216: What is mindful marketing? | Katie Delimon

How mindful are you about what you post online? 

Or even how much TIME you spend on these platforms? 

Being a mindful marketer (for your business) can create more intention, more impact and more connection with your audience. 

If you want to bring more intention (and mindfulness) into your marketing, your social media and your content - join Katie Delimon on The Content Queen Podcast as she shares all her wisdom as a mindset, meditation and yoga teacher. 

If you LOVED this episode, make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag us @contentqueenmariah and @katiedelimon. 

⁠⁠⁠✨ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠JOIN CONTENT BOOTCAMP FOR CONTENT STRATEGY ⁠⁠⁠✨⁠

KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS 👇

  • What is mindful marketing 

  • How being unmindful can impact our marketing and business

  • How to be more mindful in life and business 

  • How to create creative space (and flow) 

  • Writing a book and sharing your story 

  • 4 questions to ask yourself 

SHOW RESOURCES 👇

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @contentqueenmariah⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!

Other than that, enjoy - chat next week 💕

ABOUT THE GUEST

Katie Delimon is a yoga & meditation teacher, mindset mentor and author. She is wildly passionate about empowering others with a new awareness. She believes our bodies and minds are desperately seeking ways in which to slow down and that understanding ourselves, through a harmonious body-mind connection, is the beginning of true ease, inner peace and wisdom. She has been hosting retreats since 2019 and believes retreating, slowing down, regulating the nervous system, creating safe spaces and connecting with others (without sounding too dramatic) saved her life. She is the author of ⁠⁠best-selling memoir, Trust the Flames.

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

This is episode 216, and I'm talking to an incredible mindfulness mentor, Katie, all about being a bit more of a mindful marketer as a small business owner and entrepreneur.  Welcome to the content queen podcast. I'm your host, Mariah, entrepreneur storyteller, digital nomad, creator of content bootcamp and founder of content queen.

I'm here to teach you how to share your unique story, create content and market your business with strategy through the channels that work for you. Each week I'll deliver a story to help you connect to a powerful strategy around marketing business and content creation. I'll also be joined by amazing souls and entrepreneurs.

We're here to share their own journey along with actual steps to help you take your business. To a whole new level to amazing storytelling powerful line marketing and content strategy. Let's do it Hello gang Hope you're well. All right. This is a juicy juicy episode because How can you be more mindful?

And we're going to share, well, Katie, the guest is going to share an amazing acronym to help you evaluate your time creating content for your business.  And it brings up an interesting topic also around bro marketing and being ethical with your marketing as well. None of us go out to be unethical, but what happens at times is when we're listening to external noises, often we can mark it in a way that's unaligned to us and actually unaligned And I shared an interesting video this week about how Australian business actually found themselves in trouble with the ACCC for doing what we would think is quite normal in marketing, a countdown timer  to create, you know, a sense of urgency to buy, but actually creating fear and urgency in your clients or your customers to scare them into buying from you because they will never get this offer again.

And. In fact, they could is in fact, bro marketing, unethical marketing. So there's lots going on about it at the moment, people finding themselves in a little bit of trouble. So it's time to be a bit more mindful with how we market. And I'm excited to bring you this episode coming from Peru in this incredible Airbnb.

It's actually the dream, but the beauty of traveling, um, you know, you  often can find yourself in situations that maybe you wouldn't when, you know, You're not traveling. I always find I say yes to more opportunities because you know, whatever. Anyway, we have this amazing Airbnb by the ocean, uh, super affordable and very beautiful.

So that's amazing. I just wanted to share that because I think  the beauty of travel as well and traveling as a marketer is I find it does make me a lot more mindful, intentional. And  you know, what happens when we're,  in situations where we have to do things with intent.  I think the energy is there, um, and people can sense our energy, which I've got an email coming out about that this week.

So if you're not on the list, join it. Uh, I think it's a super interesting one. You'll enjoy it. And before we do jump in, I think mindfulness does come down to Setting yourself up for success as well and having things in place that allow you time for creative space and creative flow. And without things like a plan or a strategy, I'd actually wouldn't have the space for creative flow.

I wouldn't be able to put myself in situations where I can be a bit more present and more creative, because if I'm trying to think about what  and how, then I don't have the creative process to be.  So that's why having a strategy is going to help you. A lot of  business owners that I work with that are very present and very mindful in their marketing and in their business.

So I'm going to be talking a little bit more about how to do that in this video, but let's hear from Katie and her amazingness.  Katie is a yoga teacher and meditation teacher, a mindset mentor and author. She's wildly passionate about empowering others with a new awareness. She believes our bodies and minds are desperately seeking ways in which to slow down and that understanding ourselves through the harmonious mind body connection is beginning to truly ease inner peace and wisdom.

She has been hosting retreats since 2019 and believes retreating, slowing down, regulating the nervous system, creating safe spaces and connecting with others saved her life without sounding too dramatic. But you'll talk about it in this episode. She is the author of bestselling memoir, trust the flames.

And I'm excited for you to hear about the mindful marketing journey and also her creative process around writing her book, which is super fascinating. So let's chat to Katie. Oh, welcome Katie to the podcast. Thank you so much for joining me today. Before we get stuck into everything, can you tell everyone a little bit more about who you are and what you do?

I'm  Well, thank you first and foremost for having me. This is my first official podcast, so I'm super excited. And I just also wanted to say, I think you're one of the kindest and most inspiring people I know. So thank you.  And as for me, my credentials, I am by trade, a yoga and meditation teacher. I am a writer and a published author, which I know we'll get into.

And I also host wellness retreats and I'm a Reiki practitioner.  Yes. I love it. We need more of you in our lives for space and all the things mindfulness. I absolutely love what you teach. And every time you talk, you bring so much aha moments to me. So I know there's going to be lots of aha moments for me and everyone listening today.

