Tiffany: A lot of times my people are so close to their own work that they actually can't figure out how to verbalize it in the right way that actually connects with the right audience or the right decision makers that are gonna book them to speak or what have you. So it is this fine line of where you absolutely need what I call a brand foundation. And so many people come to me and they're just like, "I need a new pretty logo," or "I need a new website," and I'm like, "Okay, that's great, but we don't want to just put lipstick on a pig," right? We don't want this beautiful website that's not going to convert for you.
Austin: So I was looking at your Instagram, I think it was. Or maybe it was your LinkedIn. It must have been your LinkedIn. I don't think you're a big Instagram poster, if I remember looking at your profile right.
Tiffany: No, I have a nine grid on Instagram. I have a presence, but I don't post there, so probably LinkedIn.
Austin: Yeah. Okay. I don't blame you. Seems like everybody that I talk to these days about social media, they're, "Yeah, I don't really do that the same way anymore." So I don't know what that says about the world, but I did see a post that you made, though, about some of your fun summer things, as we were talking about before we started recording. And you mentioned that you went on a vacation recently and you did not bring your laptop, or at least you didn't look at it. And I was so inspired by that, partially because vacation is sacred, especially family time. It's one thing to just go get a day off, for sure, but getting that intentional time with family, I feel like in a lot of ways is why we're here. It's the whole reason for any of this, right? What did it take for you to be able to go on that trip, and others probably, and be able to really disconnect? What was it that made that possible for you when so many people feel like it is not possible?
Tiffany: Yeah, such a good question. And I'll be the first to admit that there are trips that I go on and I take the laptop and I'm checking in with the team and all of those things. But this specific one, we actually went on a cruise. Not only did I not take my laptop, but we did not purchase the Wi-Fi bundle, so I couldn't even look at my phone. And I did that on purpose, as a test, but also, like you said, it's sacred. So we had five days, I literally had no connection. And again, I'm super transparent, open book, and there was a few moments that I was like, "My god." It was a little stressful because, are things moving correctly, is a client having issues or anything? But I think what it took to get here is I've been in business for about eight years, and so finding the right team, having the right systems in place, I know you're all about systems, those things, and then setting my summer up for success ahead of time. I knew I wanted to have moments where I was not on the laptop and really could check out. All those things added up. And so I've done it in the past where I've taken what I, quote, "summer sabbatical," but there was these moments I'm still checking in. So that was the first time I fully disconnected, and it was so wonderful.
Austin: Man, I hope everybody listening to this hears that and is inspired to go do the same, 'cause I think all of us could probably use a little bit of checkout. I think all the time about how our brains are wired. And especially if you just look back at the last thousands of years of humanity, it wasn't until five minutes ago that we were constantly being pulled into this thing that isn't even real in the way that people are real.
Tiffany: It's not 3D. It's like, right.
Austin: It's this abstract thing out in the web. So, anyways, we're all hyper-focused on something that isn't even materially real. And I just can't square up that being good for us all the time. I just can't see a way where that's in line with how our bodies and brains and souls are meant to be. And you just see it. People are miserable sometimes running businesses because they are so wrapped around the axle of this machine that we're plugged into. And look, I'm a tech guy. I'm an entrepreneur. So I feel it. I'm a part of that. I'm not on a high horse over here being like, I've got it all figured out. But I do pay attention to it. And I think most entrepreneurs would be well served to do that as well. So thank you for the inspiration there. And yeah, I think you're just a testament to it.
Tiffany: Absolutely. And I will share, hearing you share that, the crazy thing that I wasn't planning on was when I got back and I had a huge influx of business. And one of the reasons I was a little, I wouldn't say paranoid, but just to be transparent, I had taken most of June off. What we didn't say was I had three trips, business trips and other things, and kids stuff before that. So almost all of June I was checking in, and then I was off for that period. But when I came back, I had a ton of influx of business. And usually summer's a little bit slower. And so I think there's something to be said about the energetics of unplugging. Like, I had new ideas and all of that. And I don't think it was an accident. I don't know, I came back and I had a bunch of new clients and I was like, "This is amazing." So if anybody's like, "Well, I want to, but I'm not sure," take that as an extra bonus.
