368-SYB-Erica-Hall.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.
Carol Cox:
Your thought leadership comes from who you are and what you’ve learned, and you’re going to hear exactly this in my conversation with Erica Hall on this episode of the Speaking Your Brand podcast. More and more women are making an impact by starting businesses, running for office and speaking up for what matters. With my background as a TV political analyst, entrepreneur and speaker, I interview and coach purpose driven women to shape their brands, grow their companies, and become recognized as influencers in their field. This is speaking your brand, your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience. Hi there and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. I’m your host, Carol Cox. We are continuing the new podcast series we’re doing called Level Up Your Speaking to help you be prepared for 2024. Last episode, we went through steps that you can use to create your speaking and visibility plan. Today I have a conversation with one of our Thought Leader Academy graduates, Erica Hall, and you’re going to love our conversation. If you’ve ever felt like you shouldn’t show your real personality to your audiences, or that people expect you to be a certain type of person.
Carol Cox:
This conversation is going to be really validating and revealing. Before we get to that part of the conversation, Erica shares her perspective on money mindset and money behaviors and the experiences that shaped her understanding of money. This is why who you are and what you’ve learned are essential elements of your thought leadership. We also dig into the power of frameworks and acronyms, and Erica shares what she got out of being in the Thought Leader Academy. In our Thought Leader Academy, we work with you both one on one and in a small group to develop your thought leadership and to create your signature talk. It truly is a one of a kind program, and we’ve designed it so that you get the benefits of both one on one work to create your talk. Using our proven framework as well as the group calls for the support, validation and coaching. Our next group starts on January 16th. You can get all of the details including pricing as speaking your brand.com/academy. Again that’s speaking your brand.com/academy. Now let’s get on with the show. Welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast Erica.
Erica Hall:
Thank you Carol, it is my pleasure to be here working with you and Diane in the Thought Leader Academy has super propelled my my, my forward movement and my thought leadership. So appreciate it.
Carol Cox:
Well, it is truly my pleasure to have worked with you, and I can’t wait for us to dive in today to talk about your thought leadership message, to say that your talk that we’ve worked on together and how so many of your personal stories, everything from childhood to your early career to now, really have shaped your thought leadership and the work that you’re doing? So let’s talk about that. I know that you have 20 plus years of of experience and history in personal finance. You actually started off in banking in the early part of your career. Kind of made a shift. You work for the military in a civilian capacity now managing a large portfolio for them. And you’re also getting into being a money accountability coach, because I know from having worked with you how important that is to you. So tell me a little bit about about your background and then what is causing you to be even more interested in now and working with other people on their money, mindset and accountability?
Erica Hall:
So this has been just an ongoing passion of mine for, for years. Um, and I could, I could it starts back from childhood, but I won’t go back that far. At least not today. But. But I will say that, um, some of my earliest memories, as far as money. Um, just go back to just. You know, being a child raised by a single mom, uh, that was determined to teach me. Um. Hey, you know, I want you to go to college. Do this, do that. So she was giving me the direction of what to do, but she didn’t have the background to really tell me how to do it. So all I knew was, you know, do better than I’ve done, uh, go to college, get the good job, and make a decent salary. Right. However, on the back side of that, um, she she’s did a phenomenal job at making sure I understood how to propel myself to be a, you know, financially successful woman. However, there was no background to say. But when you make money, this is what you need to do with it. So and I think a lot of women fall into that category. So, you know, even in my own personal circle of friends and my, my clients that I’ve worked with recently, uh, a lot of them are. On the outside, everything is pulled together and everything is. They have the nice salary, they have the job, they have the title. But yet and still internally, they feel like their their financial house is on fire. So, so so that just that alone has become what is lit the fire under me to make sure, you know, we we get these, you know, women out of this position where they feel like, hey, you know, I have all these things going on for myself.