So before we get stuck into that, uh, I'd love to know your origin story for everyone to know your origin story without giving too much of your book away, of course, but how did you get to where you are today?  Okay. Well, as you know, the whole story is in my book, my memoir, um, which you have read. And I'm just going to try to shorten it down and just give some bullet points.

But I always think my journey really starts back, um, around 2012 when, or maybe a little bit sooner than that. But my mom passed away in 2012 when I was 26 years old, I was living in New York city and I was living the complete opposite. lifestyle that I'm living now. So at the time I was a functional alcoholic.

I had anxiety, depression, IBS issues, chronic fatigue. You know, I was living my life having fun, but I was always sick. I was always tired. And I knew that living in New York was probably keeping me in these old habits. So I kept, there was something inside me that kept saying, leave New York. You've got to leave New York.

And I had a great job. I had great friends on my family. There was no reason to leave New York, but I finally listened to that little voice one day and seven countries and seven months later, I found myself in a seven day silent meditation retreat because my wallet was stolen on a beach in Vietnam and I had absolutely no money and nowhere to go.

So I Googled free things to do. And literally ever 2014, now almost 10 years ago, I have had a daily meditation practice and my life has never been the same since, or the best way possible. Um, I eventually lived in an ashram. I went to Burning Man where I met my husband. We married three months after knowing each other.

Um, I moved to Australia. I became a yoga teacher. I became a citizen and here I am wildly obsessed with all things wellness and just really excited. And, um, I, I love to empower people with this idea, a new awareness of, of choice and intention to live their life instead of feeling like they're trapped and that they don't have control and they're distracted and they're just reacting to everything.

So  yeah, that's my, my story really jumbled up into one sentence.  I love it. I love your story. And I relate to it so much. When I read your book, I was like, Oh my God, I can relate so much to this. And I could, you know, your, your sort of start of your journey and your story. Yeah, I think. At some point in our lives, we're always living, you know, a different life to what we are now.

It's so interesting to reflect on that, but I love that you shared it as well. We will get into that as you mentioned, but I just love how many intuitive nudges you've taken in your life. And it's just super inspiring. And I love the topic around mindfulness. You always get me thinking about choice and that I have a choice.

Uh, and yeah, so many people are going to be. Having these aha moments during this, but of course we're going to talk marketing and mindful marketing. Cause I think this is a really interesting topic, especially now as we see on social media, everything's very reactive. Um, we have to jump on latest trends.

We have to  always be on, we have to. Use these inauthentic marketing messages and all the things. So when we're talking about this episode and talking about mindful content creation and marketing, first, I want you to share a little bit about how you bring mindfulness into your marketing, but also you mentioned to me, you had a story that happened when you were working in marketing of how, uh, being unmindful and mindful or not being mindful.

led to a bit of a marketing mistake. So yeah, I'd love to hear that as well. Cause I think it's super, it's, it's a good, um,  yeah, I think a lot of us would have made mistakes in our time and it's a nice reminder to be present.  Indeed. Um, so mindful marketing, you know, it's a bit of a loaded kind of question, but, um, I do think the two worlds of mindfulness and marketing can coexist.

Um, and for me, my number one way of life and marketing, because essentially I'm just marketing myself, is being real. Just being honest, being a real person, being, you know, as authentic as you possibly can be. Um. Um, because I personally am more attracted to flaws than I am perfections and we're living in this virtual reality where we're constantly comparing ourselves to these perfect standards, which is impossible.

And so I think the world needs a lot more rawness and realness. And that's what I think, you know, I do try to do in my book is to show more of the human struggle instead of, you know, how perfect life is now. Um, another mindfulness. way of marketing is checking in on yourself and you mentioned before how we have to jump on the latest trends or do this or Do that and often we're doing these things because everybody else is doing them or somebody who we respect Suggested and it's coming from good resources, but we're not actually listening to what's best for us So really paying attention to when you are writing content when you are when you are Hosting things when you are in the middle of a campaign or before and after like checking in on yourself.

Like, does this align to me to what I feel? Like, does it feel like I'm really trying to push and for something? And of course it's going to be hard work, but it shouldn't feel like you're working hard. Um, and we can get into creative flow later.  And I think another major thing is being flexible and unattached, and this is a huge one I'm really practicing this year, is consistency, but being unattached to the destination or the outcome, and really focusing on the person I'm becoming in the moment.

The in between in the process and as cheesy as it sounds like and as you know,  I, there's many books on this, you know, Elizabeth Gilbert, um, Big Magic, like just kind of surrendering into the process and just allowing that to Be more fun instead of getting really obsessed with how many clicks, how many opens, how many likes, how many comments, how many, all of that stuff, it can really like weigh you down.

And at the end of the day, everything is just market research. So everything is just trial and testing to see what you can do next. And so instead of feeling like it's all concrete, um,  and speaking about being, not being perfect, uh, my hilarious. Not so much at the time story about being very unmindful. Um, it was a mistake that cost me 8, 000.

Well, not me, but the company I worked for in New York city, uh, it was an 8, 000 mistake. And. I was on a marketing team for this legal media company and every so often we did these surveys and we had to get at least a hundred participants in order for the survey to, uh, in order to publish the findings.

And one way we got more people to participate was to offer a chance to win a 25 gift card. iTunes gift card. Now iTunes was obviously all the rage back then and, um,  Spotify wasn't a thing. So anyways, we would offer these gift cards and I sent the email out and I wrote, win a 25 iTunes gift card. I forgot three words.