Austin: Yeah, well, amen. I think most people that are getting into this line of work do it so that they can have the freedom and flexibility to go and do that, and we need space. The label that we use for this space is thought leadership. I don't think that you can have original, clear thinking without taking that space. There's no way when we're wrapped around our routines and just the tedium of life, and the email inbox that never stops going off. And I don't think that we are able to really step back and think original thoughts. I think we're really trapped in the pattern. So for anybody that's listening to this that considers themselves a thought leader, here's your encouragement today to even just go take a walk, leave your phone at home and go look at a pretty tree or quack at a duck. Do something that is going to get you out of the monotony. So in our show notes, or our preparation for this, you mentioned a phrase that I thought was interesting that probably is a good anchor for this. And that's an authority brand. Did I say that right? Is that the label?
Tiffany: Correct. Yep.
Austin: Yeah, yeah. So can you give me a one sentence? What is an authority brand and why is that thing that you focus on?
Tiffany: Yeah, so the authority brand is so important because, focusing mostly on speakers, most of my clients are speakers, authors, coaches, consultants. And like you said, they're really either a thought leader already or they're stepping in. They're an aspiring thought leader. And what I've noticed is over the years there's this pull to be authentic, and now it's like the Yap challenge, or be more vulnerable on Instagram and show up and dance on TikTok. And most of us who are really in the authority space, I don't know, this isn't true for everybody, but I came from the corporate world. I taught college on a collegiate level, I taught branding. So I take my work very seriously. And so a lot of us get pulled in that direction where we don't really have an authority brand. We collect oftentimes followers or things like that because that's what we think we should do. And instead it becomes a vanity metric, and it's not really positioning ourselves for the authority to, say, stand on a TEDx stage or be booked for a high level keynote.
Tiffany: And so for me, there's a specific way to build authority in our brand and really position ourselves with thought leadership. So that is creating our IP, writing the book, doing those types of things, and having the brand, the messaging and the website that reflects that. And so often we get pulled in these different directions, or have maybe a coach or someone that's like, "Okay, you gotta do it this way." And it doesn't actually help us move into our thought leadership further all of the time.
Austin: Yeah, that makes sense. What do you think people are getting wrong about this? Because this isn't news, maybe, is the right word. I think a lot of people have this intuition that what you're talking about here is something that needs to be addressed, but I don't see a lot of people doing it really well. And that's probably a generalization. There's so many people that do it well. So if you're out there and you're like, "You're wrong," I'm sure I am. But obviously, you're a problem solver. So why do you think people aren't getting this right on their own? What is the sticking point here?
Tiffany: Gosh, there's a lot of things I could say here. The very first thing, and I've been talking about this a lot recently, is they tend to build the plane while they're flying it, while they're building their business or their thought leadership. And so the first thing is it turns into a Frankenstein brand. Okay, I'm gonna give this talk, and then I'm gonna do that. And so over time they have a platform and they maybe have a website, but it's built over time, and so it's not this very succinct, codified ecosystem that really positions them for the one thing that they want to get known for. And/or they maybe did get known for one thing, and then they've evolved and they started talking about new things, but their footprint online is still talking about the old things. And so when people talk to them and they're applying for, say, stages, and then people go look at their website, they're like, "Wait a second, there's some disconnect happening here that I'm not quite seeing."
Tiffany: So the way I view it is our brand evolves over time, and so we really need to think about where are we heading in those next three, five, ten years? Reverse engineer it so we build a brand that we can evolve into, not necessarily for where we're at today, because otherwise it's this consistent hustle to keep up and things like that. So I really like to build a brand for where people want to go, and then they can just naturally evolve into that.
Austin: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it makes sense. I feel like there's some tension here too, where on one hand, especially the people that are in this business, okay, I say this as a compliment, but they're visionary type people that do this type of work. They're highly creative and they think big picture, and they're the opposite of somebody that's an engineer that's deeply in the details of things. And so I think because of that, somebody that's in that headspace is constantly looking for the next cool, interesting thing. And so it's this constant evolving with somebody that gets really excited about shiny things. And sometimes that can be beautiful. That really is what makes somebody a thought leader, is that they're looking for that next thing, the thing that's around the corner that not everybody is noticing. So that's good. But that's tensioned against needing that stable base to be able to become well known and for people to be able to communicate what it is that you do to make a referral or whatever, right?
