144. How to Show Up with Confidence ft. Michelle Ellis

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How are you marketing yourself to your audience? If your marketing strategy doesn’t include videos, Reels, Lives, or TikTok, then it’s time to revisit how you’re showing up for your audience – no matter how uncomfortable it seems. 

I’ve got to tell you, at this current time in the industry, we have to step out of our comfort zone because the algorithms are not favoring anything but video. But if you feel overwhelmed around showing up online, you definitely want to tune in to this episode! 

Michelle Ellis is back on, and we are going over how to tackle that overwhelm and get in a place of confidence so that you can show up online or offline. We’re highlighting the strategies to implement if you’re feeling a lack of confidence and ways to build confidence so you can show up for your audience with more ease! 

Connect with Michelle:

Michelle’s website: https://michelleellisco.showit.site/#/
Michelle’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theorganiccopywriter/ 


Rachel:  Hey guys, it’s Rachel and Michelle here at the Healthy Hustle Podcast. What we are jamming on today is how to show up with confidence. I’ve been talking to a lot of coaches, brand new coaches, who are nailing down their niche, their offers. But when we get to the part where I say, how are you going to market yourself, there is dead silence and a lot of fear. 

So today, we’re going to go over how to tackle that overwhelm and get in a place of confidence so that you can show up online or offline. Michelle, tell everyone when you’re feeling that lack of confidence, or maybe you always do feel that confidence and you want to share, what strategies have worked? Tell everyone a little about what you do.

Strategies That Work When You Feel A Lack Of Confidence

Michelle: Yeah, I really dig my heels into more of a story approach. I’d really just come from the place of sharing my story or sharing why I’m passionate about something specifically, or what it felt like to go through that. Whatever it is, I’m sharing, and to get whatever results. 

I think that a lot of times coaches can feel scared of their story. That might be a reason why they lacked the confidence to show up because it requires you to show up and share your story to actually share what happened. 

Rachel: Did you learn from that? 

Michelle: I think it’s really important to practice it even on a smaller level. Start with a shorter video or a recorded video or a smaller post rather than a longer one and kind of dip your toes into it. And then you’ll see your audience start responding. People will even message you for inspiration. 

But really just let go of the outcome, if that makes sense. That’s probably what I do the most is that I let go of the outcome. When I really share something, I’m doing it more for me, knowing that it’ll reach whoever needs to reach. But I don’t care about the outcome. 

If someone messaged me, or someone likes it, or comments that’s a great bonus thing to happen, right? But it’s not the sole purpose of why I’m doing it. I’m really doing it because I want someone to know if I got through this, you can too. And when you really approach it from that way you kind of be of service and not letting ego get in the way, because this is where we’re worried about what everyone thinks. 

I know that I went through times where I had that Fuck it attitude. That was actually how I started showing up. I was so overwhelmed. I had so much anxiety about showing up and this fear that I would sound stupid, or that I didn’t know what I was talking about. So I just said, screw it. I’m good. Start before I’m ready. Just go after it. 

Rachel: When you’re thinking about showing up, because I think every coach always asked me the same question. They’re like, I know my niche. Now, I’m super happy about that. I’ve mapped out my programs, I know what I have for my low-cost offer or what I have for my higher ticket. They’re all ready, and then it comes to how do I promote myself?

Little Ways We Can Build Confidence To Show Up For Our Audience

So let’s talk about little ways that we can build that confidence to be able to show up? What are three ways that you feel that you build confidence to be able to show up? Or maybe there’s an example of a coach that you’ve worked with?

Michelle: I would say the first thing was journaling. It’s really important. For me, it helps me. It’s always been helpful to really have the right writing prompts. Not to just journal thoughts, but what do I feel right now? Why do I think I’m feeling this way? What’s holding me back? What can I do right now to take one step forward and strike it? Not thinking big picture of how do I fix this whole thing right now. But really, how can I just take one step out of this feeling that’s holding me back? And that’s been really, really helpful. 