Three words that cost me 8, 000. For a chance. To win a 25 iTunes gift card and all of a sudden I get 300, I think it was actually 320 responses because we had thousands and thousands of emails, 320 responses and I had to legally now give these people 25 iTunes gift cards. And to top it all, it's a legal media company.

So I'm actually marketing to lawyers. There was no way I could get out of this. And, you know, obviously my mindful marketing one on one is, um, words are very powerful. So proof your copy, of course, but  I think the biggest thing was I was so young and in my, you know, in my twenties, early twenties, one of my first real corporate jobs, um, I made a huge mistake, like a major mistake.

And I had to take responsibility for it. And I had to be self compassionate for myself. I had to own it. I had to  be self aware and self responsible. And I think that's a huge mindfulness. You know attitude technique, but a way to bring it into your marketing is just own it own your successes own your failures And just that's authenticity is just owning it whenever you may we you know, whenever you do something really great you know allow yourself to feel the joy, but also when you Do something that's not so great allow yourself to just feel whatever's happening there as well  I love that.

And yes, I, it's, I think we all have those, you know, um, moments where we weren't mindful and we do something like, um, I know we were talking the other day when you, um,  you know, you're like, oh my God, I was in this car accident and you did content on it and anyone can see it on your profile, but I did the same thing.

I remember being really upset about work or something, and I was driving my mom's car and I hit a, like just the. The door of another car. And it's like, that's what happens when we're not mindful mistakes happen. And then we're like, why did I make that mistake? And then you're angry and then something else happens.

And then you're like, Oh my God. And then you go into this like whole spiral. But it's interesting. You say about this, like being authentic, like mindful marketing is, is this, you know, element of authenticity. So there was a woman on Tik TOK and she posted a 50 part series, 10 minute videos, eight traps.  All about who the F did I marry?

Marrying a pathological liar. I think, was I telling you about this? I can't remember. And I watched the whole thing. I watched it on 2. 5, but I'll do two point, like two times.  But a lot of business owners, coaches, marketers come on and said, this is why we shouldn't follow the algorithm. This is why, because this woman had bad lighting.

She filmed from like down here where like, you know, she had like the worst angle, right? She didn't have a, uh, Microphone plugged in. She did a lot of videos driving to work where she was distracted and it was all in the context and the authenticity and the rawness and the realness. It wasn't a trend. It wasn't anything like that.

And 130 million views across 50 videos in the space of a week.  And it would be more now. Right. So this is where, you know, it's so interesting, this concept of being mindful when we market or being, you know, even like creating things that are in alignment with us. Like obviously there's a whole storytelling element to that piece, but  I love that you brought that up because, you know, whilst, yes, we, we want to look at the numbers, we want to look at the data.

We want to see that our marketing is, you know, quote unquote working. The work is never done and being mindful while you're doing it and not being like, um, You know, not holding yourself to the result. I think it's beautiful thing to bring up because we can get so obsessed with lots of online people telling us you should do this.

You should do it that way, but you can have success just being yourself. You know, we saw that in COVID when influencers  started showing up in their pajamas and no makeup on and we're like, Oh, this is a nice, you know, part of the internet where we don't look all perfect, but, um, I love that you mentioned that, and I love this element of.

Mindfulness because I think, um, you know,  marketing sales can be very masculine at times. So it is nice to bring some feminine energy in, and I want to share, you know, a few actual steps because you are all for the action. And I love how actionable your tips are. So, uh, first though, I want, you know, people listening are like, okay, well, what, so what is your definition of being mindful?

What is mindfulness to you? And yeah, what does that look like if we're, you know, at the start of this journey or we're in it, we're not like, am I doing things mindfully? What, how do you define mindfulness? Cause I imagine you've got a really beautiful way of explaining it.  Oh, it changed because there's so many different types of definitions and different way people explain it.

And what I, I like to think of it as it's definitely an array of attitudes. So not just one attitude or one thing that we cultivate in ourselves by slowing down because slowing down as a prerequisite. to practice mindfulness. Most people think they're the same thing, but you have to slow down in order to become aware.

So it's about slowing down and paying attention to whatever you're paying attention to. And Jon Kabat Zinn, who is the godfather of mindfulness, the whole reason why it's in the modern world, he says, He, he always, you know, goes on that it's doing it in a nonjudgmental way. And this doesn't mean that you're not going to judge.

So people think, Oh, well, I'm judging. So I'm not being mindful. It's like, no, the brain judges because it's looking out for danger and safety, but you can become aware of that judgment instead of getting lost and, you know, pulled into that story. Um, and three of the biggest words that come to my mind when I think of mindfulness, cause I kind of feel like they're interchangeable is.

Awareness, presence. and consciousness.  But I also think of attitudes like deep listening, that's mindfulness. Letting go, but also letting be, which is different than letting go. Self compassion, kindness, patience, understanding,  Groundedness, which is a huge one for me because I tend to go on the anxiety, uh, wheel often.

So being grounded, coming back to the body. Um, self reliance is a huge one. So that's self trust. Um, empathy, gratitude, emotional intelligence is a big one. And I think that's huge when it comes to marketing is,  Being emotionally intelligent, understanding the human condition and being mindful of, you know,  you know, obviously don't censor everything because in one way, shape or form, you're probably going to offend some way, somebody someday in some way, but being mindful of what you're saying, how you're saying it.

And one thing I've really learned is, um,  how, and you would know this probably by like Sally working with Sally, a speaking coach, how important the delivery is not the words. It's the pause.  It's the tone. It's all these things that we think, you know, Oh, it's just the words and what we say or are, you know, how we look.

It's no, no, no, no. It's so much bigger than that. And that's all mindfulness is being more aware  of these things. And then, you know, working on some things, seeing how that works and then working on others. And I don't know about you, but if I could cultivate more of those attitudes more often, I think my marketing is always going to be better is always going to be, um, You know, more aligned with who I am.