Austin: But I can see on that side too, there could be a little bit of a slippery slope where maybe somebody gets so focused on it being perfect that they never actually get into motion, where it has to be the exact right base. And so we never even take that first big step. So yeah, it's tension between needing novelty for this business model to work on some degree, which is a benefit and a curse. And then on the other side, needing that stable base, but the potential for never actually feeling settled enough there to make any real headway. So do you notice that with your clients? How do you walk that line?
Tiffany: Yeah, I feel like I couldn't have said it better, honestly, Austin. You nailed what is very common for my clients. And I think that's why you and I do the work that we do. Like you with systems, if somebody is a visionary and a thought leader, they don't want to be in the weeds trying to figure out their systems. And for me, I always say you can't see the label from inside the bottle. A lot of times my people are so close to their own work that they actually can't figure out how to verbalize it in the right way that actually connects with the right audience or the right decision makers that are gonna book them to speak or what have you. So it is this fine line of where you absolutely need what I call a brand foundation. And so many people come to me and they're just like, "I need a new pretty logo," or "I need a new website," and I'm like, "Okay, that's great, but we don't want to just put lipstick on a pig," right? We don't want this beautiful website that's not going to convert for you.
Tiffany: So we really do need to slow down, not spend ages on it or make it focus on perfection, but slow down to create the brand foundation of: What is the message? What are your values? What's the vision at this point, in this stage in your life and career? Because those things shift over time. And having them commit to that for a period of time, to your point, so they can get known. I've had clients that, yeah, they have ten book ideas and they're all completely disparate. And it's like, okay, we have to put some form around this. What is the ecosystem? What is the golden thread that's going to tie these all together? Because otherwise your audience is going to be so confused and you're never going to get that traction, right?
Tiffany: So if we look at people like Brené Brown, Simon Sinek, the thought leaders that we look up to, first they create that body of work and foundation that they get known for, and then they can spread out from there and grow bigger. So I do believe at some point the riches are in the niches. You have to focus for a period of time. But then once you do that, and I'm actually doing this with a client right now who niched down almost too narrow, and now it's like, okay, she wants to talk about different things. She's getting bored of that. Okay, now we have to open that net wider. And what is the message around that, so her current audience doesn't get confused, but she can bring in a lot larger audience as well? So it's a very fine line, and also there's a science to it.
Austin: Yeah. Well, that tightrope walk, man. That's why people like you exist, 'cause I could not, and most of my clients could not. So somebody that's out there seeing these trends, this is why we run this show. This is why we have conversations like this, is because I don't think most people even have the box to describe where the tightrope is. They just know that they have an outcome in mind. And either you hire somebody that's gonna guide you to it, or you have to just blindly follow your own way. And man, people spend a lot of time and energy and money on something that's not backed by the science, as you just said, right? It's vibe based. And we live in this really interesting time right now where people can be extremely confident in the stuff that they're doing because we have AI. Feels like you can just go to AI and ask a question and it gives you the gospel, and that's gonna be right every single time, and you can take and leave it.
Tiffany: And then it tells you you're incredible and that's the best idea they've ever heard every two seconds. And it's like, is it really? Are we sure this is the right direction?
Austin: Yes. Yeah, right, for sure. Well, yeah, it doesn't have discernment. I think that's the thing about a human brain that we just can't replace yet, is that it doesn't have discernment. It doesn't have that energetic exchange where you can feel it in somebody whether it's right or not. And you have enough anecdotes available in that specific lane where you can pull context from different places to be able to synthesize the right thing, as opposed to just give somebody information. We see this with systems, where people can go on ChatGPT and say, "Hey, what should my CRM do?" And it's gonna give you a whole bunch of really generic, basic things that aren't wrong. It's not that it's wrong. It's just it lacks that discernment that lets you take it and tighten it to be just right. And yeah, a lot of people get really stuck.
Tiffany: For your specific situation that might be different than everybody else's.
