Creative Freedom with Lisa Robbin Young

In Heart-Centered Business: Healing from toxic business culture so your small business can thrive, Sufi spiritual business teacher (and my long-time colleague and friend, Mark Silver, M.Div. speaks to those who hate the toxic way business has developed, and want an approach to business that is as nourishing as it is powerful.

Our interview is an exclusive bonus episode for the season. Learn more about how YOU can build a business that is in alignment with your values, beliefs, and heart.

Let's talk about something we all know deep down: there's no one-size-fits-all approach to success in business. It's all about finding YOUR way and embracing your unique creative spirit (within legal boundaries, of course!). But hey, let's be real; carving out your own path can be a bit challenging, especially if you're a Fusion creative like me. No matter where you fall on the creative spectrum, if you're feeling a little lost on your journey to success, I've got you covered!

In this episode, I'm sharing five exercises that will bring clarity to your life and business. Trust me; they're game-changers! Tune in now to discover your path to success and get ready to unleash your creative freedom!

Do you have an impressive list of credentials and/or decades of experience? And despite that, you're still on the struggle bus when it some to confidence in yourself and your business. Or, you know your stuff but don’t see yourself on “the same level” as other influencers in your niche? Then you might be an Undervalued Unicorn! Check out Season 8, Episode 2 of the Creative Freedom Show to find out how to EMBRACE your inner Unicorn and STOP being Undervalued.

You are in for a treat with Season 8 of the Creative Freedom show! We start things off with a bang by tackling one of the most essential yet frustrating topics in business: business models.

I know, I know, it's not the most glamorous thing to talk about, but hear me out. Whether you realize it or not, you already have a business model if you're bringing in any income from your biz. The real question is: is it actually working for you?

If you're not sure, don't worry. This episode dives deep into Creative Entrepreneurs' top 6 business model mistakes and how to fix them. Some are obvious, while others… not so much.

So grab a cup of tea (or something stronger!) and join me for this episode of the Creative Freedom show. You won't want to miss it!

I can’t believe 2022 is almost over! During the Creative Freedom Retreat last week, we began planning for 2023, and I think this particular episode is a perfect way to end Season 7 of the Creative Freedom Show and segway into the new year.

I’ve been in the online world for almost 30 years (zoinks!). I've been a business coach for almost 20 years. I've seen a lot, done a lot, and worked with many different clients in that time: direct sellers, solopreneurs, and now creative entrepreneurs. Over time, I put A LOT of content out there. Some of it resonates, some of it doesn’t, and in the process, you’re left carrying this sort of hodgepodge of “stuff.”

At the end of 2021, I got really clear that my message wasn’t landing with my right audience. Being in the online space for so long, I felt challenged to find someone I could trust. Someone who got ME. And most importantly, someone who wasn’t going to snow me (if you know, you know!) but would help me figure out exactly what I wanted my new messaging to be.

For the final episode of Season 7 and 2022, I’m sharing my interview with Dr. Michelle Mazur - where we demystify the process of rolling out and/or pivoting your message to reach YOUR right audience. Bonus: I’m also sharing the messaging guide we created for my business, so you can see how this works.

Ever been on a bad date? I mean a really bad date? One that was so bad you felt the urge to write a song about it? Have you ever been the subject of a song about a really bad date?

I’ve kissed a few frogs in my day, but none of them warranted the kind of song that Nile Rogers of the famous music group CHIC wrote back in 1981. He went out with a woman and at some point in the evening, she started expecting him to use his celebrity status for her benefit. The nerve!

This young lady may well be the first person to ever be canceled. Seriously. You may not know her name, but that date was so bad that Niles went home and wrote the song “Your Love Is Canceled” He equated cancellation to the way television shows are canceled. They’re just gone… never to be seen or heard from again.

In this episode, we’re going to take a closer look at what Cancel Culture Vultures are and how to protect yourself from their wrath - if that’s even possible. They’re vigilant about all the wrong things. They care more about being right than calling in for accountability. While they are a prevalent part of society at the moment, if you spend too much time worrying about them, it will stall your growth.

This is a bonus episode that you won't find anywhere else. Not on the blog, not on social. Only for our podcast listeners. Like an Easter egg, but it's Thanksgiving. So Happy Thanksgiving!

When you’ve got a capacity problem, something has to give - and we’ll talk more about that in an upcoming episode. But for today, let’s assume you’re ready AND you’ve got the capacity to play to a bigger audience. How do you jump from being a big fish in a small pond to a larger one? While you can’t control the outcome, you can do a few things. Leverage your “local” relationships, give yourself time to be seen and deepen relationships with the right folks, find your consistency rhythm, and above all, don’t take it personally when folks act like they don’t know you.

Being invisible - especially in your business - has advantages… some hidden advantages that you’re probably not even consciously aware of. Today, we’re going to shine a light on these perks of invisibility so that you can make some empowered decisions about when to step into your spotlight and when to stay carefully tucked away in the shadows. 

A few years back, while attending an abundance workshop, I encountered one of the scariest moments of my life! A particular exercise gave me, a business coach, a very “deer in the headlights'' moment but also, a breakthrough that changed the way I work with clients. Had my coach not taken just a few extra moments out of her agenda to help me with this roadblock, I might still struggle with the idea of holding onto something so much. I might have never fully launched the Incubator, which has helped our clients make millions of dollars in the 6 years we’ve been running it. Many of those folks started at zero, so that’s real revenue. Real lives changed that might not have happened if I hadn’t faced that fear.

What’s the lesson? An Environment of Empowerment can help you overcome your fears.

As I mentioned in our last episode, even Betty White had her haters. Making yourself a victim is something that you have influence over and I am here to help! It starts by not being an a-hole, creating an environment of empowerment for yourself, and fostering a sense of belonging with your existing audience, which in turn changes your audience into your Raving Fans.

