The gift of being bold & creating brand impact w/ Suz Chadwick – She Leads She Thrives Podcast Ep 32

Shannon Dunn  01:05

A great  big hello, everyone. I’m Shannon Dunn back here with another episode of She Leads She Thrives. Oh my goodness, I get so tongue tied in my own podcast name, because I’m so excited about what I’m about to talk about, and the guest we have today. I’ve often get referred to as an OG in the business of leadership coaching space, and it’s just kind of been around a long time, much like the young lady that I’m going to be talking to today. 

Shannon Dunn  01:41

So I am so happy to have Suz Chadwick here. So Suz is on the other side of Australia to me. We’re just chatting about that whole distance and how I’m so far away from the pulse of things sometimes it feels like but I’ve been following Suz, I’ve kind of lost track of how long honey, because it’s quite a while and you very much live up to the brand kind of promise that you put out there. You’re so authentic with what you do. And I you know your name comes up in different circles in chatting with business. So it’s very cool to actually be finally talking to you, as you said, we kind of interact with content and chat in the DMs. But this is a whole different thing. So I’m really excited to see what our conversation where that takes us today. 

Shannon Dunn  02:20

And let me let me kind of share the bio bit so we kind of get to know who Suz is and then we’ll dive into actually creating a conversation. So Suz Chadwick is a bold business mindset coach and mindset coach  – and 100% you will get the boldness –  no pressure Suz I think you just being you, that’s who you are right? And then a speaker supporting entrepreneurs to go from business confusion to clarity courage and CEO’ing at the next level. I love that. If you want to be the go to person in your industry, you want clients clambering for your brand of awesome sauce, then you’re in for luck. With over 15 years as a brand consultant working with global brands, and entrepreneurs, leaders and team Suz  knows what works when it comes to creating a business, mindset and brand that helps you stand out. 

Shannon Dunn  03:07

Do you get sometimes when you hear people read your bias go oh, look at the cool stuff I’ve done. The author of Play Big, Brand Bold, host of the popular Brand Builders lead podcast and the creator of Bold Business Academy and the Amplifier Accelerator. She now works with savvy women in business to create courageously bold brands, get out of their own way and build profitable businesses that take you from messy to magnetic. Welcome.

Suz Chadwick  03:34

Thank you. Like maybe I need to shorter one but all good. 

Suz Chadwick  03:40

Goodness, I’ve got about five different lengths of versions of my bio depending on what people want. But I definitely sometimes listen to Oh, yeah, that is me. That is what I’ve done. So and yeah, how many times do we have word bold in your, in your intro? Like a lot. 

Suz Chadwick  03:57

So a few times, you know, it is a word that I have built my brand on. I have been using it for like seven or eight years. So I’m just like it just resonates for me in a big way.

Shannon Dunn  04:10

I think having watched you from afar, listen to you, you’re very big on social media and love like your candid kind of chats about things and you know, all sorts of stuff around life in business. But there’s a boldness to it every time but there’s no question or hasn’t ever been any question in my mind Suz that that’s just you really being you. You know, we’re talking about being authentic, but like no feeling like you’ve overly kind of manufactured to be bold. You just are.

Suz Chadwick  04:43

Yeah, I think for me, I’ve just always been a bit of a straight talker and I think that, and I always say in a loving way. I’m like, you know I am somebody that likes to have straight conversations. I like to kind of, you know, share things how I see them. And, and also, I just kind of think, you know, we’re here for a good time. Not a long time, Shannon. And I just think, you know, if you’re gonna do something, let’s like, do it. Let’s like, get on with it. Let’s go after the big things because, like, why not? Why wouldn’t you? 

Shannon Dunn  05:19

Yeah, for sure I’m so on the same page with you about that one. And the fun, I think, I have definitely had times where I’ve not been as fun as I maybe am now. And, you know, my kind of professional life dominated my business life for a lot of time with that, you know, the corporate the way to be, and I know you’ve got a corporate background as well. So in fact, that’s something I’d love to actually kind of lead as a question where there’s that you do make an impact with your fresh, I think, like vibrant, effervescent personality, and so much color, which also makes so much sense to me, because I equally love color. 

Shannon Dunn  05:53

But you know, how did you navigate that time, a corporate kind of time before you came into business? Because I don’t know about you, but my I was kind of, I felt like my personality was squashed a lot in corporate because I wasn’t encouraged or allowed, I’ve been told that you need to wear a business suit. Or like wearing a brightly colored scarf and being told, that’s a bit much. Stuff like that.

Suz Chadwick  06:17

Right. Interesting.

Shannon Dunn  06:18

So how did you go with that kind of thing? 

Suz Chadwick  06:21

I have always I feel like I’ve always been personality lead. And I’ve always been if I’m honest, a really big fashion girl. So I used to have before I had my business, when blogs were a thing, I used to have a fashion blog, I used to go to like, all of the Fashion Week staff like I was, you know, when I used to work in London, I’d be like it all the designer sales and you know, queuing up around the block with all the girls. And so I’ve always expressed myself through color and fashion and the things that I love. So that’s, I think, something that’s just always been part of me personally, and then professionally. 

Suz Chadwick  07:03

And because I was in sales, like I was in recruitment, when I was in corporate, there’s a couple of those two things is that one, you’re kind of celebrated for being bold and loud, because we’re in a sales environment. So you kind of have to be pretty, like gutsy and go after things. 

