The Zoomers to Boomers Business Show

Crafting Brand Magic with Inner Wisdom and Community

• Hank Eder / Kellee Ratzlaff

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Ready to revolutionize your approach to brand building? Learn from Kellee Ratzlaff, a renowned brand doula and design alchemist, as she unveils her groundbreaking methods for creating authentic brands. Kellee emphasizes starting from within, encouraging us to connect with our essence using tools like journaling, astrology, and personality assessments. Discover how embracing your unique spark and breaking away from corporate norms can infuse joy into your business, creating genuine connections and sustainable success.

Facing imposter syndrome or battling feelings of unworthiness in your entrepreneurial journey? This episode dives deep into understanding these mental blocks and offers strategies to overcome them. By fostering open dialogue and community support, we explore how acknowledging and addressing these challenges can lead to personal and professional growth. Kellee also sheds light on the importance of being an empath in today’s business world and creating safe spaces for expression. Tune in to uncover how self-awareness can unlock new opportunities and pave the way for a fulfilling business experience.

Website: www.awedore.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awedorestudios/

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Hank:

You're listening to the Zoomers to Boomers Business Show right here on bizradious. All entrepreneurs, all the time.

Kellee:

Welcome everyone. I'm Hank Eder, also known as Hank the PR Guy, host of the Zoomers to Boomers business show and you're listening to bizradious all entrepreneurs all the time. Last week I spoke a bit about the rebranding of our show. I mentioned broadening our scope to speak to entrepreneurs across all facets of the generational spectrum entrepreneurs across all facets of the generational spectrum. We'll be breaking stereotypes, encouraging genuine dialogue and breaking through barriers to real communication. We'll also tread on roads less traveled for most business shows. Today's show will go down one of those less traveled roads.

Kellee:

Our guest today, kelly Ratzlaff, supports her community as a brand doula, design alchemist, intuitive strategist, resonance marketer and authenticity coach. She says she works with individuals and business owners who are committed to their inner healing path towards greater soul embodiment and who want to build or expand their gifts and business model based on that core soul foundation. Kelly supports Energetically First, offering insights, healing tools, activations and creating greater awareness around their past identities, perceived limitations and stories to help them expand into their true selves and release what's blocking them from achieving their goals and vision. Then they work together on physical business side, on tools like branding to represent their uniqueness for growth and community engagement. Kelly is dedicated exclusively to supporting soulpreneurs yes, you heard correctly soulpreneurs and active members of Team Earth towards embodying their highest heart expression, vision and personal empowerment. Path as conscious co-creators with their unique soul's blueprint, in service to others and to Mother Earth. Welcome to the show, kelly.

Hank:

Thank you so much, Hank. Thank you for inviting me here today with you.

Kellee:

You're so welcome. You know your approach to building a brand for clients to me is very unique. If you would please tell us about your process for connecting them inwardly and getting into alignment with their inner core before actually tackling the physical branding?

Hank:

Absolutely Well. I have an unusual background in that I am a triple Pisces, so I naturally want to go really, really deep with people and really get to the core of what makes us tick, and I'm naturally super curious about everybody's uniqueness, because we all have our own spark, you know, that really is unique to us, and none of the stars in the sky dim any of the other stars. But we sometimes forget that and I have found that if we don't go to the core of what really makes us unique, what really lights us up, and give ourselves permission to utilize those tools, it is a much more difficult path to build a sustainable business, let alone a sustainable business that brings joy.

Kellee:

I think that's so important to bring joy. And you know we do have to take business seriously at some level, but we do have to have some fun and joy along the way.

Hank:

Yeah, Absolutely yeah, and I think we do have a tendency maybe to sometimes take business too seriously, you know, especially as small businesses we're not, you know, we don't have to show up in a corporate way. I live in a very casual town. In this town nobody cares if you show up in tie-dye at the opera and you'll be there next to somebody in a three-piece tux, you know. So this is a very dynamic and diverse community and I believe the whole planet is, and so if we're only looking at a narrow way of showing up in the world, I think we miss out on a lot of opportunity and a lot of options to build connection.

Kellee:

Right. So now, in order to take people you know to the heart of their core essence and their purpose for being, what are some of the methods you use to guide your clients towards awakening to that authentic self?

Hank:

Well, I always encourage really taking a compassionate witness view of yourself.

