Season 1, Episode 12: Owning Your Voice and Being Bold on Social Media with Ashley Linnane
Do you think your brand should look a certain way? Now, more than ever, brands are represented by the entrepreneurs behind them. If you’re stuck in the old and traditional ways of marketing, you need to become bolder and start owning your voice on social media.
In the twelfth episode of The Limitless Podcast, Ashley Linnane joins Jamie to talk about her journey of evolution. She shares common obstacles to becoming bolder and braver, and how we can show up on social media as who we really are. The braver we are to move forward, the better it gets.
Don't miss this week's episode if you're interested in owning your voice and becoming bolder on social media!
Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:
Learn how to keep evolving even when you’re struggling.
Discover how you can become bolder on social media and how to overcome shame and fear around being honest.
Understand that evolution is a process of “failures” and reinvention.
Resources
Stop being a solo entrepreneur and start leaning on fellow rebellious business owners. Join my 5-month business invigorator, Thrive Mastermind, and support your business with my mentorship and the partnership of six other entrepreneurs. Ignite growth toward your biggest vision! Hurry, we’re starting this June 1, 2022.
Want to EXPLODE your influence through your personal brand? Check out the Evolution program by Ashley.
Connect with Jamie and share your story: Instagram │ Website │Twitter │ LinkedIn
Episode Highlights
[03:12] Introducing Ashley
Ashley is a first-grade teacher turned photographer turned marketing and brand coach for entrepreneurs.
Her experience with brands and social media naturally led her to coach women on how to grow their businesses using Instagram and personal branding.
Ashley was able to evolve because she continuously sought change and was willing to walk through the fire.
[06:28] Making Life-changing Decisions
Ashley did not make an impulsive decision to leave her teaching job; she gave herself a whole year to prepare for it. Meanwhile, she was also hard at work on her coaching business.
With today’s technology, starting a business is easier than ever before. If you have the drive, you can make incredible things happen.
Ashley: “If you believe in yourself, you have a voice, you have a perspective in this world, and you are not willing to settle for anything less than you want — you can really make it happen.”- Click Here to Tweet This
[13:59] Being Bold and Owning Your Voice on Social Media
Social media is a gift. With it, not only can we set up a business easier than ever before, but we can also make them more meaningful.
Take a bold stance on social media. If you don’t feel comfortable with the idea of people showing highlight reels all the time, then don’t do it yourself.
Set a standard for your own life. It’s easier to blame social media for its flaws, but we need to take radical responsibility.
[17:54] Pushing Past Your Limits and Becoming Bold
Ashley shares that being bold often boils down to how willing you are to tell the truth.
People are often burdened with shame for the things they want to share. Emotional alchemy is Ashley’s way of helping people through this shame.
Think about what you want to share, why you feel shame around it, and how you can take back your personal power.
[20:38] Normalize Honesty and Reality
When we normalize honesty, we help and give permission to others to do the same.
There’s no need to feel shame about anything. Let your unique traits empower you and move forward.
Ashley strives to be authentic when sharing her story. She wants to be the same whether in person or online.
Jamie: “The more we try to create a facade — this person who's always handling her stuff, never had a bad month, and handles it all without problems, the more we're going to feel this proving energy, this proving that we aren't who we're representing.” - Click Here to Tweet This
[24:34] How to Start Sharing
There’s no need to share anything before you’re ready. Don’t put yourself through unnecessary trauma.
We tend to feel shame around personal challenges, but when we share our vulnerabilities, we can better connect and relate to people.
Accept that not everyone will understand you. It’s not your job to explain or prove anything to them.
[31:25] How to Keep Evolving
Evolution needs to start somewhere. We are constantly crumbling and rebuilding.
The braver you are, the better it gets. Stop making yourself small, and fully own who you are.
If you find yourself struggling, ask yourself: What’s one small act of rebelliousness you can take?
Ashley: “I had to break the floodgates after the breakup and be ‘look, guys, I'm struggling’ because it needed to propel me forward. It was the catalyst to own my story. You need to crumble, let it crumble, and then rebuild.” - Click Here to Tweet This
[39:26] How Ashley Can Help You Evolve
Ashley recently created a program to help women evolve and stand out.
Since your branding is tied to your voice, you need to know what this voice is. It does not need to be perfectly curated, especially if that’s not who you are.
[46:44] What Limitless Means to Ashley
For Ashley, limitless means there’s so much possibility in life. There’s no end or limit to growth.
Limitless women will always evolve and seek that next level of opportunity.
About Ashley
Ashley Linnane is a branding and marketing mentor empowering women to show up as their full, authentic selves online. She helps women cultivate binge-worthy brands through unique branding photos, heart-centered content, and making genuine lasting connections on social media.
Want to learn more from Ashley? You can check her website for more information. She offers personal brand photos, group coaching, private coaching, and team workshops!
You can also connect with her on Instagram and by email.
Enjoyed this Podcast on Owning Your Voice and Being Bold On Social Media?
The age of overly curated feeds and highlight reels is over. The more you fully express who you and your brand are on social media, the more memorable and magnetic you will become! If you learned a lot from this episode, subscribe and help us spread the word by sharing it!
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Have any questions or want to leave a suggestion? Come say hi on the 'gram. Have questions about my coaching or takeaways from the episode: DM me @jamieratermann or contact me on my website!
Also, you can connect with me on Twitter, @jamieratermann, and Linkedin: Jamie Ratermann.
Thanks for listening! Stay tuned to my website for more episode updates and other exciting programs and resources.
Transcript
Really what I'm hearing within that is, you know, the more we are who we are in real life online, the more empowering it is, period. And the more that we try to create a facade, this person who's always handling her stuff, never had a bad month and you know, handles it all without problems, the more we're going to feel this proving energy this proving that we aren't who we're representing.