Shannon Dunn  07:25

That kind of a background or that career, or that kind of area is definitely more when I think about that, it makes me think of the more extroverted people in the world being, you know, being ideal for that sales kind of energy. 

Suz Chadwick  07:40

Yeah,  absolutely. And I definitely did used to do the whole suited and booted thing, it never really like I wasn’t ever fussed by it. But when I probably got into my late 20s, I did used to wear a lot of like really colorful dresses, and I just I threw all the suits away. And I was working at Deloitte Consulting at the time in London. And I did used to stand out and you know, something, Shannon, I loved it. They would see me coming and, and so yeah, fashion has always been a really fun way. Like, it makes me feel fun. I feel good when I feel like I look good, like when I love what I’m wearing, which has been a really interesting kind of brand evolution for me as well. 

Suz Chadwick  08:23

Because even in the last year, I was always like a Gorman girl. And that was very much a brand identity for me. But kind of probably at the beginning of last year, I kind of fell and this is really interesting mindset thing is that this is how much I’m connected to my fashion is that I was like, I feel like I’m ready to really uplevel my business. And so if I am going to be thinking, like the seven figure CEO level and being the kind of personal brand that I want to be, then what does that person do? How does that person look? How does she act? And so I kind of really changed my fashion aesthetic, because it’s how I express myself where I was like, if I put on something and I feel really lux, and I feel really slick, then that’s what I want, because that’s where that’s like what I want to create more of. So how do I step into that more now? 

Suz Chadwick  09:22

So for me, fashion has always been part of my life. But the other thing around the corporate thing is that I always had really, really strong female leaders around me. 

Suz Chadwick  09:22

So we had a full brand refresh, I pretty much changed my wardrobe. Like I sold a lot of my old stuff. And whilst I still love the colorful things, it was just a really interesting mindset shift for me. Where, you know, I think identity is a really big thing when it comes to what we’re willing to go after, is kind of how we like how do we see ourselves, and what do we think we’re capable of? 

Shannon Dunn  10:01

Lucky you. 

Suz Chadwick  10:02

Yeah, like always, like my first boss in recruitment was a woman. And then, and then even when I moved to London,  I had a number of female bosses. A lot of my CEOs were females. And it was just really interesting. I know, that’s probably not the typical experience that a lot of people have, but I had really fierce like female leaders in my life. And my mom’s , I come from a strong Christian home. And my mom used to lecture in front of like, 300 women every week. Like I was surrounded by women who were not wallflowers, let’s say.

Shannon Dunn  10:41

Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. And it shows right. And it does, it plays out in the way that we then express ourselves. Both of my grandmother’s were business owners. So again, that was something I didn’t question whether as a woman, you could be a business because I’d seen it. Right. That one of them was very big and very definitely out there doing things. The other one was the behind the scenes, it was business with my grandfather, but there’s no doubt in my mind, who was the boss? It was my Nana. Yeah, definitely. But you’re right, like identity has a huge part in what we want to create. But you know, I’d love to know, before we kind of get more into the boldness in different ways, and what that even means, and how does, why does it matter? And the brands kind of stuff that you do, what was the launchpad for you to get into your own business?

Suz Chadwick  11:27

Yeah, so I, in a nutshell, so I was in recruitment, I used to manage like large recruitment, I headed up recruitment for consulting across Europe for Deloitte. And then we had this really big project where they wanted to like hire 100 consultants. And so they brought a brand agency in and the brand agency worked with me as the head of recruitment to do these brand activations. So it was like train stations, newspapers, events, social media, like and I was just like, what is this amazing, I was like, this is like, so fun. This is so creative. This is so incredible. And like it’s part of business, like who gets to do this for a living. 

Suz Chadwick  12:11

So that was kind of my first taste of branding, and all of the things that go with it, building community, like creating things that attract and captivate people, those sorts of things. And so that was kind of the first bug that bit me. And then when I came back to Australia, I was still in recruitment. And there was a consultant that came in for a meeting one day. And she was a brand consultant who was going to help us on another campaign. Anyway, I was just about to pop, I was like the week that I was going off on maternity leave. And so I went off, I had my baby. And about four or five months later, I sent her a message on LinkedIn. And I said, Sam, I don’t really know if you remember me, we were in this meeting a few months ago. But I really want to get into this space. And I’ll work for you free of charge for a day a week while I’m on maternity leave, if you’d like teach me how to do this. And she was like, Yeah, sure. So on a Thursday, while my baby was sleeping, I’d be on like Skype calls with her and our clients. We’d go through brand strategies, social media, strategies, marketing, selling, like community building all the rest of it. And when I went back to corporate, I said to my CEO, I actually think that there’s a gap here. And I think that we could, like provide employer branding services to our corporate clients. And she said, Go do it.

Shannon Dunn  13:38

Oh, that’s so cool.

Suz Chadwick  13:43

One of the one of the parts of that story is that I had spoken to my director, and I’m like, I really want to get into branding. I really want to I don’t want to people manage anymore. And just at that time, somebody who they had kind of started doing a little bit of it, but the person who was doing it wanted to come back into people management. And so it was just serendipitous that the time – we did a job swap. Yeah, yeah. And then from there, I basically took that full time. And we started doing it in the Americas, Asia, Pac and Europe. And so we were now doing like employer, like large scale employer branding projects for like, biggest pharmaceuticals, biggest media, investment banks, all of that. And so that’s kind of where my brand chops I guess, were built. 

