Ask The Expert: Rewriting Your Stories with Masha Pavlova

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Hello, hello Amplify You family Michelle Abraham here today. I am so excited guys, I've got a great guest for you. Today. We're going to be talking about all sorts of really cool things when it comes to business, your mindset. I've got an amazing guest with me here today Masha Pavlova matter how are you doing today?

I'm doing fantastic. So excited to be here, Michelle?

Yes, we got so many great things that was so many great directions that we can take this interview that I didn't want to just like stay at all the beginning. I wanted to leave a little bit for surprise but this is an ask the expert interview. So Marsha is a thought leader, innovator speaker coach, her coach her co you're a coach, not a coach or a coach. What kind of could be a coach or tea right? Coach is the number one best selling author and founder of the M DP studio and ESC by the EU brand. I build Prachi builds processes to connect leaders changemakers and visionaries with high impact projects, funding and resources necessary to solve pressing problems such as business sustainability, education and housing in communities around the globe. And she her and I were just discussing how she's spoken on so many credible stages. She has co authored books with Joe Fatale, as she's co authored books, James Redfield and Ken Honda. And spoken on stages like Harvard with bully talks. In La as well as so many other amazing places so much i It's so exciting to be with you when you're a big believer about collaboration like I am. And you're just looking at connecting people and projects together. And it's so awesome that you're here with us today. So thanks for being here.

Thank you so much, Michelle. It's a pleasure.

Awesome, well, let's dive into kind of what we were discussing before we jumped on, you guys, all the best conversations I tell you happen before we press record, we sorry, we can't let you in on all of those. But we'll try to do our best to bring you up to speed. So we're discussing about how there's so many things that stopped entrepreneurs from launching a podcast. And there's these all these stories that come up in our head and all these things that like happen. And in fact, my some of you know, my personal story is took me four years to watch my own podcast, because that I had a lot of those stories going on in my head too. So I know you work with a lot of entrepreneurs is that that's a common thing with entrepreneurs. Is that just as podcasters, right? Oh, my gosh,

I think this is just a human thing. Like I think it's just it goes out to everything that we do. It's just we have that little voice inside my head as it comes in. It's like, oh, I'm this room data or the stuff the right timing or this is going on? It's like, well, why who? What? Why did we start agreeing to this?

Right? And how do we like stop those voices from like, preventing us from taking action to like what we actually really want to do?

Oh, great question. And I think I think the first thing is, is that there's absolutely no judgment of a part because that part keeps us safe. And there's something about it that serves us, which is why we are here and which is why we keep doing what we're doing. Because there's a part of us showing up that's like, oh, well, this is working. So what needs to change? In fact, until we recognize that, yes, it's part of serving me and I want something better or different. It doesn't have any reason to change. And same that as soon as you shift that and say, Okay, thank you and I do want something different. And here's what I want it, it unlocks all of these doors, because you stop knocking at the one that's

close about makes a lot of sense. In so like this shift can be quite quick once we make but I feel like we have to make that decision. Like you said, you have to make the decision and then have a plan. And it's funny, because it's like such a I would say like cliche thing to say but entrepreneurs like you gotta make the plan, work the plan. And otherwise you're not going anywhere. But it's actually true. Your your brain can't really actually know where you want to go without it being like a really clear decision.

That right yeah, that's right. I mean, there's there's really like there's something to understand there's two different mindsets, right? There's a mindset of oh my gosh, well, I don't know if I can, and then the problem you're solving is if I can write the if it's there and so your mind goes back and forth within the f versus if you make a decision Yes, this is what I wanted. Yes, this is what I'm doing. The problem that you're solving becomes different. You're actually solving for the how you're you, you're in the creative mindset versus the limited belief system of, well, can I really do this versus no, I can now let me figure out the how.

Right. And so for our podcasts are just thinking about the ones that are sitting at home right now, they're still afraid to press that record button. There's some things that are going on in their heads, like, who's gonna listen to me? I'm not good enough. And who am I to be the expert on this? Well, what do you have? What are some of your words of advice are for those sitting at home saying those having those thoughts run through their heads?