Erica Hall:
I’ve done all the things right, all the things that I’m supposed to do. Yet my I why am I in debt? Why am I still unsure about my my retirement? Um. Why am I afraid to face the music when it comes to, you know, my my money? And, uh, am I building a legacy for my family? Or if I keep going in the direction that I’m going, are my children going to have to take care of me? And I think that’s I think that’s the hardest part for, for for women nowadays. They, they’re trying to do all of the things, but yet they, they still want to ultimately leave that legacy for their family. And that that’s the goal of my program, which is the financial fix and flip. The overall goal is to work through, uh, essentially uncovering the unconscious money behaviors that we have that we don’t even realize we we picked up in childhood because most of what children know is not taught is caught. So we need to make sure that, you know, we we establish these groundworks at the beginning. So you have to you can’t fix a financial problem with just a budget. You can’t you have to you have to truly get to the core of your unconscious money patterns and behaviors.
Carol Cox:
And Eric, I thank you for explaining that. And I think when a lot of people hear money mindset, they think, oh, well, if you just kind of do affirmations every day and, you know, have a more positive outlook to money, all of a sudden everything will get fixed. And as when we were working on your talk, I remember you saying something like, you know, money is not just about the math. It’s not just about the numbers in your budget or the numbers that on your bank account. There’s so much more to it. And like you said, you know how we grow up and our families shape so much of how we see money. So we could have, like you said, great salaries. We have money in our bank accounts, but we’re still doing things a lot of times unconsciously, either to save other people, to save other family members, to to sabotage some things that maybe would be in our better interest. And I know you’ve had some experiences with that, as most of us have had. So can you talk a little bit about I think this would be helpful for listeners, too, that so much of the thought leadership that we end up sharing. Comes from our own personal experiences, because that’s what we know so well, and we recognize that if we’ve been able to figure out those core issues and get through them, then we can certainly help other people or shine that light for other people as well. Mhm.
Erica Hall:
Absolutely. So. So again this I guess it kind of goes back to my, my original passion. So way back when my first job out of college was I worked in a bank, as you mentioned. And uh, this is where I, I was taking the school financially. Right. So I went to school for um, communications and I wanted to be a journalist. So when I finished undergrad, you know, I was while I was looking for my dream job, I decided, well, I’m going to go get a job at this bank while I search for my dream job. Right. Lo and behold, I somehow got into finances and I never left. And, um. But I was intrigued by everything that I learned. And, you know, even though I advanced in my career, now I’m managing over $1 billion budget for the Army. Um, I couldn’t I can’t help but keep going back to the the little old ladies that were coming into my branch at the bank when I was only 22 years old, and they would come in and, you know, maybe they just lost a spouse and, and their, their husband had managed the money for them and they had no clue what to do. They they just had all these papers and, you know, just all the things that you can imagine that would go along with that moment.
Erica Hall:
Right? And and then you add confusion, money, confusion on top of it. So, you know, I would sit and work through line by line, try to teach them and set them up, um, you know, just to get them to a comfortable space on what they need to do next. So I could never get past that in itself. That was always like my my sweet spot. Right? So fast forward, you know, as you know, as I’ve progressed in my career, you know, I that’s always been the the part that I wanted to go back to. But then you fast forward. So you look at the the little old lady, right. That never obviously got her financial life in order. Um, but then you fast forward to the professional woman with the kids. Um, and then you have maybe they have aging parents, and suddenly you find yourself kind of edged between, you know, taking care of your kids, taking care of your, your aging parents. And guess what? You still have your own your own college debt, and you still have your own things, and you’re trying to save for your own retirement and your kid’s college. And it’s just so much going on. And I think it creates this situation where you, you feel like you’re choosing between the two.
