Part 2: From Silicon Valley to Clarity: A Strategy that Lasts | Nathalie Doremieux

Listen to Part 1 here!

Welcome to Spark & Ignite Your Marketing, the podcast where real conversations meet real strategies. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, founder and fairy godmother of brand clarity at Wickedly Branded. With over 25 years of experience, I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs awaken their brand magic, attract the right people, and build businesses that light them up.

In Part 2 of this conversation, we continue our conversation with Nathalie Doremieux, co-founder of The Membership Lab and Podcast Leadflow, on what it really means to grow with intention, clarity, and confidence. We unpack how Nathalie supported top names with scalable backend systems, how AI and automation can create more human connections (not less), and why clarity is the catalyst that unlocks it all. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by AI or like you’re “not wired” to be an entrepreneur, this episode will be your new favorite permission slip.

Three Key  Marketing Topics Discussed:

1. Clarity unlocks trust and trust unlocks freedom: Nathalie shares how high-level entrepreneurs like James Wedmore didn’t micromanage; they just communicated with clarity, making trust and execution seamless.
2. AI isn’t the enemy of connection, it’s the gateway: Discover how tools like Podcast Leadflow use automation to create personalized, real-time client connections from content you’ve already made.
3. Systems aren’t cold, they’re liberating: With the correct flywheel in place, you can clone yourself, scale intentionally, and focus your energy where it matters most.

Follow Nathalie:
Nathalie Doremieux | LinkedIn
Nathalie Doremieux | Facebook
Podcast LeadFlow | Website
The Membership Lab | Website

Transcript

Speaker: 0:09

Hello. Before we dive into part two of this episode, I gotta ask, did you catch part one? If not, hit pause real quick. You'll wanna start from the beginning to get the full effect. The link to part one is right down in the description below. Go ahead, catch up, and we'll be right here waiting for you. Ready to dive into part two when you're all set. It's worth it, I promise.

Beverly: 0:28

In your application, you mentioned a couple of names, James Wedmore and Kate Northrop that you've worked with. Can you maybe talk a little bit how you've helped them and what that looks like for them?

Nathalie: 0:37

Yeah. So for James Wedmore, now I don't know if you follow him, but he has this new program, business by Design. But before I did that, it was the video guy. And that's in that era when we were still doing websites and sales pages. So basically we were the tech behind the landing pages, the free video series and all that stuff. Yeah. So basically that's a great example where he was in his zone of genius. This is what I want to do. Yeah. There is like a designer, this is what it's going to look like. Let's make the automation, let's make the take happen. And when you are in a team like that when roles are, really clearly defined. Then he doesn't have to worry about, like even looking into that, so that's an example. We help him through several launches, actually, all of his launches. I still have the website. It was called the WP Help Club. And if you look, there is a tag line and it says, James Wedmore says, I don't make a move when it comes to my websites. I don't make a move without Nathalie and Olivier. And that was like the best testimonial I've ever had for people. And that's what we were, because he needed something, this is what I need. And then he wouldn't think twice about how it was gonna get done. To me it's this is what I need. Like we know where he is right now. How much he has grown and how he's actually changed direction, just because that was his vision. So with Kate Northrop, this is at the time where she had a book, but same thing, landing pages for a book for, I think she was doing webinars at the time and things like that. So very similar, in the other zone of genius. So it was working more with actually a husband, like the tech who was the person that I was interacting with. And it's about this is the launch we are doing, this is what needs to happen on the site. And then you just make it happen, right? So these are, people that are really great at defining those boundaries and those roles. It's about building the right team. It's about trusting people. It's about being able to clearly articulate what it is that we want. Those were like great, client to work with because they basically say, I just need this, and then you can just go in and there is no micromanaging or anything like that.