Jamie Ratermann: You're listening to The Limitless Podcast, where we dig into all the possibilities that exist when you lean into the big vision for your life and your business. Hi, my name is Jamie Ratterman and I am a holistic business coach, meaning I am just as invested in growing your health as I am in growing your wealth. With 11-plus years in brand and social media marketing, I help rebellious entrepreneurs master marketing, embody leadership, and say “fuck it” to the hustle.
This show is here to encourage you to become radically aware of your self-imposed limits, to break free of your shoulds, and to expand your brand into a movement led by you. The way I see it, marketing is a way of spreading your mission, social media is a gift for connection, and sales are where you build your strongest relationships. Let's dig in.
Hi lovelies, welcome to episode 12 of The Limitless Podcast. Today, we're going to talk all about what it means to be bold, and you get to meet who I am calling my bold buddy Ashley Linnane, who I met in a mastermind that I'm a part of. She has been somebody that's really important and she gets to share her journey about what it means to start being bold online, the emotions behind it and what it looks like. So know that this is a potent conversation about if you're ready to share a bolder version of you. Like I said, though, I met her in a mastermind, which is exactly why I want to create these communities, I want to create this opportunity for you to feel the support for you to be the biggest and best version of yourself.
This is where I remind you about the Thrive Mastermind. The Thrive Mastermind is my five-month container allowing you to create business growth allow you to create personal growth, but really feel held and supported in every step of the way. The goal is for you to scale your business through ease and purpose. So if you are interested, I'll go ahead and drop in the show notes. I would love to invite you into this amazing community that is going to just skyrocket in the next five months together. We start on June 1st, we'd love to have you, you are invited.
Hi lovelies, welcome to episode 12 of The Limitless Podcast. You have no idea how excited I am for today. Today is going to be all about evolution, all about being bold, all about really stepping into some really big new levels for ourselves. And I cannot wait to introduce my guest to you. Quick reminder though this episode is all about sharing, sharing what we find to be really important in life and I want to ask you to do the same. If you find something that you love about this episode, or you've loved about The Limitless Podcast, here's your invitation, go ahead and take a screenshot, tag me on the ‘gram. I would love to hear what you took away from this episode.
This podcast is here to help you break those limits and I can't wait to hear what is working for you. Now let me introduce the guest today, I'm so excited. Today I have Ashley Linnane on this podcast. I'm so excited to introduce you to her so she is the evolution queen here. She has been a teacher became a photographer and now a marketing and brand coach for entrepreneurs. What I love most about her is that she lives out loud not only on her Instagram and her social media but in her life. She has been somebody that I met and she immediately has been such an inspiration in just how she decides that she's going to show up for her and how that gets to inspire so many others. So Ashley, I'm so excited to have you today. I'll let you do your full introduction. Why don't you tell us a little bit more about you?
Ashley Linnane: Yeah. Oh my god. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here too. I felt like when we met first we like connected and then I'm just so excited that our relationship has grown over the last six months together. But yeah, I'm Ashley. I am based in Sacramento, California. And like Jamie said, I was a first-grade teacher who was itching for more freedom in my life and more adventure and less feeling constricted by the boundaries of my career. I always love to travel and adventure and my friend one day told me I should pick up a camera because I had a good eye and always posted stuff on my iPhone through a social media account. And yeah, once I picked up my camera friends started reaching out to you know, have me shoot their engagement or all these little fluffy shoots like their babies and things.
Then one time one of my girlfriends was starting an online business, she was like talking about this thing about becoming a coach online — this was like five years ago almost. And I was like “What, okay, let's go romp around and take some photos, whatever.” So she took some photos downtown. She used them on her social media account and then her and I were like, “Hey, we have something kind of special here like you're a photographer. I'm a business coach. Let me send my clients do to get branding photos done.” And I was like, “Awesome. Let me send them to you to be coached.” And so I just started to become known as a brand photographer in the Sacramento area and really grew my business pretty quickly from that point on.
Then last year decided I know a lot about this industry, I can help people build their brands, I am kind of a whiz at social media, I love expressing myself, and I've always been really great at building communities online. And so I started coaching women on how to grow their businesses using Instagram and through their personal brand and their expression, and paired with branding photos. It's kind of like a one-stop shop — you get the brand photos, you get the brand coaching. And yeah, it's been really cool being able to work with them all over the world, helping them build brands and express themselves. And last year, I quit my job as a teacher. I’m doing this full-time now. And it's just so exciting. And I feel like I just meet like the fucking coolest people ever.
Jamie: You can drop F bombs on this podcast. For my listeners, you couldn't see, but she's like, “Oh, can I say that?” I'm like, “Yes, you can, of course.”
Ashley: We’re not censored on this podcast, I love it — full expression. Yeah, that's kind of how I landed here and it's grown and evolved since then. And like I said, I feel like the queen of evolution. I feel like one of my superpowers is just like not settling if something needs to change in my life, like really being willing to walk through the fire and shake things up in order to kind of evolve and to continuously chase this vision of life that I have.
Jamie: Oh my gosh, put that on a bumper sticker. I’ll live that life. I love this. I wrote down “romp round” like I wrote down like, “Oh, I romped around a little bit.” But even too, like making the choice as a teacher to decide “I want to do branding photos, I want to do this thing.” And then making the next choice that you're like, “I actually know a lot about other people can use these photos can actually enjoy the way they show up when they use them.” You're being humble, those steps are big, they're huge and they can be definitely hard to kind of work through. But you said you were a teacher last year, so what made you decide, “Alright, no more teaching. I'm an entrepreneur.” What was your—what was that choice where you're like, clearly you're passionate about these things, but like what was like, “Alright, it's time to go all in to becoming an entrepreneur.”