Hank:

You want to look at yourself as an observer, almost like a scientist, studying what makes you tick in a very non-judgmental way, and I definitely encourage people to dive deep in terms of if they want to journal, you want to use astrology, if you want to look at human design, if you want to look at gene keys.

Hank:

There are so many different tools that are available for us to kind of get to know ourselves a little deeper. One of the more traditional ones is probably the Myers-Briggs, which is now, I think, 16 personalities you know, and that's based on traditional psychology. But whatever path you take to get a little more curious about yourself is going to always bring you grand insight, as long as you stay in that framework of curiosity. You are uniquely you for a very specific reason, and if you give yourself time to discover a little bit more about why you tick the way you tick, why you resonate in a particular way, what lights you up, regardless of whether it feels linear or logical, you're going to find a key code that is absolute gold to unlock what really will bring you the most joy and the most success in your life and in your business.

Kellee:

Right? Well, you know there's such a disconnect. I can't speak for the rest of the world and I can't speak for all of America, but it seems to me that here in America there is a very, very wide disconnect between what people feel they are and what many, many, many people do for a living. They're nine to five. They're Monday through Friday. That's why we always hear things like oh, it's Monday, it's gloomy and depressing, or thank God, it's Friday, whereas, as you know, the solopreneurs and maybe the solopreneurs don't really have any preference as to what day it really is, in that sense, because if they are living their joy and if they're connected with their purpose and if their business is even tied into their authentic self and their purpose, there is no disconnect between who they are and what they do. Would you comment on that a bit?

Hank:

Absolutely, and I believe that authenticity is actually something that almost all of us are extremely hungry for. We want more authenticity, we want to know more and feel actually connected and engaged with the people we're buying services and goods from, and not have that compartmentalized way of looking at the world. Have that compartmentalized way of looking at the world and everybody deserves and is worthy and capable of having a job that they love, that brings them income and sustainability and community and allows them to shine with their unique gifts. Everybody is worthy of that, and those that don't want to own that truth, um are the ones that are saying every Monday, oh, I don't want to own that truth. Are the ones that are saying every Monday, oh, I don't want to go to work, like, oh, you know, and they're often in positions where they feel underappreciated. But they're also undernourishing themselves and their own potential and often, you know, really compartmentalizing how they're showing up out of a survival. You know survival programming and no one can blame anyone for being in survival programming. That's how we all ended up here to begin with, how we made it this far.

Hank:

But at some point, if we really want to bring joy to ourselves and start to own our value and really shine in our community.

Hank:

We've got to give ourselves those tools and that permission to kind of move a little bit out of survival mode and spread those wings and risk, you know, to see if we can fly. And you know, even if you don't succeed in the way that you'd hoped, you're still going to gain a lot, you know that's something I always want to remind, especially new businesses it's not a disaster if something doesn't work out the way you think it's going to, because you're going to learn something and you're going to grow and you're going to advance. You're going to find out you're more strong and more capable than you ever realized. And it's through those faltering that we often learn, sometimes the most about ourselves. That's right, because we kind of don't value when things are going great, because we take it for granted. So sometimes those tough times are actually what cultivates the most appreciation and gratitude with our lives and gives us the most gold to mine and to bring forward.

Kellee:

Right, and sometimes we think we've tumbled, but we really haven't. Many, many years ago, in what almost seems like another lifetime, there was a small newspaper and printing company in South Florida and I worked for part of that family on the print side. I had been a reporter prior to that, but I was on the print side doing graphics design. Well, their best printer was a guy named Mal. His name was Malcolm, but everybody called him Mal, and Mal was such an incredible printer. He lived it, he ate it, he breathed it. They literally ate it because their hands would get full of black ink and they would eat sandwiches and stuff.

Kellee:

I couldn't relate to it, but my point being, everybody kept telling Mal you're such a great printer, you're such a great printer, you should have your own business. You should have your own business. And you know, after about a year, mal thought about it and he went about a mile or two down the road and opened up his own printing business. Well, six months later he was back because he was a fabulous printer, but he was terrible at business. He didn't know anything about running a business and he didn't even like it. So, through what others might have considered a failure, mal discovered that his greatest joy in life was to be the absolute best printer that he could possibly be, and Friday night when he went home.

Hank:

He got to be home too right. As business owners, we don't always give ourselves those off hours.

Kellee:

That's right, he did get to be home and also he didn't detest Mondays and he didn't particularly celebrate Fridays because he wasn't disconnected.

