Ep 134 Transcript: How to Lead With Service and Build Real Community with Brad Walsh
This transcript was auto-generated and may contain errors in spelling or inaccuracies in the spoken words.
Shauna Lynn Simon (01:49.998)
Hello and welcome to the Real Women Real Business Podcast. I am your host, Shauna Lynn Simon. And today's guest is Brad Walsh. And now, Brad Walsh didn't set out to build a podcast. And in fact, that's exactly what he's done. But he actually started as a photographer. We're gonna talk a little bit about his journey today and how he got from point A to point, I don't know, on the scale D G H or something like that. but he basically spent years doing AV production on the road and eventually found his way into boudoir photography.
A genre that he fell in love with after mentoring under a photographer in Florida. And he was drawn in by the impact that it had on the women that he worked with. Now, that same instinct, following what actually moved people, led him to launch Empowerography, which is podcast that has been intentionally built to amplify women's voices and has now recorded over 800 episodes. So from there, he's since built a membership community for women entrepreneurs.
And recently sat down with his members actually to ask about what that membership gives them. We're going to dig into that a little bit today, about his entire journey building this, creating the messaging and can really connecting with women. So we want to talk about that winding path he was on, what he's learned from hundreds of conversations, and what real sales-free connection looks like in actual practice. So, Brad, welcome to the show.
Brad Walsh (03:10.076)
Oh Oh my gosh, Shauna Lynn thank you for that incredible intro. I am so honored and excited to be here. I know you had mentioned that I am only the second male guest you've ever had on. So I am so grateful and honored to be that second male guest. Thank you so much for inviting me into the space and for having me here to share a bit about my story, my journey, and the work that I get to do with the incredible women that are part of the Empowerography platform and community is an honor to be here with you.
Shauna Lynn Simon (03:37.624)
Well, I thank you for that. I've got to say, you know, I appreciate everything that you are doing. And I don't want to speak on behalf of all women, but I think the more women who find you will agree with me that what you're doing is incredibly powerful. And as you said, you're only the second male voice that has been on this show. because this is very much a sacred space for women that, you know, we want to make sure that we're protecting that. And the last thing that we need is a man telling us how to do our jobs. Mansplaining.
Brad Walsh (04:02.209)
Mansplaining?
Shauna Lynn Simon (04:05.066)
but it doesn't mean that we don't value the insights that men have, the power that men have, and the support that they can provide us with. So I don't want this world ever to become this divisive men versus women at the same time while protecting the conversations that I'm having on this show. But you were kind of a no-brainer from the first conversation that we had. I'd love for you to just walk everyone through a little bit about your journey. I talked a little bit about how, you know, you went from photography.
That eventually moved into boudoir photography, which is taking you to where you are today. In your own words, can you tell us a little bit about what that journey looked like?
Brad Walsh (04:40.35)
Yeah, the photography they so well, I won't go way, way back to the whole beginning of the photography bit, but I worked in corporate for twelve and a half years at one of the big four accounting firms. And in that world, I mean, photography was always on my heart. It was always in my mind and on my heart to start my own business, to get out of working for someone and start my own photography business, the entrepreneurial journey as a photographer. But that corporate career
About three years in, I was tasked with the responsibility of doing the corporate headshots for the staff. And that wasn't a thing that I did. My photography work was not about people. It was architecture and landscapes. And so that was a brand new thing for me. And so stepping into that, I actually fell in love with photographing people. I loved having that connection, that one-on-one time with people as they sat for their portraits. I could learn about a bit about who they are and what they do and connect with them at a different level, which of course also helps to create a much more
beautiful portrait because it brings the person's personality out of the image when you can connect with them. And so three years after that I was connected and introduced through a mutual friend to a boudoir photographer who was based in Florida, fell in love with her work. And I ended up mentoring with her for six months. And when I was done my mentorship, it was just one of those light bulb moments. I knew that that's what I've got to do with my photography business. It just lit me up so much speaking with her and learning from her and seeing the work that she was creating.
I said, I've got to do that. And so it didn't happen for another six and a half years. But when I did finally leap from corporate, I jumped into photography full time, into boudoir photography, which is a very steep learning curve, I might add as well. Because if you don't know what you're doing with lighting and posing, forget it. You're done for it. Yeah.
Shauna Lynn Simon (06:22.446)
The whole point is that you need to make these women look and feel incredible. Yes.
Brad Walsh (06:30.074)
So it was a very steep learning curve and I did a lot of free shoots, a lot to hone my skill sets because other than the headshots, I was still fairly new to studio lighting. I'd always used natural light because I was always shooting architecture and landscapes outdoors. So it was a steep learning curve, but I loved the learning process. And so when I got into doing that work as a photographer, it's so magical and beautiful because a lot of these women, I mean, I would say ninety-eight percent of my clients.
They've never been in front of camera before for a proper photo shoot. So let's just, you know, you've got your models who know what they're doing behind in front of the camera and all that. These women, they don't, and it's my job as a photographer to guide them through that process. But seeing these women come into the studio, and I would say ninety-five percent of these women were actually meeting themselves for the first time. And to be a part of that process to facilitate that and
not only facilitate it, but witness that and to be able to give that gift to another human is one of the most powerful and beautiful things you could ever do for another person. And to to witness these women stepping into who they truly are, to owning their confidence and walking out of that studio a completely different woman than when they walked in, to know that I had a hand in that and I helped create that and I got to witness it.