Ashley: It's kind of funny because two years ago, I had taken a personal growth course. And that was my first blip into the coaching world as like a client. And so I took this personal discovery course I met my higher self and just felt so empowered as a woman. And in my visions all the time, when I really got into like meditation and breathwork, and all the things, it was always me with my camera, living this life of freedom. It was very much like, this is quote-unquote, my destiny for being kitschy or whatever. But last year, I felt like I had known for the whole year that I was going to leave my job. And so I had planted that seed, I told myself, like a year ago—actually, two years ago, this way. I told myself two years ago, “I'm leaving my job, this is it. I'm going to work my butt off this year, and save as much as I can so that when I leave my job, I will feel so abundant and like this will be a no-brainer decision.”
The last year that I was a teacher, I just worked a ton. I went all-in on my coaching business, I really doubled down on what my vision was, and really just made that energetic commitment, like this is now going to be my life. And the thing that's interesting with teaching is, it's cyclical, right? You have to like commit to a whole year. It's not like I can just put in my two weeks and leave whenever. I had to be really intentional about like, “No, I am, like, leaving my job.” And it gave me the whole year to really prepare. That felt really good, but I've always known, like in my heart of hearts that the typical nine-to-five world kind of life just like wasn't for me.
My brother is an entrepreneur. My parents are both not. My parents were like “You need a 401k and what about your retirement and teaching is so safe?” And I'm like, “Yeah, but that's not the life for me. Sorry.” Like, I love that, but I am going to chase freedom and also be secure and also I'm going to kill it like, you know what I mean? I'll be fine.
Jamie: Oh my god, I love that. I think one thing I really love about that story is that belief was first, like it wasn't exactly like, “Oh, I have all the certifications, all the things or whatever.” It was literally like “I'm like, I there's something in me that knows that this is my last year of being a teacher.” And I'm going to go all in and like I think this is something that's always talked about amongst coaching, especially business coaches, and like people helping to build anyone's business in some way where they're like, “Give me all the strategies give me all the things you're supposed to do.” And strategy is kindness, it's definitely there, it's definitely needed. But if you don't believe in yourself or believe in what you can provide, if you don't believe in all of these things, the strategies never get used. It's not something that you can fall back on.
It's kind of funny. There's a lot of like delusional TikTok, like be delusional about how much you believe in your business and everything falls into place. And I honestly think, “No, I own what I know I'm capable of, I own it.” I love that about like you having this intuition and like, strongly going after it.
Ashley: Right and it's funny too, because being a teacher, like I was around my co-workers all the time who follow me on social media, and my account was not private. Parents probably creeped on me and I was just very much like, “This is me, this is what I'm doing. Like, I'm going to quit at the end of the year. I love all of you guys so much. And I love the kids so much.” But like, you can clearly tell like, if you land on my Instagram this is what I'm super passionate about. It was just kind of this natural evolution. I think saying it out loud, “This is my last year. I'm just like, living it up. I'm so excited. This is my passion, I’m building it out.” And I was just like, telling everyone I meet like, “I'm quitting my job at the end of the year.” And I was just—it's happening. I already didn't sign my contract so it has happened.
Jamie: Oh my gosh, in some ways I wish I had a teacher like you for the fact that one she's got these amazing tattoos on her but two, I know you from your like fur coats, crystal ball disco. I'm just like, if I found you on the ‘gram, I will be like “My teacher’s really fucking cool.”
Ashley: I used to teach fifth grade. So now some of my old students are like in high school, and have Instagram and I’ve like, I've had to block them because I'm like, “Oh, God, that's just so weird.” But one time I was doing a live and one of my students like popped on like, “Hi, Miss Linnane.” And I was like, “Oh, hell no.” This is very weird. Not that I did anything bad. But I'm over here, I want to be sexy and free and wild. And I'm like, “Oh, my God. Reality check, but—”
Jamie: I'm so obsessed with it. I love that your brother and you are also entrepreneurs. I think that's really fun. I think for me at least with my story when it comes to entrepreneurship, I left my corporate job and I was like looking for other corporate opportunities. But I got to a point where I was like, “This doesn't feel good anymore. I don't like it.” And I just chose not to accept some job offers when I told my family that and I was like, starting to like, consult and do some work for others. My mother and my father were like “What?”
They couldn't understand it. And like I would say, “I'm doing really well. I'm doing really great.” Unfortunately, they had to hear my now-fiance, like say “She's doing really well. Don't worry, like she's been fantastic.” And I think one side of me was like, “Why don't they believe in me?” But the other side of it is like we are forging a new path of what it looks like…
Ashley: Yeah, I think it looks like—
Jamie: …to like, have a prosperous like career in some way. My dad and my mother did the same job for years and years and years—It's so brand new. But now it's like, so fun to talk about it. When you said that about your parents, I’m like “been there.”
Ashley: It's crazy, too. I think something that's really interesting just in how technology has played a role in that not to get to like far away from our conversation. But I think having platforms to allow us to do things like this has been, mind-blowing for our own — “Wow, this is actually really possible.” And it's kind of not easy, but the barriers to entry are really low. When our parents were starting businesses, they think, “Oh, brick and mortar, lots of overhead claiming losses for five years.” What a crazy thing, right? That seems really hard. And now we have all this opportunity.
I think especially working with a lot of female entrepreneurs, they like kind of can pop up out of nowhere and like, find a lane for themselves. And if you believe in yourself, and you have a voice and you have a perspective in this world, and you are not willing to settle for anything less than you want, like, you can really make it happen. It's so tangible. I just don't think, our parents’ generation had that same opportunity. And I'm really so curious to see what happens for the next generation of kids that are growing up now. Like, what is that going to be because I don't know, it's interesting. We were kind of caught in a really cool time to be able to make this all happen.
