What If Everything Starts With Inner Purpose? | Audrey Seymour

What if the answer you've been searching for isn't out there at all?

In this episode of Marketing, Magic and the Messy Middle: Wickedly Branded®, Beverly Cornell sits down with Audrey Seymour, Master Certified Coach, founder of Clear Change Group, and co-author of the upcoming book True Purpose: Unleash the Power of the Person You're Meant to Be.

With a background in mathematics, software engineering, and leadership, Audrey shares the unexpected journey that led her from high-pressure tech environments to helping leaders reconnect with their purpose, inner wisdom, and authentic direction.

Together, Beverly and Audrey explore why so many high-achieving women become disconnected from themselves, how people-pleasing and perfectionism quietly fuel burnout, and why visibility starts long before you ever post on social media.

This conversation is a powerful reminder that your most meaningful work happens when you stop building from the outside in and start leading from the inside out.

Key Marketing Topics

1. Authentic Visibility Starts with Inner Alignment

Many entrepreneurs struggle with visibility because they are trying to market a version of themselves that doesn't fully reflect who they are. When your message is rooted in purpose and personal truth, marketing becomes more natural, magnetic, and sustainable.

2. Your Brand Is an Expression of Who You Are

Audrey shares how discovering her purpose transformed her brand messaging, positioning, and client attraction. The strongest brands are built when identity, purpose, and marketing work together.

3. Burnout Is Often a Branding Problem

Many business owners build businesses around expectations rather than alignment. When your work, message, and values are disconnected, marketing feels heavier and growth becomes harder to sustain.

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Website: ClearChangeGroup.com

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Transcript

Beverly 0:00

Did you know that studies show that a majority of professionals feel disengaged in their work and that many leaders quietly wonder, is this really what I'm meant to be doing? Welcome to the Wickedly Branded Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell. I'm the founder and fairy godmother here at Wickedly Branded, and today's guest is Audrey Seymour. She's a master certified coach and founder of Clear Change Group, where she helps leaders reconnect with their purpose, direction, and their own inner wisdom. With a background in software development and a master's degree in mathematics, Audrey Blends logic and intuition in a really powerful way. She's been coaching since 2003 and is a co-author of the upcoming book, true Purpose Unleash The Power of the Person You're Meant To Be. Audrey, welcome to Wick of the Branded podcast today.

Audrey 0:40

Thank you. Thank you for the invitation.

Beverly 0:42

I am excited to talk to you. The background from mathematics. To coaching Seems like a really interesting right brain left brain connection. Talk about how you got to here, because I feel like that's like you went down a path and then you like did a right turn.

Audrey 0:57

Yeah. I started out in software 'cause that's a real natural fit for bath background in math. And I was a software development manager and lead engineer at the time. It was a lot of fun. I did video games and geophysics, exploration, medical imaging. But it's a real high pressure environment. intense deadlines, turf wars, all that kind of thing. And over time, I developed these repetitive stress injuries. I had carpal tunnel, tendonitis, and a pinched nerve in my neck. And in those days, I felt what I need to do is just push through the pain, right? But the doctor said the next thing that was coming up for me was fusing my neck. And I was like, whoa, whoa. Because I'd heard bad things about that kind of surgery. I didn't know what to do because I couldn't leave because I figured I'd never get a job in that industry again because I was in charge of a major piece of a multimillion dollar client project. So I was panicking and didn't know what to do. And then very fortunately, a friend of mine had a training company and he lost his business manager. So he said, come help me run my business. And so it was like, oh my gosh. So I trained someone at the software company to do what I was doing and started working for the My friend. But the interesting thing was he wanted an internal coach and he sent me to coaching school.

Beverly 2:06

Oh, interesting.

Audrey 2:07

So long story short, I fell in love with coaching and I said, wow, this is amazing. And I didn't really know much about coaching, but it was just like so powerful and life changing. I fell in love with it. So I gradually trained someone to take over that job while I grew my business, and that's how I landed in coaching.

Beverly 2:23

so what, what about coaching school would clicked for you or made you realize this is what I was meant to do? what was it about school?