Yeah. I love all those words because every time I think about, you know, when we're,  when you create content, it is a practice, right? It's a level of creativity and there's, you know, creative flow that comes into play with this. But, you know, when you're not present, when you're just posting something for the sake of posting, when you're not really understanding your audience, listening, deep listening to your audience, when you're not  in the moment.

It, there's no energy in it and people, we, we, we're energetic beings, we pick up on energy. People know when you're forcing it, when you're not aligned to it. And that's why I like, whenever I've done things, whenever I talk to clients about channels and what they want to do, it's like, okay, great. You, I could tell you a million channels that I think you should be on, but if you don't like that, I'm not going to force you.

And I think we force ourselves to do things that we don't want to in our content, in our marketing. That's where things like unethical marketing comes into play because we see what's happening around us, what's trending.  And at the end of the day, people are going to buy from you because you're authentic and you're you, and people are going to check you out because they're aligned to you.

People that aren't aligned to you doesn't matter if you use all the strategy in the world or whatever, like if they're not aligned, they're not aligned. So I love that you bring that up because it. It gives us permission to be  more, you know, to just practice something different when we're doing marketing.

And I saw something on social media about, yeah, the energy around social media and when we get so hung up on the results. We're forcing something, but when we just allow it to be and we just show up, that's when we see, and that's what happens to me. When I started traveling, my business grew my, you know, my reaction to my content got better because I was just aligned in my life.

And I think that's always a really big reflection too. And when we were talking, you mentioned, you know, with technology and content creation, you have an acronym. Um, that you can share with us to help us be a little bit more mindful when we are creating when we're on tech, when we're scrolling socials.

So I would love to dive into that because I think that will be super helpful. Yeah. I mean, cause marketing is all in technology and social media these days and technology and social media are tools, you know, but now the lines are a bit blurred and I always, you know, ask myself and ask other people, you know, are you using it?

Or is it using you? Because there's a big difference there. And so I kind of asked myself to check in, but that's not the acronym. The acronym is actually TIME. And so the T stands for, um, TIME. How much time are you spending on your technology and social media? And also having, so with TIME is learning about how to create mindful boundaries.

So, just looking at the time that you spend and how much time do you want to spend, and you know, for me, a big game changer was like not touching my phone the first 20 or 30 minutes when I wake up and not touching it for at least an hour, sometimes longer. I put it in the other room before I go to bed, huge game changer.

So, you know, having little boundaries around what works for you and what's best for you. Maybe it is putting a timer on when you go on the phone or. We were talking about this the other day, getting an actual case safe lock box so you can actually put it away. Or maybe it is like not taking your phone when you go somewhere that you might have to sit and wait for somebody because you'll distract yourself.

It's like many different ways you can put boundaries around your time and what works for you. And the I is intention. So being intentional. So literally you can ask yourself before, I know it's very habitual. We all like, it's all in us to just click and not think.  Before you click, ask yourself, what is my intention?

Is my intention to go on and post something? Then you become more aware of your intention while you're there and you don't see it. end up normally in a scroll hole, hopefully, but being more intentional about what your intention is on your technology, on your social media.  And then the M is of course for mindfulness.

So mindfulness helps us to be really present. So we don't end up in these scroll holes for two hours that we don't want to be in. There is a difference between Choosing to be in one like you did for that, you know, 50 episodes with like, you wanted to hear what she had. And I recently, I, I'm not, I try not to not, I don't try not to watch TV, but I don't watch lead TV, but I recently binged three women.

Incredible.  Um, I think it's 10 episodes and they're an hour long each. And I just, you know, but I was, it was something I wanted to do and it's mindful. It's not just mindlessly doing things.  And then the E is enriching. Is this enriching my life? So. Again, coming back to your body, like, do you feel drained?

Do you feel, I recently had a conversation with one of my clients. Um, she was like, I'm getting so resentful towards my social media. I'm getting so resentful and angry. I'm like, that is a sign that you need to put some boundaries in place. Maybe you need to go off of it. Maybe you need to, but when you're starting to feel drained and resentful, that's not a good sign.

Like that's your body saying, Hey, we need to go in a different direction here. So, um, yes, time. Time, intention, mindfulness, and is it enriching?  I love this. I think this could be really powerful for more evaluating. Yeah. Like not just social media or any channel that we're using like to create, to consume.

Yeah. But with the creation process, like how much time am I spending on this channel? Is it when I'm on it, you know, when I am creating for say, for example, Instagram, am I You know, just doing it for the sake of it. Is it, you know, am I doing it with intention to like, because at the end of the day, the business owners that I know are listening are here to create impact.

They're here to create legacy. They're here to help someone  through their product or service. So everything they should do should be intentional. It shouldn't be just, Oh, cause I've got to post, I've got to put something on. It actually should have a purpose. So even asking ourselves when we're going to create on this channel or, and I'm like, I'm sorry.

I know when I'm in a, in the scroll hole. And actually it's so unhealthy because you start impairing yourself. You start just like consuming nothing. Like sometimes I'm just consuming, I don't even know what I'm watching. Like the, I, and I love what you say about mindfulness is also not just, you know, it's that awareness as well.

And then trying to move yourself out of it. Cause then I'll go get out, you know, but exactly.  Yeah. Just like, okay, what am I doing? And as soon as I notice I'm comparing myself, I just get out of it. And I think that speaks because we can often go into these absolute rabbit holes on social media and it doesn't help our marketing anyway, because we get, you know, we, we get stuck.