Jamie: I completely agree with it. I think I get an eyeroll when I go like social media and the internet is a gift. People like “Jamie…” I’m like, no, it is an absolute gift. There's never been a moment in time, where you can build a business like this for free. Showing up online, that's what it is. But I mean, it has a different side of it. It's now like your business has a lot to do with you and how you want—how your business has a deeper meaning for you. Social media creates a whole new other thing than just posting an ad in the newspaper. Like now it's like how can we show that like as transparently as we can. I think there's, I completely agree with that. Like there was not this much opportunity, there just wasn't like—
Ashley: How fucking beautiful that it's turned into more of like heart centred soul express business rather than just like “I just need to make money and put food on the table.” It's like yes, and let's have something that's like life-giving and soul-fulfilling and inspires me and leads me to be a better version of myself every single day. Not only to show up for me in the way that I want to live life but also to like, now I have this opportunity to inspire others. And that's such a cool opportunity and I always say the same thing like Instagram as a gift. Instagram is a great free marketing tool to make your dream a reality. It's kind of crazy like that one app has so much like power and like a possibility for us. It's so cool.
Jamie: I think the first thing I usually get is, “Have you watched The Social Dilemma?” I know that there's not one thing in this world that if you do have, there's always the light side and the dark side.
Ashley: Yeah, totally. And to be honest, I love the Instagram ads that I get, because it's always exactly what I want. I'm like, “Yes, I want that hat. Yes, I want those shoes. Thank you so much. You know me so well.” I don't care if this is creepy, like.
Jamie: I think there's a part of it. It's like accepting what is it? But also, I think that's even a part of what we're even getting into is that somebody might talk about social media in one way where they're like, “Yeah, everyone's showing their highlight reels, different things like that.” And I go, “Well, then don't show yours. Don't show your highlight reel.” And that takes like a really bold stance, and the more people do that, the more they get to experience social media like we do.
I have a friend that goes like, “Oh, Instagram’s making me feel a certain way.” I'm like, “Who are you following, what's going on over there? I don't feel that way about my feed anymore. Because it's filled with stories. It's filled with people like really determined of what they want to do in their life. And I like I guess I'm just interacting with the right people.” And if everyone's feeds look that way—beautiful, too. But yeah, and of course, the ad for the shoes that I really want.
Ashley: It really is interesting, because a huge thing I think when we're like coming up in our expression, running businesses online, and something I work a lot with my clients on is like, clean up your Instagram feed like we can no longer be like sucked down by like getting in our head about like keeping up with the Joneses and this and that. It's like you're setting a standard for your own life. But like clean that up first, like Marie Kondo, I don't know whatever you need to do, if it doesn't bring you joy, like, unfollow, mute, shift it.
It's like, we're also responsible adults and responsible for our own emotions and so what's in your control, clean it up. And allow this app to work for you and for your business and see it as a tool, rather than a place where you go on get sucked into comparison, don't know what to say anymore, everyone's already doing it. That's not the vibe, right? And we get to curate that. And I think a lot of people kind of miss that.
Jamie: Absolutely. It's easier to say like, “Oh, it's social media's fault”, versus taking radical responsibility. Now, it's different depending on age groups, I'm sure they, like that kind of thing. But when someone is saying those things, I usually go like, “You have full control, you absolutely have full control in this moment.” I completely agree with that. Well, let's talk about it. Whenever you're thinking about getting bold or helping a client be a little more bold—I like using this word a lot. But whenever you're thinking about doing something that's out of the ordinary, let's say, or like pushing kind of the limits of what let's say, is accepted, I think.
Clearly, this podcast is called limitless, the limits we feel like we're putting on ourselves for the way in which we share, how do you help your clients or help yourself work through that when you're trying to kind of push the envelope?
Ashley: Yeah, it's interesting, because I feel like when I hear the word bold, or and I hear like, “Oh, I feel so expressed”, it always comes back to how willing are you to tell the truth? How willing are you to share the reality and tell the truth? And there's a lot of shame that comes up with the things that we want to share. And so I take my clients through this process called, like, emotional alchemy, and it's like, what is the thing? What is the thing that you want to share? Why do you feel shame around it? And how can we like turn that into your personal power? An example I was just talking about, which is fresh on my mind is like, for me one month, I had a low-income month, and for me, I was like, “Oh, my God, I want to crawl and hide. Who am I if I'm not making a gazillion dollars a month? People aren't going to trust me. Oh my God.”
Instead of feeling shame, and feeling like I needed to hide that and be like, “Okay, how can I prove that I'm successful?” And all these things like the proving energy came over me, right? And I was like, “How can I just be okay, telling the truth? How can I use this to my power instead of getting swampy and stuck in my story that I'm not good enough, because I didn't double my income that month?” And so it was like, “Okay, in the grand scheme of things, it's just making money, right?” I made this amount of money—like neutralizing it and then trying to get into my power. It's sharing it like, “Hey, my lowest month in business and here's what I learned from it.” We fucking keep going, no matter what—what's the empowering message behind it?
What do I really need to hear and like not only is that empowering for me, but not land my ideal client to right like someone who's going through that same situation. I was like, “Damn, that's right. I shouldn't stop because I had a low-income month like. This is my business is compounded over time. It doesn't matter what I brought in this month.” This is like my soul's purpose and so I think it's a lot about like owning the truth of your story and like turning that into your power instead of letting it get stuck in your feelings and making it mean something about you. It's kind of like alkalizing, the, like, the charge that we feel about just what's true in our life and like true about our expression and true about us.
Jamie: Oh, my gosh, all of the things. No, I think there's so much when you said emotional alchemy, I use a different word, I call it emotional mastery. It was like being able to understand that when we have emotions, one: can be temporary and two: are teaching us something. Especially talking about low-income months. I think that there's so much out there about high-income months. And it's so refreshing when someone goes, “Oh, I had a low-income month, and it's not going to stop me. I learned and this is how I could finish that.” And even too—I'll have a client who's reached their first 10–15k months, I‘m ready to celebrate. How can I do this, again, understanding that those low-income months create high-income months. They create the motivation to move through it. And I think that just by being able to share that message is something that goes, “Hey, guess what you’re normal.”