Audrey 2:30

God, that's interesting. I originally I thought maybe coaching was just wanna be therapy. I didn't, when I didn't know much about it, but then I realized, these are like. they talk about powerful questions, and you learn to ask powerful questions that take people deep inside and look at what they need to change within so they can change what's outside in their life. And so I love things that are life changing, and that was life changing.

Beverly 2:51

I feel like you were in tech as a woman in a time where maybe they're not a lot of women were in tech too. Like No, you're breaking barriers, I'm assuming, because

Audrey 2:58

I was like, when I went to Caltech and there was eight men to one woman ratio.

Beverly 3:02

Wow.

Audrey 3:03

It's different now, but then it was, yeah. But my father mentored me, like I really loved astronomy as a child and he bought me my first telescope and he He was an engineer and he just mentored me. And so I just seemed natural to me. I also grew up with four brothers and no sisters, so I was just used to hanging out with guys. I was the one that helped mom and the boys wouldn't.

Beverly 3:22

Absolutely.

Audrey 3:22

I never entered our mind that maybe the boys would help and I never asked for help. I just was my job to take care of the family along with my mom.

Beverly 3:29

Yeah. different now, Thankfully.

Audrey 3:32

Interesting software. I learned this one thing that the way to get respect in that world was you had to interrupt people and not let yourself be interrupted. I had to unlearn that after I left software.

Beverly 3:42

Especially as a coach. 'cause you have to be a really good listener as a coach.

Audrey 3:44

So I had to unlearn that. But yeah, it was just a different world.

Beverly 3:47

my, where I was at before I started my business was at a tech, a startup tech company. And so I'm not a tech engineer, I'm a marketer and I did marketing and sales for them. But I got a real taste of what tech looks like and the timelines and the testing and the like. And tech changes so quickly. So it's just it's a constant rat race in so many ways because you just trying to beat out your competitor in the tech, whatever it looks like. And I can't even imagine now with AI and Oh my gosh. Like it would just be,

Audrey 4:15

yeah,

Beverly 4:15

it would be insane, right? Yeah. I can't even imagine.

Audrey 4:17

yeah, I can't imagine either.

Beverly 4:19

it's hard enough as a marketer to keep up with all the tech, let alone being in like a software development phase.

Audrey 4:24

Yeah. Yeah. I'm glad to be outta that failure. It was fun.

Beverly 4:27

I learned a lot. and it was mostly male. It was a male company owned by Four men. it was very male dominated. learned a lot. But yeah, I'm glad I'm where I'm at now. Yeah.

Audrey 4:36

Yeah. One of the companies I was at, the only other woman was the receptionist. It was all men. yeah. Yeah. That's just the way, it's,

Beverly 4:42

when I worked at the ad agency for Chrysler, it was the late nineties and I was the only woman. And so I came home and I'm like, dad, I don't even know how to talk to these men because you taught me to respect them and to defer to them. and here I am supposed to be like an equal to them and trying to be a liaison and I don't know, not fight for the agency, but be the voice of the agency, right? And I have to like, hold my own in that. And I feel like some of those experiences were really, foundational at the beginning of like how I approach business now and what it looks like. and not many things scare me anymore. I feel like because I've been in the rooms with scary people and I'm okay. it's okay. Public speaking still scares me a little bit, but other than that, I am, I'm pretty good, with that. But, How did I, I gotta believe like your identity as a tech engineer versus a coach and a guy. I love the idea that you said you had to like, learn to not interrupt. What other things did you have to shift as far as your identity to do that? Like it, it's a big change.

Audrey 5:34

Yeah. I think it really helped that I was just so in love with it from coaching school that, I really wanted to make a change in people's lives. And it was, it was much more inspiring than software, but software was fun. I didn't challenge it or question it, but coaching just really moved my, it touched my heart. It, I think it started to awaken my heart 'cause I was all in my head in the old days. And then the new frontier was where opening my heart and but it wasn't a total change. 'cause when I was a manager, I would coach my staff.

Beverly 6:03

sure.

Audrey 6:04

and help them with their career path and things like that. I had people come to me being a woman. Some guys would come to me with their personal problems, like when I would talk about problem with his fiance or another guy was in tears about something. And so I knew how to, I learned how to create a safe environment for whatever unfolds in their moment. And so I got my first taste of that, managing people that were in trouble.