Erica Hall:
And what starts to happen is you start to sacrifice your own legacy and your your own well-being and your own long time financial well-being. And the overall goal is, is not to do that. You have to find the boundaries. Right. Um, and figure out your way forward. So my overall goal is to help women understand you have you can make choices. Money is not math. We get that money is emotional. So once you once you figure that out, and the core process of what I take of my clients through is about. Saying, okay, here is it’s about exploring your money wise. And that’s wise, right? So you explore your money wise. Why am I the way I am with money? Once you get to the nitty gritty of that now, you could start making changes because now you’re operating from an informed place. Uh, well, as before, everybody’s like, well, guess I need a budget. And then two months later, your budget’s out the window and you’re back to doing whatever you do. Um, but you need to figure out which part of you is driving your money car so you can get to a better space of building legacy for you and your family.
Carol Cox:
I really like this idea of legacy, Erika, because I think it also it, you know, it takes the takes it out of the like you said daily, weekly, monthly budget and puts it into a terme because then you start thinking more future focused, because we know that that it’s hard for people to save for retirement because it feels so abstract, it feels so far away. Like as human beings, we’re not good at Long Terme thinking. But I think when you start thinking about legacy and your children, like you said, and you’re not wanting to burden your children to take care of you, then I feel like it puts that into a different perspective for for people, especially for women. So I’m looking at your signature talk board. So those of you if you want to see it, go to the show notes page for this episode because you can see the video. And I have Erica’s beautiful, colorful board here with all of your points and your stories. That’s on here. And one of the things so you mentioned boundaries a little bit, which which I know is part of your framework, part of the methodology that you use. The other thing that I think was really helpful, uh, is to think about kind of you said it, uh, another key aspect of it is excuse less. So taking responsibility for and understanding the actions that you’ve taken in the past and then and then understanding those in order to move forward, for sure. Pass those. So can you talk to us a little bit more about that?
Erica Hall:
So in my program and what I’ve done with my clients is essentially, like I said, we work through the core process of understanding your money wise. And once you understand where you’re operating with your money now, now, now we can get down to business essentially. So depending on where you are in your money, your money journey, then we decide, okay, so we’ll have a direct VIP day where we sit down and we drudge through exactly where you are with your money, because everybody’s money track is something different. So some someone may be in a position where they, they need to figure out this debt because, you know, if you got debt, you’re shackled. You’re you’re not going anywhere fast. So, so so what you’re referring to is my the portion of my course that’s the debt be down. So yeah. So that uh beat is a boundaries exclude excuse lessness action and then track. So we walk through that process where we, we make sure we set the boundaries to say, here’s where you are. Then we get rid of all the excuses because now we’re focusing on legacy. Now you, you know, your money wise, right? But now it’s time to get money wise. Wise. I like that, right. It’s time to you know why you did what you did.
Erica Hall:
Now let’s get wise. The other wise, right? Get rid of all the excuses so you can focus. Get your legacy mind together so you can start operating from a different place. And we take action, and then we track what we’re doing on a repeated basis. So money accountability coach is what I’ve been known in my circle. That’s what I’ve been been, uh, become known as because I’m all about accountability. Everybody knows. You know, if you you spend less than you make or you spend less, make more, right. Everybody knows that. But we still don’t do it. It’s the same thing with dieting, right? Eat less, work out more. We all know it. I think it comes down. Everybody needs somebody to be accountable to. And I am your hard nosed, in-your-face coach. I’m going to say, here’s the plan. This is what you said we’re going to do. I’m your cheerleader. Let’s go do it. And, you know, we walked through that and depending on, you know, where the situation is, it may depend on how long, how many weeks we have to go through that and even extend it out months. But that’s the overall plan just to hold that accountability, get knuckled, knuckled down to it and reach those goals. That’s what I want to help women do.
Carol Cox:
Erica. I’m what I’m going to come back to your style because there’s a there’s a funny story that I want to share with the listeners about a conversation that we had about that. And then but first, before we come to that, I want to talk about frameworks, because obviously, you know, here speaking your brand, for those of you who’ve been listening for a while, you know how much we love frameworks, whether it’s an acronym, an alliteration, a visual shape, something like that, because it helps your audience to to kind of latch on to what you’re talking about and makes it easier to remember. And for you as the speaker, it also makes it easier for you to remember your content. So we have our ideal story ingredients. We have our voice thought leadership model. So we love acronyms. I’ll think of an acronym for anything. And so Erica, I have found that you also have a natural kind of proclivity to create frameworks and acronyms. Because we worked in the VIP day together on your signature talk, and we had the the beat down debt. So the beat was an acronym, which I love. So we kind of structured that. And then you came to one of our TLA calls after that, and you had another framework that you had come up with. So tell me about your love of frameworks and acronyms.