Austin: Yeah, for sure. And so much of what you do, I imagine, is just based off of your lived experience and you working with people and the gut check. There's some things that you can't train because they just require lived experience. And so that's good. I want those opinions from you. But also, this is a show about systems. And when we were talking about this show beforehand, you specifically said that there's a process to be able to develop that authority brand that we were talking about earlier. So I'm curious, where does the art and the science of branding come together for you?
Tiffany: Yeah, so for me, like you said, it's lived experience. So a little bit quickly around my background is for fifteen years I worked in the corporate world with brands like Burt's Bees and Adidas and really got the understanding of what a powerful brand is, right? And how you do build a system around it. And so that is why my process is actually called a Brand Operating System, or OS. We develop Brand Operating Systems for businesses, because otherwise, it's, yeah, it's what does ChatGPT or Claude say today, or what is my coach telling me, or what do I feel like saying? And that's great, but to really grow and be seen as an authority and have a codified body of work, you need to stay within some sort of lane, right? And so that's really the system that I've developed. I keep using the word codify, but that's what I can describe it best as.
Tiffany: I think in Venn diagrams, so if we think about who you are on one side and what is your true identity and the authenticity behind it and all of those things. I think that's why so many people build a website and they're like, "It never really felt like me." They didn't do the work to say, who am I, what is my identity? Because that shifts over your life. You have kids, you leave corporate, whatever that is. And then the other side of the Venn diagram is your ideal client or your audience or the stages you want to get booked on, right? One thing is to be authentic and to share your truth, but if it doesn't align with those people, then what's the point? So we want to look at that sweet spot in the middle and then really walk through a specific process of looking at what is your big vision? How do your values align that? What is your brand voice?
Tiffany: A lot of people say, "I just show up and talk, and that's my brand voice," but how do you train AI to talk like you? Or maybe you have a VA, and you want them to help you comment on LinkedIn or something? They can't just use their voice. And that's why so many people outsource to, say, a copywriter or AI, and then it doesn't really convert or it doesn't sound like them, right? So when we really do that and really map out the whole brand story, the intellectual property of the brand, and make sure everything is this cohesive unit, then you can show up. A lot of people are like, "That feels like I'm in a box," especially for visionaries. But really, what allows you to do is have the freedom. For instance, the trip you asked about earlier, the reason I was able to take most of June off is because my brand is so clear. My team can create content and post for me, and I don't have to be the one doing that because we have a system. So I don't know if that fully answers your question. I went on a little tangent, but...
Austin: No, it's so good. Yeah. I love the Venn diagram thing that you pointed out too, because I feel like it's really easy to optimize for one or the other side of that Venn diagram, right? But it's such a trap, because if you over optimize for authenticity, even if it's accurate, you still are not able to connect with somebody, because it's not going to be the words that they are using to describe their situation. And so then you could go the other direction, where you completely optimize for what the market is asking for, but you lose the soul and probably you lose some differentiation.
Tiffany: Then you sound like everyone else.
Austin: Yeah, exactly. Right. And it's funny, we just barely went through this exercise at SpeakerFlow, where we've been doing this for some years now and we've worked with a lot of people. And so I have some gut instincts, maybe, about what people are looking for and why somebody would come to SpeakerFlow. And so we've used those gut instincts to really inform how we talk about ourselves, our messaging on our website and the content that we create and so on and so forth. And as time has gone on, it seemed like fewer and fewer people were connecting with that messaging. And so Taylorr and I recently went on this exercise where we went through, we record every single conversation that we have with our clients and our sales calls, just 'cause it's all Zoom based, so it's so easy to do it. So we have years' worth of these conversations now. So we went through every single one of the clients that we've won over the last few years and pulled the sales conversations and then gave all of that to Claude to help us synthesize. And what came out of that was shocking to me and also felt so true.
Austin: And it was that the people that we were talking to felt like frauds. They felt like they were authoritative, that they had the answers, they could solve real problems, but the back end of their business made them feel like they weren't a professional. And so they weren't confident approaching people. Or when they did approach somebody, things would slip through the cracks or whatever. And so what they felt like on the inside was that, "I'm this high caliber person that can create huge value for the world. But every time I interact with somebody, I am a mess. And it feels like a mess. And so I feel bad about that." And so we changed our messaging to think more about that. Hey, you're a very capable person. Your brain is probably just not wired to think in systems. And that feeling that you have, that you're not showing up the way that you should show up for people, is fixable with systems. And it was the craziest thing. As soon as we changed that, all the dynamics of all of our conversations changed. It went from, "Yes, I know I need systems," when they came to the call, to, "I saw that post and it hurt in a good way, because I knew that it was true."