Beverly 6:24

it sounds like you found your inner wisdom In coaching, and so now you wanna help others do that because of like your journey In such a really drastic way of you finding it in some ways. It's as if I equate it to I am not a fan of accounting. I love the stories that the numbers tell, but I do not like all the minutia of doing it. So many of our clients are high achievers. So many women who are female founders are high achievers. and even women who are in leadership positions clearly are high achievers. And I feel like so many of us live in our heads. like we. have a lot figured out in our minds and like trying to make that come to fruition is hard sometimes. But I feel like we have a lot of things that are placed on us as women in leadership positions of how we should act based on containers we've been given.

Audrey 7:08

The models we have are male dominated.

Beverly 7:09

Especially from like post-industrial era where men went to work. Women were at home and men had all the supports, women were the support. And now women are in this place for the first time where they're owning businesses and they're in leadership positions, which creates a lot of opportunity for wealth and for agency and for power and even legacy, which is amazing. but I feel because we are the first doing these things. on a really consistent level, there's a lot that lives in our head and like what we're told and what we can do and how we show up. And I feel like a lot of that ques the inner wisdom that we have because we're doing what everybody else says we should do and not necessarily what we feel we should do. So how do you help, leaders with female leaders specifically in. Connecting the dots there with what our inner system is saying, is our magic in us, like our purpose and our zone of genius? How do you marry those two and, and really. Find that when you have so much noise, I guess is the,

Audrey 8:05

part of it's just getting to the depth of what your life purpose is. And so in connecting people with their voice of inner wisdom, first we have to deal with all the doubts and fears about. Is it safe to talk to a voice of inner wisdom, like something not in their conscious mind that would know their purpose and could tell it to them under the right conditions. And so we spend a lot of time working with what fears keep you from learning your purpose, from talking to your own inner wisdom. And once they make that connection, then we ask these. Parts about four types of purpose and then build from the inside out because they've been running from the outside in. I get people that are just at their wits end. Like one client was really burned out and she was affect, it was affecting her health. She had trouble sleeping, was on the verge of chronic fatigue. But we found out that she had a people pleaser part in herself. Which a lot of women do, right? And so it was all about what the boss wanted, never asked for help, never set boundaries, working on realistic deadlines. And so in addition to the purpose, we had to find is there something in her behavior that would just translate to her next situation? So we had to work with that people pleaser part of her, and, find out that it. Was ignoring her needs and with the people pleaser part in her needed was for her to appreciate herself and to give that love. it's fine to get feedback from the outer world, but if that's all the only place you get your validation, your needs are not gonna get met, you're gonna burn out. And she learned her purpose was to become an independent professional who brought peace and love to the world. And so then she very happily quit her job, started her own business, working in the same industry, and immediately she had a full client roster and she was thrilled and she learned not to burn out again.

Beverly 9:40

Yeah. This connection between health and, And the work is interesting, like you said, for yourself even you had, you might have to have your neck fused.

Audrey 9:49

Yeah. when I started out, I was on the verge of burnout again 'cause I would work any day of the week, anytime. 'cause I was just so happy in love with my work and wanted to do that. But I started to feel the burnout and I starting to get my hands started to get cramped. I could feel the tendonitis coming back. So I knew what to do this time Gave up working with clients on the weekends. Only worked evenings if they needed it 'cause they had a nine to five job. And it made all the difference catching myself, 'cause I knew I was gonna end up the same way it was before, so I had to be really strict. No computer on the weekends. Now I, I get on, but I don't work except for like long-term projects. And then one phase, I had a day of Wednesday when I no clients and I said, Hey, this is great having that break in the middle of the week. So now I work with clients Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, and I use Wednesday and Friday for long-term projects like writing and marketing and things like that. And so that balance, I found that balance that saved my life from going back to where I was.

Beverly 10:46

With this idea of working so much. And I love that you said that it's 'cause you love what you're doing because I feel the same way. I love what I do, so it's really hard to put boundaries around it because it, it lights me up. I got to a point very similarly where I wasn't so fun to be around. 'cause I was waking up at 3:00 AM and stressed out and doing all the things and like it was so bad. And, it has taken me probably two, three years to really undo a lot of that health stuff.

Audrey 11:14

Yeah.