Erica Hall:
So so this takes goes back to why I joined, uh, thought Leader Academy in the first place. So I, you know, I had the big idea, right? I want to do this and I want to do that. And and I was helping, you know, my close knit friends and, you know, people that asked me and just kind of doing it on a very small scale. And I’m like, everybody needs this. I don’t know anybody that doesn’t. So but I didn’t know how to go from, you know, this. Subject matter expert, uh, that can give you all this knowledge to a true thought leader and let alone add in social media, in the reach and just all the things associated with it. So I joined Thought Leader Academy to help me get all of these pinging ideas out of my head and put some structure around it. I just didn’t have the structure. So as soon as I joined Thought Leader Academy and we started, I was like, oh my, this is it. I just needed I needed somebody to help me bring it in and say, here’s your and this is how you structure it. But but better than the structure was the repeatable process because what what you and Diane deliver is, first of all, everything you promised was delivered, which is I’ve invested in myself quite a bit.
Erica Hall:
And as far as you know, learning and doing this type of thing. And there’s some good there’s some good coaches out there or whatnot. But but you truly, truly delivered on every single thing that you promised in the Thought Leader Academy. Plus, you know, so not so I learned, you know, how to pull together my thoughts and my ideas and make them clear and concise, but also how to put frameworks around it so that I could put it, get it to my audience in a very structured, rememberable way. And like you said, once you once you show me how to do it, I’m like, okay, I got it. Let’s, let’s make another one. And, and and it helped me keep my thoughts clear, structured. And I mean, what all the things pinging around in my head, I need some I needed something to help me just keep it clear and concise. So, so you know, very thrilled with the Thought Leader Academy and the framework that you helped me learn how to do and be able to take and repeat. So I love that.
Carol Cox:
Well, and I’m glad to hear that, Erica, because that is what we want. Obviously, you know, with the clients that we work with, they get their signature talk and we help them develop their framework. But like we always tell you and them is that we want you to take the, the, our overall framework of how to create a great talk and keep using it for other things that you’re doing, because you may have another idea for a topic or something, a different type of audience that you want to present to, and then just keep using that structure going forward. Yes. All right. So let’s talk about style and personality. It was I think it was the personal brand call that we did that. And for the group and we were I was you know, talking about these this these personal brand pillars and different, you know, personal your personal brand is how other people see you and kind of the reflection that you have, but also how do you want to be seen. And and I kind of made an offhand comment and I don’t remember what the context was. And I said, you know, I had taken this, the Enneagram test back a year or two ago, and I’m an Enneagram number five, which is called the investigator or the Problem solver.
Carol Cox:
I don’t know much about the Enneagram. I have a great episode with one of our clients who isn’t an Enneagram coach, and so I’ll link to that in the show notes. And, uh, so I said something like, you know, I’m an investigator or a problem solver. Clearly I’m very good at structure. Like, that’s, you know, that’s what we do. And I said, but I don’t really consider myself a helper. And I said that, which may seem odd because obviously I’m a coach. I love working with all of our clients. I love supporting you and guiding you. But I’m not the type of person like you know, the helpers. If you ever worked in an office environment, you know who those people are. They’re the first to pitch in. They’re going to do all this stuff and God bless them like we need them. And there’s a certain Enneagram number that is the helper. And I remember someone told me one time, if you want a great executive assistant, hire the Enneagram number. That’s the helper. So I kind of just said that again. And then Erica, we had a one on one call. And what did you say to me?
