Edit Your Words and Your Brand with Tasha Harrison + Tara Street

Emily Thompson 0:09
In a world where it often feels like every word and action is recorded and saved for later, or anything we say can be held against us after even a decade or more learning to edit yourself to remove the influence of others to remain authentic to yourself so that you are only saying sharing offering what feels most aligned to who you are and who you want to be, is of utmost importance. Now, more than ever, and we need to learn how to do it on the fly. It can feel like a superhuman feat, but it's possible with a lot of mindfulness a dose of agility and some practice. Welcome to being boss, a podcast for creatives, business owners and entrepreneurs who wants to take control of their work and live life on their own terms. I'm your host, Emily Thompson. And today I'm joined by two boss friends of mine, Tara Street and Tasha Harrison to talk about editing your words your brand your offering, and why you need to embrace the ever evolving nature of growing as a human and as a business. I first met Tara several years ago when I took my first trip with Kathleen my previous co host here at being boss. Tara is Kathleen sister and you've heard from her a number of times here on the podcast and episodes 56 109 and 175. Tara co founded bring creative with Kathleen where they develop brand positioning, messaging and design for those seeking a brand platform that fits their true vision. Watching Tara work is a treat. She has a way of getting in there with what creatives really want to be doing where they want to be known for. And I knew this conversation was squarely in her wheelhouse. It's also a pleasure to finally introduce the being boss listenership at large to Tasha, though anyone who's been to our vacations or are a member of the being boss community, you're no stranger to this romance and erotica author and freelance editor. Tasha came into our sphere years ago at one of our vacations and has become a friend of mine. And not only is she an author and editor, she's a crystal lover and has been writing about crystals for me over at Almanac supply co for over a year. But today, it's her experience as a no bullshit editor that brings her to the table to lend her expertise in this realm of stripping away what's not needed, and just saying what needs to be said. But before we dive in, let's talk about Tasha and her crystals real quick, because it's her embracing of the tools that help her connect with her intuition, Tarot and crystals that I believe makes her great at what she does, she is in sync and not the band but synced up with her intuition. And using this connection to create and write it makes her great at what she does. And it's for that reason that not only is Tasha being introduced to you here today as we talk about editing, but that she's also a boss expert joining me on the virtual stage at the guided by intuition gathering a virtual being boss event taking place on October 8, ninth and 10th will be going live with a whole band of bosses who are gathering for a multi day event of keynotes panels, workshops and live podcast recordings with a good bit more woo than our traditional events. Because I believe that pursuing business endeavors that leave as feeling aligned and fulfilled begins with a strong connection to your intuition that wise little voice inside that nudges you in the right direction. My friend Kelly Knight, owner of modern mystic shop in Atlanta and co author of spells for the modern mystic will be joining as my guest co host as we invite a group of boss experts Tasha included to help us connect with a wisdom of our intuition. Embrace the tools that enable that communication with a focus on using Tarot crystals and astrology, how to use those tools to set align goals and take the right actions so that you can feel good about the steps you are taking in your life and especially in your business. In fact, Tasha here will be doing a breakout session on working with crystals for creativity and prosperity. For years being boss has been known for its ability to bridge the gap between the woo and the practical, but I have never taken you as far into the woo as I am with this event. And if it's a bit too much woo for you. Don't fret. I'm not done with getting down and dirty with the whoo free side of business. But for this event, and during a month that I've always very much so focused on magic. I'm embracing the wheel and inviting you along for the ride. If you'd like to learn more and snag your ticket to this virtual event that will leave you more connected to the wisdom within yourself. More so than you've ever been Go to being boss club slash gathering. I do hope you'll join us. And before we dive into this conversation on editing, here's a word from our sponsor.

Emily Thompson 5:13
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Tara Street 6:09
Hi, thank you.

Emily Thompson 6:10
I am super excited about this chat. Because I feel like we know how to have fun conversations. And I think it is based on several times that we've been able to be together my favorite of which is post yacht in my ears. Right our first gathering? We're getting kind of starry eyed just even thinking about it.

Tasha Harrison 6:34
That's like originals, right there.

Tara Street 6:36
Yeah. Along Little Mermaid thing along Miami's nerve in the same sense.

Tasha Harrison 6:42
Yeah, it hasn't.

Emily Thompson 6:45
It's just think about what it was like to hang out together within six feet. drew the good old days. So I invite you both to come chat with me about about editing for a couple of reasons. One, thought this topic came up a couple of times during the conference a couple of months ago, this idea of like, when it comes to being authentic, either in a personal brand or in a business brand. like where do you draw that line? What parts of your show itself? are you sharing or not sharing? What does it look like to show up authentically when you are editing yourself? Like how does that work? So Tara, you work with brands, you are a brand expert. So I think you have really great expertise to lend to this. Tasha, you literally are an editor. Your job is in editing. So I think both of you can lend great expertise to this from two different sides of it. So let's talk about what this looks like. Because in the last episode of the podcast, I talked with a friend of mine about owning and sharing your story. But today I want to focus on the editing piece of it, it's not sharing all of your story, it's about sharing the most relevant or impactful or what's the word I'm looking for? Like, I guess relevant, relevant was the word pieces of your story or of your offering or of your words. So what does it mean to edit? And why is it important? And Tasha? Why don't we start with you?

Tasha Harrison 8:25
Well, obviously, everyone needs an editor. Even I need an editor, editors need editors. Because I think a lot of times when you're writing something, what you think you're saying might not be what you're actually saying. And an editor can help you hone the idea, sharpen it, and, you know, make sure you get your point across. I think what happens a lot now, especially now, during COVID times, like everyone is like doing all these courses and getting all these templates and doing all these things. And I think a lot of people are just starting to sound the same.

Tasha Harrison 9:04
And like, it's even an exercise just to be able to find your voice. Like I know, like Tara does that whole thing with the braid, right, right concept and like to get you to find your voice because a lot of people are just looking at what other people are doing, and then rewriting or forcing their personality or authenticity into that particular framework. And I think editor helps you with that. Especially like if you're just giving them exercises to talk about, like, what is this thing that you're trying to say? And then you can go through and line through and figure out how to make their voice come through because that's what you're really looking for, is the authentic voice of the person, not even necessarily how they talk about their product or their offering just have their voice like you're going to your first customer, right? Like you're gonna always sell to yourself first. So why would you want to sell to a bunch of people that you don't even know how to talk to You,

Unknown Speaker 10:01
huh?