We think we're getting inspired, but we don't. I think when you're intentionally getting inspired, you can go on and go, okay, I'm looking for this. I want to do this. And then, and one thing I did do is turn my notifications off every platform, except WhatsApp. And that was the best thing I ever did. Um, because I wasn't going on Instagram just to, oh, that person messaged, I'll just go on and then, and then you get sucked in.

Have you ever seen that documentary, um, The Social Dilemma?  I may have. Yes. Have you seen it? No, I've seen it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course. Yeah. Oh, like when I watched that, I felt so guilty because I just started my business. I was like, what am I doing? But no, because what I do with my clients is I help them not spend so much time on these platforms.

And then actually like. You know, when they're on it, um, it's because they're connecting with people or it's because they're posting something with intention. And I think that's something I've tried to bring in a lot because I think, you know, there was so much in 2020 of us just like consuming, consuming, posting, posting, posting.

And now we're kind of like consuming less, but posting with more, posting a bit less, but I think with impact. And I remember talking with the content marketer about going to the days where we can just post fluff, like, you know, on our business pages, like.  Sunday brunch with like a little emoji or something like that.

Okay. Like that's for the personal family friends page. You know, let's, let's actually have intention when we're on there. And I absolutely love that acronym. I think it's very helpful for us to have a think about how we're not just consuming, but also posting on these platforms as well, because we could be adding to the The noise in a, not in a necessarily mindful or good way.

Um, but everyone listening is not doing that. We're all with intention. Yeah. Um, and just like catching yourself. I think we, we tend to beat ourselves up a lot when we catch ourselves and be like, Oh my God, I was just in this girl. I'm such a horrible person, but it's the fact that you caught yourself that you should actually be like, Oh, that's awesome.

Like, great job. Like you caught yourself. That's strengthening that attention muscle, that's strengthening the brain. And it's, that's what it's about. It's about catching yourself. It's not about being perfect all the time. It's, you know, again, owning when you're a human and you get stuck in a scroll hole and be like, shit, it happened again.

Like, you know, it's, it's life.  Yeah, of course. And like, as you said, sometimes it is, I like on the weekends, I like to, like my personal TikTok is no marketing, no business. I don't follow anyone on business. I just watch like. Depends on what my algorithm is giving me. You know, I got stuck on cake talk where I was just watching cake decorating videos.

Like, uh, that was soothing my soul, you know, like it just depends on what comes up, um, based on, you know, I've watched one thing and it comes up, but I think, you know, one of the good things, what you've mentioned, what kind of come to me for that is yeah, just like, okay, between this time I am that my activity is I'm going to scroll social media and I'm not going to feel guilty about it because that's my time.

The intention, like you said, asking yourself. Is this my intention? And I absolutely love that. I think that is, and you know, you always come back to things are a choice. And I think that really embodies what you talk about with, it's a choice. You can choose not to get in a scroll hole and you can choose to be in one.

You know, and if you're going to get in one, you don't make yourself feel guilty for being in one because you decided to. Exactly. Empowerment. We have to feel more empowered because when we feel more empowered, we make more empowered decisions. And like the saying goes, like, empower people, empower people, hurt people, hurt people.

You know, it's, and, and the same thing is the energy in which you create content. Is the same way in which the other person is probably going to receive it. And that might be a little esoteric or woo woo, but I really do believe like in energy and it's real. Like what you put out is what you're going to get.

Yeah, it's, it's so true. I, I couldn't agree more with that. So you is, and at the moment you're talking a lot about creating space, um, and having space as you know, really important part and helping us be mindful, create that sense of awareness. Cause when we don't stop. It's very hard to see things when we don't actually reflect and stop.

And that's something that I've learned the hard way all the time. But that's okay. We're getting there. How do we create space for, well, anything in life in general, but like for this element of creative flow? Because I always, I learned quite early on with writer's block. It's something you learn with writer's block.

There's no point sticking yourself in it. You have to step away. And that was my element of creating space with my level of creativity. If I didn't think like I would during lockdown, it was really hard to get creative. But as you can imagine, I was like in my brother's house, in my old bedroom as a child, because he bought our childhood home, which I had made my office.

And he would be at work because he was a police officer. So I'd just be on my own all the time. And just working on my business, working on my business. And I would get to the point where I'm like, I've got no creative energy. And I was allowed to go for my walk because we were allowed to leave the house to walk.

And I would go walk this really nice nature reserve. And when I came back, I gave myself the space. I had more, you know, creative flow. So how can we create this space? We don't often do that. We, we just keep going. The idea will come if I just keep working on it. You know, it's like coders. I think coding is a good example of this.

Uh, I learned this in corporate that coders have to step away. Otherwise you're not going to get that code. If you don't, if you brain breaks,  Brain breaks. One of my favorite sayings, if, if trying harder doesn't work, try softer. Yeah, and I do this all the time because I'm very much like, you know,  like, I love my to do list.

I love sticking to a plan. I love pushing it, like, love it, love it. But it is very natural for me to be that type of person. But like you said, um, creative. Force is, or creative flow is not about forcing. It's also not going to come just knocking on your door.  Uh, and I think that's one thing that I got sucked into, into the, you know, the spiritual world of like, Oh, well, if I just, you know, go on a five week holiday to Europe, creative flow is just going to come to me.

Right. Like, and it's also not just going to land on your doorstep. I do think you have to be again, intentional and mindful on, um, letting go.  But also, like the bicycle poster, keep going. But you also have to let go of like that destination or that outcome. So it's this letting go of needing it to be a perfect way or needing it to be certain thing.

And then also, you know, like you said, going out in nature, like I every day try to go out with my dog and I never take my phone and I just use that time to just be with her and literally doing nothing. You can put a timer on for five minutes and sit in a chair and you don't have to meditate. You don't have to think about anything.