Erica Hall:
So when when you said that that was a golden moment for me because I a part of my big hesitation with just putting myself out there as a thought leader. I felt like I had to be this helper, and I didn’t think it was okay not to be. So as I’ve mentioned before, I’m more of a hard nosed, in-your-face type of coach. I’m not oh, I’m, you know, I’m gonna pat you along, but I’m also going to kick you in the rear and say, let’s get it going. This is what you said you want to do, and I’m going to hold you accountable. And I didn’t feel like that was okay to be. So when you said that it was everything I needed to hear because it let me know, you know what? I can be exactly who I am. And and whoever is for me is for me and whoever is not. They’re not either. They want this hard nosed, in-your-face, you know, type of coach that’s going to hold them accountable or you don’t. So so that was a big part of my hesitation. I felt like I had to be this helper, this soft. Oh, you know, but that’s not really my personality. You know, I’m more fun, upbeat. I want to be your best friend, money coach. I don’t want to be your, um, I. I want to. I got my own babies at home. I don’t need to coddle you too. Yes.
Carol Cox:
Right. And Erica, to your point. And imagine then, if clients came to you because you weren’t clear about that’s your style and personality. And they wanted more of that nurturing, which is fine. Like and that’s, that’s fine if that’s what they want. But there’s other coaches out there that can give them that and you want and there’s also clients out there. They want the tough love because that’s what makes them thrive. Absolutely.
Erica Hall:
Because that’s that’s how I thrive. I need I need somebody to be accountable to and somebody that’s going to get in my face and say, I’m gonna hold you accountable. I’m gonna get you by the collar. This is what you said you want to do, and I’m gonna help you get there. That that drives me so, you know, but I kept feeling like, oh, that’s not the right thing to do. And so when you said that, my mind just exploded. I was like. I don’t, I don’t. Why do I think I have to be there? Okay, I’m not a helper and I don’t have to be ashamed. I’m an Enneagram one. Um, so after you. We talked about that. I took the test, and I was mind blown. So that was that was that coupled with everything else, uh, that I’ve just learned about, you know, just money coaching and understanding, like the different money archetypes coupled with the Enneagram was everything for me.
Carol Cox:
Oh. Do you remember what the Enneagram one is called?
Erica Hall:
Um, it’s the it’s the it’s the, uh, the very the vocal one. Oh, that makes sense.
Carol Cox:
Let me see if I can look it up. Oh, it says the reformer. Does that sound right?
Erica Hall:
The reformer? Exactly. That’s it?
Carol Cox:
Yes. Yes, it’s the one that’s very, very conscientious and ethical. Yes.
Erica Hall:
And that is. That is 100% me. So, you know, just very discerning, very always want to do the right thing. Um, they’re driven by that. And so when, when I, it’s like, you know, it’s the good girl syndrome like that, that is me. And it’s okay to be the good girl syndrome, but not be a helper because I’m a good girl. That’s going to help you with your money.
Carol Cox:
I think it’s a perfect bullet. And I remember when we had this conversation, Erica, I said, you know, and in your talk, when you’re when you’re presenting in front of audiences, number one, let your natural style and personality come through because that’s what’s going to feel more authentic to you. You’re going to have a better time at the speaking engagement, being yourself, than trying to be someone else. But also, you know, I’m such a big believer in saying out loud what you think your audience is already thinking. So if they’re having like objections in their mind about, well, I don’t really understand this money mindset or whatever, just say it out loud. Like, you know, some of you may think X, but here’s what’s really going on. So you could even say in your talk like, look, I’m really direct. Like I love a tough love approach. You know, here’s an example of a client that I worked with and here’s how they thrived with the accountability, because then again, the people in the audience are like, oh yeah, Erica’s the coach for me.