I compare it to a lot of the time I use the analogy of watching a caterpillar turn into a butterfly. It is so beautiful and magical. And I know that process is a lot more different than that, but the point being is seeing that transformation unfold. And so I got to the point with the impact, it's very individually based because it's my client and I who experience it. And yes, of course, it ripples out to the people in their lives, but to be able to give that gift and
So I got to a point where I wanted to have a bigger impact. I wanted to reach more people. And I thought, well, I'll take the values and the purpose and the mission of the work I do as a photographer and let's turn that into a podcast. Now I had never interviewed a single person in my life. I had never listened to a podcast, but I thought, how hard can it be? I'll just jump in and figure it out.
Shauna Lynn Simon (08:46.542)
That's almost every podcaster at the start. Yes.
Brad Walsh (08:50.434)
Yeah, exactly. So and so I reached out to seven or eight women who I had met through my photography journey and explained the idea behind the platform and what I wanted to create. And I asked them if they would help me get it off the ground by letting me interview them. They all said yes. I did the interviews, I created the content and I was publishing an episode every two weeks at the time. But also at the same time my photography business started to pick up traction. I was getting more inquiries and more bookings. I thought, okay, I have to focus all my time, my energy on the business. So I shelved the podcast. I now refer to that as
affectionately as my dress rehearsal era of chorography. And I focused on the business. We then, of course, fast forward to March of 2020. COVID hit that render my photography business inoperable. So I thought, well, you got two choices here. You can either go through door number one where you could sit around and commiserate and complain like over half the world's doing, which is not in or of service to anybody, or you could go through door number two and choose to look at this as a gift of time that we've all been given and use that.
To create something good, to put something good out into the world. So I went through door number two. I thought I'm gonna reignite the podcast. I reached out to women on I started reaching out to women on social media explaining the idea behind the platform and what I wanted to do with it. And for the most part, the response was very, very good. There were some women that were, Well, what's this guy's angle? What's this all about? Why is this guy doing this? There's gotta be something else. And
But the response was overall was very, very good. And I found I got to a point where I found that the women I was interviewing were saying, Brad, I've got a friend, I'll connect you. Brad, I someone should be a great guest. And here we are now. Almost six and a half years later, eight hundred and two episodes later. And it has been the most incredible six years of my life. I have met some of the most powerful, amazing, resilient, inspiring women I have ever met in my entire life. And it has been nonstop education for the past six and a half years. You can't
pay for this education that I have gotten without going to school. It is it has been phenomenal. And at the foundation of all of it are my mother and my grandmother. I was raised by those two women. My mom left my biological father when I was 10. He was running around on her having an affair. And of course back in those days women stayed home to raise the children while the husband was the one working. So when I look back on that, the fact that she had the strength and the courage and of course the support of my grandmother, her mother to stand up after 15 years of marriage and say,
Brad Walsh (11:08.672)
No more. I don't have to take this. I'm leaving. I'm taking my boys and we're going. And that's exactly what we did. We left with nothing but the clothes on our back. We moved into a one bedroom apartment. My mom slept on a couch. My brother and I shared a bedroom and she had to get a job after being out of work for ten years because she sacrificed to stay home and raise us. And so when she was at work, my grandmother would step in. And so for me, those two women are my heart and my soul. I wouldn't be the man I am today without those two women. I owe them a debt that is never ever repayable.
For the sacrifice, the love, the lessons, all of it. It's this is my way of repaying them. It's it's my way of honoring them and just saying thank you for all that they did for me. It's and so it's been an incredible journey. And it's more than a podcast. This is a global movement that I'm creating. And I'm just so excited to be invited into these spaces because I know without all of these 800 plus women that I've interviewed.
And been invited into those spaces to share in their stories and their journey. There is no Empowerography. So this is not my podcast. It is our podcast. Every single woman who is woman who has been on the show, this is your show too. This is your win. This is your every celebration that we have along the way, it's your celebration too.
Shauna Lynn Simon (12:22.306)
Thank you so much, first of all, for sharing all of that. I think it's such a beautiful story and journey that you've been on. And I'm sure that there are probably plenty of men and women who can relate to similar types of stories of how, you know, it just goes to show how things can influence you from such a young age. And you never know how that's going to play out in your adult life. But one of the things that was sort of a thread through everything that you talked about was the fact that it seems like everything that you do.
really is in service of others. And I think that's an important point to mention. And, you know, not not necessarily in service of others at the sacrifice of yourself. Cause I think sometimes we think that one has to come with the other, but that's not necessarily the case. But you know, you talked earlier about one of the women that you interviewed saying, like, well, who does this guy really think that he is? Or who is this guy? And I will admit I even said that same thing to you. We were introduced through a trusted
resource to both of us. And I was like, okay, if she's telling me I need to meet you, I'm gonna believe her and vice versa. but I'll admit that there was a part of me going into the conversation of like, what's this guy's angle? And what I now realize is what your angle is, is to be in service of others. But of course, like we can't do that for free. And that's got to be a challenge to balance sometimes that you need to make money at what you're doing while you want to serve other people.
