Kc Rossi 0:00
Today is special because it marks 200 episodes of the Women Developing Brilliance® — The Spirit of Business podcast.
Kc Rossi 0:07
Thank you for listening, supporting, and continuing the conversation after the show at the Women Developing Brilliance® Facebook group. It's truly been an honor to meet and connect with powerful leaders, savvy strategists, entrepreneurs shaking up their industries and female change agents using their platform to inspire. My guest today is Franklin Taggart. He is a brilliant coach and the host of your own best company. I enjoy being a guest on his awesome show. And we'll drop that link in the notes if you dig our vibe with one another.
Kc Rossi 0:41
Franklin has coached hundreds of people as they navigated their decision to take their creative dreams more seriously. During our conversation, we unpack a secret perspective that can help make you an uncommon coach, why we sit on our gold and what to do about it. How to Turn realizations into your superpowers, ways to move the needle for creative entrepreneurs specifically, and how to fearlessly face your fears. I hope you have as much fun listening to this as we had recording it for you. Enjoy!
Kc Rossi 1:16
Are you ready to scale your business in a way that's aligned with your soul, and profitable? I'm Kc Rossi, a Business and Leadership Coach. I've been a full time entrepreneur for 30 years and love business. I help conscious leaders increase their impact and optimize their lives. Join me each week for tips and deep conversations on cultivating confidence, increasing your visibility, elevating your vibration, and leading with purpose without burning out. Let's go!
Kc Rossi 1:50
Today we are celebrating the 200th episode of Women Developing Brilliance® — The Spirit of Business, and I can't think of a more kind and gentle soul to celebrate today then my guests Franklin. Franklin, thank you so much for being here.
Franklin Taggart 2:06
Kc, I'm delighted. I'm just I couldn't be happier to celebrate your 200th with you.
Kc Rossi 2:13
Thank you so much. I know the last time we chatted, which was a few weeks back, you had said am I going to be invited and I said well, you're not only going to be invited, you're going to be the spotlight guest of the whole event. So I'm excited to dive in with you. I have a lot of questions because I love your approach. And it just feels very warm and open and inviting. And I would love to hear in your words, what makes your coaching uncommon.
Franklin Taggart 2:43
I think the thing that I look at with, with my coaching in particular, I feel like that I honestly most of the time, don't. Don't look at my clients as people who need coaching. I look at my clients as people who already pretty much know, some at some level, they already know everything that they need to know. And I feel more like an explorer. And we're just going to uncover it, we're going to dig it out and say there's that goal that you know that you've been holding on to. But it's like I don't want them to come to me feeling like that they have some kind of a need or lack. I want them to come to me and knowing that they that they already have what they need. We just need to we need to activate it or we need to enliven it. And that approach tends to be a little bit different than a lot of the coaches that I know.
Kc Rossi 3:50
Yes, absolutely. I love the approach of curiosity. And one of the things that popped out at me is the thing that you just said where they're holding on to their gold. And so I'm wondering, why do we do this? Why do we hold on to the gold? Because, like you said there is an inner knowing even if it's deep down inside of us that we have something to share and give and something that that's unique in our talent box. Why do you think that many of us sit on our gold?
Franklin Taggart 4:24
There are a variety of reasons and we could probably have a whole podcast series just on that topic. I think the most common things that I see and my own experience ... I've always been kind of a timid person when it comes to being bold and going out and you know, offering things. And I still have that that trait and that tendency sometimes. But the timidity comes from a sense of inadequacy when I can compare myself to other people. And I feel like that that's one of the reasons that I see very frequently with folks is that they're comparing themselves with others. And those other people may have been on the path longer. They may have been, you know, they may have actually been born with more skill. Like those, we don't, we don't have any idea why those other people seem to be, you know, better equipped at this moment than we are or whatever. But I think that one of the things that I've always, you know, kind of struggled with is just a sense of just not measuring up to the people that I know. I remember, even in elementary school, this being a problem where I would, I would kind of idealize all of my friends, and just say, well, they're better than I am. So pick them first, you know. So I feel like that that's kind of one of the ways that I sat on my own gold. And it's, again, one of the ways that I see a lot of the folks that I know, coming forward. Another one that I see very commonly, is that people really don't think that their gift is all that special.