Suz Chadwick  14:30

And then because I built that business, I had girlfriends that were like, on maternity leave going, I don’t want to go back into corporate. How do I do this? So over dining room tables and glasses of wine, I’d be like, right? Like, this is your business strategy. This is how you build your brand. This is how you price and like price and package your services. Like this is how you’re gonna go get clients, and they were just like, you’d need to do this. You need to get paid. So I was like, all right. So they referred me to friends and stuff. And then I kind of started my business and I built it on the side for a long time.

Shannon Dunn  15:09

Yeah. Yeah, that’s such a great story. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard you share that, which is why I was like, I want to know more like, I’m such a curious person, sticky beak. But I love the founder stories so much, because they’re often like  almost like accidental, but also intentional at the same time, because it makes complete sense that you ended up in, in branding, right, and working with people around their brand, and particularly their personal brand. That your own again, as you said earlier, identity is been something you’ve been aware of how important that is, yeah, makes no mistakes, right? We all end up exactly where we want to be, even if we start somewhere very different, which a lot of us, a lot of us have done, and very much so.

Shannon Dunn  15:53

 So what does it mean to be bold? Let’s get Susan’s definition of what it means to be bold and why it matters. Like, why is why do we want to be mindful of this? I don’t know about you. But in the business space, I have had conversations over many years with a lot of women that feel terrified about putting themselves out there. But I think if you say to them, might you be need to be more bold, they’d kind of almost want to run away faster. So like, why is it important? So we can give everyone who’s listening, kind of a reason or hopefully a motivation to connect with their own boldness.

Suz Chadwick  16:24

Yeah, I love that. And you know, something so “bold”, and I’m very much a word person so,  “bold” means to break the mold, to go against the grain and to do thing..

Shannon Dunn  16:34

 rebel energy

Suz Chadwick  16:35

yeah, and to challenge the status quo. So that’s what it means. So sometimes people look at me, they’re like, I’m not extrovert, like you. I’m not bright and colorful, like you. I’m not loud, like you, etc, which is a compliment. And I just say, that’s got nothing to do with being bold. Yes, yeah, that’s like, my personality has got nothing to do with being bold. I know that that’s what people think that it means a lot of the time. But that’s not what it means. And so, you know, I talk about like, I think Chanel is bold. Chanel is like black and white, and bold. Why? Because they do things differently. They go against the grain, they kind of set the tone for the industry, and what luxury looks like.

Shannon Dunn  17:16

They have a unique identity that’s not created off the back end of others.

Shannon Dunn  17:21

It’s that I was saying to someone yesterday, I recorded an episode for for this next series and the particularly when I look at the business, like the kind of business coach space in the North American and the European market. In my nerdy observation, curious kind of space, sometimes it’s very easy to work out exactly who they’re working with, and kind of always almost like up the line of who that coaches coach is and that kind of thing. Because their what I would hope their personality gets lost and the language they use, the visuals they use, the tone of the visuals, it all becomes the same. And it breaks my heart Suz, probably yours too, like when you see that because like but what I saw you when you were kind of just starting or and you used to be this or you used to share this or you looked like this and now I’m kind of not sure who you are because you look like everyone, sound like everyone else. So I kind of understand it when we’re trying to find out our groove and trying to get clear on who we actually are and work out what our identity is. But I would much rather see you honor yourself and find your one thing that’s different and really put your energy and excitement and everything into that and let that become your kind of leading force in your business. Yeah, yeah. 

Suz Chadwick  17:21

Yeah, absolutely. And so I think that when you take a look at your business, and what you do, it is about going against the grain. It’s saying, Okay, I see my market, I see what’s happening, what is unique about me, what makes me stand out, what makes me like be the person of choice, literally just sent out an email about this, like, why should your clients choose you? What are you doing differently? How are you engaging with them creating, like working with them in a different way? And how are you kind of helping yourself to stand out in the crowd? Like, what are you saying that’s different? And you know, it could be that you’re going against what’s something that’s in the industry, maybe you’ve just got incredible thought leadership that helps you really stand out? You know, maybe you’re challenging your clients in a different way, and taking the conversation to the next level, rather than talking about what everybody else is talking about. And so I just think that especially now, I mean, we were talking about that, you know, you feel like an OG in the industry. But I just think there are so many businesses in the market now, which is fine. That’s not the problem. The problem is that there are so many that are the same. That’s the problem. 

Shannon Dunn  19:56

And I think something that I  have been thinking of about and talking about quite a lot sort of in the last month is, is the content coma, where we consume so much that….

Shannon Dunn  20:12

it’s ridiculous how much. 

Suz Chadwick  20:13

Yeah, we consume so much of other people’s stuff that we kind of are now in a coma to the fact that we’re not creating. And so, you know, I’ve kind of been on a consumption hiatus for quite a while. And I think you’ve just got to ask yourself, like, when you want to be bold, you can’t constantly have everybody else’s stuff feeding into you, if you’re trying to create something unique and different. And so I think that if you know if any of your listeners are sitting there going, but I don’t really know what, like, my unique thing is, or if I don’t really know, like what I think or that’s not, I guess, a regurgitation or a reinvention of somebody else’s stuff. The reason is, is that sometimes we’ve got to kind of give ourselves the space, to think. We’ve got to take away all the noise and actually spend some time in the deep thinking. And one of the things that I actually learned when I was in corporate, that I really loved is that when I was kind of developing all the stuff for the brand agency, my director said to me, Suz, I want you to take like a day off a fortnight or a half a day, just for thinking time. Yeah, that’s what I mean, I had some pretty amazing female leaders.

