#awinewith Mariah MacInnes
MEET Mariah MacInnes, Founder of Content Queen Mariah
You can find them here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:00):
You are listening to Spark TV where we bring you daily interviews with real women in business at all stages. I'm your host, Danielle Lewis, and I am so grateful to have you here. So good. Mariah, welcome to Spark tv.
Mariah MacInnes (00:15):
Thank you for having me. I'm very excited to be here.
Danielle Lewis (00:18):
I'm so excited that you're excited. I'm excited to talk to you. I can already tell that we're going to have a good chat. We've been gas bagging for the last 10 minutes and not recording
Mariah MacInnes (00:28):
My favorite thing to do.
Danielle Lewis (00:29):
I know, same. That's why I have a podcast so that all I have to do for a job is talk to people. I wish that all I did was talk to people. Actually, that's not all I have to do. Oh my God, so good. Let's start out by telling everyone who you are and what you do.
Mariah MacInnes (00:45):
Yeah, so my name is Mariah and I'm the founder of Content Queen, which is a content marketing agency and educational business and we serve small business owners and entrepreneurs helping them with content marketing. Basically, I guess the number one hottest thing out there is being on social media or creating podcasts and blogs, but not everyone likes doing it themselves or they want a bit of support and they want it to be a little bit more strategic. But I love blending in that storytelling element. I have a background in journalism, so I love really my passion come from storytelling and has sort of evolved into marketing, so that is what I do. But I'm also a digital nomad, so currently I've just purchased a Toyota Coaster bus with no suits in it. Oh my god. And my partner and I leave with literally just made a bed base and we've got a power plug in there and some starlink wifi that we just need to screw to the roof and we're heading off to travel just the east coast. We do want to come west, so that is our plan when we just have a little bit more time. So yeah, I'm a digital nomad. I've traveled with my partner since 2020. We've been to Southeast Asia, south America, Europe, a little bit of Africa, lots of places and we absolutely love it. So right now I'm labeled as digital nomad or marketing nomad. I like to call
Danielle Lewis (02:04):
Myself, oh my god, this is so cool. I love this. Isn't it wild that we live in a time where you can literally invent a business and do it from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection, I think you're set.
Mariah MacInnes (02:21):
Yep, and it's so funny, I was reflecting today, I have a coaching client. I don't really do a lot of one-on-one coaching, but I have one that I've been with since 2021 and we have a monthly call and I was saying to her, yes, next time you'll see me I'll be in the bus and I promise the wifi will be good because of the star link because one time I literally had to do a call with her sitting out front of a library in Spain that shut for Siesta connecting to mobile hotspot and in Spain they have really bad reception and phone and everything and I was like, I'm really sorry. And I was just reflecting on that today you can literally, I have worked on the side of the road waiting for an Uber after a salsa festival in the south of France. I've literally worked in the most random places because sometimes you just got to quickly get on and do something, especially in the world of social media and content, it's like 24 7 and so you literally can work anywhere from your bed all the way to sitting on the ground waiting for an Uber in France.
Danielle Lewis (03:19):
I just think it's so cool. It's actually really funny. I used to get stressed out about traveling as in can I switch off? Can I not switch off? And when I made that mindset shift that actually if I need to jump on in the Uber on the way from the airport to somewhere and answer a few emails, I'm reframe to how lucky am I that I get to have this trip or have this experience or go to this conference or visit this person and get my job done anyway. I think sometimes people think that it's bad that we're so connected and you can work from anywhere, but I actually think if you reframe that, it's so empowering and it's like I don't care if I do a few emails or a proposal or something from the couch or an Uber or on the side of the road because it means I get to experience all this other stuff during the time where other people are sitting behind their corporate desk dying at work.