Kc Rossi 6:08
Yes.
Franklin Taggart 6:09
They don't feel like there's much that's extraordinary about it, because it's so normal to them. And that's one of the things that I've really learned in my own exploration of gifts is that your gift to you probably does seem pretty ordinary, because you live with it every day. But to that person who needs it on that person who's, who's invoking it over there.
Kc Rossi 6:31
Yes.
Franklin Taggart 6:31
Is extraordinary.
Kc Rossi 6:33
Yes. You talked about noticing that you were sitting on one of your gifts, did you have a specific pivot point, or choice point where you decided, You know what, I'm going to stand up, and I'm going to share this gift.
Franklin Taggart 6:48
I had a very long pivot point, it was called my 40s.
Franklin Taggart 7:00
At the beginning of my 40s, I thought my life was just about ready to happen and go crazy. I had just released my first and only CD as a musician. I thought everything was going to be gravy, that it was going to be awesome. I booked my tour, and I was ready to go out on the road. And the day after my CD released, the person I was gonna go on tour with called and said that they didn't want to work with me anymore. And that was the beginning of a decade from some other place than heaven. So in that decade, I went through the birth and loss of a daughter, I went through the birth of our son, who, thankfully is healthy and still kicking and is the joy of our lives. But yet, it was still yet another big life transition for me. When he was about two years old, I started to have tendinitis in both of my arms. And I couldn't play the guitar. So my music career was just totally sidelined. And then two years after that, I started to get really, really sick. And my organs started shutting down. So my pivot was not something that I think ... I don't know that I would have chosen all those things for myself. But they made it necessary for me to think differently and to act differently and to be differently in the world. And one of the big realizations that came out of that was actually in the hospital, I had just had major surgery to repair a lung. Like I said, my body was just shutting down at that point. And I was in ICU, and my friend who was a hospital chaplain came to visit me. And he, you know, he did his job. He was comforting and did all that good stuff. And at some point in the conversation, I asked him how he was doing with his music because he was a musician as well. And that's actually how I met him was through the music world. And in the course of that conversation, our conversation went on for about two and a half hours. Now, here I am on morphine in the in the ICU, I should have been nodding off at that point. But I was so energized by the conversation that I couldn't go to sleep afterwards. And it was like, Yeah, I was probably in a lot of pain. And but I had no consciousness of that at all. Because I was just so energized by what it just happened. And I had been kind of playing with the idea of consulting and things like that before. But in that moment, I realized that my gift isn't music. My gift is something other than music, it can come through music, but it's not the music itself. And that was the big mistake that I feel like I had been making all along was that I put a limit on my gift that it could only show up in one way.
Kc Rossi 10:06
That's powerful. That is powerful. Wow. It is incredible sometimes that we need many times I think that bonk on the head from the universe of like, hey, we gave you this signpost and then we tried to alert you over here, but let's really get the message through. I think we can experience and relate to that. And, you know, you've probably heard that there's treasures in our traumas. And, I just like, that's coming up for me when I hear your story. And I think many of our listeners are going to be able to relate to a pivot point in their life with some situations that they were like, Man, that was challenging. However, that is the impetus that pushed me to the other side. So thank you so much for sharing that. I know that you work with a lot of introverts, you've talked about yourself being introverted as well. What misconceptions are there regarding introverted entrepreneurs and marketing?