Suz Chadwick  20:28

After cool, the next phrase that came to mind was “avant garde” like, not like what normal people do again, so an expression of bold. 

Suz Chadwick  21:34

Yeah, absolutely. And so she was telling me, just take like a half a day, just to think because I had to come up with like, all the concepts that we were going to be selling. And I had to, like, think about how we were going to present it and all the rest of it. So she’s like, just take some thinking time, and that’s never left me. 

Suz Chadwick  21:52

So for me, you know, I actually do have time where I’ll take my notebook, and I’ll go sit on my big lounge out in the backyard or whatever. And I’ll just be like, what is it that I want to say about this? Like, what do I think about that? And I may have been inspired a little bit by somebody else talking about something. But then I’ll go away and say, Well, what do I think about that? And what of my experience has been? And what’s the stories that I can bring to it? And do I agree, do I disagree? Like, I think we don’t give ourselves the time to really create amazing content, thought leadership. That is what you will be remembered for, like when you think about for me my icons, or Elizabeth Gilbert,  Brene Brown, like they’re incredible thinkers, they have unique stories and ideas to offer the world. And I can tell you now, they’re probably not mass consumers.

Shannon Dunn  22:51

Yeah, I would agree with you. Because I actually had a conversation with Liz Gilbert. So I was the opening keynote speaker for an event nearly three years ago. And she was the kind of like headlining speaker. And I actually had a conversation with her about that. I also talked to her about her Thrive Factor Archetypes that I didn’t need to profile her, she was so strong in who she was, so convicted in her expression of self, that it was easy for me having worked with them for so long, to creating them and working with them to know what they could be. 

Shannon Dunn  23:19

But I talked to her about that uniqueness. And one of the real key things that stood out for me was she said, I listen to myself first. Yes, right. So that’s exactly what you’re saying. And yet sometimes that can feel challenging to do, because there is so much noise, so much influence. But I tend to find that often when we are kind of tapping into everything else, we get very confused. And that state of confusion can create an internal state of chaos, and that challenge to identity, like we don’t know who we are, because we’re trying to kind of be the thing we think we need to be based on what we think the definition of being successful or whatever it is looks like, and we get lost.

Suz Chadwick  23:58

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that’s a really interesting one. Like I think the whole listening to yourself, and it’s uncomfortable, like people find that really uncomfortable to be in their own company with their own thoughts actually saying, what is it that I want to say? And just going back to what you said earlier on, as well, Shannon, is that, you know, when some women think about standing out or being bold, or putting themselves out there, it’s just like, like, fear of that is huge. 

Suz Chadwick  24:27

And so when we listen to ourselves, and we come up with our own ideas, there’s a fear of what if people think I’m wrong? What if people disagree with me? What if this doesn’t land? And I’m just kind of like, if you have something to say, spend time working out what it is, spend time developing the idea, the concept, the process, the model, the thought leadership, whatever it is, and kind of like, you know, go out there with that conviction. Right. Let’s see. and be okay with people disagreeing with you, it’s fine. You don’t need everybody to agree with you. You just want to be connecting with and reaching the right clients who have a values alignment, who want what you have, who you know you can help. And everybody else, as my mother would say, can go to pot. Yes. You know, I like it’s just…. I just think we live in a world world where, you know, we find comfort in conformity. And I just really want to challenge that.

Shannon Dunn  25:31

And you do, a great role model. And this is I think, what the business world is actually craving is more role models who are like, I’m doing it this way. And I’m going to evolve my own way over time, I know what’s happening in the marketplace, or I’m aware of that kind of thing. But I don’t necessarily need to conform to believe I’m going to end up wherever I want to end up. We need more role models doing that more of that kind of rebellious nature and rebel. 

Shannon Dunn  26:02

I’ve had lots of stuff to do with rebellious women over the years. One of my four Archetypes is the one that we call the rebel. So I don’t do what everyone else does. But I’m not as extreme as if you told me to do that, I’m going to do the complete opposite. I’m gonna take it on board, but I’m going to find my own path to do it. Sometimes also been a break on some things that sometimes to being the rebel. But equally, it’s that, you know, also putting that message out there that being that bold individual or being rebellious does not mean being loud. It does not mean upsetting everybody, it does not mean deliberately going out there and trying to speak against what the kind of accepted norm and trend is. And I think sometimes that’s where it gets misconstrued. People think that that’s what being bold or being bit rebellious is, is that you are the disrupter, but not in a good way.

Suz Chadwick  26:55

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, obviously I don’t think about it that way. I find it I find it really interesting. Because I also think that obviously people’s personal experiences impacts the way that they interpret things. For me, I think about, you know, the people that have paved the way, the people who have come up with new ideas, the people who have done things really differently and had massive success. Like to me, one of the things I always say to clients as well is like, it’s fine to look at other people who you know, in the market, but look at people who aren’t competitors. Like, why don’t you look at like what Apple does, or what, you know, Rare Birds, which is like a New Zealand footwear company that’s now valued at $2 billion. You know, they did something completely wanted a non-branded shoe. Yeah. And so and so I just think, like being intrigued by what people who are having success and not following the status quo, be intrigued by them. And, like, find out more about like, what what you could do that could be similar to that. Like, if you want to look at somebody to not copy but kind of be inspired by, look to people outside of your industry, so that you can kind of bring this eclectic new way of thinking, that is different to what everybody else might be doing in your space.