What are some of the things that you would say being of service to others has given you in return? Because again, you're not you're not doing this like it shouldn't always be the what's in it for me. And at the same time, we've all got bills to pay, we've all got lives to live, we've got to take care of ourselves. So there does need to be a little bit of give and take, even if that's not an expectation. What are some of the things that have come out of this of being in service of others?
Brad Walsh (14:04.968)
Oh my gosh, it's opened so many doors. I mean, the unlimited doors. And honestly, with the platform, it's been the friendships and the connections to other people, getting appearances on other podcasts, speaking gigs. What else? I'm trying to think. have I gotten any photography gigs through the podcast? No, I have not. but it it's just it's really been opportunities to be in different rooms, to meet new people. I mean, I went to Ireland for an author retreat. That was never in a million years would I have thought of that.
I actually co-published two books where I brought thirty women into one book to share their stories, transforming pain into purpose. And then I did a volume two or brought fourteen women into sharing their stories, transforming pain into purpose, volume two. So it's been incredible opportunities like that and networking opportunities to meet other amazing women who are doing incredible things. And then once you establish yourself as you I'm sure you can speak to this.
People will send you connections as we experienced, right? So this is what happens. It it creates more opportunities for you and more connections when you are and you do go in with that service mindset. Because and we were talking about this before we got on air, that this is the way we should look at life, is to be in and of service to one another. We're here to support each other. I'm always there to cheerlead anybody, anybody who's in my community, anyone who's in my friend circle, I'm your biggest cheerleader. I'm in your corner. I got you always because
This is part of what we're here to do. And I know that that will come back to me. And I think that's probably one of the biggest pieces that if you are in service and in that mindset, just trust and allow and know that it will always come back to you. You can't lose when you are embodying that type of mindset.
Shauna Lynn Simon (15:43.694)
I think it's so true. I think that, you know, we talk about having boundaries in your business and ensuring that, of course, you know, you're getting paid your worth, getting paid your value. So being in service to people does not necessarily mean that you're giving everything away for free. But I think being able to enter into conversations and relationships and events with the idea of going in there to help others and seeing what that actually brings you in return is so incredibly powerful.
I know that I've experienced that. I speak at various different conferences. And of course, I go there. Like, yes, I would love to get new business out of these conferences. Most people are not going spend an entire weekend traveling and speaking without getting some sort of compensation in return. So I don't do these things for free, of course. But at the same time, I also know there's so much connection that I have the opportunity to get if I can genuinely help other people. And I have had plenty of conversations. Like I do discovery calls and strategy sessions.
And I have had plenty of conversations where at the end of the day, I'm like, listen, I don't want you to buy anything from me. Here's what I've got for you instead. It doesn't have to be transactional. And I think that's a challenge that we are in a society that feels like it needs to be transactional. Don't get me wrong, I have some of the strongest boundaries when it comes to making sure that I'm getting paid my worth for the things that I do because this is something I promote to my clients. But by doing that, it allows me the opportunity to serve in a more genuine and natural way because I feel like I am being compensated.
Brad Walsh (17:04.93)
Yes, for sure. That's exactly it. Some of these things, yes, you're getting paid to go and speak, but the opportunity for connections can end up being worth more than money can give you. And that's the way you have to look at it is don't go into it with what's in this for me. You can't you can't go into it that way. It's gotta be how can I be of service? And like you said, yes, of course we have to get paid for what we're doing. We're providing a service for people, but you can't go in with that soul mindset. It's about
What else is there in this? How can I help people?
Shauna Lynn Simon (17:38.076)
yeah. I mean, I've worked with numerous coaches over the years. And one of the big things that coaches help clients do, myself included, is something I help my clients do, is close more sales. And there's these techniques that we can use and these trigger phrases that we use to try to close sales. And I remember trying to use different people's frameworks, and none of them felt right.
Instead, I went back to basics. I was like, when do I sell the most? And honestly, it's from having very real conversations. So now, if you're interested in coaching with me, we're gonna set up a coaching assessment call. I'm gonna ask you some questions. At no point am I going into the saying, I am going to sell X, Y, or Z, or I'm going to leave this conversation by closing a sale. Because genuinely, if I listen to what it is that you need, I can direct you to the right place. And sometimes that right place isn't me. And that's okay, but I'm having those real conversations.
Brad Walsh (18:25.443)
Yeah.
Shauna Lynn Simon (18:29.27)
And I have found that when I'm genuinely wanting to help someone and genuinely listen to them and understand them, they naturally want to work with me. Yeah. It's not, it's not a sales tactic, right? So much as it is just I kind of just went back to base. Like, what if I throw out all this sales garbage that I've learned? And don't get me wrong, having an understanding of how sales and closing works is i indispensable in business. You do need to know these things, but then you've still got to tailor everything to what really fits with you and your values. And I think for women, especially.
We struggle with the hard cell because it feels a little too masculine to us. Yeah. But the soft cell can sometimes be a little too soft as well. So it's like, you know, how do we find that kind of happy medium between things? Now you have had, as we said, over 800 conversations. What are some patterns that you've noticed that these women entrepreneurs have after 800 conversations? I'm sure you're kind of seeing similar things.