Beverly: 2:50

What I hear you saying, and I know from what's our clients say, when you are clear, you are able to trust. Because you're able to communicate what you actually need and the result and the benefit you want at the end of the day. And then you find the people who have the expertise to execute that so that you can do the other things that you want. So when you are clear, clarity is a superpower in this to be able to do it. Now you have this AI side of it.'Cause even for us as our agency where AI and automation can make a huge difference in offloading some of those things as well. So that you are clear, I want my onboarding to be like this, whatever that is. And using AI and tools like Zapier and Maker and different things to help that be more streamlined and less manual. That's the perfect use of ai. And even in the example of podcast Leadflow, you said this, your podcast is being listened to and even your clients have mentioned different episodes, but there's no way for you to track that. You know the downloads you have, but it's not connecting it to you and your revenue, or you and your actual client base. So tools like AI and automation can now do that for you. They take off some of the heavy lifting for you. When you're clear and I want to do this, I'm gonna see these numbers. Because this is what I'm trying to do now. Those kinds of tools can do that. So that is, is the era we live in now, is we have more access to data and information and personalization than ever before. But it can all be automated in a way that feels very human if you are clear.

Nathalie: 4:25

Absolutely. We love ai. We've been using AI for five or six years now, back when we didn't have all these tools that we have right now. And there are like two major ways that we use AI one to automate. Which we already add automation tools, Zapier is not new, right? It's been there for a while. But also to accelerate and amplify, right?'Cause that's what AI allows us to do, accelerate and amplify. Now in the case of podcast Leadflow, what we're doing is we are using ai to customize.

Beverly: 4:58

Yeah.

Nathalie: 4:58

Because AI has this power of being able to get some knowledge. That, for example, you would get from a podcast episode, right? To get some context, which is the listener saying, this is the problem I have, this is what I've tried. And to be able to analyze and say, okay, this is where this person is, this is the framework. Ai, tell me what is our next step? And boom, it's going to send them an email. So AI is allowing you to make a connection. A human connection to start a conversation via email with a listener, where the email they're gonna get is going to be personalized to them based on what they share. So it's gonna say, okay, so your problem is, this and AI is going to get into thinking and come up with a plan or a first step just for them. This not only creates the connection cause you get CC'd on the email, right? So now you can reply and say, did you enjoy, this little free coaching, customized coaching. It's literally like having the listener sitting next to you and you ask them a couple of question and based on that, you give them a piece of advance. That's what it does. So in that case, we use AI to customize the experience further. We do that inside membership as well when we create tools for people to do the homework, right? So we are customizing it. We are re humanizing the automation just by making it unique, making it about them. And that also builds trust. Because it's very different when you sign up to get a PDF and everybody gets the same guide and I have nothing against, lead magnets. I have them. But if you go a little bit lower in the funnel where you want to actually make the connection.

Beverly: 6:42

Yes.

Nathalie: 6:43

That's when you do it. That's when you start a conversation. In fact, I have a client she used podcasts. You were talking about repurposing. And it's so important for podcasts, to show it, everywhere. Yes.'cause if you just send people to Apple and Spotify, guess what? These two platform, what they want them to stay over there. They don't care about your business. Yes. At all. So you have to share on a platform where you have control over on your website. Yes. And where you allow them to be able to take the next step if they're ready. Otherwise you are missing opportunities. And that's what AI can allow you to do.

Beverly: 7:17

We believe in the power of systems, and when you have a system, it also is freeing and liberating. Recently we did this whole thing called the growth flywheel. Have you heard of that concept? Essentially we have drafted out our entire funnel. Every step. Every touchpoint, what happens next if they say yes or no, what happens next? And based on the entire funnel, we have eight different steps in the funnel from awareness to adoration, which is when they're, referring you and all the things. So in there though, from awareness to adoration, we have metrics based on every single section that we're looking at related specifically to the funnel. And if it's on track or off track, based on last month's numbers and some benchmarks we've created for ourselves. But this growth flywheel is incredibly powerful to create a system. So who's accountable where, what tools are being used? What communications are happening here? How can we automate that thing? So just yesterday we automated something that we were doing manually because we could clearly see the system and where it could be automated and. I love the idea that it's accelerate, amplify, and personalize or customize because it is specifically customized to them based on the action that they took, exactly the choice that they made, they received that particular communication. I think I still hear a lot of business owners that are a little bit nervous about ai and it is a little complex. Prompt readiness is a superpower. There's some things that need to happen. People who have systems like yours, the podcast Leadflow, have developed a system within the AI model that is very customized to this particular task at hand. And that's what we're seeing more and more of is these very customized, task related chats and different things that can happen. And there are people who can lead you down that path to help you with those automations and systems. And it's liberating when you have a system that you know works, you know where everything sits. And that is the only way I believe that you can one, clone yourself into, you can scale. Yeah, absolutely. Without the burnout you have the focus, the flow, and without the burnout that is the overwhelmed over achievers calling card.