Shannon Dunn  28:27

Yes, because it’s very easy to get caught up in that. It’s almost like a trap in some ways of just looking at what other people who do what you do do, what they’re doing, the language they’re using, the visuals they’re using the way that they’re, you know, capturing whatever it is. And to think that that’s the way to do it. No, firstly, so that’s such an awesome suggestion to go outside, that’s a bold move. So anyone listening – just do that. Take that as one action from today. Go and look at someone that you admire, find someone that’s doing something that’s a little bit unusual, perhaps, but resist really, but use it, understand it, use it as motivation for sure. 

Shannon Dunn  29:06

So I think we kind of touched on this to a point but I want to get the kind of your summary of this. Why is personal brand so important in business? And kind of maybe right now, in this and where we are in the world at the moment?

Suz Chadwick  29:20

Yeah, because there are a lot of businesses out there. And because a lot of people offer similar services, the only difference is you Like it the only difference is like if I if I offer coaching, you offer coaching and 5, 10, 15 million other people offer coaching. Yeah, so our thought leadership is what makes us different, and our personality and the way in which we approach it. 

Suz Chadwick  29:45

Yeah. So those are like the main things. We can have, like different models and things like that, but at the end of the day, somebody’s going to say, is that the person that I want to work with? is the way that she or he thinks is the way like their personality, their energy is like the unique things that they share, like, does that intrigue me? Like do I think wow, like that sounds super interesting for me. So, at the end of the day, your main differentiator is you in your business.

Suz Chadwick  30:19

 So I’m a massive believer in personal brand. And I even used to work with leadership teams in corporate to help them kind of really, I guess, amplify their personal brands. Because that would be the differentiator like, a senior candidate, if we’re talking about employer brand, which is what I used to do, you know, like a senior operations person could be having, like, so many great offers from different businesses, but they might all offer the same thing. They might have all have great packages, they might all give great salaries. But at the end of the day, who does he want to work with? Right? And so who does she want to work with? And so you’ve got to understand how people buy, like, we buy what we want to be, do and have, yeah, we want to be around and buy from people who really resonate for us and whose energy we want to be in. And so it’s really important for you to be able to share that if you want to have that as a differentiator.

Shannon Dunn  31:20

Yeah. You and I probably wouldn’t understand when people say, like I don’t, I don’t need to be that unique and that different, but it makes such a difference. And as you said, particularly in the coaching space, where you and I are, yeah, coaches listening to this. But I feel like with the pandemic, and the change in employment for a lot of people, that that’s been the greater number of coaches entering the marketplace than ever before.

Suz Chadwick  31:45

Yeah, like, I think I saw the other day that it’s like, I don’t know, is that a $40 billion industry or something like that? Now. But yeah, it’s massive. And I just think, you know, it’s really interesting, because a lot of people are like, Oh, but there’s so many coaches out there. But when I speak to individuals, they’re like, Yeah, I just know about you, and like one other person. So because we’re in the industry, it can feel like oh, my gosh, there’s so many, but to a person, like a client who’s looking for help they might know, two or three people. Yeah. And so that’s who you’re up at you. Like, if we’re talking about, like, you know, having competition or, you know, being assessed against others. If they’re looking at two or three people, then they’re going to make a decision. Well, I guess these three people could help me, but which one like resonates for me the most? Yeah,

Shannon Dunn  32:35

yeah, completely. And that’s a good reminder, as a reality check for everybody is that, like you said, we are in the coaching space. So we see the billions of coaches, but our ideal clients if they’re not coaches, because I know you’re like you and I, there’s a similar in that we don’t just coach coaches, we coach business owners, who may happen to do coaching, that those people did not see what we see. And they don’t see the flooded kind of marketplace of people in this particular space. 

Shannon Dunn  33:05

So I want to take this personal brand and connect it to I know you do a lot of work supporting your clients around speaking and getting paid kind of speaking. So tell us about that. For anyone who might be kind of like they might I think they probably would potentially get –  we’re talking about ambitious intelligent souls listening here – get that there’s a link between personal brand and speaking. But how do you make it easy for people who kind of are not really sure about the importance of building and nourishing that personal brand? So that again, when it comes to you’re pitching yourself, or you’re invited to speak,  it’s so easy for you to be selected over the other candidates that may be in the running for whatever that role is?

Suz Chadwick  33:45

Yeah. So I mean, I don’t know if you’ve run events or not, Shannon, have you run events? Yeah. So I’m sure that you know, I mean, I’ve run events as well. So yes, I am a paid speaker. But I’ve also come at it from an event organizer’s perspective. And at the end of the day, there’s a couple of things that need to happen. I want somebody who is unique, who has a different way of thinking and talking about what it is that they do. But if you’ve got a good following, that’s gonna make my life as an event organizer a whole lot easier. Because you’re a name that people know, maybe you’ve got a community that are willing to follow you to come to the event as well.