Hank:

So yeah, absolutely yeah. It really is being in that flow right, really being in a connection with what we're doing, and it doesn't even have to be our dream job, but sometimes just being in a position where we feel like we're actually able to make a difference in somebody's lives. You know, I think that makes a huge difference, a lot, you know, if you could be working you know, working in some retail job that you don't necessarily like, for some company you don't really care about, but that you feel like you're genuinely lighting people up on a daily basis and that's going to bring you so much joy and satisfaction.

Kellee:

Right, yeah, there's different aspects of those kind of things, and in a retail job, you deal with the public, so you probably do have opportunities to bring people joy. You deal with the public, so you probably do have opportunities to bring people joy. Now let me ask you this what are some of the common blocks people have that keep them from getting into alignment with their true selves and achieving their goals.

Hank:

Well, for one, the idea that they failed in the past, or some perception of not having the skill sets and there are always ways to learn and grow so that you can become more attuned to building sustainable and successful business models but I think, holding onto the idea that you failed or that it's too late there's a lot of unworthiness I often find in people that they're holding or some idea that somebody else is always going to be able to do better than that. There's so many different ways that we subconsciously often have limited ourselves and you know, a lot of times it's rooted directly in childhood wounds or what other people have told us about where our strengths and weaknesses are. If we really take that to heart and allow it to become our identity, then that's what prevents the ability to move forward.

Kellee:

Right, I guess it's that old notion of fear being false evidence appearing real. Exactly Because we get convinced of things, and I deal with people sometimes who they're very, very capable, but they suffer from the so-called imposter syndrome because they believe that they're faking it, but they're really not faking it. They're actually very good at what they do.

Hank:

And that's probably even a mask for the unworthiness, like they can use the imposter syndrome to mask any unworthiness. That's probably below that.

Kellee:

It's a reason maybe for not showing up.

Hank:

I suppose Well, you know, sometimes we'll give ourselves excuses to not show up because that's a sense of safety, right, and really you don't get to play it safe if you're going to go into business for yourself, because that takes bravery and willingness to step into the unknown. Most people are going to feel a sense of anxiety around that as opposed to excitement, possibly based on past experiences of not feeling that they met the bar in the way that they wanted to. What is it? More than half of all small businesses fail within the first few years of starting, statistically here in the US, and I really don't believe it's not because people aren't capable and not because they're not talented and not because they're not starting to follow their hearts, but somewhere in there there's most likely some wounding that is keeping them in a limited identity, keep them believing they're unworthy.

Hank:

They've failed before, so who's to say it would be any different in any other time? You know, I think that we really do hold ourselves back. No one's, you know we're our own worst enemy. No one's really doing it to us, but what we continue to own as our reality is is our reality If we're, if we're not willing to try to move past that or expand beyond that existing perception of ourselves, it makes it extremely difficult to actually build and grow and build excitement and community and all of those things that we actually really want to have on a daily basis, hopefully, or at least weekly, you know, in our world Right.

Kellee:

Right, you know sometimes there's a fine line between anxiety and excitement, but also this this notion that you know sometimes there's a fine line between anxiety and excitement, but also this notion that you know people believe that other people are holding them back or circumstances are holding them back. Whoever is president right now is holding them back. Whoever might become president the next time will be holding them back. But basically we are the ultimate arbiters of success or failure. Whatever we bring to ourselves is what we allow to come to ourselves. But now I have to ask you, once you've identified some of these blocks with your clients that are keeping them for success or failure, from success or failure, what are one or two of the ways that you use to help them break through that?

Hank:

Well, I found that awareness of that block often will help to unlock the next stages. And so just basic talk therapy and I am not a counselor, like I'm not a traditional therapist, I cannot prescribe or diagnose or anything like that but but just having an open dialogue with somebody who's receptive and can hold space for you in a way where you feel like you can be fully expressed and that it's safe to do so, that automatically begins to create a foundation where transformation happens. Because really having that of safety, finding out you can express, finding out that it's safe, and then getting that response back and not being judged for it, that will automatically open people up. It often softens the body. The whole field around them changes the moment they recognize they can share something and not be criticized for it by somebody else, and so just the awareness will often unlock and start to shift things.

Hank:

But I also have a terrific community of just amazing healers that go far beyond my unique skill sets and so, depending on what their specific challenges are, I'll recommend different people, maybe for them to connect with different activations that might be free.