Nathalie: 9:22

Yeah. And one thing you said that is really important is that you first looked at what you were doing. So you want to automate a process that is actually something that you can put into a process. So there is no, it depends. That's right. My clients, when I hear it depends. That's not a process, right? When looking at AI can be overwhelming because you see all these people saying, look at this tool, look at that tool. That's not what I do. I don't look at all these tool. We look at AI as, can it help me solve a specific problems? So if you're wondering how should I use ai? Think about what are things where you would like to automate, save time. You feel like you're repeating yourself. Is there something that can be automated there? If you're running programs or clients, is there a tool. That you could create or someone could create to help your clients do their own work, build their confidence role play for sales calls, role play for dms, whatever it is. It's a practice tools, right? So think in terms of that, is there a gap or a problem that maybe AI can solve? And then you find the people to talk to, to see if it's feasible, if there are tools out there, if it needs to be custom built. I think it's a much better way to look at ai into how it benefits my business. Do I wanna automate, do I wanna add extra level of support for my clients? Do you wanna see if I can create tools to help them? Or do I want to try to personalize things, like we do with podcast Leadflow. And I think it's a much, much better angle and it's less overwhelming. Oh my gosh.'cause there is so much, like it's a full-time job to, to get what's going on with ai.

Beverly: 11:03

All the tools all the prompts, all the ways it can be used. There's writing tools, visual tools, video tools. It's how I felt for a long time about social media. All these things were changing so quickly. Algorithms are changing and we stepped away from being social media experts. That was really something I was always in the forefront of because I feel like that wasn't the value we were really providing. We were providing this whole clarity thing to make social media easier. And that's how we feel about ai. We're creating clarity to make AI easier for you. And so we do build custom brand bots for you based on your particular personalization so that you can. Accelerate, amplify and personalize far more than you can right now.'cause we know the prompts, we know what needs to be put into the role and the instructions and all the project files need to be in there. We can custom build that for you. With that in mind, if you're listening right now though, this concept of AI is feeling a little overwhelming and maybe what Nathalie has said about having that real clear picture, that first and then plugging in AI and automation where it makes sense. If that was something that was like really powerful for you, I'd love for you to drop us a note, leave us a review, let us know that was powerful for you. These are little tips that so many of our guests are leaving on this podcast that I believe are incredibly powerful for someone who is trying to do it all. So hearing your feedback is incredibly powerful for us to know what is really inspiring you today to inform you in different ways that you didn't know even was possible before. So I have a magic hat. The Magic Hat is like a rapid fire questions section. we'll answer a few and then we'll go to the next section. What is one marketing trend that needs to die already?

Nathalie: 12:42

Cold dms.

Beverly: 12:44

Ooh, please. What is the area you had to learn the most? Finance, hr, leadership, operations or marketing?

Nathalie: 12:50

Leadership.

Beverly: 12:51

Leadership. How did you learn?

Nathalie: 12:53

I'm still learning.

Beverly: 12:54

Yeah, me too.

Nathalie: 12:55

Leadership, like not being a boss, but being like a partner. And a leader like leadership in your team, in business. Leadership in driving conversations. Handling difficult clients, leadership in every handling your accountant. Things like that.

Beverly: 13:11

Clarity's huge for that too. When you have clarity, it's much easier to lead. What was the moment you realized your business was successful?

Nathalie: 13:17

Good question. Successful it's a complicated word, right? I guess I would say that moment when I got an email from James Wedmore again, because that was like the first big one where he said. I want you to help me make, it's the quote on my site. I want to help you make my dream a reality or something like that. And he wrote that and that was my quote on the website. And I met him two years ago, I think. I met him in the US, San Diego maybe. And I told him that, and he said, no, I didn't know. I just said it.

Beverly: 13:49

That was the perfect client for you, for sure. What's one book, podcast or entrepreneur that has made a lasting impact on your entrepreneurial journey?