Do nothing. Um. You know, I talked about this in my recent webinar that you were on how to go from mindlessness to mindfulness and, um, or from mindlessness to mindfulness, um, really getting clear on how you're spending your time as well. And seeing if there's, you know, time wasters that you're doing, you know, maybe you're spending a lot of time gossiping or criticizing or, you know,  Whatever it is, getting really clear on where you're spending your time, who you're spending your time on, what you're doing in those 24 hours, what's realistic in 24 hours, and why you're doing what you're doing.

But also definitely there's the allowing for the creative space. Um, or the creative flow to actually calm, like giving yourself brain breaks, like, uh, giving yourself a break. You're not meant to, it's actually not productive. Like, so there's all the research shows, like it is not productive to just sit at a desk for eight hours straight.

It's more productive to have like breaks every, I forget what it is, but I think like the average person, like, Oh, it's, I think they get distracted every three minutes and they click their phone  26. It's like some absurd amount. I have it on my website, but I think the average adult taps their phone like 20, I want to say like 26, 000 times a day  and something major.

So, It's, you know, getting out of these habitual habits, you know, if you're working in a corporate office or whatever you're doing, maybe it's go out for lunch and don't bring your phone, or maybe you go by yourself. It's getting into nature, slowing down all that mindfulness stuff of regulating the nervous system, but then also being very intentional on where your time is going  and how you're spending it.

Because like I said,  yeah, because like I said, it's not going to come knocking on your door. Like I took those five weeks of holiday in Europe and my creative flow wasn't coming. I just kept procrastinating and procrastinating. And so finally I was like, right, I need to, another thing is to ask for help. I think this is a big one.

We are really. It's really hard for us to ask for help, but asking for help. And I'll talk about this, about my book. Like the biggest, the only way I was able to write and publish my book was through so much help.  I had to ask for help. I needed help.  And so that's another big one.  Yeah. That's a big one too.

I think like being mindful enough, you know, having that level of mindfulness to know, like, and self compassion say like, you don't have to do this alone. Like I don't have to do it on my own. And I think, yeah, we, we do get stuck in this, Oh, but I can do it all, um, type of vibe. But no, I love what you say about creating space to do nothing.

And it's almost like this, um, you know, when you have done the work and you pair that with space, That's when transformation happens, right? That's when you get the idea or you, you know, but also what came up for me was allowing time, more time than you need. And this is where like having a plan or being at, you know, it doesn't, you don't have to be months and months ahead of your content, but posting on the day is not going to serve this creative process, right?

Because you do need time for things to come. And if you want it to be as intentional and as effective, and, you know, you want the results. You have to give that space to come as well. So if you're like, okay, it's five o'clock, I've got to post.  Like that. And then you're like, Oh, I've got a bit of blocks.

I'll just post in and that'll do you stick that up. Sometimes it's okay. Right. Where, as you said, we're not perfect and sometimes we post, you know, in a rush or whatever, but I always used to do my, when I got my uni assignment topic, I used to start at a month before this was extreme because like, I thought writing a thousand words was like,  would take so long.

And now a thousand words is, you know, when you're at university and stuff, all that seems like, Oh my God, that's a lot. Um, I would always allow time.  So I would do like, um,  yeah, I would research, I would write,  and then I would proof, and then I'd write more, and then I, and kind of, and that, and I imagine that's what you did with your book, you know, you break it up, but with content, because we know, like, it's so reactive, and we're going to do it now, we never allow for that space.

It doesn't mean, as I said, we have to have months and months. But just giving time and I always dedicate certain days for content creation, like these days for planning these days for because then it's not trying to do it all in one day. It's actually breaking it up and then it gives more space for more ideas to come and more creative flow.

So I love, um, that you talked about, you know, creating space for nothing because to create space for nothing, we need to create.  Um, so that's a really good reminder for everyone that, you know, puts on the fly to have some kind of plan. Um, so lastly, yes, you created a book and that's huge, like  creating a book, but not only that, you shared your own story, which is even bigger because you know, there's a lot that you have to bring up.

There's a lot you have to share. There's a lot you have to publish to the world that you're like, Oh my God, um, I can't believe I've said that. I can't believe people now know that, which is huge. I, that's what I absolutely loved about your book because it gave me so much inspiration and then also confidence that, you know, we can share this stuff.

That is, and that is, you know, authenticity there. So yeah, your story is from going from mindlessness to mindfulness. So before we wrap up, because you've given so much amazing insights, I'd love for you to share.  A little bit of that journey of sharing your story. How were you mindful in the process? Cause I imagine so much came up and as you said, you know, you got help along the way and, and support and accountability and all that, but.

Yeah, whether it was in the process of the marketing or the creating of the book, I really would like to hear a little bit about the journey of being mindful and also like the mindset around, um, sharing your story and publishing it. What, what was the journey like? Yeah, well,  um,  This is the first time I'm talking about my book, um, which is super exciting because this is when I was like writing it, I always dreamed like I'm going to be on podcast, but I've always wanted to write a book and I am not an English major, major, I'm not a journalism major and I love a run on sentence, I cannot string two words together.

I didn't actually think that I could write a book because I had no idea how to. I didn't realize there were people out there who could help you. And then finally, um, you know, I found an editor slash writing coach and we took it very slowly. So I didn't want to rush anything because like you said, I wrote my memoir and I have a, I basically gave the world my deepest, darkest secrets.

And, um,  I made sure though, before whatever I was sharing, I really healed and worked on while I was writing it and, or I'd worked on it before. I didn't want to share anything that I could potentially be really affected by somebody saying something. And of course I'm human. I'm going to have emotions if somebody trolls me or says something mean, or, you know, I have family members who.

