Wickedly Branded: Marketing, Magic, & The Messy Middle

Part 2: Burn It Down: Brand Clarity After Losing Everything | Alara Sage

Beverly Cornell Season 5 Episode 23

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⚠️  This episode contains sensitive topics such as explicit language; discretion is advised!

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 this episode, we dive into true embodiment, exploring what it means to speak your truth, trust your power, and market your brand through radical self-ownership. We discuss the connection between sexual energy, creation, and wealth, and how shame and societal conditioning have held women back. From mastering the mind to reclaiming pleasure and making bold moves, this is a powerful reclamation. If you’ve ever felt “too much” or afraid to share your message, this is your permission to embrace being wildly and Wickedly Branded.

Three Key  Marketing Topics Discussed:

  1. The Edge of Creation: We explore the “edge”, the place where fear and desire meet, and how marketing from that place builds brand resonance and deep client connection.
  2. Embodied Business Systems: Forget rigid to-do lists. Alara shares how she runs her business with flow, embodiment, and internal wisdom guiding her every move.
  3. Magnetism Through Stillness: Discover how meditation, embodiment, and conscious breath reset your nervous system and amplify your brand’s energetic reach.

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Speaker:

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:

One of my content buckets is about confidence and visibility because when I reBranded in March, I reBranded from BC and Associates Marketing to Wickedly Branded. And the shift. Yeah. I just got like chills as well. The shift in just the name was incredibly powerful. And I remember looking to my assistant, I said, I don't know if I'm ready for all this, but this is it. It's pushing the button. We're doing it. And it wasn't that I didn't trust myself necessarily. It was more of letting it go of I'm not sure what this is gonna bring, but I'm like, down for the ride, whatever that looks like. And I remember looking at her and saying, let's do it. And when we did it, we pushed the button. It was something very shifted in the universe that happened. And I've never felt more aligned, never felt more in my purpose, zone of genius. All the words people use in my power than. That was the first step. And every step since then has been more confident in, I can handle this power, in my awareness and trust of myself with this gift that I have been given. And I feel like so many of the entrepreneurs I work with are in that same space. They have this gift, they have this magic, they have all this stuff in their head that's tamping it down. I call'em the flying monkeys. So I have a lot of Wizard of Oz and Wickedly Branded. So I talk about imposter syndrome and perfectionism and self-doubt, and all those things are the flying monkeys that just when you think you're gonna get it all together, then the flying monkeys come at you and you're like, what do I do now? So you've looked for the man behind the curtain and you realize that's not fit, not real. So not another certification, not another course, not another, whatever's gonna fix the problem. It's you that you need to work on. Then the self doubt and the perfectionism and the imposter syndrome raise their ugly rearing heads and say, oh no, you're not enough And then you have to unpack the should suitcase of, I don't need to carry this, I don't need to carry that. I can do this. But what you're saying, Alara is so true to me and my experience and what I see with my clients on their journey. And I only work with women as well, for the most part. I have a couple men who I feel are enlightened and lovely men who get it and are in that same space. My marketing speaks to them. But there's a lot of naysayers. There's a lot of people who may not even believe in this Alara. There's a lot of people who this scares the crap out of them. So what do you say to those people?

Alara:

I don't really say anything to them. I don't need to say anything to them. I don't need to say anything to them. I don't need naysayers to change who they are. They wanna be a naysayer if they don't wanna believe more power to them. I'm all about everybody being in their lane and being what lights them up. The people that I attract, of course, believe in what I do, and I'm not here to defend or try to preach this. I am here very much to carry these frequencies because I believe that when we say yes to these frequencies, those of us who have a deep knowing we are transforming humanity on the level of consciousness. And that hits those naysayers and all of the structures of the patriarch in a completely different way. We don't need to fight them. I just let them go, let them be whoever they are, I will come at it on a much more magical and subtle frequency. That they won't even know that it's happening to them. And then all of a sudden one day they're like maybe it is possible. Because I've had that happen.

Beverly:

Oh, this is such a big conversation. Alara I'm married to a soldier. Okay? Talk about patriarchy embedded in every system that exists in it. There are women soldiers, but it's a very strong system of that. It's like everywhere. And maybe that's the problem I've experienced. Maybe that's my fault because maybe I thought I had to fight it in some way and maybe I need to let that fight go. So that's interesting that you say that. I feel like I've had to call it for what it is, name it out loud for people to see it. And maybe I don't need to do that as much. Maybe that's not a fight that I have to actually be having.