The full episode shares more details.

One of the common fears that comes up with my clients time and time again is becoming a target for haters, cancel culture and trolls. I mean, the bigger they are, the harder they fall, right? The idea of having to deal with negative attention does not feel expansive, fulfilling, or joyful. I mean, no one wants haters, and when you’ve already got a full plate, comments and attacks can be the straw that breaks your back.

It leaves them thinking they have to choose safety over the real success that they crave.

BUT… Do you really have to choose between playing it safe or taking risks all the time if you want to be successful? Entrepreneurship is inherently risky, but is the only path to success found by taking BIG risks all the time? Do you really have to choose between safety and security and being successful at the level that brings the income, impact, and influence that you know is meant for you?

When I was 16, I was over-the-moon excited about getting my driver’s license. I wanted it SO bad. I had helped my brother study for his exam and I was pretty sure I had the study guide memorized. But I wasn’t prepared when Dad invited me out to drive.

“What? Me? On the road? But Dad, I don’t have my license yet! I don’t have my learner’s permit yet! That would be breaking the law! I don’t think I could DO that! I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

“Okay kid.”

He never asked me again. He asked my sister, a year later, but not me. I was hurt, angry, and didn’t understand why SHE was getting the invite, but I wasn’t. Couldn’t he see I was ready now? Couldn’t he see that I had more experience, more skill at driving than she did?

That was one of my earliest experiences with the Passed Over Paradox. Only, I didn’t know it yet. Let me break this down so you can see what was really going on here.

This is Creative Freedom - Empowerment for creative entrepreneurs. Where can-do inspiration and how-to education collide to help you Own your Dreams without selling your soul™.

A long-time friend of mine came to visit Nashville not long ago. He paid me a compliment or two, as he often does, and I poo-pooed nearly all of it. Later, when we were at lunch with my family, he turned to my husband and asked: “How does she not see how talented and gifted she is?” My husband shrugged in agreement that I wasn’t owning my gifts and talent, and I certainly wasn’t accepting the compliment.

Hello, Impostor Syndrome!

What is Imposter Syndrome anyway? Well, it can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. Maybe you’ve felt it, too, but sometimes, Impostor Syndrome is a symptom of something much different. In this week’s episode, I talk a bit about the difference between Imposter Syndrome and what I call the Passed Over Paradox.

It's finally Season 7! It has been a long road to get here, and I’m so excited to be digging into the new content this season - all around helping you overcome the passed over paradox and step more confidently into your Great Work. To Be that star in your market, instead of a best-kept secret.

Last season I talked about increasing your brand visibility by showing up, giving people a reason to pay attention and by collaborating with colleagues. But that third point - collaborating with colleagues - deserves an episode all to itself. We’ll hit THAT topic next week. Promise.

But this episode is about building a community network and finding the right moments and opportunities to tap into those communities for business growth and visibility.

This is the LAST episode of season 6!!!I am ready to CELEBRATE with this week's episode where we dig into the questions I recommend asking yourself before you decide you are ready for coaching.

Coaching is not a magic pill that cures all ills. In fact, many of my clients will recount the times they’ve sat with me and cried or told me to eff-the-eff-off because they didn’t like the hard truth they were facing in the moment. Truths that they ultimately HAD to face if they wanted to move forward.

You’ve got to be ready for coaching. If you’re still standing around wanting someone to tell you what to do or be your boss, then that’s not what coaches do. In order to know whether or not a business coach is your right next step, these four things must be true:

1. Ya gotta be coachable
2. Ya gotta have a budget
3. Ya gotta be clear on your goals
4. Ya gotta be willing to invest your resources

I have an Incubator client right now that’s working on building their business, and they don’t have a large audience. Between fits of frustration around wanting to go faster and inspired ideas that need execution, we’ve been having conversations around who they serve and how to talk to them to stimulate sales without coming off as sleazy. As nice as it would be to just jump from a great business idea to loads of sales, it just very rarely works that way.

Could she walk up to every person she meets, introduce herself and offer her services? Sure. But she’d likely end up with more folks running screaming for the hills than she would new customers.

There’s probably nothing people hate more than to be sold to. And maybe you’re even thinking to yourself:

"I don’t want to be that slick, sleazy salesperson and have to push, push, push all the time just to keep my nose above water."

What can you do? Listen in to find out!

In our last episode we talked about how to find folks and I intimated a little bit about the need to talk TO them, not AT them. But we didn’t get into specifics of how to do that - what to say, etc.

I don’t want to leave you hanging. So, that’s what this episode is all about. This episode will be useful regardless of how well connected you are with this audience. Whether you’re just getting started with them or you’ve got clients, or the start of an audience but not many Raving Fans, I’m going to save you the two by four to the head.

Because it’s not enough to know who they are, you’ve also got to reach and connect with - engage with - them. Listen to the show below to become "coffee worthy".

A "bonus" episode that breaks down how 2021 went. Listen in as I go through a month-by-month breakdown of the highlights of what happened personally and professionally, and end the episode talking about what the changes were making at Creative Freedom HQ that were inspired by 2021's ups and downs.

Episode 3 of the Creative Freedom Show!

This week we are focused on the top 3 profitable business models for creative entrepreneurs.

In this episode we will cover:

✅ Service Based Model
✅ Product-Based Model
✅ Hybrid (Service + Product-Based)

This week on episode 2 of the Creative Freedom Show, the podcast takes a deep-dive look at Katy and Shania Twain to show you how to carve out your own profitable niche in your industry.

BOTH of them came from a musical world that was different than the one they ended up in. It required a little patience and courage to make the jump... and it made all the difference.