Nathalie: 13:58

This one. It's the Go-Giver by Bob Berg. It's like a business fable. Oh. And it's about the power of giving gratitude and I see it as turn back around and held the next one in line kind of thing. Okay. And get a grip. Such a good book.

Beverly: 14:14

I'm not read either one of those. Yeah.

Nathalie: 14:17

A Grip is another business bubble. I've read it like two or three times Really. It's all about systems. You're gonna love it because it's all about systems. So the idea it's like traction. Get a grip is the story of a fake business. That is going through some trouble and somebody comes in from EOS to the team, so they fire people, people in the right seat and stuff like that. They understand the EOS model. On the concrete example. I

Beverly: 14:43

love that. We've been using EOS for 10 years. Actually I was part of a company that implemented EOS probably 20 years ago. It's been a part of my vernacular and my kind of systems thinking for a long time. Do you have an in unconventional tool or app that has become your secret weapon for your day to day work?

Nathalie: 16:11

I don't think I do. I don't do anything like crazy special, I keep it simple.

Beverly: 16:16

Simple could be the unconventional tool that people overcomplicate it. So Nathalie the simplicity could be the unconventional tool. Yeah. Here we go. Last question. What's been your biggest aha moment as an entrepreneur?

Nathalie: 16:29

So are you familiar with Fabienne Fredrickson? Fabienne Fredrickson, she's a US and French and she runs a business called Boldheart. And I was in a program in our mastermind and. We were in Paris at a retreat and we do an exercise about our entrepreneurial, how on how much of an entrepreneur are we? It's like a questionnaire. And I rate two out of 10, and then there are people next to me, eight and Fabienne is a 10. And then there is my friend Gita, she's a 10 as well, and I am a two. I'm like, okay, I'm less than, this is not for me, right? What am I doing here? I'm a fraud. And then she comes to me and she here too. And I said I don't know what to do about this. I know. I'm not like a risk taker. I'm more wired to have a job. I'm just in business because to support my husband. She said, but it's okay. We're not only try to make you from a two to a eight or a 10 because that's your superpower. You are a two. So that means that you are, with all these things, I let analytical and things like that. What this just mean is you need to surround yourself with people to help you in these areas. So you stay in your zone of genius. We're not gonna try to fix you. You are not broken.

Beverly: 17:39

No. And youre not.

Nathalie: 17:40

That's why I talk about you stay in your zone of brilliance and things like that. It all comes from her. Yeah. And that's really boosting my confidence because she said, you don't have that, but you have other things. Yes. She's show me a spreadsheet. And I'm like, no way I cannot stand a spreadsheet. So she has this amazing business, but she has people, helping her on these things that sound like easy for me, like natural thought of business. And to her she's no, because she stays in her lane. Yeah. And that's how she was, imagine if she was forcing herself to look at spreadsheets two hours a day, she would have no energy left and she would do nothing.

Beverly: 18:17

It's a good one though. So I also have a wand, Nathalie because I'm the fairy godmother. Brand clarity. So every fairy godmother needs a wand. I want to wave the wand and take us back to before maybe graduating or maybe just moving to the us Nathalie, what is one piece of advice you would give to her that you wish she had that would've helped her navigate life a little bit easier as an entrepreneur?

Nathalie: 18:40

So when we moved to the US we were not entrepreneurs, we were employees. What I would say is plan for the future.

Beverly: 18:48

In what way?

Nathalie: 18:49

Retirement. Think strategically about what you're gonna do with your money.

Beverly: 18:53

And what would she say about you now?

Nathalie: 18:55

What would she say? She'd say, I've come a long way. She'd say, I never thought that she would be able to do what you are doing. So I think she'd be proud.

Beverly: 19:05

Lovely if I go in the future and I go to many decades in the future, and they're looking at the legacy of Nathalie Doremieux, if they look back at her and look at her legacy of what she's built from a business perspective, what will people say about Nathalie?

Nathalie: 19:19

They will say that I was one of the key people that really pushed for creating better experiences inside online program and questioning, people that measure success by the amount of money that they make and not the results that their clients get, which is something that's always got me.