Mariah MacInnes (04:18):
Yeah, I remember when I worked in corporate, say we finished at four 30 and it was a hot day. I worked in Melbourne and was quite close to the beach and I'd run to the beach to quickly get a swim in to go home and you could almost, for example, if my partner and I have to go anywhere, sometimes I'll just do stuff in the car while he drives because
(04:38):
I just want to get it done and then when we get there, but it's so funny because even for example, we just got back from Southeast Asia and we're in the Philippines and say we work during the week and we can work wherever, but most of the time it's just easier from the Airbnb and then come the weekend we're snorkeling with sardines and jumping off cliffs and your weekend is just so random. Whereas at home at the moment at mom and dad's, just until we travel again, your weekend's a little bit more chill and tame. But it's so cool to have that flexibility and I love that reframe because yeah, sometimes you're like, oh, it would be nice to just switch off and do nothing, but that's sort of like we kind of could do that on the weekends when no one else is online anyway. But during the week, I think it was luxury when my boss would say, oh, you've got a doctor's appointment, finish early and finish the rest of your work from home. I'm like, oh, how fun is this?
Danielle Lewis (05:24):
I was so lucky. Yes, thank you for making sure my medical needs are attended to
Mariah MacInnes (05:33):
And then I would just work in the afternoon from my kitchen table. This is so cool. And now it's so normal.
Danielle Lewis (05:42):
You my God. Oh, I love it. I love it. And I've learned too, so my husband is really amazing on his mobile. He can literally do, I reckon 95% of his job from his phone. I know, it's wild. He doesn't have creative job though. He's like a manager job, so that helps. But it's also taught me, I would often see something on my phone and be like, oh yeah, I'll do that later and then work stacks up and I've kind of adopted his mentality of, because he's one of these annoying people that has inbox zero every Friday and I'm like, I hate you, but it's kind of taught me to just do stuff on the fly. If you're just sitting there watching TV and you notice something or if you're out and about and you notice something, whatever, just get rid of it and don't let work pile up because otherwise you're sitting there doing all of this admin stuff when you could actually be doing more, I guess deeper work, creative work, work that's going to grow the business.
Mariah MacInnes (06:41):
I actually had this limiting belief as well that I had to wait till I was on my laptop, even though I worked very flexibly from wherever, and I was like, actually it would be really good to start learning to use my phone a lot more to do bits and pieces. And it does change your mindset a little bit or how you get things done because I was always that kid at school that would do their homework when they got home because I was like, oh, I want to talk with people. But then of course I'm getting home and I'm working, doing all my homework. Obviously that was quite a while ago now, but I built that into my own business, that kind of habit as a kid. So it is better to just, and not put things off until you've got a better moment or you're not as distracted, whereas there are some things you can do. Sometimes I've had my fair share of doctor's appointments. I've got a very wild health background, but sometimes in the waiting room I just say, I'll just do these few emails, whereas I'd be like, I'll wait till I get home, but I'm just sitting there anyway so I might as well just get 'em done. Whereas before I would always be like, oh, this will be better to read or my computer, and it's like not necessarily.
(07:48):
Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (07:49):
I know. Isn't it funny how we bring, it's almost like school teaches us the habits for corporate life and then we decide, oh my God, we want to be free and have our own businesses and we just take all of the habits we've learned over the last however many decades into our business and then we wonder why we're trapped in unhappy again.