Potentially are upset about things. Um,  I know at the end of the day, what I wrote is my truth, my authenticity. And I was very mindful about the process. So I changed names. I changed descriptions. Um, I asked everybody who was in the book, if they were okay, I asked if they wanted to read what I wrote. Um, I got as much permission as I could.

I also got a lot of, um,  Uh, so the editors and the people that I worked with would also give me a lot of advice, which was really helpful. Um, but I just made sure like that, how the process went was I worked with this, um, writing coach first and the first two sessions were brainstorming. What is the story?

What's the arc? What's the beginning? What's the middle? What's the end? What are we going to include? What are we not? And then after that, we decided we're going to do one chapter a month for a year.  And just focus on that one chapter every, every month. I was going to write it, and then, um, she was going to edit it.

And then after the 12 months, we were going to come back and write it as a book.  So in that first 12 months, I would write this, the chapter, and then I would actually speak it out loud. To my husband, and when I tell you like I was crying, shaking, like some of these things he had never known, I was like speaking them for the first time, not for the first time, but really like getting them on paper and talking.

And so it was a therapeutic process. Let me tell you, like just, and then  after three and a half years, that's how long it took me to self publish. By the end of it, it's not that I was detached from my story, but it just doesn't have as much of an effect on me. Like, um, it's just a story and it's just what happened, but it's not who I am.

Um, I mean, it's, you know, it's a part of me, but it's not the person of who I am, all these shameful things. And I really, truly believe, and I wrote this in the book that Um, sunlight is the best disinfectant. Shame can only live in the darkness of secrets and silence. And this doesn't mean that you have to share your most shameful things with the world, but the, the more comfortable and the more safe you feel with sharing it with somebody you feel comfortable and safe with, the easier it is going to be from healing that.

And, um, you know, one of my biggest things, my story is, So much silence and so much secrets in my family that I just shoved down and I just had so much shame for so long. And like, I refuse to have that dysfunction in my life anymore. And so like, I'm on a mission to like help people feel less shameful about being human because it's all just being a part of the human process.

Oh my gosh, I love that. And I love what you said about, you know, your process of writing the book, asking people, like, that's a very mindful process as well, taking it slow, then asking the people around you, look, this is what I'm sharing. Do you want, like, I love that. And I think,  yeah, I can totally see how, you know, the more you write, the more you see.

Speak the more you can, and then of course, then share it in other ways and platforms, because a lot of people have a story they want to share in their content, but they just don't know what that looks like. They don't know how to start. And definitely a healing process is, is part of the journey because you can't just share things that you haven't overcome or you haven't.

And I, there's a, there's lots of things I love, would love to share in the future, but there's a lot of work that we have to do to be able to share them. And I think one of the most important things that you brought up is being comfortable talking about it with multiple people. And I remember a friend saying to me, cause I want to share something.

In my future, they said, okay, you just need to be prepared that people are going to have questions. Are you able to answer those questions? And I was like, Ooh, maybe, but also maybe not. So I just need to keep working on it. But you're right. The more you write about it, the more you speak it or share it with others in like the easier it does get to continue to share it with what felt like, Oh my God, I don't want to share this is now, you know, like on my TikTok, I talk about food literally.

And like, Oh my God, that's one of my  Pooh is one of my favorite subjects because it is literally  the, like, to me, it's the first sign of how I know if I'm stressed or not. Yes. It was the biggest,  it was the biggest life changing moment in meditation. Like that's how I realized meditation changed my life.

Because, uh, For 30 years, I had IBS. I would, I would use the bathroom once a week. And then all of a sudden I was using the bathroom every day in this meditation retreat. I was like, how is this happening? Like nobody ever told me to meditate. Why is this like, this never happened to me before. And it was like mind blowing.

And so I'm all about poop. Like we should do something about,  put that in the content I do, fuck it. Yes. Like I shared that. And like. Of course it was like uncomfortable when I first touched it. And by the end of it, I'm just like, we talk about poo here on this side of the internet, because this is part of my journey.

This is part of my health story. So we have to talk about it because that is the process of, you know, like I've even, I've done a TikTok of me in Italy. of we did this photo shoot day and then Mariah gets on the train and she's sweating and she's saying to me I need to go to the toilet now now now now now like now desperately and I'm sweating on the metro and like we just get off Mitch pays for a bottle of water and I use their toilet and I share that on my TikTok I'm like this is part of the journey of living with you know what I have and I think you know there's whether it's poo whether it's whatever like The more you talk about it, the more comfortable you get sharing it.

And I think people will then go, Oh my God, I'm so glad someone's talking about this. Yes. Maybe at the start, people will be like, you know, I remember sharing stuff about, you know, my doctor telling me to get off the pill when my, they found a spot on my liver. And I shared that on my TikTok and someone was like, this is really damaging because people that now are on the pill are going to be overthinking it.

And I'm like, well, I just had to share my story because that's what happened. The doctor said that I didn't say that I'm not saying anything. I'm not. Trying to project my opinion on to you. I'm just sharing. And I think, you know, once you get through that and maybe have a bit of criticism along the way, it gets so much easier to share.

But I love you sharing your experience and your story. Cause yeah, I love your book. Um, it was such a binge book. People can, you know, you can read it. So, you know, after I started binging it, And then, you know, life gets busy, but it's like one of those books that you can just continue the journey, you know, where you left off.

And, um, I, yeah, really there was a part in your book and I hope you don't mind me sharing, but it helped me so much. And, and I think about it a lot and it was when, um, you were at a temple, you were traveling Southeast Asia with one of your friends and you had a really bad stomach ache and you just had to lay on the chair at the temple while your friend was sort of like.

Looking around and you just sat with that pain and said, it'll pass, you know, I'm not going to die. It'll pass. It'll pass. And, and, and I use this a lot because actually when you feel the pain and when you put yourself in the presence of the pain, it's actually not as bad as you think. Of course, if you think you're going to die, you do have to go to the hospital, but that's interesting.