Brad Walsh (19:26.594)
yeah.
Shauna Lynn Simon (19:26.86)
All women. Like what are some of the things that come back time and time again that we could learn from?
Brad Walsh (19:31.482)
man. So I found eight, actually. I sat down and I thought about all of this. I found eight and this is going into my book that I'm working that I've finished the first draft of. There's eight common themes that I found. And so I think two of the biggest ones, one of them is we've been so focused on telling women that they are the problem, that we need the women need to fix themselves. They need more confidence training. They need more leadership training. They need more executive presence training. They need more sales training. All of these things.
And then nothing could be further from the truth. It's not the women that are broken. It's the systems that don't work. The systems need to be fixed. It's not the women. So we need to change the systems. This and this is probably the biggest one out of all of them. And I call Wrong Thing Fixed. WTF, Wrong Thing Fixed. We've been so focused on fixing the women. It's not the women that are the problem. The women should not have to.
Step into we'll use corporate as an example, step into a boardroom and adopt male energy. Yes, we all have feminine and masculine energy within us, but women have for so long had to wear this mask and step into an energy that's not who they truly are. And as we all know, if you're not embodying who you truly are, you're not living in alignment You're not showing up to your best self. Exactly. As you just said, even with the sales thing. If yes, you have to have the foundation, but throw the other
**** out and step into your authenticity and just be who you are because that's what's going to sell. And so it's the same thing. We've been so focused on telling the women that they need to be fixed. No, it's the systems. Listen, these systems were created and built by men for men. And when they were built, yes, that was the of course, because women weren't in the workforce then. But we have been at a point for quite a while now where these systems don't work anymore and we're expecting women to embody a different person.
act like men and they're not men. There are physiological **** differences. Like let's realize that. And we have to stop expecting that of women. And so I think women are getting very, very tired. And I think we're seeing mass exodus from corporate women leaving because they're like, this doesn't work for me. I'm sorry. I'm tired of putting on this mask and wearing this mask to work every day. It doesn't work anymore. And so they're leaving and starting their own businesses. And
Brad Walsh (21:46.956)
More power to them. Amazing. I think we should have more women in entrepreneurship. Absolutely. But that's the first one. Is we've been so focused on telling women they need to be fixed and that's not the issue. The systems are the issue. Second one, and I think this one is even more prevalent. And I think if I could hazard a guess, shows up in about ninety nine percent of the women that I've interviewed. Wow. Is what I call the crumbs pattern because they're so focused on
Doing everything for everybody else. And then they get the crumbs, whatever's left over. No, you deserve the whole meal. You don't deserve the crumbs. And so this all, in my opinion, and what I've learned, this comes from all the conditioning that women have been brought into and taught as little girls. It starts from when they're little girls, just like there's conditioning for boys too. I'm not this is not a blame and point fingers thing, but
Women have been conditioned to believe that they are supposed to put everyone else ahead of them, their husband, their wife, their partner, their kids, their community, their friends, their family, all the things. And then what the hell is left for them? They are exhausted. They are burnt out. And again, this is part of what's leading to the mass exodus from corporate and from nine to five jobs is women are tired and they're like, No, I can't do this anymore. Not only do I have to do this at work every day, but then I have to go home and
Make sure my husband or wife is fed, my partner, make sure the kids are fed, make sure the kids' homeworks get done, make sure the kids get to sports, make sure that everything the gifts are bought for the birthday parties and all the things, the endless which is another pattern I call invisible labor that we don't see, that most people don't see. It's all the other things that women are doing. So those are two of the biggest things. The invisible labor, of course, is another huge one. I would say ninety nine percent of the women
go through that piece as well and dealing with that. And so this is a huge part of why I wrote the book is that we need to talk about these patterns and shine a light on them so that we as a society, we as a collective can pull the lessons from those themes to do better together as a collective, as a society, so that men can support their women better and women can support their men. Because it's not only women that need support, men need support too. They are struggling.
Brad Walsh (24:10.156)
Back to the conditioning for boys. We now I was raised very differently, so I didn't experience this, but I would hazard a guess to say ninety percent of men when they're boys, they're pull up put on your big boy. All these things, put on your big boy pants, stop crying like a little girl. Get your emotions in check. Big boys don't cry. All of these things. And it's bull**** because what you're doing is you're teaching your boys to suppress their emotions. We are emotive beings. We're humans. We have emotions, whether you're a boy or a girl.
You have emotions. And so you by doing this, you're teaching them to suppress their emotions. And then what's going to happen? They're going to get to a point in their lives when they're grown up that they just explode and they've kept everything down and inside for so long. What else is going to happen? It's a ticking time bomb.
Shauna Lynn Simon (24:57.452)
Yeah. Yeah. And Oh my gosh, you touched on so many things just there. Like I don't even know where to start. First of all, I am genuinely excited for this book to come out because I think it's something that I think women need to have reflected back as well. Like we need to see the patterns that you're seeing are things that we might be aware of. And while this is not necessarily like a data-backed statistical study, there are definitely things that, you know, after all the conversations you've had that you're recognizing. The crumbs one, I think is really interesting because you're so right about there's so many different ways that that one
shows up it definitely shows up in the burnout that women experience that they've just come to believe that they're just supposed to do all of these things. But it also comes up in their self-sacrificing way. So again this goes back to like you can be in service of others without having to be self-sacrificing. Those two do not necessarily have to go hand in hand. And I think we've been led to believe that in order to serve people best we have to self-sacrifice. So when I have conversations with women, I cannot explain even how many times I've had these conversations.
