Speaker 1 (00:00): You know, the other day I was writing a pitch, a custom pitch for one of our PR starter pack members, and she was a designer, a watercolorist, and we started talking about Pantone’s color of the year. And usually it’s like, who the hell cares, right, if you’re not a designer or an artist? But she told me something that was really striking and I thought, I want to share it with you because it speaks so much about kind of where we are in our journey as businesses and how it’s so important to take the leap from just a absorbing information to actually actualizing it. Which means all the information and tools and the strategies, they really don’t mean anything unless you’re actually going to test it and practice it and put it out there.

Speaker 1 (00:39): So if you are hesitant to share your story, but you know, you know that someone out there can benefit from your story. And again, you’re. You’re the best person to tell your story. This episode is for you. Hey, friends. I’m Gloria Chow, small business PR expert, award winning pitch writer, and your unofficial hype woman. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people get the recognition they’d deserve. And that starts with feeling more confident to go bigger with your message. So on this podcast, I will share with you the untraditional, yet proven strategies for PR marketing and creating more opportunity in your business. If you are ready to take control of your narrative and be your most unapologetic and confident self, you’re in the right place. This is the Small Business PR podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:23): So Pantone’s color of the year is this really bold, like, magenta color. It’s really in your face and it’s this unapologetic slap in your face, really. And it got me thinking because a few years ago, the colors were very muted, very kind of peaceful, calm, status quo. And this year it’s like, I am here, baby. And I’m drawing parallels between a lot of the things that I’m hearing in my community too. And as people start to transform what they think about pr. Right. Traditionally, we’ve been told by the industry that, you know, we are in no position to tell our story. We have to depend on other people and pay them for access, I think that’s changing.

Speaker 1 (01:59): I think people realize that no matter what you do, no one will be able to tell your story better than you can. So I feel like the magenta bold color is telling us that none of these strategies and tools and trainings really do a damn thing unless you are going to unapologetically use them. And take up space in the world right now. The next question might be, well, Gloria, I know that you work a lot on our mindset, but I still am worried about not saying the right thing or if I press that send button, what if I actually get featured? I don’t know what to say. And it’s like, here is the thing I want you to know. Nobody puts a dent in the universe or does something to make an impact.

Speaker 1 (02:40): If they don’t subject themselves to judgment, people will judge you no matter what. They’re going to judge you for doing just what you’re doing right now, for not doing anything, for changing. They’re just going to judge you for just anything. Right? And time is passing, no matter what. So why not lean into the universe and unapologetically take up space this year? With the pantone color of the year screaming at us, telling it that it is time for us to be present, to be bold. I just want to remind you that you deserve to be seen, heard, and valued. And that the only way, the only way we can truly rise up and make impact. And again, we’re all here to make impact.

Speaker 1 (03:24): Because I promise you, I don’t care if you are making cupcakes or fidget spinners. You did not get into the business to just have a quick money grab. You did this to be a solution for somebody. Lean into that. Start with your why. And it starts with taking all the information and all the YouTube videos and all the podcast episodes listen to and testing it out into the real world. Right? So again, I. I think I heard this from Patrice Washington, who was on my coach Rick Morty’s podcast. And she says the word mindset has this kind of stuck energy, where it’s like it’s living in your mind. But your mindset can only change through action, through practice, through testing those beliefs, through putting it out into the world, through getting feedback.

Speaker 1 (04:08): And that is really what we try to do here in my PR community is breaking down this really complex thing that we’ve been told of, like, we can’t talk to the media or we don’t know how to do our own pr and really saying that we have all the tools within us. It’s just a matter of applying the right strategies and frameworks and pressing that send button, because everything you want is on the other side of the send button. So if you are still waiting behind the scenes, if you’re still waiting to get permission from people of when is the right time for me to tell your story? I am here to tell you There is literally no right time.

Speaker 1 (04:41): I think about when I started my business and by the way, I never worked a day in a PR agency, I never worked in marketing. Who the hell am I to be helping thousands of small businesses with their pr, right? If I just stayed stuck in that mindset of I am not worthy, I don’t have the degrees or the letters after my name or the industry contacts. All of the people who have gotten served and gotten transformation in my community, they would not have been able to to experience a transformation because, you know, otherwise I would have just kept quiet at home.

Speaker 1 (05:12): So because I was willing to put myself out there and try something and fail and put my stuff out there and people start to listen and they start to say, you know what, maybe there is something here about taking our PR into our own hands and delegating it to someone in on our team. Starting with me first, me mastering my message and after I do that, I can delegate it into a system that that is what’s going to transform the basis of all of my messaging. Because it all starts with you knowing how to tell your story. And your story is always going to be bigger than the product or service and the benefits and the features, right? It’s going to be about where do you see the industry is going? What are the consumer sentiments?

Speaker 1 (05:50): How can you be a solution for people? How can you lead with the issue? What is the point of view that maybe might be unpopular, but guess what? Leaders who rise up and take a point of view, they are the ones that get people to say either hell yes or hell no. You know, I released an episode a couple months ago about my journey that I shared. After my surgery, my fibroid in my uterus, I got 11 centimeter tumor removed. And then I went back to work without giving my body any rest. And I burned myself out. And through my journey of finding myself again, right. I realized so many things.