Hank:

I'll recommend journaling, I'll recommend all sorts of tools that will help to move that energy forward, and then we'll check in with each other. You know I'll do a follow-up, offer additional support if I can. I found, naturally, that I'm one of those people that if I'm just out around town, strangers will walk up and share their entire life story with me and we'll laugh and we'll hug and we'll cry and they'll walk away and I'll never see them again and that's my normal like to the point where my husband's like I'm not going to the grocery store with you anymore. These things keep happening, and so just having that kind of natural openness that invites people to go a little deeper and to share their journey often is really the cornerstone to start creating new change and bringing in new energy and new opportunities in their lives. We really don't need big pushes most of the time. We just need to know that we're worthy of stepping into something new.

Kellee:

Right and that someone hears us. Yes, you know what you're talking about. I call it old soul syndrome, you know, because you go out and somebody recognizes that you're the person that they should speak to, Even if you don't have any advice, they tell you what's going on with them. And when I was about 15 years old, I mean I was your typical male teenager raging hormones, teen angst, all that kind of stuff. But people used to come to me all the time to listen and for for whatever advice I can give. And my mother once said to me you know, you're as screwed up as anybody I've ever seen. Why are they coming to you for help? And I said I don't know. Maybe because I listen to them or because I engender trust, you know. But it's also because and I discovered this in later years I have some deeply ingrained empathic skills and maybe I just attract these people to myself.

Hank:

Yeah, I am definitely an empath, and one of the terms that I personally identify with is a Heyoka empath, which is a particular type that is very broad, and that challenge too, I think, is also one of those things that can be difficult for many business owners If they don't recognize that's part of their unique skillset. Part of the challenge with that is you're actually absorbing everybody else's energy all around you and you may not know yet how to define what's yours versus what isn't yours, and so what can happen is they'll allow other people's energies to influence their own perceptions and their own view of themselves in an even more intense way, often Unbeknownst to them, so innocently so. But just because we don't have a community and a culture that talks about these things regularly, we don't often know how to explore it or even to identify it.

Kellee:

Until you learn to do like the USS Enterprise does raise shields.

Hank:

Yes, exactly.

Kellee:

We do have shielding techniques, we have grounding techniques. You know, to me this has been so fascinating that the time is really just flying by. I do want to touch on your expression brand doula. And a doula, of course, is someone who assists with birth. So then you're a brand doula because you're assistingla, of course, is someone who assists with birth. So then you're a brand doula because you're assisting with the births of brands. But first you take the people to awaken to their true purpose and then you get into the physical part of the branding. Am I right about that?

Hank:

Absolutely, and so that inner healing journey becomes kind of the gestation of the business baby that wants to be birthed. It's been such a joy to see that service be really utilized by clients, to the extent that I have clients that have named their websites, you know, so their website even becomes like their little baby that they kind of nurture and grow and build with you know. And to see somebody engage with just their website, just maintaining and sharing on their blog and things like that in such an exciting and nourishing way is, I think, really rewarding. I think that shows like really what we can invest in when we're building our business, not from that, you know, compartmentalized way, but really understanding our unique gifts, the value and the potential for the shining that happens when we nurture those things Very, very cool.

Kellee:

Well, we're pretty much out of time, so if you would please tell our listeners the best way to get in touch with you if they'd like to know more about the Brandula or the other services that you do that we've talked about today.

Hank:

Wonderful. Thank you so much. So you can find me at adorecom, and it is A-W-E-D-O-R-Ecom. Feel free to reach out. I would love to do a free cup of tea. Zoom chat. These types of things are always available and I really love to hear and discover what lights people up, and so they can find me there. And, yeah, that's where I can be reached. I am not great about social media at this time and Hank and I have talked about it and he knows we're both going to be launching more platforms soon.

Kellee:

Yes, yes we are and be more engaged in those. Yes, we are Because be more engaged in those.

Hank:

Yes, we are Because we do want to serve our community in broader ways.

Kellee:

Yes, we do. Anyway, thanks for being here with us today, kelly, and to our listeners, join us next Wednesday on the Zoomers to Boomers Business Show right here on bizradious. As you go about your day, I want to remind you to practice kindness. It, as you go about your day, I want to remind you to practice kindness. It's the greatest uniter this world has ever known. See you again next week. No-transcript.