Beverly 11:14

And I think for me, and maybe for a lot of other female listeners, I'm in my midlife, right? So I have a 20-year-old and a 10-year-old son. I have a husband who's active duty army. So that adds a whole interesting element to the world we live in. I have older parents. I have, a lot of things that I have to do for everyone else. Yeah.

Audrey 11:34

Yeah.

Beverly 11:35

And the extension of the business of taking care of everyone felt just like another thing that I was supposed to do. take care of everyone. And for whatever reason, we don't ask for help. We don't even think we can ask for help because Exactly. It's like the we. I think for me, maybe you would, you could ask, answer this question too for me. I don't want people to think that I can't handle it or that I don't deserve to be here or that. I'm weak in some way or something, and so I just push through and Yeah,

Audrey 12:05

pushing.

Beverly 12:06

And then that is where I start to have heart palpitations or I start to have, oh my gosh.

Audrey 12:10

Yeah.

Beverly 12:10

High blood pressure and, yeah, just it like leads into this. one thing leads to another, leads to another. And without your health, you have nothing.

Audrey 12:17

yeah. And part of it's identity too, because like I had this thing like people depend on me and I don't wanna ever let anybody down.

Beverly 12:23

Absolutely.

Audrey 12:23

And so I would push myself so I wouldn't be letting anybody else down. so I had to unlearn that too. To shift my identity that sometimes I need help was a real major identity shift that me want to learn.

Beverly 12:34

I feel like that's a huge thing that I'm still learning, there's still moments where I think I can handle it and then I'm like, maybe I need help with this. I need to like, take a step back.

Audrey 12:42

Yeah.

Beverly 12:42

but when my priest one time told me, he goes, Beverly, you're preventing them from having a JUUL in their crown. And I was like, what do you mean? He is Everybody likes to help. Like why are you preventing them from getting the jewel in their crown? that's how they earn. That's how kindness and love. Is in the world. Like they want, they wanna help you. but you have to ask and you have to be open and you have to be okay. And I was like, yeah, I, yeah, I get it. But it's just sometimes it's hard to think that way. It's, you're like so wrapped up in it. It's really hard to think that way.

Audrey 13:07

Yeah. I had to make an agreement with myself that if before taking on a new major project, I check in with all the parts of myself and see if, if I can get that inner alignment to not be in trouble. 'cause otherwise those parts will rear up and cause burnout or something later. So I didn't need to know. Upfront, is this really gonna work? Is everybody inside of me aligned?

Beverly 13:24

okay, so this idea of the logic of like math and tech and some of that with, combined with intuition seems like a really rare combination. how do you balance that in the work that you do and how you approach coaching?

Audrey 13:39

the purpose work I do now was actually founded by a man named Tim Kelly. And, he came from MIT. He was like math and software background, same as me. And so the method he developed uses. Intuition and analysis and logic. We take people deep into their soul and find out what is my life purpose? What am I meant to be doing? Who am I meant to be? But then we step back and say, okay, let's affirm this and see if it really, if you look back in your life, does it make sense? And even when they're talking to the voice of inner wisdom, we have a checklist to see certain qualities, to know if it's really a wise voice or not. 'cause some people have the fear, how do I know it's a trustworthy voice or not? And so what we do is we give clients a checklist. It's 41 things to check. So that's, so we go deep and then we come back and take a look and go deep and come back and take a look.

Beverly 14:26

I feel like sometimes people like, They do therapy because they become therapists because they need therapy. there's this inner quest of knowledge of how we work. Do you think that's something that, that is true for you, even with coaching? Like it's been a quest for you?

Audrey 14:40

just, yeah, because I mean coaching, when you're a coach, your life transforms not just your clients. You're transforming too. 'cause you're always working on yourself and they say you teach what you need to learn. And so, you're fascinated about it because you wanna get better at it and it just all fits together when you live your purpose.

Beverly 14:56

Is there something that, people don't really know about you that might be like, play into this? something that is some piece of information? I always joke, like I, when I was 17, I was Miss Congeniality, the National Teenager of America Pageant and people always like what I was like, yeah. So it was a long time ago, but. There's these like little things about us that people just don't really know.