Emily Thompson 10:02
I love what you're talking about here is like removing the influence. Right? It's about like getting like stripping away all the influence and really getting down to the core.I like that, Tara.

Tara Street 10:15
Well, and I would say that it's so true even with the flip side of that. So a lot of times when I'm working with a creative entrepreneur or a wellness entrepreneur on they're articulating their brand message, like in an instant, that first impression, which of course has to be edited down because it's boiled down, right? And a lot of times they get the most hung up on how do I describe what I do? First, like, that's the stumbling block for them, versus getting their authentic voice in it. So a lot of times we'll tackle, well, if we're working together, I have the luxury the writer on the team listening to how they speak. So even though they're describing, oh, I'm a nutrition coach, or I'm a life coach who focuses on money coaching, or I'm right there describing the offering, and I think I'm going to do is hold these retreats that maybe do an offering, but I can't decide if I want to do one on one or right. So I can hear how they talk and help them get their voice into it. But if they're doing it themselves, a lot of times they get so hung up on, am I explaining this right? Am I even a coach? And what am I even doing? Even anyone even understand how to hire me, they get so hung up on that, that I feel like that's where you probably maybe should start is figuring out how to just explain that a little bit mindset influence of how everyone else does Yeah, as simply as you can. And then kind of circle back in and pepper in the authentic voice. But to touch this point, that's where I can also then you are in the trap of it. Like, I'm adding some exclamation points and I'm saying, hey, all or I'm saying you know what? Rock on or whatever, just whatever you do to pop it in, you know,

Tasha Harrison 12:08
I feel like a lot of people are using language that is not native to them in coffee, because it's something that is appealing to like, I don't know, I'm talking specifically about Avi, like African American vernacular, like I see it a lot like a lot of Hey, girl, you know, like, Can you not do that? Like, do you talk like that in person? Number one, right? Like, if you're not using that language, like in your everyday conversation, why do you feel the need to do that in your copy? And I think that it's become like this cutesy thing to do. And everyone's doing it. And it's kind of

Emily Thompson 12:49
its influence. Right? You're doing it based on influence. And I think to to Tara's point about like offerings and those sorts of things and how it is that you, you edit in terms of listening to people talk about them, their business and you sort of pulling things in is what you're doing is you are listening to people just sort of idea vomit.

Tara Street 13:17
Yes.

Emily Thompson 13:19
Right. Like you're hearing the vomit. And you're able to pick up I think not only the words because they've seen you work, it's not only the words, but it's the things that they're getting excited about. Mm hmm. So again, whenever they're speaking, they're just vomiting. And I think we can all like who hasn't vomited on social media lately. We're all doing those things. But it's like listening in and and noting the your actions and reactions, whatever you're saying specific things that really allows you to pick up on the energies of the things that matter most so and I've even I've had people do this to me, and I think you're right, Tasha, where you can't edit yourself. Like you have too many things going on. I mean, all the greatest writers in the world, they all have editors, like every one needs an editor in one format or another. And I even think about like my own masterminding with people, when I'm idea vomiting, just having all the ideas and letting things go people will go you know, whenever you talk about that one thing that you feel like you should be doing, Your face looks like this, or whatever. But whenever you talk about that other thing that is new or weird, or maybe it is something that someone else is doing, but you want to do it a little bit differently or whatever it may be, you light up, you get excited, you talk more quickly you like talk more animatedly, whatever it might be. It's not just about I think editing is not just about like stripping away the influence, or you know, or whatever. It's also making a hardcore note of the things that were the places where passion lies.

Tara Street 14:59
But right and you know what's funny is I think that the idea of supporting away the influence of others can be also really intimidating. Like, I don't have a single original idea like, Do I sound like this person? Do I? Am I just saying that? You know, I'm thinking less about how maybe you share on social media and your little sayings that you're picking up? And I'm thinking more like, how do I describe I'm a different kind of coach, then it's one else? How do I describe that I'm a different kind of writer than someone else or speaker. And, um, I would say that some things you can't like, I think sometimes people try so hard to sound like they're creating this whole new business or model or lifestyle experience that they skip over the words that people understand what they mean. Straight to all that inspiring, light up passionate, truly neat words. And that can be hard to like, sometimes you've just got to go back to like, the simplest label of what it is you do, and not worry so much about being distinctive original, like you being yourself, which is the hardest thing to do. In that really simple explanatory framework is how you will sound different than the other person who's doing the same, because guess what someone is doing the same thing you're doing? Because there are no original ideas, right? So you can't be too freaked out to be original, or you won't do anything.

Tasha Harrison 16:25
And a lot of people in social media get caught up in this like, I'm special thing. And yes, we're snowflakes, we're all special. But when it comes to business, and like conveying your intent behind anything, using those trigger words are like, signposts for people who are looking for your specific, that's why SEO exists. I mean, right? Right, because they know, they know what words are gonna encourage someone to click on you or whatever. But also what I found fascinating about how you said that, like when you're talking to people about their businesses, and how they light up and all that, I was just thinking about how even how someone talks, and hearing that, like hearing the cadence of their speech can also make that more authentic to them. Because, I mean, yeah, we all have accents and all that. But I think the like the rhythm of someone's speech, and how they convey their ideas, makes a big difference in how you would write, copy or write product descriptions or whatever.

Tara Street 17:29
Absolutely. A lot of times when I'm running copy product descriptions for seminar offering descriptions, we always start off with the simplest, here's what I do, here's how it's for my approach kind of feels like this. And here's why I really care about this. And you should care about it too. Like we get more heightened right at the end of that. Whatever you may call it introductory layer. And the getting more heightened, or lit up or sparkly is different for different people, depending on your personality. We've had clients who are like, I just want to be rebellious in my brand. I'm like a rebel. And I'm like, that's awesome. But the whole time you've been visiting with us, you're actually just really sweet and very reassuring. And you've been guiding us through how you help your clients and this really kind, unassuming, calming way. So we're not going to all of a sudden, like slap some rebel language in there. You're a rebel in that there's not a lot of people in your industry who do this the way you're doing it. So let's heighten that aspect. Like it's gonna be okay. No big deal. Like, let's heighten that aspect of your voice because I do think you do have to heighten a little right? I think that's a lot of people get trapped with social. It's like texting. You know, like if I text my sister Kathleen, okay. It's like, oh my god.