Suz Chadwick  34:23

I am conscious of giving people who don’t have, like all the speaking opportunities opportunities where I can, but as an event organiser, I also know, I’m going to make my job a whole lot easier if they’ve got a brand that attracts people. Like when I first started my business, the very first event,  I do not recommend this to anybody. But the very first event I ever ran was Epic Summit. And Lisa Messenger was my keynote speaker and this was in 2015. So the collective was like, doing really well at the time. Yeah, yeah, but I didn’t have like a big community. I had like a small following and that and I thought, here comes to brand consultant, who can I brand-jack? 

Suz Chadwick  35:09

Yes, I saw, I was thinking about if I was going to have this event, like who is somebody that I would love to see, who I know is got the community that I want to connect with. And so I Googled her email address, I sent her an email, we ended up having her at the event, we had her at a day and night event, she was exclusive at the event. And you know, we had 200 women that came in the day and, and it was amazing. But I knew I could do that. And it was expensive, but I knew I could do it because of her brand. Right? Like, don’t underestimate the power of a personal brand. You build your personal brand, you create unique thought leadership, you put yourself out there and the speaking gigs, and the requests will come to you rather than you having to always go out and try and find them.

Shannon Dunn  36:00

Completely. And I’m sure like I have, you’ve had seemingly random invitations to speak, whether it be even a virtual kind of summit or platform or in-person that you’re like, how did you find me? And most of the time people say to me, you were recommended an/or I found you online? Yeah, yeah. And I was intrigued, looked at more. And I saw you also were a speaker and listen to which I think is also important, when we’re talking about social media and our opportunity to actually speak to camera. I’ve often had put or increasingly had people say, I listened to you and I could hear that you’re articulate and you had something to say. Yeah, worse is getting a speaker that you’re like, Oh, this is not going well.

Suz Chadwick  36:50

Yeah, and the other thing is that, you know, I’ve had a lot of speaking gigs from the podcast. So you know, even like one of my listeners, she’s like the director of a national financial services, like for advanced financial advisors. They’re the body that, like, looks after financial advisors, I’d say I’m like, I don’t even know exactly what they do. But she listens to the podcast. And she invited me to come and speak at their conference up in, like near Byron. There was like 100 financial advisors in the room. And I talked about creating unique brand experiences for their clients and stuff. And it was fantastic. It was so fun. And so I just remember like I used to do video years ago, and then we were renovating our house. And I remember Darren Rowse. do you know pro blogger Darren Rouse. Yeah, he’s an OG as well. He was on a Facebook live. And he said, If you want to be a speaker, then start a podcast because basically, you have to give a keynote every single week, like, Yeah, and so then you like, people can hear what you’re like they can get your energy, they can see the quality of the content that you share. And I have had so many speaking requests through the podcast, which has been amazing. So it’s just about where you build your brand as well.

Shannon Dunn  38:16

Yeah, for sure. And I think anyone who might be listening in,  don’t take it the wrong way. Suz didn’t say, go and start your own podcast. But you could get invited as a guest on other people’s podcasts where there is active promotion. And you also actively promote, as I say, to to guests that I have on the show all the time, particularly those that are not as familiar with being on podcast, you’ve co created an incredible asset that is you in the spotlight as the guest in a podcast, don’t just kind of share that once and then leave it. Use it and use it like put it in if you’ve got a speaker bio, put a link in there to someone to go and listen to you on that podcast or summit or whatever it was. Ask for the recording if you can get it. Some people will happily share aspects of that. Make the most of it, you know, credible asset they doesn’t get us like I think it could be so yeah, very, very cool. 

Shannon Dunn  39:12

So yes, a personal personal brand is just it can take you so many places. And I think there is such an incredible opportunity right now we live in a world that is very creative. And I think a lot of people don’t realize how much and it’s just that one little thing that might be unique about you could be the difference. Yeah, and it doesn’t have to be a huge thing at all. I think there’s a lot of people that I’ve certainly talked to I felt like it needed to be a big significant thing. Not at all.

Suz Chadwick  39:40

No and I think this is kind of where you’re just being true to yourself and being authentic like I said, like a lot of people remembered me for my fashion I love, it’s very much a part of me. Another thing, you know Gorman was something I brand-jacked when I used to wear a lot of their stuff, you know, lychee martinis. Like, it’s got nothing to do with business, but someone will send me like a picture of them out where they’re at a bar or something. And they’re like, I saw lychee martini on the menu, and I decided to order it and thought of you. 

Suz Chadwick  40:11

So I’m just like, you know, I think you can really, like bring your personality out. And whatever you love that makes you memorable, that makes you unique and different. Like, this is one of the things where, you know, some people like I only want to share about business, because people are only following me for business. And if you want to do that, that’s, that’s totally fine. That’s up to you. But I’m like, you know, something, I’m a whole person, just by the way, like, I actually really love my dog, Bo, I really love fashion, I’ve got kids, I’ll talk to you about business till the cows come home. 

Suz Chadwick  40:44

But like, there’s this, I have parts of me. And there are some things like, you know, I share a lot of that there’ll be other things that I don’t share, which is personal and private, which is fine. But I think that when you bring your whole self to your business, and you allow people to connect with you on a deeper level, that’s when you become magnetic. That’s when people are like, I want to come and see and like what you’re up to today. And I want to see what she’s wearing. And I want to say like what’s happening or whatever. And so I think just really ask yourself, are you connecting with your audience in a real way, and you choose what you share,

Shannon Dunn  41:24

You always have a choice about what and how much you share. But you, I think you’re missing an opportunity if you don’t let people into your life in some way. Again, in context of what feels good for you to share, is safe or whatever is relevant for most people. So very cool. Kind of got two key questions that I ask you before we do because I’m kind of on a wrap ups like which one am I going to go with next right? Both of them are relevant. 