Audrey 15:14

I actually earned a black belt in karate in my college days, and what was interesting was that our karate master was. This wise old Japanese man, he was like my first spiritual teacher. and he would say things like, you're all sleeping. You need to wake up to this crystal moment. But gradually I understood what he meant like he was talking about awakening So I still practice karate. I just love the workout and it's a whole body thing. And, yeah. He was my first spiritual teacher.

Beverly 15:40

I feel like all those things that we have, like in our youth and as we grow up, contribute to what we're open to when we're older. So he was already like laying the foundation for inner work. And the intuition part and the trusting yourself part and your Yeah,

Audrey 15:53

my first meditating practice came from that 'cause it was meditate before you do your karate session. Oh, yeah. about almost like 10 years ago, Tim Kelly wrote a book called True Purpose and it had a different subtitle, which I can't remember for the life of me. And the method has really evolved over all these years and what we've learned about brain science, for example, we work with fears a lot differently than we used to. And we also are working with organizations with this purpose, methodology. So it felt it was time to update the book and he invited me to come. I'm one of the teachers of his two purpose coach training where we teach coaches how to do this work. So he invited me to co-author with him. And yeah, it was time for an update and there's a lot more we wanted to say.

Beverly 16:31

Has working on the book changed you in some way?

Audrey 16:33

Yeah, it's really opened my heart and given me room to take up more space. It's I had to deal with my original fear of visibility and what is it to be seen? And so it's been transformative in that way.

Beverly 16:45

I love that you say that because I was just on another podcast earlier when we're, and visibility is my word for 2026, and I feel like more and more women are showing up that way. Like it's the, it's time for us to like. Cast off those things and stand in our power and say what we have to say and And like maybe I thought it was me, but maybe there's like a whole movement happening with visibility.

Audrey 17:07

Yeah. That's been my word for a couple years now. So it just keeps expanding.

Beverly 17:12

How do I create automation? Yeah, now the dog's talking is talking to you. Dog, get down please. and so I feel like this is like our time for whatever reason and Yeah.

Audrey 17:22

Yeah.

Beverly 17:22

We have a lot of mindset stuff to do about that. I have a coach, I also have a therapist. I believe that high performing people who want be the best Need both.

Audrey 17:33

Yeah. And

Beverly 17:33

that. My coach helps me overcome mindset stuff that's related to my work, but my therapist helps me overcome things that's related to my childhood or the drama that I've had.

Audrey 17:43

right,

Beverly 17:43

And so I feel like like she helps me deal with the past and the coach helps me see the future in a way I never would've seen it without. And I have, I've been with her for about two and a half years now. And the shift in me has been significant and. I think I went from, and that's why I asked about the, we're in our heads all the time. I went from in my head to sharing with the world what I have to say. And now, I'm also writing a book and I, I have my own methodology with research and theory and all these kinds of things, and I feel really empowered to share that in a way. I think only because of the work I've been doing and my mindset and my, my, my trauma and my, the work that I have to do as a human, just as a human being interacting in the world. And I have just found it. So in some ways very liberating. And, cast off things that don't serve me well anymore. Named things that maybe were scary before, but now because I've named them and I can acknowledge them, they become teachers.

Audrey 18:40

Yeah.

Beverly 18:41

It's been really powerful for me and I have to imagine as a coach, like I mentor my team all the time, right? Like I there. And I coach my clients. Even I feel like with, when branding for us is, it's very much identity work. And we do want them to find their inner wisdom and And find the thing that lights them up that is gonna be where their authenticity truly lies. And that's where marketing, I think, is the magical. And so I do coaching, but I imagine as a coach to witness that kind of evolution and expansion in humans is really powerful.

Audrey 19:09

Yeah. Just, it's just powerful work because it changes lives at a really deep level. So it's really inspiring. It just, I get inspired every time I work.

Beverly 19:17

Yeah, I imagine. So humans are all different and unique, but are there some things that are always like present? What are some things that are always present?

Audrey 19:24

say a little more about that question.

Beverly 19:26

So I feel like humans are all very different. But like the human experience maybe has some. Similarities, like how we approach the world.

Audrey 19:33

there's the imposter syndrome is pretty common. And also, as I said, I see the people pleasing Thing that women take on is pretty common as well. Yeah. and, I really pay attention to creating safety because, safety allows people to bring out their worst fears. Their most shameful things. And so I just, I love being able to create a safe environment so people can bring out whatever they need to bring out in order to heal it, rather than keeping it hidden and buried where it'll come up and act out in certain ways.