Franklin Taggart 10:59
I think the biggest misconception that I see is that people assume that introverts are shy. And that's just not the case. You know, I said that I was a timid person, but I don't know that I was a shy person. I've always been able to, you know, feel comfortable in conversations with people. And I've always felt, you know, fairly at ease in social circles. And I've always loved being on stage. That goes all the way back to when I was really very young. I remember being able to get up on stage and doing stuff that I probably otherwise wouldn't do. So I think there's some misconceptions about introversion. I really feel like that the the way that it was categorized early on by Jung, and then by Myers and Briggs was the idea that introversion was a set of preferences about how you energize.
Kc Rossi 11:59
I love that.
Franklin Taggart 12:00
And I feel like that that's really for me, that's the one thing that I I find most true about my own introversion is that if I am in, if I'm in a social setting with a lot of people, I it's not five minutes before I go into sensory overload, and I really need to leave. And the other thing that I noticed is that even if they're one, if there's one or two other people in the house with me at any given time, I'm more aware of, of them, and it's difficult to focus.
Kc Rossi 12:43
Oh, interesting. Interesting. Franklin, do you think that some people use the introvert label as something to hide behind?
Franklin Taggart 12:54
Certainly, yeah, I think that's one of the things that's really interesting about all of these personality tests, is that we always have the option at that point to use it as an excuse.
Kc Rossi 13:05
Well, I'm this, so I don't have to do live streams. I don't have to get up and do speaking events, because that's just not in alignment in my personality. And I'm being a little pokey with it. But, um, but yeah, continue. I'd love to hear your viewpoint on it.
Franklin Taggart 13:18
Well, I think the thing that's really fun about it is that, you know, in truth, the only limits that we have are the ones that we choose. It's like there is a little bit of give and take with that because I still can't dunk a basketball and regulation hoop. But I can lower the hoop by going in that that feels pretty good. This point. And I need to lower it to the point where I don't have to jump,
Kc Rossi 13:44
Whatever works.
Franklin Taggart 13:47
But I really feel like that you know it when it comes to the types of things that we're talking about with personality, that those limitations are ones that we adopt, they're not ones that we're born with. And for myself, like I said, timidity is something that has been a challenge my whole life. But it doesn't mean that I have to be that way, all the time. And I found other ways to work that that are not timid. I've found places where I'm comfortable, like podcasting has been wonderful for me, because it's given me an outlet to get out of my shell. YouTube videos have been wonderful for me for the same reason. It's like it's a way for me to be visible without having to be in a room with hundreds of people.
Kc Rossi 14:36
That's amazing. I love that workaround. And it's effective. I was just recently listening to one of your virtual coffee breaks. And you were speaking about simplifying our business, and I'm curious what you consider to be our most kind of like vital Business Essentials.
Franklin Taggart 14:57
It's a good question. I'll speak from my experience more than anything else — the most essential thing to my business is the relationships that I have with clients, partners, and anyone else who is remotely connected. I feel like that the relationships are the structure of my business. And those are the things that I tend with the most care. And those are the things that I value most highly. So, for me, the relationship work is central and essential. The other thing that I look at is that I feel like that there, I feel like that we need to think more strategically. But the strict strategies don't need to be complex, they don't need to be complicated. They need to be direct. They need to be like, and I was talking about that in my video last night, I was saying, you know, I've had several people come to me, and they've been stymied by this idea of the ideal client, and they've been working on worksheets that have taken them actually months to complete on the ideal client. And I said, Well, what if it's just that guy over there?
Kc Rossi 16:15
Did you blow their mind?
Franklin Taggart 16:17
Yeah, well, it's it, they're so wrapped around the axle around this idea that they have to identify this ideal client, it's the same thing. Like if you, if you identify your ideal client, they're gonna be, you know, run into your door. Well, that hasn't happened much either. Now, again, if you identify that you want a red car, you're going to start noticing all the red cars. So there is something to those kinds of exercises. I'm not dissing them. But I think that we give them a lot more weight than maybe we need to. Yes. And maybe I think the answers sometimes are so obvious that we can't believe that they're that that simple.