Austin: And I think that maybe that's what you're talking about here in some way, where we have to take the customer's situation, we have to take their words, we have to blend that with the way that we see the world. And it's that interlapping of those two things that is gonna connect well with people. And it's gonna be differentiated, because it's based on our unique experience combined with the real problem that somebody has. So I'm curious, as a brand strategist, is that move that SpeakerFlow made in alignment with how you might work with a client? Where does that fit? Did we do good? Did we do good, coach?
Tiffany: Yeah. I think so. I'd have to look at everything, but especially, the main thing is if you're getting results, right? Because so many times I have people come in and they're just like, "It's not converting and I don't know what's wrong." Like you said, "I know I can do it." And/or I'll have people who are pivoting and they're like, "Okay, I'm going to this whole new arena and I have no idea how to speak to people, because it's so new to me." So, but based on that, you are in the, not lucky, but the great situation where you had those past conversations. So the market research, whether it's looking through past conversations like that or interviews we sometimes have people do. And if they're newer in business, they haven't had a lot of clients, then that's another route. There's a lot of ways you can use AI, you could do other ways to do the research, and then, okay, based on that, how do we update the message and then also codify a methodology that then positions you as the authority?
Tiffany: 'Cause that's the next step, I would say, is having the language that speaks to them and ensuring that works, but then also having a methodology or a system that shows that you are the expert to help them through that. Because sometimes we can say those things and they're like, "Okay, great, I'll just go get a different system or go get a brand expert or hire my neighbor," right? We can open their eyes to that. So I would say then that's the next step, which I'm sure you guys are the obvious experts to support speakers and thought leaders with systems. Which is why I think we get along so well.
Austin: Yeah. Amen. Yeah. Agreed. I like the way that you think about this, for sure. When people come to you, what do you feel like is a pretty typical starting point? What does the average conversation look like when they come to you? What's the situation that they're in that leads into improving their branding in the ways that we're talking?
Tiffany: Yeah, that's a great question. I would say it's one of a few situations. So again, the biggest thing that I get is when people are moving into their next season or they have something big coming up. So for instance, I have three clients I'm working with right now. One is publishing a book, and she's like, "My gosh, this book is gonna be incredible." She's doing traditional publishing, all the right things, but she's like, "My gosh, my brand, my messaging, all of that doesn't align. I want this to be a huge launch, I want this to go big. My brand, my website, all of that needs to reflect it." So we're working on updating to get her to that point. I'm just using client examples because I feel like that's the easiest way to explain it. Another man, actually, has been in thought leadership in one way or another. He's written multiple books, but he's shifted his focus, and he's been talking to a specific audience for a very long time, and he's like, "You know what? I'm in a different season of life." He's in his late fifties, and he's like, "I'm tired of doing this. I have the credibility, but I'm ready to move into this new space with new people. The problem is nobody knows me yet."
Tiffany: So how do we take that credibility, lived experience, and all of those things and talk to this new subset of people, but nobody knows me yet? So how do we make him an instant authority in that space? And then oftentimes it is just simply people have been doing the work, they've had some success, but like you said, sometimes things shift, especially lately. I feel like the world has shifted upside down in a lot of ways. So what used to work is no longer working, and then we have to sit and think, okay, what does this need to look like for it to convert? And AI can get us a lot of the way there, but to your point earlier too, sometimes it actually just makes it more confusing, if you're like, it's like, this is a good idea, that's a good idea. So I love to just be thought partners with people and really create what I call an authority brand, but also a legacy brand. It's typically when people are ready to be seen for their thought leadership in a bigger way.
Austin: Yeah, which I think is the underlying goal for most of the people doing this, right? Is to make an impact that's bigger than the one client that's in front of us at any given moment. Not to disparage that one client. Every person that we come in contact with is special. But yeah, most people are trying to build something great. And big isn't always necessarily the thing, especially in the way that we think about big as scaling a business, big team and huge revenue and all that. That isn't even always a thing, but big impact, for sure. And big problem solved.