Beverly 20:03

One of the things that I say about our brand Spark experience, it's a 90 minute deep dive into where you've been, where you are, where you wanna go, and the challenges that you're facing to get to that place. And one thing that, what I always say is that women specifically, but as a solopreneur, no one really knows what I do fully, what I carry. My husband knows that I have a website business and he knows that I help my clients and he knows those things, but he doesn't really know what my day to day looks like and the kind of things that I really worry about and why I wanna take care of everyone and all those things. And the first time that a woman works with us and has spends that time and gets like all the things that have been running around in their head, out of their mouth and out of their brain and onto a blueprint. 'cause that's, we take everything and put it in a blueprint. It frees up them to be more creative. It frees up their mind to think of other things. it is a. Cognitive load remove like remover in some ways, or decision fatigue remover in some ways because once they see it so clearly it's easy to make those decisions Yes. And nos and things like that.

Audrey 21:01

Yeah. Yeah. It's hard to carry everything in your head at once. And so when you bring things out in written form, it makes a huge difference.

Beverly 21:08

And that safety of this is a safe place and I'm not gonna judge you and we meet you exactly where you are. Like it's okay wherever you are in your journey. no one expects you to be there. And our ideal client is. Somebody who's like going from freelancer to like official business like they are now I'm gonna do this and I'm all in. Versus it's not just like a job or just like a part-time thing. And that level up brings imposter syndrome and perfectionism. Yes. And people pleasing and fear and doubt.

Audrey 21:37

Yeah.

Beverly 21:37

And the thing that I've talked about, I even talked about the podcast earlier today, is that those things are teachers. They tell us when we're about to level up. They teach us that. Yeah. Matters. They teach us that we are new to something like the imposter syndrome. We're just new. we need to learn some more or try or do, Yeah. they are teachers. And when you welcome them, like when I feel that now, I'm almost excited 'cause I'm like, Ooh, I'm leveling up. I feel like a video game, like I'm about to go level up to the next level. And I don't see it as scary anymore. I see it as more of a. This is gonna be good because it matters to me. And I, that's why I have sc I'm fearful. It's 'cause it matters, Or Yeah, if I have perfectionism, it's 'cause I want it to be so good. it, it, there's things like that matter. I wanna control the outcome 'cause I want it to be so good for my clients. but it has helped me kinda reframe some of those things to be a positive versus a negative. Yeah. And I don't think that women ever really get that conditioning sometimes. Like we've never been conditioned to say, oh, you're leveling up and this is okay.

Audrey 22:33

Yeah. That's new I think relatively.

Beverly 22:35

Yeah. And I, we've been always been taught to be small, not think big.

Audrey 22:40

Yeah. Yeah. And also another piece is for me is that every time you expand, you end up a new level of incompetence and you just have to kinda get used to it.

Beverly 22:49

A new level incompetence in what way? Because I feel like you are getting competence, but then you're also. No.

Audrey 22:53

when you're

Beverly 22:54

Yeah.

Audrey 22:54

Expanding, you're learning something new. Yes. So you're not gonna be a master immediately. Yes. so I had to get used to the fact of I'm not gonna be, because I always loved excelling at everything and I had to excel at everything. 'cause that was how I pleased my father.

Beverly 23:05

High performer. Yeah.

Audrey 23:06

But, I had to learn that if I wanted to grow, I had to learn to be comfortable with the

Beverly 23:10

discomfort of learning something new. Yeah. Yeah, curiosity is a beautiful thing. And so when you live in that, one of our core values is dynamic, which is to stay, in marketing with the trends and the algorithms and to be open to, to find the systems that work the best, for our clients. But to be dynamic too, never to be complacent in the fact that we're comfortable. Like we always need to be learning. We always need to be growing and trying and testing.

Audrey 23:34

Yeah. Yeah.