Kc Rossi 16:59
Absolutely. And I think that, you know, I've fallen prey to this before in the past to where we're trying to perfect and we stay in our heads. And we're overthinking, we're trying to get it just right before we pull the trigger or take action. And I do think that as many times as those marketing tools can be helpful when we're in them too long, when we're kind of swimming in those waters too long, and it's holding us back from implementing, I think that can absolutely keep us stuck as entrepreneurs and keep us in this creative avoidance where we think we're busy — we think we're focusing on the most important things, but but we're really not. So I'm glad that you brought that up. One of the things that I was struck by slashed impressed is I didn't realize that you did a daily show. So when I was like scrolling through, and I was like, holy smokes like this guy's on fire. That's a tremendous amount of consistency. So kudos for you, on many levels, like kudos for showing up for yourself and your audience. But I think also when I'm looking at leadership, kudos for modeling, effective marketing and consistency. So that's amazing. What's your secret?
Franklin Taggart 18:09
Well, it's interesting. This year was an eye opening year for me. It actually started last year, I realized that there were there were other people who are getting a lot more done than I was. And I was puzzled by that, because it felt like I was working all the time. Well, what it was, what it came down to, was that I was in a pattern where I was consuming a lot more than I was producing. And I was counting that that was counting that consumption as work. Because it was like taking courses and it was learning things. And it was going through coaching programs, and it was doing all the stuff. But ultimately, what happened was that I was doing all of that stuff, but I wasn't producing anything. And so what I looked at was what is my ratio of consumption to production. And in previous years, the consumption ratio was much higher than production. This year, I made the commitment to flip that. And there were two things that I decided on, I want 80% of my time to be production. And I actually blocked that on my calendar and their production. For me that includes coaching. But it also includes the podcast production, video production, course production, getting ready to start working on a book. I want this year to be the year that I break that that consumption production ratio and turn it on its side. Now the other thing that I made the commitment to do was to just release one video on YouTube every day.
Kc Rossi 19:49
Wow.
Franklin Taggart 19:51
And that has been I have had so much fun doing that. Now I've tried to do that before with blogging. And I've tried to do that before with other types of creative output. I remember years ago trying to do that with songwriting. And ultimately, those were difficult to carry out for some reason. But this, this video thing has been a lot of fun. And it was like, I didn't realize how much I was going to enjoy that until I started doing it. And after the first month, there was this momentum that happened,
Kc Rossi 20:33
I can see that. I love that, I love that you are committed to this vertical growth, because I think many times as entrepreneurs, we stay horizontal, and staying in that horizontal growth pattern, we really don't see incremental change, even on a personal level. So that is incredible and inspiring. I'm sure that you pushed your growth edge a little bit, you know, to something that you've maybe never even thought possible, because that's a really big commitment. And now you've got momentum, like you spoke about. So amazing. I love that. What do you think the number one thing is that you found that has significantly moved the needle for creative entrepreneurs, specifically?
Franklin Taggart 21:11
That's a good question. I really, there are a couple of things that come to mind right off the bat. I've done a lot of work with artists over the years and creative entrepreneurs. And the one thing that I feel like that I've seen most frequently is that they've been doing their creative work for years. And there are still people within their inner circles that don't know about it.
Kc Rossi 21:41
That's telling.
Franklin Taggart 21:44
And I really feel like that that's one of the things that I want to get away from the idea that it's "tooting your own horn." Because it's not you that's on the market, there it is, the work that you've done. And the work that you've done, is an embodiment of your gift. Right, it's not you on the auction block, it's your gift that's actually coming full circle and reaching an end that it was designed for.
Kc Rossi 22:11
I love that perspective.
Franklin Taggart 22:13
That's the biggest education that I give to people is that your gift is given to you for a reason. It's it's meant to have an impact on the world. You're not in charge of that. Now, whether or not you share it or not, you do have some choice about that. But one of the things that we need to do is to get out of the idea that you're putting yourself on the line and selling yourself, you're actually putting your gift on the line and asking other people if that resonates for them. And if it does, then being willing to say here it's yours.