Even in the past, I hired a coach to actually help me with that and helped me reach my goals. And she was very focused on journaling and it worked for me. 

The second would be accountability. So it’s for me, it was journaling, it was accountability. Having someone that could really hold me accountable to whatever goal I had, so that I could really achieve it. If your goal is showing up and you’re really having a hard time it doesn’t even have to be someone you pay as a coach. It could be a peer. It could be someone from your school that you went to or a friend or someone who’s also in business, someone with this same goal, just somebody to hold you accountable to what you really want. 

The third would be to really take the actual step forward. You’re never gonna get anywhere if you’re just standing and still not doing it. Even if it’s the smallest step, if someone’s afraid to do video live, then record the video. Just take one notch down until you do it. If you’re afraid to do a Reel or do a post first or put something on your story, take that initial step to start progressing, and not worry about being too afraid to do this thing. 

Start doing the small things to take the steps to the big thing.

Rachel: I think at this current time in the industry, we have to step out of our comfort zone, because there are so many things and algorithms are not favoring anything but video. So it’s like getting out of the comfort zone and saying, If I’m scared to be on camera, I’m going to make  a reel, and I’m going to make it in Canva with a video there, or I’m going to make an account with an image and put music to it. If I’m scared to do video, I’m going to do a video introducing myself really quickly. Just talk about what you do and who you do it for. Practice that until you get comfortable, upload, shoot that video on your phone, or shoot that video on Zoom, upload it to YouTube and keep it unlisted, because there’s a public option and there’s an unlisted option where no one can see. 

Take the opportunity to record a video or a freebie on a training. One of my favorite things that I think about early in my career is I sat there and I wondered, “How am I going to get visible when everyone else has this epic marketing? I can’t afford a marketing person.” My social media wasn’t great. But I had to say screw it. 

I started taking baby steps and thinking, if my ideal client is out there searching for these problems, I’m going to make a video on each one of these problems, and have them on YouTube, then I can in that description, lead them to a freebie, or lead them to a discovery call, and start to get myself out there in a place that I feel people really go to Google and find their information.

Remembering Your Big Why & Why You Started Your Business

Michelle: Yeah, and also really remembering why are you doing this? You have to talk to people. You’re gonna eventually coach them. So it’s really, why are you doing this? And how can you really reach people if you keep all of your skill set and your experience and your knowledge to yourself? You’re not serving the people that you’re really here to serve. And the best way to do that is to start showing up for them. 

You have to be visible for them to see you, you have to show that you know what you’re talking about. If you can’t do it for yourself right now, do it for the people that you’re supposed to help because there has to be a reason that you’re doing this to begin with.

Rachel: I love that because when we show up and we think about the task, the fear comes in, but when we get service based, that fear starts to slip away. I would also say for that person that’s really scary to get out there. Even going offline and reaching out to local vendors, local places, like juice shops and health food stores and gyms that can feel scary. 

I went in, took my computer, introduced myself, and showed them programs or showed them shopping tours or showed them PowerPoints that I had on weight loss and juicing and autoimmune and digestive health. Actually, it was like The Walking business card. But that can feel scary. But we just have to push past that fear. Because if not, we sit there and then we go and over certify ourselves. We sit there and we think that we don’t know enough so we go to all these different classes and courses, and we’re still not out there. 

Michelle: Exactly. I think when you have a brochure or a flyer or business cards when you’re walking into a place it helps build confidence because you’re approaching it like a professional and then you also have something to show. I always went in with my brochures, my flyers or if I was doing a program or my business card, and that really gave me the confidence to just walk in there feeling like okay, yeah, this is my business. I can do this. 

Know Who You Serve & What Their Problems Are

Rachel: And I think the part is that you have to, in order to have that confidence to go in, you do have to know who you serve and what their problems are.