Beverly: 19:41

I like it, so I'm gonna wave the wand. And take us back to present day. What is one piece of actionable advice that you would give to our listeners today about how they could build, create, make more confidence in their business?

Nathalie: 19:56

I think depending on where you are, if you are in the flow, like you were saying, Beverly, then just great. But if you are feeling like not sure about what to do, maybe feel like you've started too many things. Many things is maybe taking a step back and really give yourself permission to say what it is that I really want. Are they things that I'm just doing just because they sound easy, but are they really what I want to do? Doing less but with more intention. So you don't get the burnout. So you don't get the overwhelm. And if it's just, like from the get go, if it's like just working part-time on my business and having the half the other half of the time to do other stuff, it's okay. Just saying, I wanna work four days a week. Just make it happen and just build the business around that lifestyle. I think that's the key to staying motivated, getting results, being in the flow, the right energy. Where you attract, good things, you attract a partner, right? What are you telling the universe? Yes. I want client, do you really, is that really what you want to do? So it's really getting that clarity. Sometimes the solution is not as complicated and as hard, but it takes that first step to say what it is that I really want. How do I simplify and I do more of what I want.

Beverly: 21:12

I call it the should suitcase you, you have a checklist of shoulds. And just because it the suitcase is full of shoulds doesn't mean you can't take them out of the suitcase and have a little bit lighter of a load to go forward with. I feel like women's particularly have all the shoulds and we can define, redefine what we want as opposed to should, what we could be doing versus what we should be doing, what we can be doing because we want to do it, not necessarily what we should be doing. And redefining what that looks like for ourselves as mothers, as wives, as daughters, as all of the roles that we play in this world and that. We live in a really cool time to be able to create exactly what works for us if we're intentional. I do summer Fridays, so I don't work on Fridays in the summer'cause my son is home and I wanna be able to go take him to the pool or whatever and I might do a little bit in the morning or whatever, but I really keep that kind of sacred at the beginning of the year. Every year I block off several long weekends to go see my girlfriends and different things that I have in my life. I block off time to go on a vacation, a couple vacations with my husband and my child. I am very intentional about my time'cause it's so finite that you cannot get back. I'm so intentional with where I spend my time, that everything is clear for me now of what I should and should not be doing. But that's such great advice. Nathalie. I love that so much because. When we are clear, we are able to create something far more powerful for ourselves, both from a business perspec perspective, but it also bleeds into our other parts of our lives when we're lit up, when we're in our flow, that just makes us better humans and more fun to be around. And gosh, the world needs way more of that now than ever. Nathalie this is wonderful. Where can our listeners connect with you, learn more about the Membership lab, the podcast Leadflow?

Nathalie: 23:03

So for the Membership lab you can go to the membership lab.com/gift. And here there are a bunch of free resources. If you wanna get into that, there are stuff about AI as well. And for Podcast Leadflow, you can just go to podcast Leadflow.com. To find out more about podcast Leadflow, book a call. If you would like to chat about how this could work for you. I do free consultations. I've got like over a thousand of them in my Evernote, and that's a great way for me to keep a pulse, where people are at and I learn as much as they do, and I try to provide lots of value. So I love to talk to people. That's my way of knowing where people are at and what excites me, and what solution I can create for people.

Beverly: 23:46

So good. Thank you, Nathalie. This has been so fun to talk about clarity and systems and AI and confidence. I am so honored to be able to talk to people just like you who are doing it and conquering it and doing things even like this, like a podcast that might be just a little bit hard for you to do, but doing it anyway because you know it's what your business needs. So kudos to you for spending the time with me this today, and it's been a pure pleasure.

Nathalie: 24:14

Thank you so much for having me,

Beverly: 24:15

and if you're listening here today and thinking, wow I want this kind of clarity and confidence in my brand, I would love for you to set up a a clarity call with me. Again, a 15 minute, no charge, no fee chat, just to see what the best next step might be for you. Or if you need more help with your courses and with your podcast conversions, then just make sure you reach out to Nathalie,'cause she's a great resource for you. I hope you found this episode of the Spark Ignite Your Marketing podcast as fun and as aspiring as I did. I hope you stay tuned for more episodes and until next time, keep sparking and igniting.