Like it's what I was talking about with my partner when we got our tattoos. Tattoos don't hurt me because I really focus on the tattoo and it actually doesn't hurt when you focus on it. Yeah, I mean, of course it's just temporary or, you know, um, but I love that part of your book because it was a really big aha moment for me when I was like, yes, when I'm in pain, or I'm not going to die.

I just need to sit with it and it will pass. And that's actually a really good lesson for when we have any kind of discomfort, when we feel bad, when we feel sad, like I use it a lot and like, it'll pass, just feel it and just, it'll move on. And I love that part of your book. So everyone listening, go and grab a copy of the book.

Um, before you share how people can find with you though, I know we have listenership in Brizzy. And in Australia, and you are hosting a retreat. So do you want to share a little bit more about that? If anyone is in Brizzy and would like to attend, and we can put the link in the show notes. If you're listening to this, not live, they can go to your page anyway, because I'm sure you'll have stuff in the future.

But do you want to share a little bit about that? And then how people can find you?  Yeah, thank you. Um, so I've been hosting retreats for the past four years and I am hosting my first mini retreat this year. It is just on a Saturday. It's March 23rd from 9 PM. And we'll just be doing some yoga. There'll be some sound healing with some singing bowls.

And Some meditation, some group discussions, really just connecting with people. I think that's a huge part of retreats and also life. Like it's all about connection. I think this is what marketing and social media and all this is really trying to do. And at the end of the day, if we focus on the connection aspect, like all the other stuff can not be as painful because it really truly is.

connecting us. And so, yeah, it's called Create Your Space. So it's, it's only, you know, two, it'll be three hours, but we'll have a little light lunch at the end. So it's in Pullenvale at a beautiful studio, um, just 25 minutes outside of Brisbane CBD. And yeah,  few tickets are still available and the link will be, you know, in my website, on my website and everything.

Yes. We'll put it in the show notes, but it is the day after my birthday. Actually it'll be my, my birthday here.  Otherwise I would be there if I wasn't in South America, but I'll be at the next one. So people  check it out if you're in Brisbane, I know people from Brisbane, um, I think, yeah. And this is a really good, you know, if you're looking for that space, So give yourself time for integration of projects or, you know, whatever you're doing.

I think I have been to one retreat before and I absolutely loved it. Like it was so, so good. I definitely, it's on my list when I'm back in Australia to go to more, um, I'm going to do it my own retreat here. I think like a book retreat where I'm just going to lock myself in a nice little cabin and ride.

Like, I feel like that would be super nice, but I'll be at your retreat when I get home. And so lastly, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your wisdom. I, as I said, you always give aha moments and you always make me think and re evaluate how I do things for the better, you know, how I can create more space and be like mindful of being mindful and being present is like Ever since we've connected is like always on my mind.

So, you know, that's, that's what you want to achieve. Um, so how can people find you and connect with you? Yeah. So I'm just Katie Delamon everywhere. My website, katiedelamon. com, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn. I have all those things. I can't say that I'm very active on all of them, but, um, yep. Katie Delamon.

I'm there. Amazing. Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Katie, for joining us. Thank you I always love chatting.  No worries. Thank you so much, Mariah. Love it. Who doesn't love an acronym? That TIME acronym is super powerful and something that I wrote in the content for this week and maybe it'll help you with more of a reflective space, um, with the,  the acronym.

Is asking yourself, how much time am I spending on the platform? What is the intention when I do? How can I be more mindful about the use of the channel? And does it enrich my life or business? And how does it enrich your business can really come down to the numbers as well. So that was a beautiful acronym.

Uh, I really love that. And yeah, Definitely been reflecting on content always. Um, but since that amazing chat with Katie, I'd love to know your takeaways and how you're going to integrate a bit more mindfulness into your content and even simple practices like journaling, things like I do in the morning really set me up for my content creation in the day.

And even things like having breaks, having the weekend off, not being always on my computer. And that's what happens when I travel. I work less. I have more, like, I think I work the same, but I have more downtime. I'm more intentional when I'm working and when I'm not. And it really does keep me present when I'm creating, but then there's so much inspiration from being out and about.

So I'm really excited to bring that into  when I'm back home for longer than usual. Cause usually I'm only home for like a couple of months. So you're like, ah, whatever, you know, I'll be gone soon. Because I'm going to be home for six months. I really want to bring this back with me because I think it's super powerful and very helpful with the marketing process.

And as I've said, people pick up on our energy. So if you're just rushing it, you're not intentional, all the things people are going to know. So I'd love to know what you took away from it. You can even leave a review. If you're on Spotify, I've got a couple of questions, a poll, you can contribute to that.

Uh, if you're on Apple, you can leave a review and be a content queen or king. And remember that developing your strategy and story develops your business. Thank you so much for joining us today. And please don't forget to share this with all your business and entrepreneurial friends. I know some of you are, and I'm so grateful for that.

You can also do it by adding it to your Insta stories and tagging us at content queen Mariah, or just tell them about it. If you do rate and review, On whatever platform. It does help me get more amazing guests like Katie I have pictures coming in because people see me on the charts The more we're in the charts the more amazing guests we have on We've had so many amazing ones because we have been in the charts So if you could continue that that is all I ask for you and I will love you forever Follow us on instagram or tiktok and let me know if there's any topics you want to know about I have some beautiful Messages about things so i've got some episodes that will come up in the pipeline based on the questions i've been asked So stay tuned for those And I will talk to you next week.

Bye!

PodcastMariah MacInnesmarketing, marketing advice, how to be authentic online, business ownerComment