But one of the big things that always comes up when I say to them, like, what are our goals? What do we want to make for money this year? Or what do you want your business to make in money? Or what, you know, where are we taking this? And I get a lot of similar answers along the lines of just enough. I just need enough for X. I just need enough for this. I don't want to say I don't believe the women saying this, but I will challenge almost every woman who says this to me when they say that they don't really need any more.
Maybe you don't need more, but it doesn't mean you're not allowed to want more.
Brad Walsh (26:28.866)
Or you're not deserving of more.
Shauna Lynn Simon (26:31.308)
Or that you're not deserving of more. And I think the challenge comes in where we feel like we need to play smaller. We don't want to actually admit out loud or even to ourselves that we want bigger things. And I think we associate it often, and this comes back from some of the masculine energy. A lot of times making more money meant going out and buying big and shiny things. Yeah. And showing off. And that was kind of frowned upon, especially for women. Yeah.
And maybe you do actually wanna buy the big shiny thing, like I don't know about you, I still want my Porsche. Like I they're beautiful vehicles. I don't care how much they cost, they're beautiful vehicles. For the time being, I love my Mini Cooper. But yeah, the next car just might be a Porsche. But it's not about but then and on the
Brad Walsh (27:13.24)
Putting that out to the universe, Shauna Lynn. It's happening.
Shauna Lynn Simon (27:16.31)
It's happening, you know, but like I don't actually even really care that much about cars. It's never really been a big thing for me. But the and I don't need a big house. I don't need big and flashy things. But I do know that I need money to pay for the things that I do want and enjoy. For me, a lot of it's more lifestyle than anything else. I just want to know that certain things are comfortable. I want to know that I can it continue my health journey without ever having to feel like, can I afford to buy that next supplement? Can I afford to
Pay money to go to that next race. And of course, because I don't like to do races locally, because that's just not challenging enough. I like to travel to them. So every race I do is not just the price of admission, but it's also the plane ticket to get there, the hotel room for it, the other sites I'm going to see while I'm there. Not to mention that training. I eat a lot of food for starters when I'm training for something like it is not an inexpensive thing. I'm a runner at heart and like
A lot of times there's a big joke in the running community that it is a very inexpensive thing. Like just need a pair of running shoes and go out for a run. Let me tell you, every runner will tell you it costs a lot of money to be a runner. The point is so that those are the things that I know I want to spend my money on. They may not outwardly show to someone else what I'm investing, but I know that when I'm making money is to support my lifestyle. And I don't feel guilty for a second for wanting that and for going out and getting that.
Brad Walsh (28:17.91)
Mm-hmm. I'm sure.
Shauna Lynn Simon (28:35.522)
But so many women have been trained to not want more than what's given to them. And so that's where that crumbs comes in. It's like you said, like we take after everybody else has taken. And I don't know, like maybe we start like ladies, start getting up from the table and serving yourself before serving anybody else. It's special small things sometimes, honestly.
Brad Walsh (28:55.534)
That right there, right? This is the whole way of living that was shown to us. It's like, the woman serves everyone else, and then you get to sit down and I don't know. Like I said, I was raised very differently. It's like you get off your ass and you help. Like you set the table, you clear the table, you help with the dishes, all of these things. This is how I was raised. I don't know that. Yes, I've seen it in friends' houses that I've gone to and all the things, but
This is not the world I was raised in. I was raised that no, no, this is not only a mom's thing to do. You get the hell off your ass and you're helping out. Or you're not eating. Get off your ass.
Shauna Lynn Simon (29:35.222)
It's the same thing in that's how I was raised. That's how all my cousins were raised. Like it was men and women. Yes. And we actually we tended to lean towards the younger you are, the more work that you do. And it was more of a respect your elders than anything else. And that I still respect. 100%. I still respect that. but listen, I want to dive into a little bit more about what the community that you've built. We're just gonna take this short break and we'll be right back.
All right, welcome back to the Real Women Real Business Podcast, where I've been speaking with Brad Walsh and he has had quite the journey.
Of supporting women, and he's all about you know amplifying women's voices and helping to provide a space and a community for women. And one of the things that came out of the podcast that he's created and all the things that he has done working with women is that he saw a need for a bigger community, a way to bring all these women together. Because he's having these individual conversations, of course. And how do I bring these women together? And what's interesting is he's got this membership community.
And he when he told me about it, I was super excited, but I'm like, this sounds fantastic. And then I we realized that he was running into some of the same challenges that we all run into. And that is finding the right words for somebody else. So this kind of got us into this whole conversation about benefits and value versus like what you see it actually doing. Cause I think we're all really good at identifying the features of the things that we do. But it takes a little bit more to dig into the benefits of what it actually is. So I think we've got it kind of figured out now.
Brad Walsh (31:54.731)
I think so.
Shauna Lynn Simon (31:55.35)
It's fantastic. So tell me a little bit about this community that you have built, how it came about and what it is that you're focused on doing.