Alara:

I definitely call things out and name things, but I just don't get into a fight about it because as soon as I feel that somebody's not in a receptive manner it doesn't matter anymore. They're just gonna push. Yeah. Whatever that is. You be, you my love. I will love you regardless, because they're not available. To hear other perspectives or receive. Otherwise it's like there's a hard shell and you're just sitting there hammering on it.

Beverly:

Yeah. Is there a belief or pattern that you've had to release in order to finally get to this place? Is there beliefs and patterns that you've worked harder to remove that have been obstacles for you?

Alara:

Yeah, definitely the belief that, desiring wealth was somehow wrong or bad. And also the belief that, sexual energy is promiscuous, it's dirty, it's manipulation. That most beautiful realization I had with that was the mother took me back to when I was like three years old and my sexual energy came on as it does with everybody. It's innocent. Our sexual energy is innately innocent. And I got to reclaim my innocence in that moment. Because you don't know, all you know is that when you touch yourself it feels good. And how could that be wrong? That is not wrong. That's innate. It's wisdom in our bodies. And it's so interesting'cause in society it's like we're manipulated and sold sex and then we're shamed for it simultaneously, right? So it's oh here, let's use sex to manipulate and sell it to you. But no, if you are in your sexual power, you are a slut, you're a whore. That's sinful. That's a shame. That's disgusting. And I stand very strongly'cause it's very much of what I do is teach erotic wealth. That it is natural, it is who we are innately. And anything can be manipulation. Anything can be extortion. It's up to us. It is again, the responsibility of power. Anytime you hold power, you are responsible for that power. What are you gonna do with that energy? That's up to you. It has nothing to do with sexual energy. That's the energy of power. So I stand very strongly for women in reclaiming this and what does that mean for them and their bodies and their businesses, and how they bring that erotic wealth through themselves and re-own it. And it feels good and trust it. Because again, it is that stream of creation through you.

Beverly:

I love it so much. So one of the other things that we talk about is activation. We talk about awakening the magic. So now you've a awakened it, right? Now you know it exists. You feel a little bit and it feels good. And now you're activating the magic you have in your business. We call it the activation of that part of it, which is the real feelings. You have your sole purpose and everything out in the world. The messaging, the logo, all of that. That's my Wickedly Branded right now, existing in a space that is embodying the voice of my magic. How have you brought your voice, your magic? How have you activated it in the world? What does that look like for you?

Alara:

It was always about saying the things, doing the things that scared the shit outta me, there was a point where my voice was activated in these sound healing and Kali Maa was working with me and she was like, open your mouth and say what's coming through? And it was speaking in tongue and it was these tones and this very powerful sound healing. And it triggered deep trauma within me'cause I'd always been told I was tone deaf. I kept saying I can't sing. And she kept saying, this is not singing. Open your mouth and say the thing. It took me years to show up consistently. I kept showing up whenever I was told, by my intuition, by the mother. I would go online, live and open my mouth and let it come out. And the whole time I'm like, I can't sing. I don't know what I'm doing. Nobody's gonna this is so weird. And what is this? Showing up consistently because again, that inner voice is telling me to, even though I feel the fear, even though I feel the doubt, even though I feel all the things. I trust that voice is for me because it always comes through loving. It is a love within me. It loves me and it is here for me. And I trust that above fear. I trust that above, other people.'cause I've been shamed online. I've had women attack me. And it doesn't matter, like I know where I'm coming from, I know why I'm doing what I do. So it's that consistent action on what I feel I'm supposed to do no matter what.

Beverly:

So what part of the thing that you're supposed to do scares you? What part of that are you most proud? And maybe that proud is not the word, but most excited to share that once actually held you back? Because I feel like when I talk about Wickedly Branded and I talk about confidence and visibility and all those things, I used to think like the work should speak for itself and I should just to put my head down and do the work. And now I share and I proclaim and I excitedly go on other people's podcasts and talk about my journey. Although I do feel vulnerable sometimes.'cause you're right, people can be very mean. However, I know that this is what I'm supposed to do. Despite that fear, despite that what I even know will happen, I still do the thing knowing that this is what I know I'm supposed to do. Is there some part of your message or your brand that you're really excited about or proud of to share that actually once was like holding you back?