Tasha Harrison 18:52
Why is there a period?

Tara Street 18:53
Why is she pissed? right? Like, you have to be like, okay, cool exclamation. Right? Or else you sound mad. Yeah. So I do think there's a bit of that, in fairness to everyone out there who's kind of really trying to sparkle on a boat and be special on picking up phrases from places. Maybe they shouldn't be to just have more personality because you almost have to exaggerate. Yes stage. And it's like just like texting or else you sound like flat. Right? So I think that's tricky. I don't even know the answer to that. I feel like we naturally do it for our clients and their branding, whatever it is about them that we're feeling or seeing. We just heightened it a little but that doesn't mean it's the same mountaintop for them as it is for someone else who actually is really rebellious or really spiritual or you know, all the ways that they can really heighten their personality. It's different for everyone.

Emily Thompson 19:50
I feel like what I own what I feel like are process sizing this guy's because what I hear is there is this required of stripping away all of influence, right and getting down to this core, like, Who are you if no one's ever taught you, maybe not that or like, influence your you never picked up that saying or that coaching model or like, whatever it is that like has culminated into what you are now, like, if you were to strip away all the influence there is like that authentic core. And then the process of editing, I think is re layering those influences in the most intentional way possible, right, it's very mindfully coming in and going, Okay, that has not served me I don't know where I got that, let's throw that away. But let's instead pull back in this other thing, this again, that book, you read that time that changed your mind. And you know, they're now your favorite author, or whatever, or the coaching model that you've invested in becoming certified in and that's how it is that you want to help people in the world or whatever it may be, you can pull back in these pieces of influence. And I feel like when it comes to being a creative business owner, like that's what editing is, that's what like, creating a brand of voice for yourself is it's about stripping away all the bullshit, getting down to the core, and then re layering things on very mindfully.

Tasha Harrison 21:17
I think that's just what editing is. Period. Like, that's why I like being an editor. I'm one of those people who does not like to draft I hate the act of writing a book because it never feels like I'm doing it right. Every time I do it feels like you know nothing? What are words?

Emily Thompson 21:33
Wait, says the person who's written how many books?

Tasha Harrison 21:37
Eight.

Emily Thompson 21:38
Okay, yeah, that's everyone, right? Like, I can write to know that. This is right, I guess but like fraudy feelings all day, even from Tasha,

Tasha Harrison 21:50
yeah, like, I love the process of like, you know, the plotting and planning, like the beginning parts, like getting to know the character and plotting out the story, the writing the story that and then going back in and revising, because like you said, like this, where you come get to come in and layer things, and you get to add more things. Because now that you have the framework, you can see where you need to add a little bit more description, or a little bit more feelings or whatever. So like, I totally get that. But that's, that's the whole reason why I want to be I still do that with like, published books, like, I will see people's books and be like, Well, you could have done this a little bit better. If anyone ever got a hold of my Kindle to see all the notes I make to myself, I would be in trouble.

Tara Street 22:39
That is that's how I am about movie trailers. That's my alternate job has always been to be the editor of new trailers. And, and I remember just seeing, I remember the Sex in the City movie came out, like, and I remember seeing the trailer for it. And I was like, that was a missed opportunity. If I was editing that trailer, I would have done you know, I would, you know, I was thinking what I would have done.

Emily Thompson 23:04
Wait, so what would you do? And maybe not necessarily sexist, but like, what are what are people missing? Whenever? Because that's like, that's a perfect example of this. So you have a movie. So let's say maybe you have, we can pair this to like you have an offering. And you need to create some marketing material around it, which is the movie trailer. Like, what are the hidden hits and misses?

Tara Street 23:24
Right, right, right. Um, well, I feel like with movies, I feel like I actually do a pretty good job, because you can use you know, music and pacing. And I think there's a little teaser element at the beginning. And then you know, some, some little nods the fans in the middle and like, you know, they can use music and pacing to do a lot. Most trailers are great. And then the movies are awful. Yes, right. Okay, but the struggle with editing your words, whether they're written for your homepage of your website, or you're introducing yourself at a networking event? Well, I hate that word. But you know what I mean? Like, or you're introducing yourself in the podcast. I think the trick with that is you can't you want to convey that emotion and that passion and all the things you are which actually movie trailers are pretty good at. But as a person, you can't you just can't lay it on everyone fit all at one time. You guys just sort of be real, like, casually, conversationally. Here's what I do. Here's who it's for. You don't I mean, people have to discover that the next layer and the next layer with you as they asked to learn more, yes, say, so that didn't really play along with turning the movie. I mean, I got excited, like, how can we turn the movie trailer exercise into our next braid brain exercise, that we do have one that's similar. That's like if you had to write your own how to book which I feel like is a really useful one that we have. So if you're, if you want to do like a do it yourself, I think if I had to write not Tasha because then she's like, okay, I read another book. Let's say you're a nutritionist or whatever. You had to write a how to book. You couldn't be there in person, you couldn't introduce yourself to your dream client. Just teaching them what you're going to do for them if they hired you. What would the title be? That title can usually be a little bit more soulful and inspiring and personality fuel, but then like, you know, food, the heels, right? But then the subhead is to actually explain what now what is this book on them? You know, how you always see like a really cool title of a book. You're like, Why, what does that mean? And then you read the subhead, oh, it's how to,

Tara Street 25:37
It's just like the explanation for like, the ordinary explanation that your mom would understand. And then do like your first like your five chapters, what are the chapters? And what am I going to learn in each chapter. And honest to goodness, if you do this, I feel like you will tap into the personality side of what you're doing and the actual expertise of what you're doing. And then you just turn that into that you can turn that into and in many ways, that first impression, Introduction to people. Your brand is a really neat exercise, unless you're actually writing a book. The whole point of that is to trick yourself into that you're not describing yourself and your brand. If you're actually writing a book, it can be very daunting because yes, it's not tricking you to do anything you're actually doing the thing.

Tasha Harrison 26:22
You don't want another title of mine. Yes. The first draft of everything is shit. The first draft is shit. Just Yeah, get comfortable with it.

Tara Street 26:35
And then what's your seventh like? What's the description under that?