Ashley: That's the thing too, with being bold, it's normalizing it all and it's like permission-giving for other people too. If you want to share the highlight reel, and that's your brand and that's your schtick, like by all means go for it, there's a lane for you. If you want to be the person that's like continuously, like slaying all the shame, and being in your swampy feelings, and whatever, there is a lane for you. There's a lane for everyone as long as you own it, we learn from both and so I think there's like space for everyone. But I think for me, I'm super attracted to women who are bold and aren't afraid to share the real, the raw and the truth while still feeling like they're in their power. And like, for me, that's super attractive.
I teach a lot about attraction marketing and I'm like, “Well, what attracts me attracts them. If that's super attractive to me, how can I also lead in that way in that capacity.” I hire mentors who activate me in that way, or like clients hire me because I activate them in that way. And it's just, there's a lane for everyone. And that's just a pool that I like to play in is like the activation. We don't need to feel shame about anything, we just get to let it empower us, feel the feeling, cry, whatever you need to do dance, laugh, call a friend and like move through it and not let it mean anything about you. And that's like something really beautiful about women starting to rise in their power. I don't know, it's just so cool.
Jamie: Absolutely, what you're talking about there is vulnerability in what you're offering is an ability for someone to connect, and just simply relate. Because I'm not always going to relate to these beautiful vacations, I'm not going to always relate to a $100,000 launch. That'll be something that I motivated by, or that I want or desire, but to be able to go like I want that and I'm also feeling like these sticky feelings, I think that's a part of it. But really what I'm hearing within that is the more we are who we are in real life online, the more empowering it is, period. And the more that we try to create a facade, this person who's always handling her stuff, never had a bad month and handles it all without problems, the more we're going to feel this proving energy. This proving that we aren't who we're representing. And I think one of the biggest gifts I ever get is whenever I meet somebody in real life, and they're like, “Oh, you’re just like you are online.” And I'm like, this is the goal, this is the biggest goal. If there's ever someone who was like, “Oh, you're different than I had anticipated.” I'd be like, “Oh, I'm ready. Let me take down the curtain even more as best I can. Because there's just more truth. There's just more fulfillment in that way.
Ashley: It's like, I don't know about you, but when I go to bed at night, I want to lay my head on the pillow and not be like, “Oh, do they think—” There's a whole spiral that can happen when you know you're not really being who you say you are? And it just feels disingenuous, I guess. But I mean, my whole thing, even since branding myself as a photographer, and whatever, it's always been about sharing my story and about sharing me like. I rarely posted pictures of like other people, and I just wanted it to be like a channel of like, “You can be yourself and be authentic online. And this is how you attract clients and like, be yourself.”
To your point, when I would meet people in person, they'd be like, “Oh, my God, you're like, just like I thought you would be.” And I'm like, “Yeah, because the work that we do.” I don't want to be anyone else but myself because then I would resent showing up and then I would lay down at night and be like, “Oh, like just feel weird about it.” I was like we already worry about so many things that people think about us all the time. It's like I don't need more of that.
Jamie: Of course, I like to call it pedestalling yourself. You're putting yourself on a pedestal by trying to create some kind of facade. I think the more we can break down pedestals the better. We know that it's worth it. We clearly know that it's worth it to be able to share in this way but the moment you start to share something that was not, the difference between saying and doing it is that there's like sometimes a full meltdown that happens. And other times, it's just like you close your eyes and press post. So like, kind of walk me through like what's give me an example of like, one time that it was hard for you. And then like how that might have created something with a little more ease afterwards?
Ashley: Totally, I first want to just start by saying, like, the emotional alchemy piece, I always like preface, you don't need to share everything before you're ready. And so, like, we shouldn't be putting ourselves through trauma. “I just went through this thing, and I have to share it. Otherwise, I'm being disingenuous or whatever.” Like, always, in due time, and we can feel sad and feel bleh, and feel like pulling away from our business, and throw up a couple posts that are keeping the business going. That to me is different than just completely projecting a different person online. But like giving ourselves time to heal and process and also keep the business sustaining and posting relevant content, it's fine.
Recently, I mean, like, you and I have talked, I feel like there was a lot of shame around like me, like feeling like I was letting my business slide as I was going through my breakup. I left my boyfriend in January. And I had known for so long that I was unhappy, and I wasn't doing anything about it and so I was harboring a lot of shame around that. And I was really noticing how mean I was thinking to myself, my inner child and like just this like, “Work harder, be better, something's wrong with you.” This is really negative energy was like what my internal thoughts were and I think I remember kind of talking to you about it, honestly, I was like, I feel like I need to talk about this. Because people see me day-to-day and I project a good like positive, happy energy. And I am normally a positive person, but then in my mind, I was like, I'm carrying so much shit, for lack of better term in my mind.
I remember making this post that was literally I'm scared to let you guys see me like this. And that was like the first thing I said, “I'm scared to let you guys watch me crumble a little bit.” That's really scary and I just had to be honest with myself about like, hey guys, I'm scared to let you see this right now and yes, I'm running a business and I'm also going through a lot of crazy emotions, like, this is really hard for me to deal with. And you bet it took a lot of guts for me to even say that because I was initially thinking am I going to lose business are people not going to trust me like what's going to happen. All the thoughts come up. But at the end of the day, I know in my own being that I attract when I am open and vulnerable. And like sharing that, again you said, it's just another way for people to relate and people to connect with me.
I lean into that, like I am in service when I can share what's really going on in my heart and like, that creates more of an attraction, more of a desire more of a relationship, with people that I genuinely want to work with. And if people don't resonate with that, or it's too much for people, or they, you know, are enjoying watching me fall, then they're not for me. There's those people out there that probably are like, “Good, she's not perfect.” I knew it or whatever. And those aren't for me.
I think there's definitely moments where I hit post and throw my phone and I'm like, “Oh, my God, I can't believe I just said that.” Posting about, like, how much money I've invested in my business, it's really triggering for me sometimes, because people love to troll around on like, “Why the fuck would you spend $16,000 on a business coach. You could have bought a new car.” And I'm like, you just don't get it. And I'm not in the industry to prove why you should get it. I'm here to inspire people that already got it to fucking be keep going you're doing amazing things.