Brad Walsh (32:02.89)
Well, that if I can go back to before I started it and I don't remember if I told you this or not, but I had had a woman on my podcast and this woman, seven figure earner, she lived bicontinental, she lives in Italy and Florida. She works four days a month. And so we were talking after her interview and we were talking about monetization and so sh we were talking about starting a network 'cause this was something that I always wanted to do is start a virtual network. And so she kind of
walked me through and helped me out a little bit, gave me some ideas. And so I crafted the email to send out because she's like, get on this. Don't wait. We crafted the email. I sent it to her just to look over. She sent it back to me. And it sat there in my draft folder for five months because I got in my own way. I got in my head. It's like, who's going to want to join? Who's going to want to pay? Is anyone going to respond? All the things, all the hurdles that we throw up. And
I got to the point where I took a break from the podcast at the end of April. I said, I'm not doing any more interviews. I'm gonna take the summer off. And so I was sitting, I think it was probably June, and I finally sat down on my career. I'm like, you know what? I'm just gonna send it out. I don't care. Whoever, if no one responds, okay, then it's something's not right and I gotta tweak it or just move on to a d another idea. I sent it out and I was getting I'm in immediately. I
We now have twenty one women in the network, the Empowerment Network. We've had three sessions so far. They have been absolutely amazing and incredible. These women are I'm putting them into breakout rooms and they're going in and connecting with all of most of these women don't know each other from Adam. And so they're coming out of these breakout rooms saying, oh my God, this was so easy to connect with other women. This is unlike any other networking opportunity I've ever had. I love this. And we've set up time to connect outside of here. And one of the biggest things
In speaking with the women as they were saying yes, and some that were on the fence about it, all of them were saying the same thing. They're tired of being sold to. They're tired of being pitched to. I do not want that. And so I had already known that that was not going to be part of it. But it was just further enforced by having these conversations with these women who were sitting on the fence about, well, is this really for me? Should I join this? Because this is my past experience. And so
Brad Walsh (34:24.489)
I just wanna reiterate that that is not what this container is about. It is honestly about true, real, authentic connection. And so there's Hot Seat Coaching. There's as you said, we we list off all the features of it. But at the foundation of it, it is a place for women to authentically connect with each other and support each other. Because as we all know, entrepreneurship can be very, very lonely. Solopreneurship, it can be lonely. So this is a place to meet
Heart and like-minded women to connect with each other and support each other and support each other through their struggles, sharing their struggles, having the space to be vulnerable enough to share your struggles and then have other women who have walked or are walking very similar paths jump in and support you. You know that you have women in your corner supporting you and cheering you on and offering advice because we all have different experiences. So these women are offering their journeys and experiences.
to help support these other women. That's the biggest piece of it is the support.
Shauna Lynn Simon (35:23.234)
Yeah, and you know what, like I've been a a huge advocate of accountability partners for a number of years. I've actually worked with different organizations to help people to find their own accountability partner because I think it's something that has so much
value. So I have a a partner myself. I meet with her once a week. We cover anything that's challenging for either one of us. We work through things that might be just a review this proposal with me. Other times it might be just simpler of like I just need to talk this out. I've been a part of mastermind groups, which to me the group that you're talking about sounds to me more like a mastermind group where you have this safe space that you can go to, bring the challenges that you're facing and workshop them with some other entrepreneurs who understand because I gotta tell you, like
I love my family and friends, but the ones who become closest for me tend to be the ones who are living a similar journey, who are entrepreneurs. because there are certain friends and family that like when I talk about the work that I'm doing, they just want high level. Like they, you know, like I can I can talk about a challenge that I'm having, but they really don't have anything to offer or anything they do offer is it's kind of like, yeah, and like I would have tried that six years ago, but we're kind of a different place now. You know, it's just it's and it's not without the best of intentions.
Brad Walsh (36:29.708)
It's just not relatable for them. Yeah. Can I share an experience from the last meeting that we had? Actually, this was one of the women came forward. This was the Hot Seat Coaching. And she runs a business. She lives in Costa Rica. She is Canadian, but she lives in Costa Rica now. And she runs a business where she helps people find resorts and all of these things. That's part of her business. And so she came on the call. She's not on social media at all. Instagram, link, none of it. None of it.
Shauna Lynn Simon (36:31.126)
It's just not relatable.
Brad Walsh (36:59.776)
And so she came on and she was saying that she's now because of what she's seen in the community and all of these women on social media because I also created a Google Sheet for women to share their social media handles so they can connect with each other. Yes, exactly. So she said before the meeting, before she got on to the meeting, she was checking out people's profiles and watching what they were doing. She actually signed up and started an Instagram account, but she came on and said that her problem was she's struggling with visibility. She kept using the term.
faceless brand and every single so she shared what she was struggling with and the whole faceless brand thing and every single woman that wanted to that put up their hand to help. No, don't do that. That is not the thing. By the end of the call, Shauna Lynn, she was like, Okay, it's not going to be a faceless brand. I am going to put my photos up. I am going to put myself out there visibly. I'm going to do videos talking. It completely changed the way she looked at things. And that is, I think
The nucleus or the foundation of what this group is all about is that support. And it wasn't in a you need to do this. It was let's look at it this way. And women were sharing their experience. There were a lot of other women in there that said, I struggle with visibility too, but I just do it. Yeah. And so it was very, very loving support for her. And she it shifted her way of thinking. And she said, Okay, no more faceless brand.