Erica Hall:
Mhm. Yeah. And you know, and everything about that I did this um, little this survey a couple years ago with a, with a group of my closest friends. And essentially I asked them, I said, what is the thing that, you know, 100%, you can come to me, um, and seek advice on or, or what you’re going to basically what’s my what’s my secret sauce? Help me. Help me pull that out of myself. The consistency across the board blew my mind. This was from about eight of my friends, and what was definitely consistent in there is that I was discerning that I was. I’m always above board. Um, and they know they can come to me for truth, you know, direct. Uh, but it’s always coming from a good place. Uh, and I’m not going to pull any punches. It’s going to be above board. And and I’ll help, help you get there. But it’s not going to be a coddling help. It’s going to be okay. I can help you fix that, though.
Carol Cox:
Yes. Well it’s good. So clearly your personal brand is very consistent, which is important. Yeah.
Erica Hall:
So that so that in itself that that that was also very eye opening to me. And then but but there was still this part of me that didn’t feel like I can be that out out there in the public. Right. And so you and I had that conversation, and when you said that, I was like. What can be exactly who I am. Why did I why do I feel like I need to coddle people? That’s not my natural personality.
Carol Cox:
Exactly. Oh, I’m so glad that that’s just literally offhand comment that I made. Just and just.
Erica Hall:
No, that wasn’t right. That wasn’t a part of the curriculum. Right? That was a freebie.
Carol Cox:
Yes. Yes, totally. Oh, that’s so good. All right. Erica, so, uh, what’s next for you? Where are you working on?
Erica Hall:
So right now, um, I have, so I have another cohort that’s starting in January, um, where I’ll be starting enrolling additional people. So what what I like to do is I like to keep my my, um, my clients base small, no more than eight clients at a time. So I have a new one coming up. I already have two positions, two positions, two spots filled. And so there’s 6 or 6 more available spots. And so, so opening up a new cohort and uh, working on, uh, just just putting myself out there a little bit more. Oh, and also I have some webinars that are coming up on LinkedIn. So those are some new webinars, some workshops that I’ll be putting out there here very soon that you’ll. So you’ll see those coming out as well.
Carol Cox:
Oh fantastic. Erica, I’m so glad to hear that. And what are where is the best place for listeners to find you.
Erica Hall:
So you can go to my website. It is worth plotting. Dot com. That’s w o r t h.
Carol Cox:
Tastic worth plotting.com. I’ll include a link in the show. Notes. Also include a link to your LinkedIn profile as well so that listeners, please go and connect with Erica on LinkedIn. And of course, if you haven’t connected with me yet on LinkedIn, make sure to do that as well. Well, Erica, it has truly been such a delight to get to know you and the Thought Leader Academy to work with you, and to have you come on the podcast and share about the incredible and very important work that you do. So thank.
Erica Hall:
You. Thank you so much for having me. I totally enjoyed Thought Leader Academy. It was. It’s definitely worth every every moment, even the freebies. So I appreciate it. And it’s and it’s been a joy to work with you and Diane as well I appreciate it.
Carol Cox:
Thank you, thank you. Wasn’t that a fantastic conversation? Thanks again to Erica for coming on the podcast. Be sure to connect with her on LinkedIn. Her link is in the show notes for this episode. If you two would like to create your signature talk in a VIP day just like Erica described, and also learn our frameworks so you have a repeatable process to use going forward for all of your presentations and really most of your content. I use our framework for these for solo podcast episodes and so much more. You can join our Thought Leader Academy. You can get all of the details including pricing and speaking your brand.com/academy. Again, that’s speaking your brand.com/academy. Also, be sure to hit subscribe or follow in your podcast app so you don’t miss the next episodes we’re doing to help you level up your speaking. I’m going to be sharing with you how to make sure your presentations aren’t boring, how to overcome speaking anxiety so that you can develop confidence on stage. What to include in your speaker video reel, how to get an ROI from speaking, and so much more. Until next time, thanks for listening.
Sonix has many features that you’d love including share transcripts, generate automated summaries powered by AI, enterprise-grade admin tools, automatic transcription software, and easily transcribe your Zoom meetings. Try Sonix for free today.