Long-winded answer, but I guess it's like doing it in service for yourself and see you don't feel like you have to like hide when you're ready to share. But there have been some pretty triggering moments in the last six months, I'd say. Between this last evolution of myself and owning the money story like that was really triggering, like some people really hate when people business coaches share, how much money they make and all this stuff.
I was really triggered by I got a response on my email list one time that was like, “How could you be empowering women when all you care about is travelling and making money and all this stuff?” And I was like, “Clearly you don't resonate with my brand. So why are you following here?” It's like that kind of stuff. At first, “Oh, yeah, maybe I should not talk about that. It's kind of weird to talk about money.” And then I'm like, so people aren't going to get it. People aren't going to understand you and like, that's not your job to like, explain or prove again.
Jamie: It's that proving energy. Yeah, I think so I a part of it. And I remember that actually. Remember, we had a coffee chat and you're like, I'm just in it right now. And I'm like, “Okay, like, no worries, like, you're okay, then you're like, but I'm ready to share something like something's shifting.” And I remember that conversation so well. And I'm like, “Well then say that, say something shifting.” But no, it's not like how many other people feel the shift, like their shift and I've even had many clients where they're like, “I'm not the perfect example of what I teach.”
Let's debunk some myths immediately right now. All of the coaches, all of the people who you look up to who are giving advice about boundaries, money, social media, messaging, all the above, I struggle with that stuff as well. But they're just maybe not as challenged as the people that they teach. They've gone through it, I've worked through it. I'm fully joyful when I have a client talk about perfectionism with me. And I'm like, “I remember that, let me help you through it.” And that's a part of it and whenever you were about to share that, I think I was like, this is such a teaching moment and is so bold in the way it's still on-brand for you to go “Guess what I'm taking this time, and you get to show people that it's allowed and then also that you don't need to put a perfect picture when it doesn't feel right for you.”
I remember that conversation so well. And I like to kind of talk about whenever someone's going through something and they know they want to share it in the future. I'll be like, “Okay, share from the scar, not like a bleeding wound.”
Ashley: Oh, and I love that phrase.
Jamie: Whenever you're in it. It might feel disingenuous to be like, “This is what's happening” versus like, “I've learned something and I think I'm ready to share.” Yeah, and I think that was a big part of it. But yeah, the posting and then like running like away from the room. Like I did. The other side of it is too is that have you ever done like a be excited to scroll back? Have you done a scroll back in your feed?
Ashley: Going back to like old stuff? Yeah.
Jamie: I will literally be like, “Oh, my God, she was so crazy”, like, so what I'm describing is when you go to your own feed, and you scroll through the previous posts that are just filled with gratitude for yourself, I should come up with a term for it, but like the scroll back where you're just filled with, right, and I guarantee do you look back on that post specifically and go, “I'm so glad I did that.”
Ashley: Yeah, totally. I love doing that was like my story archives. I'm like, “Oh my god, me two years ago, who was just like, hey, guys, like on my Instagram story.” I remember in my brain, feeling like I had no idea what I was doing. And yet, like, here I am today, like two years later, kind of not knowing what I'm doing still, but like a hell of a lot more confident, I'm doing it. And I'm like, thank God for that version of myself, who was bold and courageous and just did the damn thing and like had impostor syndrome, but you have to start somewhere and on every cycle of evolution. You have to start somewhere like I had to break the floodgates after the breakup and be like, “Look, guys, I'm struggling,” because it needed to like propel me forward.
That was kind of the catalyst to be like, “Okay, I get to own my story. I get to reimagine myself, I get to reinvent myself, like, who am I now?” You need to crumble, let it crumble and then rebuild. And like, that happens so many times in our business. The death and rebirth, the cocoon. It's just so natural and it's something we resist at the same time so much. It's like, we don't want to crumble. It's like, so hard, it sucks. It’s always on the other side only so much better. And like, Oh, if you remember on that call, I was kind of saying like, “The braver you are, the better it gets.” And like that, just like that mantra just like repeats to me sometimes. “Ashley, the braver you are, the better it gets.”
Whether it's posting on social media, having a conversation with a partner, having a conversation with a friend, or listening to yourself, being brave to like, close your eyes, and listen to what's going on in your head and really listen. Every time you do that brave thing, it always gets better, even if it gets worse at first. Even if in the moment like, “Wow, this really sucks.” It's like the brave step, the courageous step always has a positive outcome. When you really look in hindsight, and I think about that a lot, like when I'm posting on social media and stuff, and just, even with launches, or whatever, and just that ability to go there a little bit and own your shit and be convicted and what you have to say.
It's just like, the braver you are, the better it gets. Stop hiding, stop making yourself small or being like, “Oh, yeah, this is just my little program I'm launching”, it's like, “This is the fucking best program in the whole fucking world. And here's why you should join it.” It's just like, there's just a different energy you carry when you're like, in that mindset.
Jamie: Absolutely. The braver you are, the better it gets actually went in quotes.
Ashley: Ashley Linnane 2022 running for president.
Jamie: I think that's even a part of it is that there's two things really. One: we are biologically like in our brain. When we feel pleasure, we also have to feel pain. It will literally want to create an equilibrium. Trying to fight the crumble that happens from time to time. It's a losing battle, in general. That's kind of why people kind of feel a little bit depressed when they're like scrolling through their phones, they have a whole bunch of dopamine, they have all of this happiness that's coming for them and then afterwards, they're just like feeling down and out. It's your brain going like “You've been too happy for a while. Let's make sure we equalize this out for you,” and I don't fight it.