Shauna Lynn Simon (38:23.778)
And that's huge to be able to have a momentous shift like that in your perspective. And it's something that you can't get from like AI, for example. I mean, like a like I think in the world in the age of AI, listen, we're all using it. I mean, majority of us are using it anyway. and there's a lot of value to it. I it's hard for me to remember what what my life was like without AI in it. And at the same time, the more
AI we use, the more we need those human connections. Cause there are certain things that you just will never be able to get from AI. And so to be able to have women's lived experiences, like listen, AI doesn't have any lived experiences. They're not, they're not real entities. They're not real things. They are drawing on everybody else's experiences. These are women who have real emotions, real experiences, real day-to-day life challenges and such that they can actually draw from.
That are going to connect. And to me, that's where a big part of the value is, is in the ability to take your biggest burning questions that you have and bring them to a group of supportive women that are not going to judge you, that are going to hear you and understand you. And like I remember when my first business was a home staging business. And shortly after I started the business, the real estate staging association was formed. And so this is a not for profit.
trade association that was formed for professional home stagers. And I can remember going to one my first meetings of our local RESA chapter and showing up there. And I honestly wasn't sure what I was going to get out of it. I just was open to whatever it brought. But one of the biggest things was just that validation when I would say something that I would do and other people were like, Oh my gosh, I had that same issue. I have that same problem. It's just like really and like I remember my dad lived with MS for about 30 years.
And he resisted doing a lot of the support programs that were available through the MS community. And eventually he started going and he went to this one group meeting the one time and he came back and he was like, wow, I wish I'd done that sooner. I said, What was the best part, Dad? And said, Well, I mentioned something that like one of these symptoms that he was dealing with. And he's like, I honestly didn't think anybody else had it, especially because MS does present very differently in each person. Right. But he would talk about certain things that he experiences and everybody there could relate to it.
Shauna Lynn Simon (40:44.854)
And as much as my entire family, you know, we did our best to help him navigate things and empathize to the best of our ability. The reality is that I never lived a single day with MS. Right. So I don't actually know what it felt like to be in his body. I think I have a bit of an idea in perimenopause now of what it's like to have your body completely like revert on things like you knew how to do this yesterday, but today you can't. Not quite the same thing, but I think I have a better appreciation of it now.
But the point is that like he was connecting with these people, mostly women, just simply because men don't tend to get MS nearly as frequently as women do. Unfortunately, fortunate for me wasn't trying to say that I know. But the point is though that you know he was connecting with these women in a way that he just genuinely didn't know existed. I think that's a big thing too, is that like we feel to your point of that isolation, we feel so isolated. We feel like no one else is going to understand this.
Brad Walsh (41:19.726)
Yes, yes.
Shauna Lynn Simon (41:38.562)
And then we get into these communities, we're like, Oh my gosh, these people get me. Like, I have found my tribe, I have found my people, I found my community. And there's so much power in that. And I think what's challenging about the community that you're building in the messaging is that one of the first things that you said to me about what do people get out of it? You said connection. I'm like, okay, sure. Duh. I respect this at all, but what does that mean for them? And I think that's a hard thing to kind of make it as tangible.
As it really is. But I think this is the big part of it. Like, you know that that thing that just keeps like eating away at the back of your brain that you just can't move forward on. Like for you, it was that email that was in your draft. Like, if you had had a community to workshop it with a little bit more, that email wouldn't have sat there for five months. You would have had it out in a day or a couple of days. Like it's getting that support, that validation. And sometimes the validation comes in the form of people telling you you're going down the wrong path, like the visibility thing you talked about with the woman.
And you know, none of us want to be told we're doing something the wrong way, of course, but wouldn't it be better to have a bunch of people telling us or sharing their own experience with us of like what they have found works? And if that's opposite to what we were to plan on doing, instead of spending all of our time, money, and resources going down the wrong path and trying something that's been proven to work for numerous people, that isn't some guru shout shouting at the top of their lungs, telling you to do this eight step program that's guaranteed to get you ten thousand followers by the end of the week. Like
It's so different. So I think this is a a really powerful community that you're building. I'm excited for it. I think that so many people in this audience, in this community, would really get so much out of it. Where do they find this community? What what is the name of it? Where's we'll put the link for it in our show notes.
Brad Walsh (43:06.647)
It is.
Brad Walsh (43:24.222)
It's called it's called the Empowerment Network. I have a link for the page that shows you everything. I just want to go back to something. You know, this is a very new network. And so we've had three sessions, like I said. And these women, most of them didn't know each other from Adam when we started. And the beauty of this, and I think it's the beauty of community in general, is that these women are genuinely, honestly and authentically supporting each other.
They don't know each other from Adam. Yeah.
Shauna Lynn Simon (43:54.616)
But no expectations for anything.
