Ask the Expert Speak Up Be Seen & Be Heard with Colleen Biggs

This is amplify you the podcast about you discovering your message and broadcasting it to the world. If you're a coach, author or speaker, you'll want to tune in. If you're looking for the best return on your time investment. To get your message out to the world in a bigger weight. We're giving you full access behind the scenes look of how we're running our podcasts, how our clients have found success, and what you can do to launch your podcast today. The world needs your message. I'm Michelle Abraham, the host. Join my family as we unleash your unique genius and find the connections you need to launch your adventure today. Join us and let's get amplified. Welcome amplify your family Michelle Abraham, your host here. Today I'm bringing you an ask the expert interview with someone who I have just recently met. But you know why? You know there's so serendipitous meetings that you know, you're meant to meet, not just once, not twice, not three times or four times in one week, somebody randomly reached out to me and said you need to connect with Colleen thig. So welcome Colleen, welcome to the show. I want to tell our audience a little bit more about you. But first, just wanted to say hi.

Hi, Michelle. Thanks for having me here. I'm super excited.

Which is why for people in when we told me I needed to connect with you. And I love that we speak such similar language and it's so great to see. So what's been the pivotal part of your success of building a huge community of female entrepreneurs.

Sound familiar guys? I feel a calling saying I say to you, I love it. It just reiterates what she's saying is so true. Like I didn't grow my business until I got my butt out there and spent so many hours on in person meetings and on stages and connecting with people and meeting people. And now it's this is the ninth hour on Zoom today. We're so lucky we don't have to leave leave the house to get on all these calls now. But you know, I think that's so important is just that connection. building the relationships, I think relationships are our new currency or currency of the future. What do you think about that?

Yes, and I think it always has been. So I look at the currencies in my life are time, energy and money. Because slapping money at something could be really easy for me to do. But to put the energy into it, and the time into it, that's where it's tough. So when you look at currency, as money, time and energy, you should be putting time and energy into the people that matter the most. So when you meet someone in a networking event, you should be following up with them. If you want to get to know them better. Sometimes you meet someone and you're like, I don't see how there could be any mutual benefit. Here, we have nothing in common. Yet, you know, they're dying to follow up with you or you know it, you have to pick and choose, I remember making these mistakes. The very first time I started networking, I followed up with everybody, there would be like 50 people, every time I was on a networking event, you know, I'm following up with every single person. And let me tell you, that's a lot. So pick and choose, you know, a handful of people it might be dependent upon if there's 100 people there might be 10 that you're following up with, but be active. But what the thing that pisses me off the most Michelle, and I'll be honest, when you attend a networking event in person, you don't sit on your cell phone talking, or you don't you know, you're not texting and like ignoring everyone around you, you're probably physically up walking around talking to people, people are coming and talking to you. And you're having a conversation. Yeah, I see so many people on networking events, returning emails, on the phone. So they're just muted. Most of the time, some people are even have their video off. And then they go into a room, and they're not even there. So you don't even get to network with them. It's like, I don't even know why you're here. Because we wouldn't physically do that. So be present, where you go and block that time off. But there is no better time spent than getting yourself out there telling everybody what you do, being confident about being confident about it, and meeting people and then cultivating and following up on those relationships later.

Yeah, I love that it doesn't it bugs me so much when people sit on zoom with the camera off when they came to something that's interactive or meaningful, I agree with you. What's the point? What's the point of being there?

I agree. I agree.

Where do you think? Where do you think connection and collaboration is coming to? Where do you think is headed in business in the next few years?

Wow. Well, I mean, I feel like we have just been spun and put on top of our heads in the past couple of years, honestly. But if we go back and look at movies, which is kind of a good gauge, right, they're doing a lot of AI, they're, you know, they had flat screen TVs and plasma TVs way before when we had like the big ones, you know. And so I'm thinking about that, I'm thinking, I just keep going to that thinking, we're not going to go, we're not going to go backwards, we're only going to keep progressing forward. Now that people understand more of the value of their time, they're traveling maybe a little bit less in person stuff. And they're quickly being able to do things online. You know, I've been doing these online meetings for like, 10 years, I was on Zoom and zoom wasn't cool. Before they even blew up. I was doing it because I was recording meetings. And that was one of the ones that you could use for recording and mainly like doctors and medical and attorneys used it then Right. But that's how I was speaking to my clients and I would do quality assurance calls, those types of things that needed to be recorded. So I feel that we're only going to progress in technology moving forward that and you know, look at how we can talk to people now we can reach out to one to many for through Facebook, making a post through Instagram, through LinkedIn, and through doing a video anywhere you are with your phone. Remember, we had to have like, if you remember back, we had to have like, Yeah, we had to have like everything set up with cameras and video cameras on shoot, you know, you'd have to set up and do all this stuff to do a video. Now we our phones are so clear with the cameras, we can just do them from our cameras and have a great video with like a little stand, you know, and you don't even need all that. So I really feel like technology is going to progress, which means we can attend many things. You have the opportunity to touch more people today than you ever did before with flying across the country and speaking, you know, on one stage and it took me three days for flying in speaking and flying home. Now I've been able to speak on stage in India. I you know, did an event that morning for my company and had a client call that afternoon and by that evening I was speaking on a different stage in Florida. So that was all in one day, like literally. So think about the opportunities that are available to you now as an entrepreneur and be grateful for it have faith to know that your clients are out there and what attracts them. To You is a you showing up be you being your authentic self, which is quirky, and whatever it is, but it leaves an impression on other people, right? If you're the first one to speak up at a networking event, and you just take the lead in the room, like I teach people how to do that, because it works, they automatically just assume that you establish yourself is that they think you're the leader. And then they just kind of follow whatever you say. And then they're like, hey, I really like you. And I want to get to know you a little bit better, right? So your confidence and you being sure about your product and what you're, what you're passionate about. And what you do is so crucial today, I can't even I can't even stress it enough. Just that piece. Just that piece of you being confident about what you sell is so important. Because you're selling yourself, your products, your services, all that come later, you're just out there selling yourself. So try not to like sell all your crap on people in a networking event and just sell yourself and who you are. They'll be attracted to you and the right people will find you it happens to me all the time. Yeah, I

totally agree. I love it. Now, your podcast, Lita for women, is I love to be here. You just getting to know you and your podcasts over the last little while. I love the way that you you've positioned your podcasts and you help your community have more visibility through your podcast. Can you share a little bit about that? Yeah,