Just don't fight it because like it's part of being human. It's absolutely part of being human, but I think the thing is that one—like just like you're saying the braver you are, the better it gets. One courageous step makes the next one a little easier, makes the next one a little easier. Using myself as this example, I'm about to put out what for me is the sexiest photos. I was staring at them before we hopped on this like recording and I'm just like, “Am I really going to—am I really like? No I definitely have to do it. But still I really and then. But I had it on my computer while I was writing an email. I was like, on my computer just staring at it. And then every time I looked back at it, it's not that bad. Oh, it's fine.
Like it's just like being able to just like be confronted by really what's happening of—you're expanding, you're taking a risk that like your body has never experienced before. And guess what it will calibrate like, “Oh, this is her new level of bravery, her new level of confidence.” And don't get me wrong. Ashley, you kind of texted me like I'm about to text another friend, I’ve got to have a support system. But the more we do it, the more I know that it's going to get easier. It just gets easier to do this. And that's also when somebody like tries to take a leap from like zero to 100 and they can't handle it. It's like, okay, leap from zero to 10, 10 to 20 and like allow, allow each one to build off of each other. I love that a lot.
Ashley: I love that. It's like exposure therapy. Every time it gets a little bit easier. But it's true. And I think like, that is like kind of what has like when I look back at like the last like two years really of like my business, that zero to 10. Just taking that little step every single time and when we talk about like the evolution, it doesn't need to be like, like you said, zero to 100 doesn't need to be like one day, I'm posting pictures of my cat and whatever. And then one day, I'm like sharing my dirtiest darkest secrets online and like, because that's what it means to be expressed. It's like no if you're free to get comfortable there, and then level up again, and then level up again, level up again. And then in two years, we'll look back and be like, “Holy shit. Remember when I was scared to post a picture of my cat?” You know what I mean?
Now look at me. You're going to be posting swimsuit bathing pictures. And I think that's really important too, letting your nervous system kind of recalibrate and get on board with it. You're not like shocking your system every time and being like, “Oh my god, I can't believe I posted that.” Because it'll feel like that for a little bit. But you don't want to be putting that much stress and pressure on yourself at the same time. It should feel scary but then like empowering, right? There's also that self-talk of “We're safe, I love you.” And I genuinely wanted to post that for myself not to prove or get attention, or whatever it is. It's like, this feels really good and it's also scary. Living in that like space of and I think a lot of the women we probably both work with and who are listening are like, tap into your intuition and they know. And it's like, we've heard this do it for yourself first and feels really good for you and feels empowering. Then the ripple gets just set in motion.
Jamie: Totally. It's about defining what it is for you. I think I like to call it what's one radical act of rebelliousness you can do right now what's just one small act. I can remember there was one small act when I was in the middle of a full cycle, I don’t know if it was a SoulCycle, another biking fitness class and for me, I'm always trying to appreciate my body more and more, and I'm working through it. But one thing I was like, “Okay, I am hot”, and I want to take a picture but should I or should I not? And then I was like in my head. Like what's one small act of rebelliousness and like it's small we’re in a dark room we’re amongst non-judgmental women.
I was like, “Okay, here's one small way that I'm just going to be in my sports bra and my leggings and like, go that way.” And then it just trickled like within a client when they go like, I can't share that. And I'm like, What's one small way that you can just like break that limit? Break that barrier for yourself? And then it gets to get easier each time after that.
Ashley: Yeah, I remember that was I have like, this reminds me of this one time my friend posted something she's like, I always wished I could be that girl who ran in a sports bra or whatever. And she's like, “So today I put a sports bra on and I started running and now I am that girl.” We are like “Oh, I wish I could be like that girl who’s just like in a sports bra running.” It's like, you get to be that girl right now. Like you literally have a sports bra and you have two feet and you can run so.
Jamie: Have a sports bra have two feet do the big already. Oh my god, I love it. So tell me I know that you and I are both like feeling very similarly in our businesses right now where we want to do these things that we've always wanted and now we're like you're pretty much my I called her my “Bold Buddy” the other day we're getting bold buddies, the bold buddies, but like you have something that you're doing with your business, like tell us what the kind of what's coming up for you.
Ashley: Yeah, so it's really cool. I like so I'm a photographer and also the branding and the marketing aspect I really love and so something that was really alive for me right now this concept of evolution, hello, like divine timing. I feel like I've walked myself through this really big portal of evolution over the last six months. But in hindsight, it's always been something that's in my nature to continually evolve and let that be expressed in my brand. And so I created this new elite program called The Evolution where I'm literally wanting women to like, kind of step through the fire and be like, “Okay, I'm ready to evolve. I'm ready to talk about these new pieces of my story, I'm ready to like, plan, this new photoshoot that brings out this new archetype of me. I'm ready to crank it up a notch a little bit, and I'm ready to have more influence. I'm ready to own that I want to have influence.
I think that's like, really what it takes is like this identity shift, this mindset shift, and also like the shift in your messaging and your content to really like to stand out as a leader. And like we all started in this industry, we're all learning as we go, we all kind of learn how to market how to get our first clients that cookie cutter, branding, whatever. And now it's like, let's play, like, let's set this on fire a little bit. Like, we've all evolved so much. We've all grown as women as people in our own lives. I feel like I'm a cat, I have like gazillion lives, you know, I'm on transformation number 42 at the moment, and like, I'm going to keep evolving, you know, but I think putting women into a space like this, where we get to talk and share these fears, and share what's coming up and play a little bit and dress up and bring out different archetypes. It's like, it's going to be really, really fun in a big way that I feel like I've learned more about myself in this evolution, this time around is through expression and dance and sensuality, and play and pleasure and like these different aspects that I had never really explored before.
It's been really interesting to see how that has translated into the way I express myself the stories, I now want to tell the pieces of me that I now want to bring out in my videos and my photos, versus just learning how to start a Pinterest board and how to create a brand in like the cookie cutter way, you know, and like, it's really alive for me right now. And so I'm like, really excited about creating that experience for other women who are literally like, put me in coach and ready to explore and ready to evolve. Like, I'm really ready to, like, stand out, and it's time, you know, so yeah, that's what's exciting. Super, super, like pumped on it right now. And yeah, that's kind of like the new thing that's coming next.