Suz Chadwick  41:54

I can give you two short answers, if that’s easier, or we can go but one longer answer whenever you want. 

Shannon Dunn  42:00

It doesn’t matter. We’ll work with it. But I think one of the things that I’ve asked all the guests, so is is you we’ve answered this in their questions, when you kind of book the time to come and chat with me on the podcast is, you know, what’s your superpower? And you listed a few really cool things, right. But one of them I wanted to know more about and this was you said being able to work across business and mindset challenges in a deep way. What do you mean by that in terms of the deep way?

Suz Chadwick  42:27

Yes. So, you know, when I first came into business, and I had come from a brand background, and a very, like strategy driven like project management, like this is the goal, this is the outcome, this is what we want to do. And so we do these things, and then we get to the outcome. So for me, it was very straightforward. 

Suz Chadwick  42:46

But when I came into coaching women, we’d like do their strategy. So we’d be like, this is the goal. These are the things this is what you’re going to do. Yes. Great. Suz, yes. And then a month or two would pass and I’d be like, ah, hey there, what’s going on? And I just, and there was just all of this fear, all of this, like the blocks and the fears, and the thoughts and all the rest of it. Which if I’m honest, Shannon, I did not realize was there when I came into the coaching space, like I just wasn’t aware of it. And so I ended up interviewing about 50 women, like one on one and just asking lots of questions. This is like the old recruiter and me coming out. Why and how and when and then what like, you know, all of those.

Shannon Dunn  43:35

Tapping into the skills that you have naturally. Yeah, get some answers.

Suz Chadwick  43:39

Yeah. And so and so I and then I kind of learnt, I learnt about like, you know, things like people’s parents used to tell them to be seen and not heard. And now in their business, and 20 years later, they still like they can’t be visible because they should be seen and not heard. Or somebody who has really struggled with their weight a lot, but is an amazing speaker, but doesn’t want to put themselves out there because of fear of judgement. 

Suz Chadwick  43:41

So there was just a lot of stuff that kind of came up where I was just like, wow, I just had no idea about that. So for me, I now work and I’m a certified mindset, NLP, neuro rewiring coach. And so we can go deeper into some of those things. Not always, but, you know, if there’s something where somebody’s like, I really want to change my thought, like, I think this like I think I have to work really hard in order to be successful. Like, that’s the thought. How do we change that thought? And so that’s where some of the deep work comes in, where we can use certain techniques and coach them over a period of time to change those beliefs. And you know, I love it. I you know, there’s certain like, I love Brooke Castillo as far as like her thought leadership goes and things like that. And you know, I love that she says there’s no such thing as a block. There’s just a thought that you like the way you’ve got the option to change the thought. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Which I, which I love.

Suz Chadwick  45:09

 And so I just think I think in our industry, which is totally fine, I think we learn and we evolve as we go. But I think there’s a lot of language that almost allows us to stay stuck. It’s like, but Shannon, I’ve got a, that’s a block, I have a block about that. Yeah, I have a money block, I have a like, you know, like, I can’t do that block. And I’m just like, it’s not a block, because it feels like a piece of cement in front of you that somehow you won’t be able to move. And so I really love working with my clients to decrease the drama around the thoughts if we can, so that they can feel more ease to shift and change them to achieve what they want.

Shannon Dunn  45:53

Yeah that’s a very, very cool. And I I really feel Suz that in answering that you’ve also summed up what I see is the brilliance in coaching, like actual coaching, not advice giving, and not consulting or telling people what to do. But being able to work with them to understand what may be interfering or influencing what they’re actually doing or not doing. Yeah, so that they can have a different outcome and one that they say they want to have. Yeah, makes such a difference. Very cool. All right. So the other question, I’ve got some of my questions for you. So maybe you can give me three things. Mindset practices. Yeah. So what mindset practices are your kind of favorite go to’s that you can share with everyone to do bold things?

Suz Chadwick  46:39

Okay, so two mindset practices that I’ll give you that really clean and hopefully simple. 

Suz Chadwick  46:44

First one is intentional thought setting, or I love that. Yeah, so there’s two things I do. So number one, I’ve got, like intentional thoughts written on a number of pieces of paper and stuck to like a board on my, on the sides of these are the thoughts I intentionally want to have…

Shannon Dunn  46:59

 I have one here as well. 

Suz Chadwick  47:01

… every day, I love it. High fiving you.So there’s that. And then what I do is like in the mornings, not every morning, but in the morning, if I’ve got things that are happening, I’ll sit and I’ll write down like how I want my day to be, how I want to be in my day, what energy I want to bring to things and things that I want to either manifest or create space for. So it’s a very, like intentional, like, this is what I want to do, be, create today. And  I’m really focused on that. So that is one. Those are sort of the ones that I that I do. 