Love it. Listeners just pulling back like clean descent, that is a brilliant strategy and a really great way to look at your podcasts as a tool for collaboration for networking, for spotlighting your clients, your programs. I think that's a really brilliant way that's not being used a lot in the podcasting space. That's a very much overlooked ability to to kind of use your podcasts in that way. And I think with when relationships and we're building relationships, I love my podcast to be able to offer people I want to get to know better to come on my show, right? So it's a great network expander. Let's just put it that way. Yeah, network center. So for our listeners that are listening at home or maybe thinking about starting a podcast, or they're an expert or author coach, and they want to get more visibility on a platform, they want to start getting some more traction. Maybe they've been doing a few networking things here and there. What are three things that you can three things that you can share with them that will help get them moving?

Absolutely. One of the best things that you said this, and I just want to bring it back up again, is that we with the podcast, you get to lead with service, you get to offer someone that platform first. And then that law of reciprocity comes into play oftentimes and asking, asking for that return guessing slot is great. It's so interesting that you said guesting and being a networking and speaking I think those I can contribute those three things. Exactly. You said to the success of my business as well. It's been the fastest path to having more success of those three things. And I couldn't agree more with those three that you that you brought up which you say that women in business like I love that I love the women in business thing. And I feel like there's just so much connection, so much heart, with women in business, how else can we support each other? Like, I feel like there's a big opportunity there is becoming a big part of the entrepreneurial market. How can us women help each other you know, like, oh, you know, all boats rise the tide together, right? So how do you see it happening that we can also pray to the more?

I think one of the big things is and I do this with all my clients. I've done this for so many years and that is what really has made me stand out as a coach is I meet people where they're at. I think it's so important to realize that where someone is is just where they're at, it's not who they are. And there's a lot of judgment out there and I am so thankful that God gave me these eyes that I get to see through because I don't see that in other people. I don't see judgment. I just see how awesome they are. I see their goodness, right. So I really believe that and I say lead up and leave the ladder down right and lead up is like a verb to Right. It's like a verb. It's an adjective. It's a noun. It's everything that we should be doing. You have to lead first, when we see another woman move a mountain, then we know it's possible. It's think about the Olympics, when someone breaks a record, then seven people right behind them break a record that fast. However, we could go three years without a record being broken. But as soon as one person does it, because they think it's impossible, and everyone does it, but in the word, impossible, is it impossible. So A, we have to be the ones that are the leaders that show the others, then Never be afraid to collaborate and take others with you. Feeling like oh my gosh, but they could steal my customers never has anyone stolen one of my customers ever, by the way, by the way, never has that ever happened. So I think it's about collaboration. And no matter who you are, if you're in corporate America, if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a stay at home, mom, if you're trying to get out of corporate America and start your own business, we need to meet people where they're at. And so, you know, the communities I build, because I'm building a new community right now for me, and people that love you know, being around me and, and want more, you know, development and goal setting and accountability, which is what I do with my current clients right now, but doing it on a different level where everyone has the opportunity. This is for someone, you know, I have college students and stay at home moms and female entrepreneurs and people in in corporate America, you do not have to be a female entrepreneur, to have a drive to want to collaborate and meet other people. There's a fun little networking event, I go to once a once a month, where there's ladies in there that are retired. And let me tell you what, they have a lot of wisdom. So you tap into that as much as you can. And I ask them all kinds of questions. And I'm not obviously I'm not going to get business from them. But let me tell you, I get so much wisdom from them. And I learned from them. So I think when we have our perspective just looks a little bit different when we go into things, and always be looking to collaborate and assist other people and never be afraid to open a door first for someone not expecting them to open a door for you. Hmm,

is that no, that's some wisdom right there. Yeah, and just dropping the looking through a lens of like, how can we help each other? How can we support each other is is I think the way that of the way that it needs to be without the judgment. So I love what you're saying, Kelly, where can we connect with you next? And our listeners, I'm sure are like, Oh my God, we got to connect with her because you do such a great job. Like you said, walking your talk. You're magnetizing people want to connect with you, where can they reach out to you?

Yeah, there's a lot of places. So I definitely encourage you to follow me Lita for women everywhere, which is on every social media channel, LinkedIn, as well as Lita for women.com. But I also encourage you to go to Colleen Biggs dotnet, or inner circle with Coleen dotnet, there's another place that you can connect with me, that's going to be a closer community that I'm building for the ladies like I have in my book club, right? The ones that are action taking, they want to set goals, they want to make changes in their businesses, they're ready to grow, they want to grow, they're looking to change, they want to set goals, that's really the community that I'm building and those ladies are the ones that you know, are really focused on those areas in their life. So again, all my communities provide visibility and they provide you to be seen be heard and be visible. But you know, the different communities provide a little bit of different things so you can find me anywhere online like I said at lead up for women, or you can find me on LinkedIn at calling Biggs to

thank you see the inner circle and again,

yeah, it's www dot inner circle with Colleen dotnet