Then evolving with that is just like the brand photos and adding more like kind of juice and stuff to the brand photo experience with helping women rebrand and helping them feel confident in front of the camera. And like I always say, I want to like lure out your inner like muse and wild child and like, play around with you at our photoshoot and like just allow you to have a really like transformative experience, and feel really empowered, you know, like, during your shoot. And when you look at the photos of yourself, like that's you like the pictures of you, Jamie like, Oh, my God, I don't know. I don't know. It's like, that's you and how beautiful and like, that's empowering. You know, so cool.
Jamie: I could talk about this for days, I think it's a permission-giving piece there. Like I think that people like even when they've had success in one area, their business they think they’re not allowed to change. And you know, this is like, “No, you don't have to keep staying at step one where you're figuring it out or learning it like you've figured it out. “Now let's what's the next version of this a part of this is like feeling caged? What worked for you before or what do you know is right, or what you know, you should be doing, there's a place for it, like you understand the strategy and the structure. But now you've done it, like evolve, do what you want, and it's going to pay off and like just to kind of put what's happening in the world. And what's happening on like, these platforms that we use is that the water’s really warm for thisTikTok and Instagram are you know, rivalling with each other at the moment. And the reason what it is is that TikTok we get to really know people more very off the cuff, it's very like who they are.
Instagram’s still like trying to remove the curation from it. And we just don't understand it. So there's that. And like, even for like people who are product-based businesses, this is why people love influencers. This is why if you can show who you are, that creates those products more and more, that they're going to be like, “Oh, I'm like a fan of her, and her products, like I'm a fan of the person who created this business and the products that she provides.” So it's even, like, clearly we're over here talking about like, how this helps us personally, and we're both service-based businesses, but the side of this that really comes through is like we're done with the highlight reel. Yeah, we're done with having to not know who's who and, like, the cookie-cutter stuff you were talking about is like, we know that that's playing it safe. Now jump, do that, which I love with that with evolving.
Ashley: Totally. And it's funny too, because I'm like, “Oh, I love branding and marketing. And then I look at my feet and it's like, it's not some cute all Canva like, perfectly tied up with a bow brand.” For me, branding is not that. Your brand is your voice and expression heart and soul encapsulated into a vibe that people get when they jump on your page. And so like when I think about branding agencies that make it all look perfect as a magazine. I'm like, “Oh, but that's not me. And that's like not like I get impostor syndrome.” And in that regard, I'm like, “Oh, yeah, I'm teaching you how to build a brand.” But I'm not like that. And like, there's places and lanes for that. But like, that's not how I see it. And I think that speaking to your point about TikTok and being like, I want people to fall in love with you. And like, the way that they fall in love with you is not through a perfectly curated buttoned-up feed.
If that's you that you want them to fall in love with perfectly curated, whatever like there's a lane for you to but like the women that I call in and that want to work with me, they're like, they want to speak off the cuff, kind of like the TikTok vibe, it's like changing your Instagram’s energy to like, reflect that when people land on it. They're like, I want to stay here a while I'm curious about this girl, it makes me feel a type of way, like, or, you know what I mean? It's just different. And I get kind of like in my head about that sometimes. And then I'm like, no, like, I'm creating what I want to create, like, get the space to do that. And it doesn't have to look the same as all these other branding coaches out there. Like, this is the way that I do it. Come along.
Jamie: Absolutely, it's creating the movement within what you're doing. Like, we're not just doing it's not for attention. It's not for whatever, you're trying to make an impact for one, five, whatever, however many people but like, I think that's like, why we do this is because we know where we're wanting to take people that follow along with us where we want them to feel like they can take the vacations and spend the money the way they want to. Like we're not just doing it just to show it. They're like it said, yeah, it gets really purposeful. And the more that you get to do it, yeah, actually, I'm keeping you so long, which I'm so excited you’ve been able to chat with me, so I have one last question before I can free you and like end this conversation. So I like to ask my guests, like knowing everything we talked about today, but also just what it means to you. What does limitless mean to you?
Ashley: Oh my God, I guess just I mean, in the basic term, it just means like possibility. For me, I just think like, wow, there's so much possibility for my life. And like, I get to steer the boat, like, which direction am I going? Because there's literally no limit, there's no answer. Like, it's all open for you. And like, I think in the spirit of like, evolving and stuff. It's like, there's never an end, there's never going to be this place that we get to that we're like, I think we all search for that place, “It's like I've made it, this feels good. I want to stay here.” This is nice. Like, I think limitless kind of women are always going to be constantly evolving and seeking that next level and seeking the next opportunity or seeing the next, you know, level of happiness and like how good can it really get? That's the question I asked myself a lot is like, how good am I willing to let life get? And like, that's pretty limitless right there. It's like, being open to constantly evolving to get even better, And whether that's life business relationship money. I think it's all related.
Jamie: Yeah, cool. How good are you willing to let life get? That's what I love that actually tell us how we can stay connected with you all, of course, in the show notes. Tell us how we can be connected.
Ashley: Yeah, so my Instagram is @theelevatedentrepreneur. The elevated entrepreneur is my company, so that's my handle. Come say hello, drop into the DMs, I love making connections and just supporting other people and just saying hi, so come hang out. And yeah, my website is just my first name, last name ashleylinnane.com. But Instagram is where it's at, that is where you get me and my expression and all the wild stories that happened to me throughout the day. And also just learn more about like brand shoots and branding and all the things so yeah.
Jamie: Amazing. Ao thankful for you to share all of your insight and like to be vulnerable and talking about the emotions of all what it means to be bold, but also leading the path for others. I am so happy that we got to have you thank you so much.
Ashley: Thank you. I'm so happy to be here.