Alara:

It's always been the conversation of sex, power, and money. And that's where I've been shamed. I've never been shamed when I've been vulnerable. It's when I'm speaking to the power of the sexual current, the erotic current, the arousal within us and how women can use that to create, that's when I get shamed, right? That's when the feminine attacks me. Men never attacked me in that state. It's always been the woman because of what I am exposing. I'm exposing deep pains. And again, I had to go through that first and foremost in myself. I did not want to speak about sex. I did not want to speak about money. I did not want to speak about power. I didn't wanna speak about any of that. And it was that, again, that internal wisdom that kept saying, this is what you need to speak to. And following that and pursuing that and being triggered in myself as I put content out there, and then putting it out there for a little while, and then being like, yeah, I don't need to do that. And retracting and then comes back around no, this is who you are. This is what you need to speak to. And I'm so passionate about it because through my journey of facing those deep wounds, I see how important it is. For women, and when women attack me or shame me, I don't see the attack or the shame. I see the wound in that woman that I'm triggering. And that is what makes me so passionate about this because I will no longer stand for shame in women. I will no longer stand for women having to, step into their masculine and be in this performance and bro market and all this shit that doesn't feel good to their bodies. I won't stand for it anymore. I won't stand for the oppression of our voices and our authenticity and our genius. I am very much for the power of the woman and everything that each woman in and of herself wants to be. Whatever she wants to be, I'm all for it.

Beverly:

You've shared a lot of your philosophy and your process and how you came away from shame around many of the things and where you focused now based on what you hear you're supposed to be doing, and you feel that power in. Let's talk about the business systems that have helped you become sustainable and do more of this kind of stuff. Has there been something specific that you've either automated, delegated, created, that have helped you be able to focus more on the philosophical part versus the doing part?

Alara:

For one, I don't try to do it all. Most of my business I didn't have assistance, but again, I don't subscribe to do lists. I have things I know need to get done, but again, my wisdom will always guide me in that process. I don't need to know how it's gonna get done. I don't need to know when it's gonna get done. There's a magic to how we embody, and that's that state of surrender that, when we are from a mental plane, like these are the things I need to get done there's no magic in that. There's a divine orchestration in everything, and there's always divine orchestration happening where, okay, I think something's gonna happen and it doesn't, it gets rerouted. And that was actually a much better time and date and moment for that to occur, right? So most of my business, I've done completely by myself outside of bookkeeping. I now have more assistance, but I don't think it's a requirement. It's about really where's the aliveness now, right? And what feels really good, what feels available to me to do now, and doing those things. And again, it's following through. It's the taking the action. I think most women, they either make a to-do list and they just take the action regardless, and they just suffer, or they just put everything on the back burner and they're not really looking at any of it or doing anything. So my system has been my internal wisdom and taking action on that, and that always creates the most amount of flow in my business. So I don't have to do all the things. I just have to do what is in front of my space right now.

Beverly:

So you said listen earlier, listen to yourself. Listen to the voice. Do you meditate? How do you quiet your mind to listen to?'cause I do feel like we live in a very noisy world, Alara. So how do we quiet the mind and quiet our space to be able to listen and hear what's being shared with us?

Alara:

That is a very good question, Beverly. You have to learn how to, first off, recognize the mind and its frequency. And learn how to quiet it. Learn how to master your mind, because your mind is a computer. And it gets programmed and it just spits everything out that has been told. That's what your mind does. And it'll do it on a subconscious level. 95% of your day is run by your subconscious mind. What has your subconscious mind been fed, right? Mastering your mind. Absolutely. I've meditated for many years and my mornings are mine. I am most creative in the mornings, but I do not give that creativity to anybody. That creativity is for me. I wake up, the first thing I do is I go to my altar. I just bless life, bless God, bless the mother, and then I meditate. And learn. I've learned how to master my mind, learn how to focus, learn how to not think, learn how to be in stillness, presence, isness, beingness, pure potential. And then I go out into Mother Gaia and I just be with her without any expectation. Some days I walk and conversely, the other days I jog and it's all about presence. Then I take a shower and I get ready and that takes me up until about 10. I get up at five, 10 o'clock in the morning is when technically I start. And then, I have very little on my plate every single day and most of my day is spent in meditation out in Mother Gaia, dancing in my erotic current, just being with myself. Because again, this is the feminine, this is magnetism. The more time we spend in these energies, the more magnetic we are. The more that when I do make a post, when I do come on to these podcasts it has a frequency to it. So mastering the mind is imperative, but we master the mind through the body. There's a trinity to everything, a trinity to creation, the law of one. And from that law of one is the three primary distortions of creation. There's lots of different ways to call it, but it's body, mind, spirit, the thing we hear all the time, but how many people are embodied? Very few. Even those spiritual mentors and guides. Embodiment is a lot of effort. Yes. That is something that you have to learn to do. You don't have to give yourself five hours like I do in the morning. That's just the point that I've come to, that I just fucking love myself so much. I can't do anything other than that. Excuse my language. But you can spend five minutes. You don't even have to spend five minutes in the morning. You can break it apart. One of the things I love to tell people is if you're first learning this, just pause throughout your day. You can set a timer on your watch. You can do it. Every time you go to the bathroom is something that, you start to create a rhythm around and you just pause, you breathe and do your body, feel your body go back to work. Go back to your things. It's not just in active embodiment. You actually reset your nervous system. You reconnect through the breath to your nervous system and your subconscious and conscious minds connect. There's biological aspects to conscious breath, so if it's just that, if that's where you start, that is huge, right? We all have to start from where we are at, and it just can be a tiny little step to the next thing of learning how to master your mind and be embodied in your power.