Suz Chadwick  47:38

And then the other one I talk about a lot is flipping the script. So for example, sit down and think about one thing that you’d really like to do and write down all the reasons why you’re not doing that, or what your thoughts are around it. And then I want you on the opposite side of the page to write the opposite of that. Yeah. And then try it on. Yeah, try that. Try that thought on, see how it feels. It’s not like gonna be like amazing, instantaneous magic. But I just think sometimes we sit so stuck in the thoughts that we have and the beliefs that we have and I’m like, how about we just flip it and we see what that looks like? I wonder how interesting that would be. Like let’s be interested and curious and like maybe open to the possibilities of a different way of being. 

Shannon Dunn  48:27

Because it’s out there, I talk a lot about the lens of curiosity.  I want there to be a podcast  episode like just on that at some point in time. But it’s it’s so often we get stuck in those Yeah, the thinking and the behavior that, or action or inaction that goes along with that thought and the mindset patterning of, of deciding like attaching meaning and making it like a be and end all  truth. No, it can change at any moment in time. But you have to be intentional and influential about that. But I did love the intention setting aspect. I have a program – one of my many programs in my suite of programs –  called Intentionality around that very thing. We are the most influential individuals on everything that we do and create. You gotta own that though. Take it on night. Yeah, very, very cool. All right. 

Shannon Dunn  49:14

So some questions. I’m asking you all of the guests. What role does leadership play in your life and business?

Suz Chadwick  49:22

I see myself as a leader in my community. And I think that it’s important to ask yourself questions through that lens. Like as the leader of this community, what kind of culture do I want to set for my community? What kind of tone what would I tolerate? And what do I not tolerate within my community and being quite open about that as well? And so I think that as business owners, especially if you do have a personal brand, you have a community and you’re building your brand on a wider stage. I think it’s really important for you to lead from a values perspective and just you know, be really straightforward with people about what this journey is going to be like. And if they want to come great. And if they don’t, that’s okay.

Shannon Dunn  50:09

That’s it. It’s not for them in that time in that moment. Love it. How do you know when you’re thriving?

Suz Chadwick  50:16

How do I know when I’m thriving? I’m happy a lot. I know I’m thriving. It’s really interesting, because I know when I might be thriving, but it doesn’t mean everything’s going really well.

Shannon Dunn  50:33

Right. And that’s something that I like to talk about a lot. Is that thriving isn’t this definition of perfect world or business. 

Suz Chadwick  50:42

I think for me thriving is where I feel like I’m in flow, where I’m doing the work the majority of the time that I want to be doing and not stuck in other things. And also just where I’ve got I’ve like, I’ve got people around me who feed my mind and my thinking and my thoughts and like, just juicy, juicy conversations, things like that.

Shannon Dunn  51:04

Yes. Like, the nourishment that you can soak it up. And really, I think both enjoy it, but participate in it. Like it’s a co-creation. Yeah, very cool. I have said this a few times, I think I at some point, we’re gonna have to do some episodes and get all of the answers to these questions and kind of do a mash up because the diversity in the answers has been so cool, exactly as I expected. And I wanted to say, the individual thoughts and feelings around these things. So very, very cool. All right.

Shannon Dunn  51:32

 So how can people connect with you the easiest, so we will make sure all the links that everyone might look for will be in the show notes, but you tell us where’s the best place to go to connect with Suz Chadwick?

Suz Chadwick  51:42

Yeah, the two are probably the two best places, obviously the website so suzchadwick.com. And then I’m mainly on Instagram at all of my socials as soon as suzchadwick. But then the podcast is good as well, if you’re looking for additional content, just the Brand Builders Lab. So those are probably the best place. 

Shannon Dunn  52:00

We’ll make sure all of those links are easy for people to find. Alright, putting on the spot here, but I have no doubt you will be like what bit of thing am I’m going to share? What’s a final piece of wisdom that you’d like to share with these kinds of these ambitious  impact driven souls that are tuning in today?

Suz Chadwick  52:19

Like now, do it now.  Yes, don’t What are you? What are you waiting for? Like, you know, something lead with fun, like lead, follow your intuition, follow the breadcrumbs and go after the things that light you up, light your community up and make you feel like you’re thriving.

Shannon Dunn  52:38

Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. Beautiful. Thank you so much for joining me. As I said, no doubt in my mind that we’re going to have a great conversation. I love it, like, what do we end up talking about, because there’s so many ways we could go. And I always feel and trust that what we created in our conversation and what we’ll share with the world through Sh Leads She Thrives. And this episode is exactly what is ready and waiting to be heard out there. So thank you so much for joining me. 

Shannon Dunn  53:06

And listeners, thank you for tuning in and listening to Suz and I. If there’s something that Suz has said today, please reach out to her go and follow. As I said, I know she’s lots of fun. I hope I’ve got that across to you all. And you pick that up in her, you know, in a way she’s been today on the podcast, she is bold. But remember we also said bold doesn’t mean to be like you’re very, you know, the extrovert that Suz obviously is. 

Shannon Dunn  53:28

Find your own way of being bold and take Suz’s suggestions and use them as motivation to go out there and to create your own incredible brand and find the inner rebel. You know, there’s so much richness to bring to the world when we see the rebellious sides of people come to life is so so cool. So thank you Suz, thank you everyone for listening. You know what to do, make sure you’ve downloaded all the episodes, go and rate, share, tell everyone about the great episodes whether it’s one or all of them. And let’s get more kind of energy of you know, remembering that thriving is your birthright and you can influence that in every moment and every day.