Brad Walsh (43:56.588)
Exactly. That and that's what it's about is supporting people. And it goes back to being in and of service. These women are sharing their experiences because they don't want to see others go through or go down that same path. If we can help someone to not have to struggle the way we did, why wouldn't we share what we've learned to help someone? So that's is the beauty of what this container is about, is because that's what's really happening here is the sharing of information.
to prevent others from going through similar struggles so that we can help lift each other up. It's the hand down the ladder, the hand up the ladder. You there's always going to be someone above you and there will always be someone that's a couple steps behind. Extend your hand down to help them up and someone is doing that for you to help pull you up. So that's what it's
Shauna Lynn Simon (44:40.456)
I love that analogy. I think we've all seen the memes on social media that relate to this, but it is so true that, you know, as we're being raised up, we can write raise up those people that are just a couple of steps behind us. And what's beautiful too is that when you have a community like this, there isn't that comparing, you know, your starting to someone else's middle or someone else's peak necessarily. Like you're all kind of in a same place and sharing those experiences. And if there is one thing that I know that I have truly valued about
All of the failures that I've had in my life is being able to share them with others to help them to avoid some of these things that I've stumbled upon. and it doesn't mean that, you know, it's sort of like, you know, with your children, you always want them to do better than you, but you're never going to prevent them from making and repeating some of your mistakes because those are the lessons that we do take out of things. But if we can share with others what we've learned, what we've gotten out of these things that we've experienced, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Brad Walsh (45:13.776)
Exactly.
Shauna Lynn Simon (45:35.958)
It's amazing what we can do to come together. And one thing that I really love about this network though too is that you're not at the top, so to speak, of you've actually even said like you barely say a
Brad Walsh (45:43.764)
No.
Yeah, I'm in the background. I'm off in the back. Even like with the Hot Seat Coaching, I don't give my two cents unless I'm asked. Nope. This is not I'm just here to kind of guide or facilitate the entire thing. It's nothing to do with me. So the women are there supporting each other. I don't put my two cents in because I didn't create the container for me. I created it for the women. So it's for them to support each other. And just to go back one second, I think we all have to remember that we all started at the beginning.
You started there too, so
Shauna Lynn Simon (46:19.25)
Absolutely. And of course certain things that I take on where I go back to the beginning. Like I've got to like as we grow, we take on new challenges, we add new things, we explore new avenues. And every time we do, we're at the beginning again. Yeah.
Brad Walsh (46:32.568)
So we have to keep that in mind. But yes, so I'm in the background. I'm like a I'm I disappear into the walls, the virtual walls. I'm just a a flower, a wallflower. I'm just there to to kind of put people put the women into breakout rooms. And like I said, if I'm asked for my two cent, of course, I'll give it. But otherwise it's gotten nothing to do with me because it's not about me. It's just the same thing with the podcast. This isn't about me. It's about shining a light on the women who are doing amazing things.
Shauna Lynn Simon (46:59.542)
I love it. Brad, I gotta tell you, we could talk for hours, but I do like to be mindful of my audience's time. And I think it's time to start wrapping this up. If someone's listening to this episode today and they take one nugget from it, one little takeaway from this, what do you hope they walk away with out of today's episode?
Brad Walsh (47:18.862)
That anything is possible. Believe in yourself and don't listen to the naysayers. Don't pay attention to that. And whatever is meant for you will never go by you. Never forget that. Believe in yourself. And your you can't compare your year one to someone's year five. The only competition you have is you. That's it. If you can look back at your work and see that you've improved over the over time, that's all that matters.
Shauna Lynn Simon (47:43.224)
Beautiful. I love it. Thank you so much. And so listen, we're going make sure that we have links for the Empowerography podcast. You can check out Brad's podcast and the conversations he's having with some incredible women in our community. We'll also have a link to that membership community as well. Lots of great things. So be sure to check out the show notes for all of that. And honestly, truly, Brad, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so glad that we got to have this conversation. I'm so glad that we were connected.
Brad Walsh (48:09.602)
Yes. I can't thank you enough, Shauna Lynn. This has been an absolutely amazing conversation. Even better than I thought it would be. And I knew it would be amazing because you and I have amazing conversations. But this has just been absolutely incredible. And again, I cannot express to you just how honored I am that you invited me into this space to be the second male voice on your podcast. That honor is not lost on me and it is greatly and deeply appreciated. So thank you for that and just
Thank you for welcoming me into the space.
Shauna Lynn Simon (48:41.538)
Well, thank you for sharing all that you have with my audience. I think it's something that I just knew we had to have this conversation. I knew my audience was going to resonate with you and would value what you bring to the table. And that's the most important thing for me. So it's not about male or female voices necessarily. It's about who has the messages that I know that my community can really benefit from. And you are definitely.
one of those people. So thank you again for joining me. And for everyone who's listening to this podcast today, I want to thank you as well for tuning in today and allowing me to continue to be a part of your journey. And I hope that you will continue to tune in each week. Don't forget to hit subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review. It really does help the algorithm and we very much appreciate it. So help other women to find this podcast. And of course the best way that you can support not only this podcast but your fellow women entrepreneurs
is to take this episode and share it with someone that you know needs to hear this message today. I know as you were listening to this, someone came to mind. Share this episode with them. They will thank you for. And of course, I would be ever so appreciative that you continue to share our message with others. So thank you so much. And until next time, everyone, keep thriving.