Beverly:

So many good things. In that answer, you gave Alara, I've meditated and there's times where I'm really good at staying focused and there's times where, like you said, the mind has been programmed to do other things and you get distracted. And I was recently diagnosed with A DHD, and so there's like this whole other side of my brain. I think it's my superpower. But I'm trying to learn to understand the power that it has. But there's this whole we live in a busy, noisy culture, right? And this idea of stillness, this idea of stopping this idea of five hours for your freaking self, oh my gosh. Alara go you. And I have children, and I'm sure you're teaching them this is awesome, but you're teaching them to give to themselves before they give to the world that is so important, to balance and root and ground yourself in your power before you give any of it away to anybody else. In some ways. I'm not there yet. Absolutely not.

Alara:

That's not for everybody. And I want the women to really hear that's not what you have to be. And this is not okay, this is the standard. It's really about. Each individual woman and what it really resonates and what is her life. And so again, I wanna be really clear on that.'cause I'm not trying to make anybody feel like that's what they have to be.

Beverly:

No, I just think it's awesome that you do. I'm not there. I am not in that place yet. If I can get my coffee, sit on my back porch and do some intentional breathing and intend for my day, I'm very happy. And that's 10, 15 minutes. So I'm not five hours. I'm an only child. I think I'm used to being with myself and I like myself. There are a lot of people who are not used to be by themselves and they turn on the tv or they turn on the device, or they call a friend. They can't still themselves enough to just be alone with themselves, which I find very fascinating from our culture that just sitting and being seems lazy, just sitting and being seems unproductive. So this idea of just being seems counterintuitive to everything our culture has. I was alone a lot more left my own imagination and devices and my own little world that I created where so many other people didn't have that experience and are very uncomfortable being in their own little world they've created for themselves. So my world exists with unicorns and rainbows and sparkles and magic wands and all the things, and I love it. And it's shiny and sparkly, and I have taken that into my work and into my world because it makes me happy, it brings me joy. It radiates for me the way I feel on the inside when I can share those symbols on the outside of what I'm doing. For my listeners Right Now, you've heard a lot, we've talked about a lot so far. And if this is resonating or connecting in any way, I would love for you to leave us a review and tell us like the thing that like struck your chord. Was it the pussy and the testicles, was it the five hours of meditating? Let us know because it helps us understand where you're at, what you're feeling, what's connecting with you. Or maybe there's somebody you know, maybe there's a friend that you know, is struggling with this, trying to be everything to everyone, and maybe this is exactly what they need to hear is a wake up call. It's okay to spend five hours on yourself. It's okay to not listen to the world. That doesn't treat us very well, that has been scared of us for a long time. Our power, our energy. So if this connects, I would love for you to share and, or send to a friend.'cause I think we need to have more of these kinds of conversations. We need to have powerful conversations. We are amazing creatures and tell, we fully accept that they win. I love this for lots of reasons. I'm gonna change things up a little bit in this conversation. If you've listened to one of my previous episodes, I have a magic hat round, which is my equivalent of the the rapid fire questions. There are lots of quite fun questions in here, and we'll just go through a few and see where it takes us.

Alara:

Beautiful.

Beverly:

What's been your most humbling lesson as an entrepreneur?