Tiffany: Yes. Big profit. Revenue can mean a lot of things, but it doesn't necessarily mean profit, I've come to see with a lot of clients. So it's like, who cares if you're making eight figures if most of that's paying your team? Would you rather live a sustainable life and make good profit and not have to work as hard? I don't know. That choice is up to you.
Austin: I've been that person. I know what it's like to be on the other side of that, to build a business that might make a lot of money, but that provides very little profit to the people running it. And it's not fun. So that's good. And I think a lot of people in this space aren't as at risk of that as in some industries. What's beautiful about thought leadership is you can run it so lean. The average person in this industry is making 330K, according to the State of the Industry report. And most people only have one or two people on their team, and usually those are not full-time waged employees, they're contractors that help out with very specific things. And so yeah, this business model has an unusual ability to create huge margin. But it has to be intentionally cultivated. And actually this ties into something else I'm thinking of. When we think about branding, I feel like a lot of people, myself included, I've refined this a little bit as I've matured in my entrepreneurial experience, but think about branding as, yeah, you build the logo, you do good copywriting, you create a website, business cards, whatever, the assets that go into having a brand.
Austin: But I see this happen so often. To pick a really specific example, somebody will build a really awesome lead magnet, like a quiz or something, right? Awesome. It can be so valuable. But it never actually gets promoted, and people don't actually see it. And you've talked about conversion a couple of times here, so I know that this is top of mind for you. And I want people to take this down a level, right? Outside of the creative side of this, the visuals and the words and the things that we use to put out in the world, what do you recommend your clients do on an ongoing basis to reinforce that effort? To make that actually do something for them as a business? Where do you take the higher level abstractions and make them actually do something for the business?
Tiffany: Yeah, that's a great question. Yeah, so, to your point, that is the brand overall, right? Is the assets, is the website and how you're positioned and where you're showing up. But for me, the biggest thing that I see people struggling is, like you're saying, not knowing how to actually put it out into the world. So it's like, build it and they will come, and it's like, no, not really.
Austin: Not anymore, at least.
Tiffany: Yeah. There has to be strategy. First the brand has to be powerful, it has to position as the authority, and then you have to execute and keep that momentum going. And so that's why I look at it as a Brand Operating System, because you need to continually put it out there, but it also doesn't need to be stressful. Someone like Gary Vee, who, I don't know if he still says this because things have shifted, but he used to be like, "You have to be on every platform all the time. That's how it is. Content wins." And I think maybe he's actually changed on this too. I don't follow him that closely. But content is not the key anymore, because AI can put content out. Everybody can spin out content so easily. So for me, it goes back, there's a few things. The Maya Angelou quote that I love, and I'm probably butchering it, the exact quote, is it's not about what you say, it's how you make people feel, right? So there has to be a feeling tone energetically in the brand as well, and how you're showing up. And I know that sounds a little out there when we're talking about systems, but it's so true, because that's the human part, right?
Tiffany: So that's one big piece of it, and then on the other side, so I guess we could say soul plus strategy, right? We need that human element, and then the strategy pieces. This is my particular advice, is to pick one powerful authority lane and really get known in that place. So, for instance, I was on Instagram, I was on Facebook, I was on LinkedIn, all the places that I thought I should be, and none of them, it was like pushing three boulders up a hill, right? I wasn't really getting good traction anywhere, and most of my work was coming from referrals, and I wasn't growing because of that. And so the minute I stopped posting on Facebook, I put a nine grid on Instagram, and I personally chose LinkedIn. And I'm not saying that's where everybody should hang out. I think we need to get strategic in, again, the Venn diagram. Where do we want to hang out? Where do our customers hang out? But, anyways, as soon as I went all in on LinkedIn, now I'm really starting to build a platform there. I'm making sales, and there I get more engagement.
Tiffany: And so that's the first step for me, is to really sit with, and I help clients with this too if they're not sure, where is your authority lane? And now that I'm really clear on LinkedIn, that's my outbound. My podcast is really my kind of nurturing strategy, so people can comment and hear me speak, and that's been enough. Now I am starting to think about adding Substack, because I have this body of work, it's really easy to repurpose over there, and I think it's a smart move for a lot of thought leaders. But anyways, that would be the first step, is that authority lane, and then being consistent there, because that's the other piece. If we show up once a month, nobody's really going... This is obvious, but then our authority isn't clear.