Mariah MacInnes (08:06):
Yeah, literally. I have reality checked myself on that quite often because I think it's very hard sometimes when I'm here at mom and we just travel and then have a reset and stay with them, annoy them and then go again. Now we've got the bus, we'll have a home. So that's nice. And yeah, I, I fall into the nine to five when I'm here and I feel way more rigid to what I have to get done in that time. Whereas when we're traveling it's like whatever, we can do whatever we want
Danielle Lewis (08:35):
Totally. If it comes about the outcome and what do I need to get done for a client or a project or a admin or whatever, and then it's like, well, if it's done I can go do my own
Mariah MacInnes (08:46):
Thing. And I think you get less hung up on ending the to-do list. Whereas when your wifi find, when I'm more stationary at this point in my life, I want to tick everything off before I finish my day rather than the to-do list is never done. And when you accept that and just move on, your life is so much easier. And even with stress, I had this realization I guess a couple of years ago, for example, my nan, her stress is the same as my stress, but her tasks are different. So my NAN'S stresses that the housework needs to be done, all the washing needs to be done. Obviously she grew up in a very traditional family that will definitely not be me worrying about my washing. I can tell you
Danielle Lewis (09:26):
That you could see my house, you would know that I'm not worried about
Mariah MacInnes (09:29):
That. Yeah, I would not be worried about that, but that's obviously just how she grew up. Whereas I go, oh my God, why is she stressed about that? She's retired, there's nothing to be stressed about. And I'm like, whoa. The stress is the same. You have to change your mindset to remember that until you die. Sounds very morbid, but literally until you die, you're always going to have something on your to-do list. So you just have to accept it and be like, okay, not everything can get done right now. So I'll just do what I can and especially as we record this, we're going into any kind of holiday, it doesn't matter if it's the public holiday we're currently going into. It's like you are racing to Friday to get everything done for the weekend. And I find myself going, it can wait. It'll be fine. It'll still be there waiting for us and work and you probably won't do the best work anyway. You'll just be trying to get aton to tick it off the list rather than actually being intentional about it. But it is ever evolving. I have to catch myself literally weekly if not daily.
Danielle Lewis (10:26):
It's so true. I do love that. And it is funny, I also find when you are behind a desk and you've got this nine to five mindset, you'll also make tasks fill a whole day. Whereas if you are at a cafe for a couple of hours or you are on the road or you're in between things, it is amazing how quickly you can get tasks done. Sometimes I actually take myself out to coffee or a wine if it's the afternoon to just power through something. If I just sit at my desk, I get up and I have a snack and I go, which task should I do? And it's like, oh my god, woman, you waste the whole day on a couple of things and you probably would've done those in a couple of hours if you were time crunched.
Mariah MacInnes (11:10):
Yeah, that's literally what happens when traveling. My partner and I are so amazed at how much we can get done. We want to go and experience something or do something, but when we're here, we literally work all day. We're like, how do we implement this into, we usually go to the library or a cafe or something because it's literally time expands when you need it to. And I literally am laughing so much because that's me today. Like, oh, okay, what tasks do I do next? And I sit there and just before this call was like, you've got 20 minutes before the call, just pick something and bloody do it. Just see what you can get done and if you don't get it all done, you'll finish it after call. I get trapped in it, as I said all the time, it's just like, it's a very, entrepreneurship is the biggest mindset journey I've ever been on, and I don't think now I'm in it. There's no stopping.
Danielle Lewis (11:59):
No. Oh my God. Totally. That makes me laugh. I literally, I'm just looking at the fiddle fig in the background here. I literally dusted the leaves today. That's how much I was procrastinating. I was like, yeah, get yourself out of your desk. Get yourself out of your environment. Nothing is happening. You know, just have days like that though where it's just like, I should just actually not work. I should actually get out, do something else. Then when I come back I'll be so much more refreshed. But literally just chaining yourself to a desk and forcing yourself to try and get things done. It is just not efficient or productive at all.
Mariah MacInnes (12:37):
No, and it's funny, I say this to myself, well just leave, just get off. And I went to a really interesting talk from a woman, I can't remember her name, she's a doctor, but she talked about how in these moments listening to your body is so important. And after that talk I got home and I was so wrecked and I was like, listen to my body. I don't want to work on Saturday, but I also don't want to work right now, so why don't I just watch tiktoks now because my body just needed to relax. And then the next day I just got up a little bit earlier and did all that work in one hour that I had just been sitting on the couch doing that. And then I was like, no, just watch TikTok what you love to do and that's your happy place.