I love it. Yeah, I've said that many times before, too. I love it's just like, Oh, I love this site. I love that because on a podcast to like you the best podcasts like don't talk to like, Hey, everyone, how's everyone doing? He's like, Hi, how are you today? Glad you didn't get like, lions in the ears of one person. It comes across so much better than the Hey, everyone. We're gonna do this today.

That's right. Yeah,

It's still terrifying. And, like, that's the thing I have to remember. Like, it's so strange because you interact with these incredible people. And again, in your, in our minds, we have we have this thing about the awesomeness of them, right we have? Well, this is this is how it is for them. And it must be easy. That must be this must be that. And I don't know about you and Michelle, but for me, it's still it's like it's like I'm still getting nervous, right? It's still the nerves are still there. And I draw this line about, okay, my stuff is over here. And there's time for me to deal with my stuff. And I have my coach for that I have a therapist for that I have programs for that. And then as soon as I step into the other side of the line, it's not about me anymore. It's not about my stuff. It's not about anything else other than serving my mission and my message and my message. My mission is towards the one person I'm impacting today, right now in this moment.

Oh, that's so good. I love the way you said that because then that helps our brain separate that the our stuff from like our mission because sometimes that gets those voices get in there and can conflict with us being able to share our message and make the impact that we want to make because it's so confused by and worried about our own stuff. So I love that when you step on stage or turn on a microphone or record, it's all about that one keeping that one person in mind that you're going to change their life and it's so true like i My life has changed by podcasting. That's why originally got it when I was little listener. And it helped me overcome like postpartum depression and kind of got me back into my mojo. Got my got my wheels turning again, like after being a busy entrepreneur and going home and going to have a baby and then loving a mom but like that my business brain went to mush and didn't feel very motivated afterwards. But to get back out and get walking and put my earbuds in and listen to a podcast. Oh my god, that podcast had such a huge impact in my life.

Absolutely, absolutely. It is amazing. It's life changing for both yourself and for them. Yeah,

yeah, absolutely. And I think our podcasters, or entrepreneurs or P speakers need to like remember that. And it is such a good message that you're bringing today to remember that it's not about you, once you step on stage, it's about serving, serving that one person who, whose life is going to make a difference. And I can't tell you how many podcasters have told me that they've heard from their audience, and they've changed someone's life. And that's exactly what you just said, if you change one person's life, you've done your jobs, right? Like that's, that's amazing, like, and so then you can go on to, you know, make a difference in many people's lives. See, but having that start with that one person, I think is pretty awesome. That's right. That's right. So we know your business. You started in branding in photography, and helping people with their brands. What would you suggest to people starting a new business today, when it comes to branding, and getting your voice clear, and getting your message out there in a way, and I think that clarity, sometimes convolute some of those voices in your head, you're not super clear off my experience is that the more that you speak in a microphone, the more clear you can't have out your message. Any other words of advice for people starting wanting to share their message with their in creating their own brand?

Oh, absolutely. I have this theory around branding. And it's, it feels like a challenge is what most people believe with branding actually is. So to define a brand to find what the branding is, right? It's the perspective and perception that the other party has about what it is that you're creating and putting out there. And oftentimes we do this thing where we talk about, oh, we start outside of ourselves. And we say, well, who is my demographic, who is my psychographic, let's describe this person. And then based on what the thing that I'm offering is, I'm going to design the color scheme and the words and the messaging and everything like that. And what happens is, it almost feels disconnected, it either feels disconnected from us from our mission, from our purpose, or from the client themselves, even because we're looking at them from a very objectified perspective, the way that I I learned branding, the way that I talk about branding, is really from the inside out, from both from here's what I'm trying to accomplish. For myself, here's what I'm trying to accomplish from my person that I'm serving. And here's how it reflects from the inside of my story from the vulnerability of what I have gone through from what has created me, and my journey and my solutions, because we oftentimes create what we needed way back when going through the struggles that we've gone through in our lives. And so being able to reflect on that and bring that into the brand, it creates almost an embodiment of, of of its own, it can become its own entity. And that entity speaks into who we are, as well as who our client is trying to become. That's the most beautiful thing about the brand. Because then everything else you're adding to it. You're saying, Well, if this, this entity exists, and it represents all of these components, what does that look like? What does that sound like, and then you become, you start stepping into that space, and your client meets you there versus trying to accomplish something and then try to force it on your client.