Austin: Yeah, I think it's so easy to go wide instead of deep. And I think some of what you're talking about there is that. You said the antithesis of this. Don't go everywhere and stand on the rooftop and just blast it out. Pick a lane that you think is well suited for the type of person that you're getting in touch with, and then go deep. And then naturally, as that happens, you'll notice opportunities, just like you've noticed that Substack could be an opportunity. And what I didn't hear you say is, "So now I'm sprinting full speed ahead at Substack." You said, "I noticed this, and I'm gonna pay attention to it," and I'm sure that you're gonna experiment and we're gonna look at data. This isn't just a vibe-based thing. You have to notice something and then test it and then be consistent with it, and then be honest with ourselves about whether or not it's actually serving or not. If it is, amazing, go deeper. Kill it if not. And really, in some ways, that's the story of doing business, right?
Tiffany: Yeah. And I think that's where a lot of times we can beat ourselves up, because I'll be the first to admit I'm not always as strategic as I used to be. I used to be that, jump on the plane and, like you said, the shiny object syndrome. But now I think it's shifted to be like, do I have the capacity? Do I really need this, to your point? And that's the thing I love to talk to clients through, is the thought leadership is one thing, but is it fitting with your life? If your number one goal is to be known worldwide, well then yes, you're probably gonna go a lot harder and have all of the platforms and work harder to get there. But if you want to be known in one area and speak on those stages, there's easier paths a lot of the time.
Austin: I think those are words of wisdom there. I think there's probably a lot of people that are listening to this and being like, "Yeah, I need some help here." So please, if you're one of those people, talk to Tiffany. One of my favorite things about Tiffany is that she's authentic. You can just have a conversation with Tiffany. So for listeners out there that know they have some improvement here, I guarantee you a short conversation with Tiffany, if nothing else, will yield you some really great ideas, outside of all the clients that we've shared over the years that have said that you do amazing work. You mentioned something before we got into this, though, a tool that you've built that I think might be a microcosm example of what you're talking about here, which is this bio helper tool. Can you explain to our audience what is this tool that you've built that can be a good example of what you're talking about here?
Tiffany: Sure, absolutely. So we've talked a little bit about AI today, and it can make things more confusing, and it's just, we're at such an interesting point and intersection in technology right now, especially with systems. I can only imagine, how much AI do we use, how much do we not? So, anyways, I still love AI, don't get me wrong. But I think it needs to be really well trained and really well managed. And so this is one of the tools that I've created for clients, so you don't have to sit inside, say, Claude or ChatGPT and spend hours prompting to get the perfect result. So this specific one will create an authority bio that you can use on your website, on LinkedIn. One of my clients used it to pitch speaking at the UN, and she got the booking, so that was pretty awesome.
Tiffany: So again, it's maybe not gonna be the perfect bio. You may tweak a few words, but it's gonna get you there a lot faster than you staring at a blank screen or talking, maybe, to ChatGPT for hours. So it's really simple, asks you a few questions. I'm a verbal processor, so I even made it so you can talk into it if you don't want to type it out, and then it will give you a short and long bio. So that is the tool.
Austin: Awesome. Everybody go check it out. Link will be in the show notes. Tiffany, thank you so much for spending some time with us today. Any final thoughts for our listeners?
Tiffany: Austin, I'm grateful to be here, and I just feel like the systems and the brand go hand in hand. So work with SpeakerFlow if you want to get your systems in place, and then work with me if you want the high level branding and messaging. They go together so perfectly. And yeah, I'm just grateful for the opportunity. And for thought leaders out there, the landscape is shifting, and I think a lot of us are unclear. Like you said earlier, the messaging that used to work is no longer working. So stay in touch, because we're on the forefront, I believe. I think you guys are, with the State of the Industry report. And that is my job. I used to be a trend predictor in corporate, and so I love staying on top of it, and I'm excited. Let's see what comes next. I don't think it's a doomsday thing. I think there's a lot of opportunity for thought leaders.