you know, being thankful for whatever is happening in the moment or ongoing. So I don't have a big following, but I am thankful for the ones that I have. I over time with the discipline, I've gotten like a little consistent following on Instagram and LinkedIn. So gratitude, compassion or self compassion. You cannot have compassion for others until you allow yourself to have this. So don't try to be perfect or feel like, oh, I've got to do this perfect. You know, some things you've talked about, I've got to show up curated and whatnot, have grace. Like, you know, if you can't be perfect, you tried. And the next moment is an opportunity to do better. And sometimes you won't choose better. It's not about being perfect, it's about am I aware of what's going in to this present moment and can I show up in that moment as best I can in that moment. And sometimes it won't be up to a certain standard, but you get to try again every moment, the next day, the next week. Humility is to understand that what you're going through, even if it is not exactly the same as someone else. We all as humans have similar experiences. So you are not alone in whatever challenges you're experiencing in your business. Somebody else has gone down this path, somebody else will go down this path. The humility is to know I'm doing what I can in this moment as best that I can. I don't compare myself to other people. I don't even compare myself to myself. I just show up as best that I can and go with that and just keep doing that each moment, each day. So those three tools are what I would offer.
- [30:44]
A
Very beautifully said. I co sign all of this and for those who are listening, who are like, I need more dill in my world, you have the mindful meditative toolkit. Can you tell us more about this resource?
- [30:57]
B
Yes. So this is something that came out of my practice of writing. So that was another daily practice I have. And so it helped me to incorporate or internalize these values. So it's a very simple guide of how even when you don't have a lot of time. You can even, you can do this. So it is maybe a thought that, oh, I got to spend an hour. No, these are very simple tips that can be done in small blocks of time, can be adapted to a particular person's particular unique circumstances. And the point is to get started. And to get started, you can do it in small blocks. As you get that habit under your belt, you may find you want to do more and you want to make more time for it. But the steps in the book are very simple. It's understanding those attributes that I talked about, ways to integrate that into your actual life. So this sort of informal practice that I mentioned earlier, you know, being in community, finding community, noticing connecting with nature, that's another key thing. And, you know, doesn't have to be camping, you know, just going out, noticing what's around you. So very, very simple tips. And especially for a busy entrepreneur, I think it will be perfect, you know, for them if they want to try this and see how they can integrate that into what they're doing.
- [32:25]
A
Y'all get this toolkit. I'm going to put it the link in the show notes onlinedre.com 333j thank you so much for being on the show today.
- [32:34]
B
Thank you. I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to speak with you.
- [32:39]
A
Yay. And thank you, dear listener, for tuning in to another episode of the Mindful Marketing podcast. Make sure you give us a five star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. It helps keep us in the top 100 marketing podcasts and that's because of you. Coming up next, in our membership, we have our what's the Scoop session happening in December. If you want to know all the social media news and updates, top content pieces, and get some inspiration for what to post this month, make sure you join us. Then next week on the show, I will be talking about REST as a marketing strategy, which is the perfect next step after this conversation. So stay tuned. I will see you then. Bye for now.