Beverly 23:35

One of my team members, she was an intern for a while. Now she's she's on our team full time. She said to me like, the first time we did something, We were doing like a growth flywheel scorecard kind of thing. And so she like did all these things and did all mapped it all out and I said, okay, this is great, but now I wanna do this, and this. 'cause, once you see it visually. Now you're like, oh, I see this, but it's missing this picture, part of the picture or whatever. And what I've told her is the only consistent thing is that things will change. that's the only thing you're gonna know for sure. All the time. that is, it's gonna change. There's more to learn. Always. Always. I tell my son all the time, the one thing I know for sure is I don't know everything. And 'cause he likes to be like that too. Like I know it and I'm like, maybe you don't I think even as a 51-year-old woman, there's a lot of things I still need to learn. And being open to that, it can be really powerful if you allow yourself to be curious and to be uncomfortable in your incompetence. Be comfortable in your incompetence. I think that's so great. coaching is not a tangible product. it's not like a widget or a pen or like a shirt or a, a sandwich. It is a service. it is invisible. And as a marketer, I'm always so curious about what has been the biggest challenge for you? And what is, if I go to my magic wand right now and wave away one of your marketing challenges, what would be the challenge that you're struggling with the most as it relates to marketing your business?

Audrey 24:53

right now I'm experimenting with LinkedIn posts and I haven't quite got the thing that's. Brought in as many, responses as I want. So that's what I'm working with right now.

Beverly 25:03

So how long have you been doing that? How long you working with, oh,

Audrey 25:06

several months.

Beverly 25:07

Yeah. I think the thing that I have found is that the hook matters. The first sentence matters so much. And the relatability to the post like. It doesn't always have to be so businessy, but like things, when I talk about my personal life, so I was, for example, and I've used this example many times in the podcast, but we went to Universal Studios last year and my 9-year-old at the time. Had a Harry Potter wand and it was so crowded. 'cause it was spring break. he took that wand and he was in the middle of the crowd and he did a spell in the middle of the crowd with the most confidence of a 9-year-old, thinking he was really a wizard Audrey. Like he was a wizard and this spell was going to happen. And he said it was such conviction. And I looked at him and I was like, when do we lose our 9-year-old confidence? Like when does that happen? And I wrote a whole post about it and it really connected well because it was a real lived moment of connection and resonated with people, right? Mm-hmm. So using my life has been, the thing that has really helped me, and now I see these moments really clearly, of so for example, the Olympics. I talked about Olympics are high. they're high performers. They have coaches, they have therapists. They have teams of people that support them to get there. They didn't do it by themselves ever. they have, they even the other team members from the US or whatever have supported them. And that we, how could we believe that we have to do it by ourselves when the best does not do it by themselves. So I've tried to take. Things that are like real life, right? And apply it so that people can see it in a new way. And now that I look for that, I see it everywhere and I have so much content. That's probably my problem is I have too much content. But I think really relating it to the world in which we live in whatever it is you do, the coaching, the inner wisdom, when you see those moments, those magic moments in the world. How can you apply it to that and share about it to make somebody connect with it, right? yeah, and I think that the more personal it is, the more people will trust you because it's, it seems real. And right now with AI and all of

Audrey 27:08

this AI just makes this soulless content,

Beverly 27:11

right? exactly. So it just brings it to life in a way that I don't think AI and I still, I write and put it through AI to make sure it's like professional and the grammar.

Audrey 27:19

Yeah. I edit with ai.

Beverly 27:20

But yeah, or if I'm looking for ideas, I might like ideate with it. But yeah, you have to, work with it, not let that work for you. You have

Audrey 27:27

to bring the soul to the piece and

Beverly 27:28

yes, you can't do that. For sure. so I just feel like you need to, the more you show up there, the more you test stuff, the more you try, the better it'll get. Another thing you might wanna do is, look at people who are doing really well and take their magic formula. 'cause there is a magic formula, I promise, of what people are doing and what's working and. I watch a lot of people like Mel Robbins or Brene Brown or Simon Snack, some of these people who are really like popular in the space and I see what they're doing and I like try to, I don't wanna be them because I'm not them, but I try to use their formula a little bit and how I approach it. So if you pay attention and if you work in a tool long enough. own the tool, you will start to learn what works and what doesn't work, for sure. But I have found, honestly, that LinkedIn lately, the thing that works the best is commenting first on other people's stuff. Like for 10 minutes, comment on people's stuff and make it a, a awful comment. Like more than just a sentence, like a paragraph. And even if you can add a picture to it too, that'd be great. But, comment as if it's like a post. And then post your stuff and you usually will get more interaction with that. So maybe try that and see how that works. Okay.