Kc Rossi 22:54
Yes, that that brings to mind. I'm currently reading Mark Divine's book "Staring Down The Wolf." And so it really brings to mind kind of facing that fear wolf, you know, of exposing yourself with whatever your gift is, whether it's painting or speaking. How do you personally face your fear wolf?
Franklin Taggart 23:16
That's an interesting question. I think I run away from it until I can't.
Kc Rossi 23:29
I love the honesty! Yes, we can absolutely relate to that.
Franklin Taggart 23:34
There are some times when I just have to be absolutely backed into a corner and have no other choice and then realize that it's not a wolf, it's a dog and I love dogs. That has been a pattern of mine of of just, you know, avoiding things that I think are scary until, until I'm face to face with them and realize that, oh, it's not that big of a deal. And there are things that I can do. There are choices that I can make, there are ways that I can go here. So that's that's my pattern. The other thing that I look at is that I feel like strategy is not a bad thing. And for me, strategy when it comes to my fear is really not a bad thing at all. So one of the things that I can look at is that I can think back to my first time of diving off of a diving board, and how scared I was of that I was probably six years old and I was standing out on the back on the on the end of the diving board with my toes over the edge shaking, not knowing if I was going to be able to actually swim to the side once I fell in or whether I would sink to the bottom and never come up. I didn't know those things. But one of the things that was really interesting in that time I remember very vividly that I just broke it down. Step one, get on the ladder. Step two, walk onto the board. Step three, get your toes to the edge of the board. Step four, don't look at the water. Step five, plug your nose. It was it was that deliberate. And I had to be that deliberate early on, in order to just be able to just say, Okay, I'm past the "screw it" line. I'm going ... right? Yes, there's a point where you jump and you can't go back.
Kc Rossi 25:37
That's a tremendous amount of insight to even recognize one your pattern and to the strategy because we repeat what works for us. And so we have these running scripts, knowingly or unknowingly, strategies for doing everything - strategies for grocery shopping, strategies for our marketing, right? Like we have a very similar pattern. So that's a tremendous amount of insight to even understand that and to break it down. And what a powerful lesson for our listeners that it is amazing to have big, audacious goals, and in order to face our fears, to break it down into these micro steps. So they're just doable. They're digestible. They're actionable. I love that. I heard you say, if you have people's attention, that you need to make an offer. Yes. And that was a really like, really direct and amazing quote, can you tell us more because I know that sales resistance can be a big stumbling block for solopreneurs.
Franklin Taggart 26:37
Don't start with the sale, then -- start with an offer. That's not the sale yet. It's like, and again, I feel like the relationship model is one that we can pay attention to here, you need to make an offer that the relationship is ready to support. So for me an offer might be hey, let's, let's talk more about this topic for a little while. I'd like to hear more about what you think about this. And it's like that is that's a legitimate offer. At that point. I've offered to open the door for another level of conversation, another level of relationship, another level of connection. And that's what makes when it's time for the sale. That's what makes it possible. Right? So if I have someone's attention, I'm always going to be offering another door. It's like Monty Hall, you know, remember Monty Hall on let's make a deal?
Kc Rossi 27:30
Yeah
Franklin Taggart 27:31
Door number one, door number two, or door number three. But I really feel like that is important. Like even if even if you give somebody your business card, I think it's important, even on your business card to have an offer there. Because it's like, they're, they're taking that business card with them, and if all it is, is contact information, and you haven't given them a reason to contact you, well, why don't you give them the offer? And that's a reason to contact you.
Kc Rossi 28:01
That's brilliant.
Franklin Taggart 28:02
Right? So it's just a matter of keeping the keeping the connections alive. And that's what my offers are. Like, some of the offers that I put out on the table are I do free microphone placement session for people who are doing a lot of zoom calls and podcasts interviews and, and videos and stuff like that they pay all this money for a great microphone. And then they don't know how to place it. So that it sounds good. You know,
Kc Rossi 28:32
You helped me with that.