I mean, that sounds so funny these days. But it's so it's so how we usually create things. And it's an interesting that we're having this conversation today, because I've had this conversation several times in the last like month or so, with other entrepreneurs where we were kind of like realizing, we did a really good job of branding the business, but not branding ourselves as the thought leaders. And so I feel like, myself included, a lot of entrepreneurs are going back to the drawing board right now. Really? What so if Michelle is Michelle Abraham, what is her mission? And what is her beliefs? And what is her passion and what's her mission versus amplify you that she created, and FIU has its own mission and vision? And how does that work into Michelle Abraham brand? And because we're doing a lot of shifting over here amplify you right now we're breeding is taking over the CEO role, and I'm moving more into a visionary role. It's kind of made me start to think of like, what is that? What does that look like? And what I need to start branding myself was like, that's really crazy that I don't have personal website or, you know, that kind of thing. So it's interesting. It's interesting, you brought that up today, because I've been going through that in my head, myself, do you feel like that is something that every business owner should have their own personal brand to personal guarantee versus like a, a program or service that they offer?

A 100%. In fact, there's this transition that's been happening in the world that I absolutely am in love with. So we previously to even even, I think even going to the pandemic, this was still a reality. We had this resistance of including all of us in business, you know, how many times have you heard, yeah, this doesn't belong to business. Spirituality doesn't belong in business. Your personal stuff doesn't belong in business to you emotions of I'm sorry, I'm not saying that, you know, come in and vent to your clients. That's that's not the goal, right? Still sharpens integrity, sharpen your values, and all of you gets to show up, because that's where all the vulnerability is. That's what we're being asked all right now from, from the customers, from the listeners from the people who are serving. And so if I'm showing up in my integrity, and in alignment with with my brand, what happens is all of the services that you have all of the products, all of the businesses like, I'm a serial entrepreneur, I have all of these different branches of what I do. And they're all different facets of the same mission, which is embodied through my work. So it's yes, you absolutely get to have your own brand. Because every single part of what you do is simply a facet of that brand, through different skill sets, or different products, different services.

Like, it's so cool, like the world is going to this, we're now every person has their own personal brand, and what they do for work, or they do for fun, or whatever, it's just a part of that personal mission and that personal brand, I think that's really cool. That is not something when I started in business, like almost 20 years ago, now, that wasn't, that wasn't, that wasn't the case, it was like you put a website up for your business, what's your business, he's your avatar, and just like you're explaining earlier, we like, throw that, that branding onto the off to the avatar, right, and then on to the customer, right, and they've got to match it. And so this is seems like such a more natural way of like been showing up as you. And I'm wondering if that's stemming from like, social media, where, you know, on the outside of social media, everyone seems to be like perfect, and like no flaws and causing a lot of mental health, I think issues with, you know, the the followers and especially like our younger generation. And so I think being real and vulnerable in everything that you do is so important to just help our followers know that you're not perfect, either. And you're this is part of real life. And you're doing business altogether. Right?

Absolutely. And think about it from this perspective, if we are coming in, and we're first of all, if we're trying to be perfect, and we're trying to be skill based, right? If we cut everything else out, the goal originally was, here's my skill, here's how good I am at what I do, right? And I'm better than everybody else. That's that was the original marketing, right? Here's why I'm better, here's why I'm different. And if we think about it from a perspective of cutting ourselves out, then really what is your unique proposition? Then you're trying to compete, you know, then you get into competing on price? Well, you know, if somebody else can do the same service as me, then we're looking at price because then we're we have an absence of value. And if we're adding more value than we're giving more of ourselves, while somehow cutting ourselves out, where instead, we can approach it from a perspective of my unique story. And my unique way of approaching this my unique vulnerabilities, my unique experiences, combined with all of the skill sets that I have is what makes you unique proposition because then that cannot be replicated, then it will speak to my person because I'm showing up authentically, and that can't be matched by anybody else.