Audrey 28:39

Alright, thanks.

Beverly 28:40

Cool. Okay, so my last question for you is, what does it mean to you to be wickedly branded and how do you show up Wickedly branded in your life or work

Audrey 28:49

well? When I first started my business, my website was like blues and greens and soothing. But then when I learned that the being part of my purpose was I'm the clear light of an exploding star, I was like, whoa. So I made reds and golds and I just love it so much. It's really empowering to have that image of myself and that brand. And then my, tagline originally was. Build a thriving business that fulfills your calling. But then I learned my first pass on my doing part of my purpose was, bring clarity and flow to those who have a mission but can't see which way to go. So I changed my tagline to clarity of vision and action for entrepreneurs called to make a difference in the world. And two amazing things happened. I had one person in my office crying, saying, I can't believe I found you. I've been looking for you for so long. And then someone else said, I called you because of that word clarity. And so I learned that if you base your branding on your purpose, you're gonna draw in those that you're meant to work with. And the ideal clients for you. 'cause they both hired me, obviously.

Beverly 29:49

There's a resonance in your narrative, for sure.

Audrey 29:52

That

Beverly 29:52

connects. Absolutely. Absolutely. What tips would you give to the listeners to be more wickedly branded?

Audrey 29:57

take the time to go inside and let it come from the inside out, and target who you wanna reach. 'cause if you try to please everybody, then it's just vanilla and boring and doesn't really please anybody. But again, if you focus, comes from the inside, from your heart, from your soul, from your purpose, you are going to draw in people that resonate with you and who are gonna be ideal for you to work with.

Beverly 30:17

And when you are. A shooting star or you are like it oozes from your pores. that's the thing. That's the magic. Yes. And people are just so drawn to you when you are sitting in that magic That you become irresistible to the right people. And so when you're not in that alignment, when you're not living in your purpose. There. it, it like disrupts the energy and you're not a, it, I don't know how else to describe it, but you're not in the flow. you're not in the thing that can bring you the, the business and the magic. So yes, I love that so much. and that how it tied to your purpose, it needs to be, I talk about this a lot, branding is identity work for women. And, that's what my book is talks about. It's called Brand Magic, how to Reclaim. Your voice and visibility in a world not built for women. And it really is about, so much of what the world has told us to be and how to show up and how we need to claim our own inner magic, in it and not listen to anybody else's Not compare ourselves, not think that just because you do it this way, this is the way it has to be done. Like you can be playful, you don't have to do it corporate all the time.

31:22

yeah,

Beverly 31:22

you can fully show your personality, you can walk a line between profession. Like for me it's, I'm very whimsical, but I'm also very professional and I have theory that I have established. You can walk both of those things and still be very professional in the world. I love that this idea of Your purpose matters and working from the inside out and why that matters so much. Thank you so much for spending time with me today, Audrey.

Audrey 31:43

Thank you for inviting me.

Beverly 31:44

how can our listeners find you, your website? Do you have a free resource?

Audrey 31:47

my website is clear change group.com. That's clear change group.com. And of course I have a contact page, but even better, I have at the bottom of the homepage a purpose alignment quiz where you can learn how aligned is your life with your purpose and get some tips on how to bridge the gap where you're not aligned.

Beverly 32:04

And then obviously you're hanging out on LinkedIn. Is there another place you hang out on social media?

Audrey 32:09

No, I'm focusing on LinkedIn.

Beverly 32:10

Okay. This is great, Audrey. Thank you so much, for my listeners, thank you. I really hope this episode made you think about your inner purpose, about working from the inside out and gave you some new ideas, but most of all, inspired you to take some action and believe in what you have to offer. Because here's what I know for sure. Your message matters. Your work matters, and the world needs to hear what you have to say. And marketing isn't just about visibility. It's about the impact that you make on people. It's about connecting with the right people in a way that feels absolutely a hundred percent true to you and no one else. So keep showing up. Keep sharing your brilliance and keep making magic in the world. And if you ever feel stuck, people like Audrey and myself are here to help you so you don't have to walk alone. But until next time, I want you to dare to be wickedly branded.