I had a coach, she is such a sweetheart, and she signed up for a discovery call. And I said to her, in the email, before our call, I said, Who do you serve? What are their biggest problems? And she couldn’t answer it in an email. I said, Don’t worry, don’t feel overwhelmed, let’s just get on a call. 

She sat there. And she was like, “Well, I don’t know, I just know that I want to serve these women, these moms.” I said to her, but you need to know why these busy moms buy. You need to know what they’re searching for on the internet, so that you can provide that to grab their attention, and lead them down the path of working with you. 

She took three weeks from that initial call to go and figure out what her freebies were. Why did they solve the problem for this busy mom? And I was like okay, this busy mom, her objection is that she’s going to be too busy to do this. But what is the reason that she’s coming to you?

Finally, it came out that she really wants to lose weight. She’s either just had babies, or she’s got young kids, she’s fallen short of taking care of herself. That’s the reason that she’s buying for her specific needs. Once she was clear with that, she even was like, “Oh, my God! My confidence, my excitement is there.” They’re able to map out a low cost offer, she was able to map out the next journey, the next step they wanted to take, or the next they were going to take with her. 

All of a sudden, I said to her at that next meeting that we had, I was like, Are you now confident enough to go and do videos on YouTube to put up a clear profile on Instagram? Somebody is going to know exactly why they are there instead of just posts that are great. They might be rational. But they don’t make any sense to why that woman would want to stay there. And she was like, Yes, I think that I’m going to do that. I’m going to do your unlisted video challenge where I do the videos, keep them unlisted, because she was like, I really want to help this person. Yeah, that really came out. It was like the confidence was there, her face looked totally different. She was sitting up higher. I just know that she’s going to be able to do that. 

Michelle: Yeah and that’s such a big deal. When you know your message, you can talk. If you can live it, you can show up with it. And that’s definitely huge, to actually know who you’re talking to with your message.

Rachel: Let’s talk about that. We have Facebook groups, we have your Facebook business page, we also have your personal page, which we can share about our behind the scenes, or we can share the excitement. We have freebies, we can do lives, we can bring people in there, we can go offline, we have Instagram, we have TikTok, we have a lot of places that we have to show up. 

I always suggest picking two platforms, and then learning that, getting comfortable with the showing up and then crushing it by repurposing the same content on other platforms.

Michelle: Yeah, exactly. I think that’s the best way because I always find that sometimes coaches will get really overwhelmed when they think Oh, I gotta be all my social media profiles have to be completely updated, I got to be everywhere, posting all different ways. But if you just create one quality piece of content and then just share it and disperse it to the other platforms, you’re not really having to be there doing it. It doesn’t take so much time. You save time, you still reach a broader audience, and it just really helps. 

Showing up is also knowing what to post. So really look in your niche, go back to the problems that they have, offering the solution, your sub-niche, and then really going by categories like your behind the scenes, your why and introduction post and really emotionally connect. 

What does it feel like for that person to be going through what they’re going through? If you can tap into that, then you’ll have captivating posts everywhere. They describe what it feels like currently for them. And then also, now you’re on the other side of that, what does it feel like to not have to be going through that anymore? I think that the more that people see that connection and that empathy connection, then they start engaging with you, and messaging and checking you out. How can I really work with this person?

Rachel: Well, then you actually get that person to start going to your different profiles signing up days. I know when I think of the clients that I’ve coached, they all were really intuitive women, who started showing up and just sharing, not needing it to be perfect, just showing up and sharing about client problems about their own problems that they had and overcome even current problems that they’re struggling with. But really let their ideal client get to know them, because people buy people, and then they buy products. Really letting that true personality out. When we do that, coming up with social media content does not feel as overwhelming.

Michelle: Not at all. I think that’s definitely the key. You just have to own a little bit of your confidence. You’ve gotten this far, you’ve gotten the education have you experienced, you’ve helped people, even if you don’t have clients, I’m sure you’ve helped people for free, right? Anyone who’s listening, we all start with their friends and our family and everyone first and really step into that this is your purpose. So that’s what you should be doing.