Tasha Harrison 26:39
You have a subheading

Emily Thompson 26:41
it's a very say what you mean title?

Tasha Harrison 26:43
Yes, I don't think you're right. They're not how to get over it.

Tara Street 26:47
Edit into gold.

Tasha Harrison 26:49
Some shit like that.

Tasha Harrison 26:52
like the first draft is everything is shit. And this is how you make it not shit.

Emily Thompson 26:57
Let's let's talk about this as I guess even as Tara was talking, I was thinking about thinking about this. And this is one of the things I definitely learned writing my book. It's also something I've learned working with copywriters, or even with people who aren't copywriters, who are writing copy for, for their websites. And that is this idea that not every word you write are not every offer you create, not every marketing plan, you plan, whatever, like, none of those are your children. Right, it doesn't matter how long you spend on it, it can be made better, and you should probably cut out half of it.

Tasha Harrison 27:39
From the start immediately. Yeah. You know, that's like my number one pet peeve about like fiction writers especially, it's just like, this is my baby, it's not your baby, it's a product. Unless you're pimping your baby. Let's not call this. Okay? Because now you need to get it out there to make money for you. I'm going to show you how to make this into something sellable. This is not a baby, I'm going to cut it. Are you okay? With this, I'm going to cut it. Like, I think to a lot of times when people start thinking and this goes into like pairing the authenticity about like, your personality with your words. They just get so married to what's already on the page. And like they get in their own way with the process of like making it better because they're so married to Oh, I've already done this. And I think this is exactly what I want to say and like, No, no, it's not. And then there's like that back and forth. You know, trying to get them to figure out like, yes, this is a really beautiful sentence. This is this is one thing that I have to do with people all the time. It's like, it's not that I hate this sentence or hate this passage. This is all beautifully written, but you don't need it. It's not doing anything. It's not serving a function. It's not moving the plot forward. It's not teaching us anything new about the character so it has to go and then they get angry.

Emily Thompson 28:57
If you run a small business, you have to try gusto, payroll, deposit paychecks and file payroll taxes automatically plus get employee health insurance, onboarding, expert HR and more. You'll even get three months free when you go to gusto comm slash being boss that's gussto.com slash being boss. Okay, I want to talk about this angry piece because I have been seeing this a whole lot lately. So in the community and the being boss community, we have like full spectrum of bosses. We have people who are just side hustling or like still working their day job like really just starting all the way up until we just recently launched the C suite which has a handful of bosses in a row like six figures and up and so I do the Monday meetup. So the community I'm having weekly C suite calls with these like next level bosses. And one of the things that where I see the most clear divide between baby bosses and I call them baby bosses. They call themselves baby They coined that phrase for themselves, between baby bosses and these next level bosses is exactly what you're talking about is the ability to take something that they've created, see the actual like value of it. And not like, not like your words are invaluable or anything like that, but see if it will serve you in this space, in your business in this manuscript in this offering it like whatever it may be, it's about seeing the value of it in this place, and being able to just release it, if it is not serving you. And that, like a mindset, that mindset is one of the as one of those telltale signs that you are either like, going to make it quickly or you still have some hardcore work to do, right.

Tara Street 30:46
I mean, I can we work with baby bosses, and then, you know, seasoned bosses, often transitioning into the next phase of whatever it is they want to do. That's being a speaker now or an author or scaling up or narrowing in, right. And I would say what the baby bosses how that shows up in their brand copy is they're trying to over explain it. They're trying to over prove it. Or they're over apologizing for it to cut, you know, like this may not, you know, like they're just there's so many emotions wrapped. There's no shortage of right. Or

Tasha Harrison 31:22
no, sorry. That's right.

Tara Street 31:26
Let me tell you my 12 step process to you know, no, boom, make it five.

Tara Street 31:30
Right. Yeah. And then like the season bosses, let's make it three. And if anything, that's the bosses who are transitioning into what's next for them. If anything, I have to help them hang on to something Can't they want to like chop burn it? All right, like, I don't want to see that anymore. I don't want to see this anymore. I'm not even calling myself that anymore. I don't even offer this anymore. And I'm like, Whoa, I am this feeling slow down this

Tasha Harrison 31:51
feeling right? This

Tara Street 31:56
is the opposite of this, please. Don't take it for granted, just because you're tired of it. Or you think it's done or you think it's not serving me anymore? Are you Is that really true? Like I would be I feel like I keep like playing devil's advocate. But like I would say let's, let's explore what this new phase of your business is going to be and how you're going to describe yourself and brand yourself from here on out. You know what, guess what, let's circle back around, pick up that gem that you left behind, because that's not like that's consistency. So sometimes there's pieces that you shed that you need to you have to shed to be able to edit this new brand for yourself. And then you go back and pick them back up. Because they get they're part of the DNA of how people already recognize you or know about you or understand who you are. So don't don't burn it all down. You know that with the baby bosses? Yeah, like let's

Tasha Harrison 32:49
I mean, more. It's the same way with newbie writers they always over explain. Like, did you already told us this? two chapters ago? Why do we need to keep doing this like long? Want to make sure the reader blink? Is your reader dumb? Oh, you don't I mean, like someone's like, just assume that your reader has graduated high school and leave it at that like they're reading a book they've gotten this far. They can they can hold on to that information. Don't need to keep repeating it. And then the overexplaining just like overwriting lots of overwriting, adding that lots of baby bosses are the same way. I was like my services page used to do like you have to scroll twice to get through my services page. I'm like, why do I I will never forget I don't know who said it to me. There was another boss and they were like Why do you have so many services? I was like well I wanted to offer and like then she was like well how many people do you work with that you actually like working with? Like not many so cut out all the services you don't like to do

Tara Street 33:52
because guess what people will still try to hire you for them and then you can decide them if you want to do

Tasha Harrison 33:56
yes you know what I learned people just don't care like I deactivated my services page in April. People are still contact like guys, but you know I'm definitely in the eye me personally I'm in that transition of like burning everything down. Like I want to do something

Tara Street 34:19
we're gonna come back and save some stuff

Emily Thompson 34:22
right in there. I think you made a great point there Tara where editing is not just about knowing what to cut out it's knowing what to keep right and again I think that's like again understanding that like core of authenticity like what is at the center of it and not burning those things down because also I'm a burner also needs to burn things down

Tasha Harrison 34:43
torch it

Tara Street 34:44
right and I don't watch the show but I'm not mixing imagine what like love it or list it like love it or list it.