Yes, yeah. I love that. It makes it's like your unique voice. Like there's no, there could be like 100 podcasts on your topic. But your your voice is not in there in the mix. And so you're going to attract the right people by sharing your story. So good. Yeah, this is such a great approach to branding and marketing, that I think is refreshing. And it's not, I don't know, I don't see it out there. A whole lot in mainstream marketing and branding practices. So you're onto something that I love. Tell us a little bit about the work that you are currently doing. So you still helping people with their branding? Or have you evolved into doing some other I know you, you're multifaceted, and you have lots of great projects on the go. So tell us what you're up to.

Yeah, definitely multifaceted. I'm curious if there's a line for when you become a serial entrepreneur, like how many businesses gets you that title, but I'm definitely like, for a while. Um, so essentially what I'm doing right now is it looks like a lot of different things. But the way that I serve is I love people. And I love processes. And so I love bringing people and processes together. And so what I do and how I apply that is I applied on the personal side, I applied to the business side, as well as to big global projects. And so it looks like some of it looks like branding and marketing, some of the looks like personal coaching and innovation through shifting businesses, as well as then innovation on a global scale, working with big, big picture projects and figuring out how do we do this thing better?

That's awesome. So mostly working with entrepreneurs, then,

yes, most entrepreneurs, people with big missions and visions people who have something really big that they want to create and achieve in their life.

I know you're connecting entrepreneurs with some bigger global projects to tell us a little bit

now your you really specialize on helping people see that anything is is is possible, and getting their mindset too. So do you have a couple of tips that you leave us with today? On how to adjust our mindset so that we believe that anything is possible. And once you have a goal or have an idea, something you want to accomplish? How do you get going on that to make sure your brain stays with you on the planet?

Yes, absolutely. Well, the first thing to recognize is that first of all, all of our experiences are valid and true. At the same time, what our mind does is this interesting thing in our mind, is wired this way to keep us safe, right? Is its way to confirm our reality that we believe in, which causes us to essentially live in a bubble of our own. And in that bubble, everything that, you know, happens confirms our belief system. And if our belief system is the way that you recognize this in yourself, as if you say, Well, my industry is this or is that or it's not this or it's not that people won't do this, people won't spend money on this stuff. People won't listen, people won't do this. And so So you generalize and you cut them statement, and you make a statement to be true. What I would invite you to do is to say, well, first of all, I invite you to start paying attention to that. Because what's going to happen is you're going to start noticing all the times that you do that and go Well, why am I doing that? And the question to ask yourself is, is that really true? Why am I telling myself that story? Because what's on the other side of the story is running into examples of things that are something different. So for example, we all know the car, right? The car situation where confirmation with confirmation bias, where if I'm buying a red truck all sudden, I'm seeing red flags everywhere. See if you can apply that same theory to what it is that you're trying to achieve. And instead of sitting in your bubbles and saying, well, people don't care about this stuff, see if you can find the people who do. So I will be the biggest first step.

Yeah, that's a great, that's a great first step for sure. I remember when I was pregnant, I would like see pregnant ladies everywhere. Now it goes the pregnant ladies.

That's right. It's right there next step, the next step would be to once you start finding those people, right? See if you can make this curious experiment, right? We love to gamify things, our minds are very, very good at that. So make a game out of it, make a structure and say, Can I notice three things this week, I noticed three things today that are maybe more of what I want versus what I'm recognizing I have or my belief system has. And once you start finding those areas, those people those places, see if you can shift to hang out in those spaces. It's kind of the being able to put yourself around the people that you want to be more like, and which you'll recognize as your reality starts kind of being challenged. Right. And it's as hard as scary. There's this point of like, oh, you know, do I really do this and do I really belong here and the you know, the imposter syndrome comes up in the fear comes up in the news comes up. And and you know, at that point, you have a conscious choice. You can say, Okay, well, I want to stay safe and I'm not quite ready yet. And that's okay. Or you can say you know what, that space doesn't really serve me anymore. I want to go play over there and figure out what that looks like. And have fun with it and be creative with it. And don't expect it to be hard. It doesn't have to be hard. It doesn't have to take a long time. It can be fun. It can be easy. It can be simple. And the fun Are there you go, the more information you have, the easier it gets?