Alara:

That moment that I went to create everything back, and instead my business crumbled and I went into debt because I was literally in the energy of scarcity and lack.

Beverly:

If your brand had a theme song, what would it be and why?

Alara:

This girl is on fire? Because I feel like I'm always on fire.

Beverly:

I love it. What was the moment you realized your business was successful?

Alara:

When it felt really good. And when I had a deep reverence for everything that was happening, whether that be closing offers, clients coming in, new things being created, everything felt honorable.

Beverly:

What does something in your business that brings you pure, I'll call it joy, you can call it erotic energy. What is the thing that brings you pure joy about your business?

Alara:

Everything. I don't create anything in my business that isn't that literally.

Beverly:

What is one thing people overcomplicate about business or marketing? That's actually really simple

Alara:

Relevancy. Understanding that when you're in your genius, you're relevant to exactly who you need to be. Trying to figure out your relevancy from outside perspective is not the way. So again, that embodiment, that recognition of your genius automatically creates the relevancy for your unique clients.

Beverly:

Yes. What's been your most unexpected, serendipitous moment in business?

Alara:

Oh my god, I've had so many, so literally so many. I'll speak to one recently a woman invited me to be a co-creator of a erotic wealth in person luxury event in Dubai. And I had already been feeling that I was gonna be a part of some live events that I'm not creating. And sure enough, I got invited to two of'em this year. And I didn't do anything to make that happen. Nothing just dropped out of the sky.

Beverly:

Love that. Wonderful. So the next thing I have is a wand. And the wand is helps us time travel. And we're gonna go back to a very young Alara like think 18 years old. What is one piece of advice or belief that you wish you'd had at 18 that you have now?

Alara:

That her sexual energy is innocent and she can work with it and release her shame and learn to trust it.

Beverly:

What would she think of you now?

Alara:

It would blow her mind because she only knows it as deep pain. The fact that it would be me, right, would make her see it. But I think if it was somebody else, she'd be yeah, that's somebody else. That's not me. I experience it painfully.

Beverly:

So if I wave the wand and we go far into the future and we look at, once you're path in, this life is done. What legacy do you hope people will say about your work at your eulogy?

Alara:

Truly powering women and their authenticity and their sexual power, and creating a movement of remembrance that we are an exhaustible wealth. And we get to reclaim that here in the physical reality, not just as a beautiful spiritual metaphor.

Beverly:

So good. Okay. I'm gonna wave my wand and we're gonna come back to today. I hope. The trip was nice. I didn't give snacks, but I hope it was nice. The last thing I ask of everybody is a magical tip. What does being Wickedly Branded mean to you? And how do you show up Wickedly Branded? And what advice would you give to our listeners to be more Wickedly Branded?

Alara:

It kinda goes back to what I was saying about the thing that you feel called to speak to, or to say, or to write about, that also scares you because that's what I call the edge. It's the edge of creation. It's where pleasure meets pain, suffering meets grace, and that edge is where everything occurs, where creation is literally exists. So when we're willing to look at what we feel like we need to say, but it also scares us, that's where all the juiciness is. That's your edge, and it's unique for everybody.

Beverly:

So good. I love that. Alara where can our listeners connect with you and your work and hear more about what's up with you and what you're doing?

Alara:

Alarasage.com is my website and they can go on there and do what's called a wealth kink quiz and learn how wealth likes to move through them from five different blueprints. So it's really quite eye-opening for people. They love it. They feel very seen, and a lot of my clients had immediate shifts just simply from that information. And then I'm on social media, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Substack, YouTube at Alara Sage.

Beverly:

Awesome. I love it. Thank you so much for being with us today and having this incredible conversation.

Alara:

It was really incredible. Thank you, Beverly.

Beverly:

To my listeners, I really hope today's episode maybe lit a little fire under you, maybe a little bit more erotic wealth for you, and gave you some new ideas, and most of all, inspired you to take some action in some area of your life, whether it's to meditate more, whether it's to lean more on the edge and to get more creative. Maybe it's to create from your womb. But here's the thing. Your message matters. Your work deeply matters, and the world needs to hear what you only, you have to say. Marketing isn't just about visibility. It's about impact. It's about connecting with the right people in a way that feels deeply true to you. So keep showing up. Keep sharing your brilliance and keep making your magic in the world. And hey, if you ever feel stuck, know that you don't have to do it alone. Both Alara and I are here to help you turn your little spark into a wildfire. Until next time, dare to be Wickedly Branded.

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