Emily Thompson 34:51
Yes. I feel like I would

Tara Street 34:52
don't they always end up loving it though. That's not always happening. I have never seen what I

Tasha Harrison 34:58
do they ever list it.

Tasha Harrison 34:59
Yeah. rarely, rarely usually

Tara Street 35:02
isn't really, the home renovation show where you think they're going to sell it. Maybe I should try to get on love it or list it.

Emily Thompson 35:08
Right? That's an interesting thing. Maybe it is in that one. That's also a great example of how properly editing something can make you love it.

Tara Street 35:20
I mean, that happens more than not with Yes, with clients who think they're going to change their change something really drastic. And then it's like, let's just work on it. Let's just edit it, let's just update it, let's refresh it, let's get this new energy into it. And, and more often than not, it's a lot better than love it more than listed situation, I would say. I don't know if the same would be true with hacia. She's like, I'm Tasha still doing the work.

Emily Thompson 35:50
As much as she wants to crap about it.

Tasha Harrison 35:53
I mean, I still do I still do this work. Okay, give me you can just sit send it to me. Right.

Emily Thompson 36:02
And the whole process of business is consistently reiterating, right. It's about constant edit, like you will never do it and it be done. Literally,

Emily Thompson 36:17
Because technology moves too fast.

Tasha Harrison 36:19
That part,

Emily Thompson 36:20
right and like in the economy right now is in 100%, flux constantly. All these things like I think right now, more than ever, we're all faced with this fact that if we want to be business people, we have to be consistently iterating and willing to try new things. Okay,

Tara Street 36:35
thanks, Emily have

Tasha Harrison 36:37
to be agile.

Tara Street 36:38
We'll keep going with double

Tasha Harrison 36:40
flexible, agile,

Emily Thompson 36:42
and editing, like constantly editing, I even think you know, at Almanac we're doing some, we're doing some constant editing and like, faster now than ever before. Like just fixing things, editing our product lines, changing the way we're doing things just like, keep going. And I think if I absolutely know that if I hadn't been a business owner and done, the things that I've done for as long as I have that process of fast editing would be painful. Like I probably would have stopped the first edit of like, Oh, I worked so hard on this. I don't want to let it go. Right. But I don't get time for that. I do not have time to be precious about literally anything. I think the more I sink into that thing,

Tasha Harrison 37:23
that's my problem. Like I'm ready to throw it away all the time. Right. Same move on doing better stuff out there. So yeah, I would have made it fine. It probably would have been a rougher go. If I had if I hadn't had all that experience like took the time to build. But yeah, if I could have burned it down five years ago,

Emily Thompson 37:45
right, I'm still always willing to burn it down. Any day. Any reason good enough. And I'm like, Sure, why not? Why not? Next thing, always next thing.

Tara Street 37:54
My 12 year old likes to remind me that he's you're basically a whole new human every seven years. Yeah. Like all your is that? Yeah, like all your cells and skin. Everything is? So he's he's tonsley. So why he's 12. Now 14, I'll be a whole new person. And I feel like business owners are like that a little bit, you know? Yeah, for sure. But you're not a holy person. When you're not. There's still a lot. You know, there's your a lot still,

Tasha Harrison 38:24
I think you evolve like, you're gonna have to live shipboard. Like I've said that, you know, people's ideas remain the same, like your core moral beliefs or whatever, don't change that they do change. They just evolve, right? Like, I found myself. I've always been a city girl. But I found myself daydreaming about moving to this house that my husband showed me and Buford, South Carolina, that has like it's near the beach and could walk like level I see myself walking with my little red wagon and my crab traps. The crab traps out in the morning. And they're doing Emily's thing like walking around my property in the morning.

Emily Thompson 39:01
Yeah, surveying the kingdom,

Tasha Harrison 39:02
surveying my kingdom. Mm hmm. I can't grow anything. But I'm thinking about like, I want to move to Buford, South Carolina and grow okra. Ha. So is this something that happens? I don't know. But I think as humans, we do we change. But I think we soften more, I think and that's what makes us a little bit different as we get older. But we do change.

Emily Thompson 39:30
Mm hmm.

Tara Street 39:31
I agree. And I think that comes through and how like circling back to how you might introduce yourself or talk about what you do. I don't think there's such an urgency or need to force it. Mm hmm. And that in itself, you become a better editor on the fly of yourself and your words and your choices. With time, right. Very true. You just kind of essentially down We'll say do on this subject of like how you introduce yourself, I feel like, again, maybe this is like a baby boss thing. And I think it's important for you to know how to talk about what you do 100%. But I never introduced myself the same way twice, like, I edit what I'm going to say, based on who I'm talking to, every single time, every single time. And so it's a, it's a constant editing yourself, and you just get into this. Yeah, you start understanding that, you know, an elevator pitch that worked last month is probably not going to work this month, especially these days, as quickly as things are changing, right. And so I've just adopted this idea that I don't need an elevator pitch, like I'll have a different elevator pitch every day, edited, based on who it is that I'm talking to. And again, I think that like flexibility, like built in Agile, this around even something as simple as how it is that you talk about yourself as another just, I guess, evolution of being a business owner of being an entrepreneur of showing up and trying to explain to people what it is that you do. Even that changes for some of us every day.

Tara Street 41:15
I think Emily, though you have a natural, kind of fearless quality, when you walk into even unknown situations where, you know, just that grace under pressure, where you're just gonna, you can wing it.

Emily Thompson 41:31
Right up, sometimes there's making, excuse me that

Tara Street 41:34
that did for some of us. Yeah, that's natural, baby boss or not. And some of us that takes time. If I was, you know, 24 years old, and just went from my side hustle to my day job making that my day job my whole life. And I had to go and introduce myself. I probably be pretty flustered. And I'd have to figure out you know, I'd be reading the room and is, if I wing it, is this gonna fit, but I totally know what you're talking about, like, adapting that elevator pitch or your positioning statements, we call it to reading the room, it doesn't mean you're being fake or flighty, or kind of trying to fit other people's expectations. It's more just taking your expertise and you know what you have to offer. And just saying it in a way that makes sense to the people around you.