Speaker 1 (06:27): And I’m at a point in my business where I am done not trusting myself and asking for 10, 12, 15 people’s opinions before I do something in my business and asking what should I do next? Because I know my stuff works. I know that everybody who is in my Facebook group, who’s here, who wants to take control of their own story, they are here for it. So it is my responsibility to show up for all of you who are listening. And you know what? Not everyone’s going to like that. Not everyone is going to be on board. And that’s okay. Because the people who are really for you, they will lean all the way in and the people who are not, then they will exit and kindly know where the door is.

Speaker 1 (07:05): That’s on them. So all I’m trying to say is you cannot wander in this kind of wishy washy, maybe space. It is time. It is time to, by repelling people, attract those people who are really going to be transformed by your message. Somebody out there can be helped greatly by you sharing your message in its imperfect form. So don’t worry about the people that are going to say no, that are going to unsubscribe. That’s actually a good thing because you don’t actually rise up and make a dent in people’s universes. You don’t actually shift perspective. And that’s what we’re here to do. You don’t shift perspectives without a couple of people saying no, thank you.

Speaker 1 (07:47): So this year I challenge you along with me and I got your back to go bold or go home. It means that it might take you places that are a bit uncomfortable and sending emails to people into the interwebs, into this dark Internet hole that you might be afraid of sharing. But here’s one thing I learned from sending hundreds of emails to tens of thousands of people. The more vulnerable, the more personal that I got, and without censoring myself and having everything be grammatically correct and perfectly written, that is what has allowed me to build the community. That is what has allowed people to actually respond to the email and say, gloria, I’ve never responded to any of the emails you’ve written until now. Thank you so much for sending this email.

Speaker 1 (08:31): Right, so don’t be afraid to get unsubscribes. Don’t be afraid to repel people, because that’s when you will actually attract the people who are there for you, who are really a part of your tribe. And so I encourage you this year to go bold or go home. And here’s one little piece that I will leave you with. More than just people are going to judge you no matter what, because they will. And time is passing by no matter what, because we are. The time is passing by is right now. Right? We need people more than ever to share their perspective. Why? Because with Internet, with social media, we have so many people taking up all this space. Why have it not bu.

Speaker 1 (09:12): It’s not fair for the Internet and the GRU industry to be occupied by only the same people. It’s time to mix it up. It’s time for the underdogs and the people who maybe traditionally haven’t really gotten a chance to speak at the table for them to speak. And it starts with you doing the sacred work of advocating for yourself, right? If you don’t do the sacred work of pitching yourself and seeking for a more diverse representation in the media, then people won’t really know about your story. I mean, the fact that more black women start businesses more than any other demographic and we don’t see that being represented in media just shows how far we have to go.

Speaker 1 (09:49): So I encourage you, my friend, if you know that you have a story worth sharing and we all do, will you this year commit to rolling up your sleeves, working on your message, that you can tell that message because you are the person that can tell your story better, better than anyone else. Now, once you master that message and I teach you in the PR starter pack and also in my PR masterclass, if you haven’t watched it yet, go to Gloria Chowpier.com masterclass. That’s Gloria C H O U pr.com masterclass doing the work of defining your message, clarifying your story, clarifying your voice, your tone, your. Your message and how you communicate that. That number one most game changing thing you can do for your business this year.

Speaker 1 (10:33): You can hire all the agencies in the world, but if you don’t know your message and how you can be a solution for people and how you can be relevant to more people, you will never have a great ROI because you’re depending on other people to extract the best parts of your story. When you know the best parts of your story, that is all I want to leave you with. You got this. And just like Panton’s color of the year is screaming loudly at us, right? It is a bold ass pink color. It is very unapologetic. Maybe now is the time to just take up space and do it because the few haters and the people who judge you, that is a low price to pay for making a dent in the universe for the better.

Speaker 1 (11:16): As always, thank you so much for being here, for being a part of our diverse community of people who are rewriting the narrative of the media representation and what an entrepreneur looks like and how PR is done. I applaud you for being trailblazers for being a part of this. Together we are making the media landscape more diverse and we will allow more people to be represented in media. Their stories, their backgrounds and the founders, right? That’s more inclusive and diverse reflecting of what the small business landscape really looks like, right? And that’s people from all lived experiences. So this work, my friend, is absolutely sacred to me and I got your back. Now let’s go get it.

Speaker 1 (12:02): Hey Small business hero, did you know that you can get featured for free on outlets like Forbes, the New York Times, Marie Claire, Popsugar, and so many more, even if you are not yet launched or if you don’t have any connection? That’s right. That’s why I invite you to watch my PR Secrets Masterclass where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought after industry expert. Now, if you want to land your first press feature, get on a podcast, secure a VIP speaking gig, or just reach out to that very intimidating editor. This class will show you exactly how to do it. It register now at gloriachowpr. Com masterclass.

Speaker 1 (12:46): That’s gloriachow c h o u p r com masterclass so you can get featured in 30 days without spending a penny on ads or agencies. Best of all, this is completely free. So get in there and let’s get you featured.