Identifying Where The Confidence Piece (Or Lack Of It) Is Showing Up

Rachel: The last thing that I want to touch on for this short podcast episode, is that sometimes that confidence stuff gets triggered when we do start to put ourselves out there. So really take a look at what also is happening in your life. Take a look at where this confidence piece is showing up and why there’s a lack of confidence. 

Is there something in your life where you’re not feeling supported? Is there something that’s going on? That’s a past thing that you need to kind of address. Because that confidence is a lot of that self worth? Self love, self care kind of connection? 

Coaches, we really need to be cognizant, coming from a nine to five unless you’re coming from a sales kind of position or independent contractor. I was an independent contractor coming from real estate. It felt very different when I came into the health and wellness space, because I was selling me. I was building before. 

Of course, people were working with me because they trusted me because they knew I would never abuse them. They knew I had their best interest at heart. But when I came into the health and wellness space, all my insecurities came back. That confidence piece played out, because we’re talking about showing up. But it’s also, how are you showing up to a sales conversation? In a call? How are you showing up when you have a presentation? It’s getting that confidence and working on that by practicing how you’re doing these workshops, practicing a live, doing the things that don’t feel comfortable strengthening those muscles?

Michelle: Exactly. That’s definitely a muscle builder, for sure. I think that’s really the key and just to continually do that. Don’t stop.

Why You Need To Start Before You’re Ready

Rachel: We’ll close it out with start before you’re entirely ready. In 12 years of being in this business, there is not one time that somebody gave me this perfect map and it worked out. I had to learn how to pivot, I had to learn in showing up where I made the biggest impact, where I felt the most comfortable in the different social media platforms. I had to get comfortable speaking in front of people because I knew that that area of practicing was going to get me further in my business.

Michelle: Yeah, without a doubt when I first started I was petrified to be speaking too. Now, I’ve done it so much business wise that now it’s really brought me out of my shell even at local events and parties and family things. I’m the person who will strike a conversation, and I never really was. I think a lot of that has to do with just the habit of showing up for work all the time and in conversations and podcasts or whatever, just really showing up and and owning who you are. 

I think that the key to it is owning who you are not trying to be anyone but yourself. We do that, it’s really difficult to keep that up. I think that’s the part that’s exhausting. I know I compare myself to other people and that confidence piece gets triggered, and it’s not there. So I’ve learned to just stay in my own lane. 

It’s all right to compare myself to other people, because we have to have some level of comparison to do market research. We need to compare to see what other people are doing. But take that inventory, step back. Make sure that that confidence muscle is being built on a daily basis and being massaged. And then show up in the places that you feel your ideal client is hanging out. 

Rachel: Do you have a last tidbit that you want to give everyone at their sign off?

Michelle: Start today. I would say definitely to start today because there never is a right time to start. If you start now you’ll be much further next week or tomorrow then you would be if you didn’t. And if you don’t, you’ll be sitting there bitching about the same thing in a year. 

Rachel: Remember that that pain is temporary. That’s the part that we always forget, if it feels overwhelming showing up, take it in baby steps. Reach out to one local place and see if you can do a workshop for them. Know what the workshop is? Practice the workshop in front of your significant other or your partner or friend. Do it on Zoom and practice it, and then see how you sound. It’s only going to get better over time. 

Rachel: All right, guys. So this is your homework: show up on that platform. You may be a little scared, but you need to be there. We all have that list of platforms that we’ve got to learn. Go and learn it. Be comfortable. It doesn’t matter whether you’re online or offline. 

Remember, even if you’re working offline, you can still drive people to your signature training or your signature freebie. You can bring people in the offline space online and even sell them to your programs which could be online, like a self-paced program, or it could be a group that you’re joining. Remember, there can be a hybrid approach to your work. So I hope you have a great week. We will talk to you next week! Bye guys.

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