Tasha Harrison 42:23
It takes it takes practice. I don't think that changing how you pitch even this fitting in the room is just speaking in a language that you think everyone in the room would understand. Well, yeah, exactly. So and I think that like what you were saying about Emily being fearless. I think that's just like, really Southern grit. Like, I've met a lot of Southern women here. And they are just kind of like, even if they're not feeling like it, they'll come into the room and there's like, Hey, you know, like, turn it on. Like, just turn it on? Yeah. And and like, that's one thing that I wish I could do more easily. But maybe as I get older, maybe the southern griddle rub off on me. I don't know. I've just got like, I've just got grit not Southern good. Just

Emily Thompson 43:10
But you definitely have like, you've seen me walk into rooms with bosses. Whenever I'm walking in a room, people I don't know, I'm like mug and everyone hear me? Right? I'm definitely like, active bitchface. way. Yeah. So and even then, I guess like in a room of bosses one way in a room of people that I don't know, like, just Aries face all the way is what happened? 100% 100%. So no, I think but the thing that I do when I come around to though is, you know a lot of people do, I think you again should know how it is that you introduce yourself to people how it is that you talk about what you do. But it'll change it as it goes through constant iteration iterating. Constantly editing, constantly shifting. And I think the more you can like come to terms with that and accept that that is part of the process of the entrepreneurial journey, the easier it is to embrace all of the changes that have to take place along the way. I do want to hit on, on how it is like how and where you draw the line, in terms of what it is that you do need to say, and maybe this is writing a book or maybe this is on your sales page. Maybe this is what you're sharing on social media, whatever it may be what it is that you that needs to be said. And what it is that you just don't need to be saying. Love to hear if either of you have any thoughts or maybe even like tools or practices for people to figure that out for themselves. Like how do you edit yourself in those places?

Tara Street 44:49
Well, I can speak to it on like in the sales page services, like how to say she's listening on services, we think about like where do I draw the line between listing everything, I can Do versus what I should do versus what I want to do. I like to think of it like, Okay, if you had that premier offer, like the way you would love to be hired, like imagine, don't worry about imagining your ideal client, imagine the ideal way you would like to be hired. And what that ideal even price point is, and how long does it take? And what are the things that you're doing almost like a package? Like it's good, like a photographer, for example, who, or a lot of work with people who are selling a service or less tangible. So you're an accountant, do you want to be just doing people's taxes? Or do you want to be like, meeting with them every quarter and signing on for a whole year and advising them and having the set and there's a set price, right, and this, this level of expertise that you're bringing to it and this engagement, versus I can do your taxes, I can help you get your QuickBooks setup, I can help you, right, this laundry list of services. And I would put that front and center like that's the thing you get hired for. That's how you, if you contact me to see what's a fit. This is what I'm known for. This is where you're gonna get the best out of our engagement together. And then you can have your sing earlier, decide based on the person the conversation or what Bill you need to pay. Yeah, I'll just, I'll just set you up in QuickBooks or send me over your schubach the receipts, if you if you don't feel like you can get that premier engagement, but keep trying and you can keep tweaking and editing. But I would say that's a really important place to, you know, we've been talking a lot about that first introduction positioning statement, I think a really great place to edit yourself is on your offering. And the other stuff can still be smaller underneath. Sometimes I call it also's and others like I'm known for doing your long engagements guiding my clients to their financial health and well being Yes, I can also in smaller bullets, help you set up your QuickBooks up above, but or follow, you know, I would really think of it like a hierarchy like that. And that's kind of where I draw the line, don't give everything equal weight, lead with your best offering, and then the other stuff can just be tucked underneath.

Emily Thompson 47:10
Now I like it, focus finds a focus, you can do lots of things, but find some focus, Tasha nuggets,

Tasha Harrison 47:19
I mean, ditto. But also, I think a lot of times. So I'm always like thinking about the individual person, like do you know yourself? Like how well do you know yourself? And how well do you know, like you said, like, what your ideal client is how you would like to work every day or you know, what you want to be known for. And that that goes for, you know, authors or any type of entrepreneur. So, like, the way that I do it, I think journal all the time. Like I do, like after action reports on everything I fucking do. I keep track of everything. I have a million notebooks, this house is gonna burn down from notebooks.

Tara Street 48:04
Especially when you burn it down. You

Tasha Harrison 48:08
have to have them in bins and carry them out easily. Okay, good. But um, you know, like, I spend a lot of time I call it navel gazing. But I think it's kind of necessary to like, learn your process and learn how you work best. And then it's easier for you to be able to tell people, this is what I excel at, yes, I can do all those other things, those and also's. But this is what i, this is my zone of genius. So it's easier to lead with that. And then if you have additional people have additional questions you can always add to it. So that's what I try to do lately, then, I mean, like in the last four years lately, just always just, this is what I excel at, yes, I can do those other things as well.

Emily Thompson 48:50
What about when it comes to writing something like a book? Or even earlier? Well, because you sort of answered this in terms of assume that people at least have a high school diploma. But whenever it comes to writing book or even, you know, what it is that you're sharing, especially as a brand on social media, or those sorts of things, what are your recommendations in editing those, like, Where is the line between, like, personal and relatable and personal and private? Or why you're

Tasha Harrison 49:28
always like, leaning far to the left of private, like, just stay, keep all of my personal business, pretty much out of my brand, like things that I'm passionate about is easy to share about like social issues or that sort of thing. Those things are easy, but you're rarely going to hear me talk about my kids or my husband because that's not your business. And I feel like there's a lot of there are a lot of businesses that are based on sharing that whole person like that and that's great. Actually Actually, like consuming that content. But I mean, like, where people are sharing everything like this is great. I get to sit here and drink wine with her on Friday night. We do this every Friday night.

Tara Street 50:15
Yeah. taker, not a giver, when it comes to people's personal answer, I'm sitting there reading long I love it, but I don't really share it either.

Emily Thompson 50:25
Right? So okay, then I feel like something is coming up here. Because what this also equates to is that everyone needs to define that for themselves, and then also potentially edit it as they go along. Right? So I have had a coach, once you always talked about your guard rail, like it's like bumping up against your guard rail, and just like find out where it is, where that might wait for the guard. Well,

Tara Street 50:51
that's your word, we're

Emily Thompson 50:53
imagining that we're driving at night, you can't see it

Tasha Harrison 50:57
over a cliff, okay,

Emily Thompson 50:58
you're still safe on this side of it. As long as you don't go over it, right. Maybe that's not the best metaphor in the world.