You know, you don't have to be a billionaire to hang out with the billionaires. That's right. That's right. We all have the same to you like, if you, if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room challenging you to get into your room. That's cool. Is there another step?

I think one of the biggest things that's there when you're on the other side, and you start recognizing and accepting this is this is still mind boggling to me is I've had the opportunity to talk to some of the most incredible people in the world, and you talk with them. And we have this perception of like, oh, well, they must be like this, or they must be like that. And we have this again, the Austin them right. And you have conversations, and no different from anybody else. Like everybody struggles, everybody has this, everybody has that going on. It's just the way that they address those things is going to be different, the level at which it is going to be different. But there's really, there's no difference in who they are versus who we are. There's there's absolutely nothing there. And so embrace that. See if you can find those pieces of what you admire about them in yourself and mirror that into their life into your own life. That'd be my biggest, biggest suggestion and assess this one I live by.

That's a great, I love those great tips. So good. If a family I hope you're paying attention to this and writing those down, those are writer downers. Those three steps I think can take you really far. And in going towards what you want. And I think first like making that decision, do what you want. And then stop being addicted to the old stories that you're telling yourself. Right. I think there's really there's an addiction there of the stories that you're telling yourself. And I think once you present a new story and get addicted to a noose. That's so good. That's just been so much fun to having you here today. Thank you so much for being here with us. Any last words for our audience? Before we let you go today?

Yes, I am. Like I'm getting I'm getting this message here. And I feel like I feel like there's somebody listening who really needs to hear this. There's a it's like a 30 minute interview with Bob with a late backdrop, Bob Proctor. And he talks about marathons. And he said, there's a difference between professional marathon runners, and people who just try to run marathons, there's a point in the marathon that will happen that you feel like you can not take another step, you feel like you're just done, right, you're ready to give up, you're ready to walk away, you feel like your body physically cannot take another step. And the difference between professional marathon runners is that they know that that is actually part of the process. And because of that, they can make it to the finish line. So if you're struggling with something, if there's something that's coming up and says, Oh my gosh, I don't I really don't know if I can see the next step. Remember that that's actually part of the process. And what's on the other side is growth and prosperity and expansion and everything you want. So take that next step. It becomes easier from there.

Wow, that's amazing. I really love that. And you know, the other side grass is greener it's a terrible thing to say that it's you know, that thing so often but as love the analogy of the marathon runner and like knowing that it's part of the process, chemotherapy, removing ourselves from within that stage where you're like, I can't do anything else and being like, looking at it from a bigger bass perspective of like, oh, that's just part of this. And on the other side of that is this amazing. rainbows and gold coins?

That's right. Like, let's get this right, like there's still stuff that's gonna come out. Yeah. And and you're gonna be okay.

Yeah, and for the marathon runner, maybe it's like hamburgers and milkshakes on the other side. So great Marsha, can you tell us a little bit more about where to find out more about you and what you want us to do to connect with you?

Oh, absolutely. You can find me at connect with Marsha that calm and as Ma sha connect with Marsha that comm you will find all of my current projects going on right now my businesses and there's a calendar link if you want to get in touch I would love to help support you in any way shape or form. And yes, if anything there speaks to you and let's let's connect.

So well. Thank you so much for being here and if I you today, but you finally make sure you connect, reach out to Marsha give her some love. And review and rate this episode. Give her some love. And thank you for being a guest today. Marsha. It's been so much fun. How are you here?

chelleicheThank you so much, Michelle.

It's been a pleasure. All right, Amplify You family. Take care. Have a great week. We'll see you again next week