Franklin Taggart 28:33
Yeah!
Kc Rossi 28:34
Which was great. And it really was effective, because I was thinking that some of my issues were that my volumn was too high, because I tend to project and it was really all about the gain. Which was just such a simple tweak. But it has changed the way that I show up on my podcast that I show up in my Zoom interviews. I love that perspective shift. Because I think when I first heard that, my that quote of yours, my consultation went immediately to okay, what I think he means is put a call to action on our social media posts or, you know, direct them to the next Buy Now button. And what I'm hearing you say is that could be if that is where you're at in the journey with that specific person. It's not that you're discounting making a sales opportunity, invitation, but it also could be let's have another conversation or here's another door that can open and further our relationships. So it sounds a lot like "people first" is a really strong core value of yours because you mentioned that relationships were really kind of the cornerstone of what makes your coaching uncommon. And now we're really circling right back to relationship marketing. So I would love it if you could leave like a final bright light piece of wisdom for people that are like I've heard about relationship marketing. That sounds amazing. How do I adapt it more effectively in my business?
Franklin Taggart 30:04
Well, I really feel like that everybody has their own unique fingerprint style of marketing. And that no blueprint that you find is going to be absolutely accurate for, for you. So one of the things that's going to happen is like, you're gonna go out there, and you're going to try these things. And you're going to find that maybe some of them work a little bit. And maybe some of them work really well. But maybe there are tweaks that you bring to the table that are personal to you, that are going to going to put it over the top. So what I would say is that, I think more than anything else, that entrepreneurs need to be willing to explore the ways that their strengths can be leveraged, the way that their natural tendencies can be leveraged. Because if you just work with your strengths, and your natural natural tendencies in your marketing, you're going to make some great breakthroughs. You don't have to do everything all the time, just do what you can do well, and do it as often as you can, you're going to see results. It doesn't have to be again, it doesn't have to be complex and complicated. It needs to be simple, direct, and it needs to leverage the strengths that you've already got.
Kc Rossi 31:16
Perfect!-- To discovering our secret sauce, and then spreading the message, getting off of our our gold, and sharing that. How can people learn more about you and step into your world?
Franklin Taggart 31:31
Well, my blog is franklintaggart.com. And you can find everything else about me there pretty much. The other thing that I'm I've been fascinated with over the last year and a half or so, is the whole idea of elevator pitches. So I've been I've been doing a lot of work around elevator pitches, because I found that a lot of the formulas out there actually lead people down a path that isn't horribly effective for introducing themselves. So I've been doing a lot of work on elevator pitches. And I wanted to draw attention to that because I've just released a course about that called elevator pitches that don't suck.
Kc Rossi 32:12
Oh, perfect.
Franklin Taggart 32:13
And that there's information about that as well on my on my blog. And more than anything else, I would invite people to subscribe to either my YouTube channel or my podcasts wherever they listen.
Kc Rossi 32:27
Sounds good. I'll make sure to put all of those links in. I love that you developed a course on elevator pitches because that is really door number one that is really that introduction connection with people and the better we can communicate who we are who we help. And a little bit of our passion laced in there, you know the more than that our message grows, our network grows. So thank you so much for being here, Franklin, you are our treat. I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom with us.
Franklin Taggart 32:53
Kc, this has been lovely again, every time we every time we chat. It just lifts me right up. And I appreciate it so much.
Kc Rossi 33:01
I appreciate you so much. And until next time, my friend...breathe joy.
Franklin Taggart 33:05
And thank you.
Kc Rossi 33:07
Thanks so much for listening and for supporting the show to its 200th episode. I'm looking forward to recording 200 more for you. If you have topics of special interest. Drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know. I'm always happy to curate content with a purpose.
Kc Rossi 33:26
Remember to subscribe, rate and review the podcast wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Until next time...breathe joy!