Tasha Harrison 51:08
There's gonna be some damage, if you

Emily Thompson 51:11
just tow the line, how about that, Hey, guys, just got into line. And then you can pull it closer. Like if you if you're not liking what comes from it either inside or outside. or push it further, if you find yourself able to share more, or talk about the thing more or whatever it may be. But it is about just defining it first and then editing as you go.

Tara Street 51:36
And then also whatever that mix is for you. whether or not your personal life comes into your professional life, you're still a person at work. And so if people are going to work with you or hire you, they're going to be working with you the person or reading about you the person. So whatever you're sharing on social or on your website, or in your all your first impression brand places, it should feel like people are getting a peek into what the experience of being with you is going to be like

Tasha Harrison 52:04
registered know how useful it is to show with your personal life, because they're not going to be with you involved in that you see what I'm saying?

Tara Street 52:16
Like it depends if like you're a lifestyle brand, or something like if your client is aspiring to be more like you. Or you're maybe like three or four steps ahead of the baby boss that's hiring you to help them do or edit through their book or whatever. They'll be sharing more about you. I think, you know, like you said, like to follow along, get to know you, but I know I'm like you touch it smarter for you to share that stuff.

Emily Thompson 52:40
And I really just want to bring this sort of down a level. So maybe it's not talking about like talking about your kids or what you ate for dinner last night. But simply, like the words that you use to describe the thing or how it is that you say Hey girl, or whatever it may be. It's even like editing just like that level of like, what are the words that they are reading? Like? How are you talking about the thing that you do? Um, all of that, like that level of editing?

Tara Street 53:06
Yeah, like, strip out the jargon. Yeah, if you don't use jargon, strip out generic words, you don't use junk. You don't over emote about a little.

Tasha Harrison 53:16
Don't try to sound academic or corporate. If you're not asking, oh

Tara Street 53:19
my gosh, please don't? Yes.

Tasha Harrison 53:22
And right. If like I see a lot of times, because there is a stage of writing, or getting to know are learning how to write your voice like to write from your office authenticity. A lot of it involves mimicking what other people are doing. But you have to keep doing it. You know what I mean? Like, I think a lot of people will get like, get the bare bones like, oh, here's a modality, I can download it for $27 I'm just going to plug in all of my stuff. And I'm going to leave it just like that. And they don't ever go back into like fine tune or Yeah, you know, just get it closer to who they are. You know what I mean? And I think like, there's absolutely nothing wrong with mimicking, right, I agree. And sometimes that's the only way that you'll be able to get going like you need to be able to see that someone else did it, kind of copy what they did to make it feel like something that you are doing and then just put it out there. And then over time, just refine it and refine it and edit and edit until it's your authentic voice. But I think a lot of people are just stopping it like, Oh, I'm gonna write like song. So my copy should sound like this and then just leaving it there, you know?

Emily Thompson 54:35
Yeah. 100% Yes, I agreed. It's all I think it's all a work in progress. Right, your positioning, your branding, your business, your offerings, your voice, you're literally all the things. It's all a work in progress.

Tara Street 54:55
And you can't always be working on it. No Do your work for your clients or whatever else does. You're right, you can always be working on it. But, you know, for different people, I think people always ask me like, how often should I revisit my brand, and it's different for everyone. It can be every year, it can be every four years, five years, 10 years, you know, and a lot of times what forces you to relook at your language or how you're speaking or what you look like online, or how you're sharing is, something else forces you to do it, you know, where you know that you don't like the work you've been doing, or you don't like the kind of clients you've been getting, or you've only gotten word of mouth work up till now, you've never had to really be intentional about it. But now you need to step it up. Because the word of mouth is or your, you know, you're ready to scale, whatever that looks like, I'm usually a forcing you to do it, because I like to go back and do it.

Emily Thompson 55:49
Right now, even though I still think it should be something that people are doing a little more proactively on an ongoing basis. And maybe it is once a year, because even whenever we're doing website stuff, or I'm doing website stuff in house, like I have a recurring task every year for literally every word on our website to be revisited. Because I think you're right, too is that, you know, often it is an outside force that forces you to relook at your voice, your positioning all of these things. And I if you're more proactive about it, it's not those moments that make you do it, like it's not a reaction to something outside of yourself, is that you have proactively made sure that you're working with the right clients, because your sales page is talking about what you do, the way you most feel like working with people now. Or, you know, your voice on social media is really aligning you with the right people. Because this thing has happened in the world and you want to make sure that you are you know, aligned, like whatever it may be, I think the more you are proactive about those things. The last react Have you ever have to be

Tasha Harrison 56:54
I do revisit once a year, but also like I have to, I'm gonna check my privilege here. Like I am a person who is pretty self aware. And I think a lot of people aren't really self aware, because they will muscle through parts of their business and feel uncomfortable in it and not really understand why they feel that way until the shift that you said, terror comes. And then you have to they have to sit back and do like all of this really big heavy lifting to get to reposition themselves in a way that they want to be seen and hired. Because I do so much journaling and navel gazing, like, it's not that hard for me to be like, you know what, I want to shift my focus from editing so much this year and more towards writing, and, you know, promoting books and stuff like that. It's not that hard for me because well, I only have three things I talked about, like I always just kind of like, Oh, I'm feeling more like doing this this quarter. Let me shift the focus and fine tune my content in a way that it will focus on these things.

Tara Street 57:53
And not only do you have the awareness and build that muscle, like Emily does, as well, you guys exercise that muscle a lot, both of you. And I do a lot for my clients, but not for my own business. Does that make sense? So I'm exercising that editing that awareness muscle, the editing, the fine tuning, but I'm doing it for other people. So I think that both of you are really good at doing it for yourself. And actually you have the talent and sort of Emily to actually implement it. So not only the awareness, I want to shift, but then I can actually write about that or redesign our sales page or completely re position ourselves online. Like you guys both have the skill set to also implement on the strategy that you want to follow for yourself this year. And so a lot people don't have that.

Tasha Harrison 58:35
That's true

Tara Street 58:36
ability to do it for themselves. And even people who do like me, I can do it for ourselves at braid. Like it's like pulling teeth to get me to work our own brand. Like what else has to Yes, right? Someone else has to force me to do it. And then I will because I really I love doing it for our clients like I just get zoned because it's so much easier to edit, coming back, everyone's the editor, so much easier, stepping into someone else's world, listening to their words, seeing this mess of ideas and seeing what needs to be at the top of the page, what needs to be the headline, what needs to be the call to action where the personality can see again, it's so much easier with someone else because you're not sitting there constantly questioning with every line of copy this business model decision yet this line, a copy hole for you, which is so much weight. And so it's easier to do it for someone else on yourself. And I feel like a lot of people probably feel that way.

Tasha Harrison 59:36
Oh, yeah, it's easier for me to point out what's wrong with other people's books than it is all day. Hence my Kindle notes. So much easier. like to see that problem and I will have the same problem in my own manuscript and go back and forth and back and forth about it. And then I might be editing someone else's alongside mine and be like, Oh my god, this is the same issue. I'm having And then like not to be like, Oh, I get it, like you can see it more clearly. But I think too like that that comes just from working with it all the time. Yeah. And I think a lot of people like you said, there are lots of people out there like you tears just like set it and forget it. I don't want to do this anymore. Let's do it one fucking time and be done. Like, but it's Yeah, I know.

Emily Thompson 1:00:23
Right? And it wasn't to like Tara, you have business partners and like a whole team that can help like, check the house, edit, implement all of those things. Tasha you have your tools, your journaling, you're like, probably having conversations with other people about it, like a reflection sort of things. Other people same for me are like hardcore journaling, and lots of conversations about my business with other people. And all of those things act as sort of editing partners. Basically people who are going to reflect back to you give you suggestions, tell you where you get excited and why you're not getting decided. Help you see what's not working, what is working. And I think I think those things are really important to the process because constant work in progress, always editing. Right. Thank you both so much for coming in chat with me about this. I knew that YouTube I knew that you two were the two that I wanted to talk to you about this because because this is this is important stuff and it's stuff that comes up in conversation a lot but it's also conversations that I've had with the two of you as well. So thanks for coming to share this with us here it can both of you tell us where people can find more about you. Tasha you can go first.

Tasha Harrison 1:01:42
You can find everything you need to know about me at Tosh. O Harrison comm I am on Twitter as at Tosh. l Harrison and also on Instagram at Tosh l Harrison. But I'm trying to get away from social media. You can blame me for that.

Emily Thompson 1:01:56
Yeah, you can totally blame me all day long for that. Tara

Tara Street 1:02:02
and you can find out about braid creative for I work and help brand up. entrepreneurs and baby bosses and senior bosses alike. Braid creative dot com so it's b r a i d like a hair braid dot com.

Emily Thompson 1:02:20
And Tara, you can go first for this one. It makes you feel most boss.

Tara Street 1:02:25
Oh my goodness. Well, you guys know it makes you feel most boss... my shed.

Emily Thompson 1:02:29
Yeah, I'm looking at her. Right now my shed I want

Tasha Harrison 1:02:33
forever jealous of your shed same

Tara Street 1:02:36
aimix little shed in the backyard and the garden. Sometimes people will use the Contact Us form on our website, which is just about inquiring about working together, you know, that kind of thing, which is fine. And they'll be like, do you have a schematic for your shed? What are they telling? Like, you don't have to answer this. I'm like, Well, actually, I don't have a schematic, but I love being able to come back here and work and just have space. And it's really cool. And if anyone's considering it, I highly recommend it. Especially now so many of us are

Tasha Harrison 1:03:08
Yeah, you have that that I can step away option like oh, I'm going to work and take your work to the shed.

Tara Street 1:03:16
And it's nice. I know I'm not telling anyone anything they don't already know. It's sort of a little fantasy. I don't usually indulge in them. But this was one that was a Lacey fall boss when I get to come back here and, and meet with anyone from anywhere. Mm hmm.

Emily Thompson 1:03:30
I love it. Tasha, what about you?

Tasha Harrison 1:03:33
What makes me feel most boss I think it changes from day to day, week to week constantly editing. Yes, constantly editing. And it's just it's more like you know, just finding gratitude and small things like always finding the joy or whatever. And like I'm what my writing is making me feel those boss right now. I feel like I am writing things for people and for myself that are things I love to talk about. I'm writing in the genre I loved writing. It just feels a feel way more settled into this career than I ever did before. Like before. I just felt kind of frantic. And like I was always trying to figure out how to do something. Now I'm just kind of like, I'm content. I could talk forever. Well, there's one out

Tara Street 1:04:26
and then you feel so good, you guys. It is like a work in progress. But definitely feeling that doesn't mean that you're not going to hit a level of contentedness with comfort. You don't always have to be scaring the crap out of yourself with everything you're doing. Like sometimes you can just feel content and what you know how to do best. Yeah. And that's even to keep working on it

Tasha Harrison 1:04:47
can I mean Well, yeah, it is a writer you should always be learning and changing as an entrepreneur, you should be doing the same thing. You should be an internal student. You should be sitting back saying I've got it all figured What don't have to change anything?

Emily Thompson 1:05:03
That's the day it ends

Tasha Harrison 1:05:04
then your business. Yeah. Either your business or your soul.

Emily Thompson 1:05:10
Right? either or, and,

Tara Street 1:05:12
or you could just go start trapping crabs out.

Emily Thompson 1:05:14
Yeah. Take your little red wine. Oprah

Tasha Harrison 1:05:17
Listen, y'all, I can't do it. I've been talking about it every day since he told

Emily Thompson 1:05:23
I'm there for it. I'm there for it. Well, thank you so much for coming and chat with me. I super appreciate it. I'll see you guys in Miami soon. Maybe, right? No, Okay, nevermind later, really Little Mermaid, New Orleans shore will be more or less

Tara Street 1:05:41
Ah yes. New Orleans.

Emily Thompson 1:05:45
I could have conversations with Tasha and Tara literally, all day. Actually, I feel that way about a lot of bosses. And you should know that conversations like these are always sparked between bosses when we get together, which is why I created the being boss community, a place for creatives, business owners and entrepreneurs to gather and talk shop from showing up live in our Monday meetups and answering prompts around our monthly themes. to having a space where you can go ask questions or lend assistance from your own experience. If you find this episode inspiring then you'll love the community. You can find out more at being boss dot club slash community. Now, until next time, do the work. Be boss