(13:22):
Just do that and then just do it tomorrow. I know you don't like working on a Saturday, and this is this mindset too about weekend work as well, which I think is quite interesting. This no-no about working on the weekend or working late at night, but I think it's actually finding what works for you because I've done a lot of research into personality developments and human design and all that different spiritual things as well. And actually I've come to work out and been told that if I have endless energy for something, if I need to work on it until 1:00 AM, that's okay. But it's knowing when you are tired and you're just forcing yourself to work and knowing when you've got that endless energy and not feeling guilty about it. I think that's a big, we are on this online world where hustle culture is trashed and all this stuff, but it's not hustle. It's just like when I feel energized to do something, why should I feel bad about liking it? And I think that also comes when you are now at the moment being at my mom and they don't understand really what I do at all, which is hilarious.
Danielle Lewis (14:21):
Don't worry, I've got that kind of job too.
Mariah MacInnes (14:24):
And you work so much and you love it and I don't expect them to understand. But then also you have this little guilt in the back of your mind like, oh, am I working too much? Am I so engrossed in what I do? But they don't understand the amazing people I get to talk to on Zoom all the time, you or all these things that are very social. They don't see that part. They just see me at my laptop typing away. And so it's very hard sometimes. That's why it's amazing to be part of groups and community groups like Spark because you have those people there that are like they get it, they just get it and other people just don't. And that's okay. I've got friends that don't understand and they don't understand when I have to put those boundaries up or if I can't do this, I can't do that.
(15:05):
Or not that I can't, it's just like I'm choosing in this moment to do this. And then you've got people that are in business communities that just like they totally understand and that's what I think makes it amazing with online because we wouldn't have had access to this before. We would've just had to have worked it out ourselves or been alone or had everyone judge us. And I grew up in a really small country town, extremely small. So small businesses like physical store rags to riches kind of vibes, that's what it is. Online business is super weird. I think it's becoming more prevalent as some influences are popping up in this area and some different online communities and stuff. But yeah, when people don't understand it, I think it makes it a little bit challenging to not feel guilty about working and loving what you do. We've been grown up to just work for your money and that's it kind of thing.
Danielle Lewis (15:59):
And I feel like too, when you have a job, yes you can kind of work hard and get a promotion or if you're in sales you might get paid more if you sell more or whatever. But I feel like because your earning potential is capped, no one can really understand working longer than you actually should. Whereas in business it's like, well, if I work more, I have the potential to make more or innovate or make things easier for myself or a better experience for my customers. It's kind of, I know literally it's funny, I was literally just talking to someone about marketing and how I feel bad as a sales and marketing person. I'm like, you should test every channel until you find what works for your business and then go all in on that. But it's so time consuming and I do come from hustle culture era after being in business for 10 years, but I agree, I love it and I don't think it's hustling, but I feel bad sometimes saying that to people.
(16:57):
I know we do live in this time where it's a little bit more like everyone wants this balance and this calm and this peace and it's like I feel like someone once said something like, it's only stressful when you don't like what you're doing, but when you working 24 hours a day, if you're passionate about it, it doesn't feel bad and it doesn't feel stressful. So I feel like I totally, what I'm trying to say is I totally agree with you because it is that if you're excited about it and you're building something, it's almost, I never considered myself a creative person at all, but building a business is kind of like that. It's like you get to create, build something that's just yours, that's all of your ideas, your effort, your blood, sweat and tears and you just don't get that when you are working nine to five. And I don't you get it as well sometimes if you are more trying to find the balance because I don't think you're going all in on it. And it's very controversial that I said that.
Mariah MacInnes (18:01):
I think we have seasons too and your boss tell you when you are pushing too much. And I think that's what I really got out because for context, yeah, I had two tumors and cancer in 2021 and holy shit, crazy operation of organs removed my, I'm fine now. I still see an oncologist and I still monitor my health. And I never understood what listening to your body meant. And I thought it was a little bit of bullshit to be honest. And I said that to this woman that spoke, to be honest, I thought that was stupid when I heard it. And then obviously getting sick, I started to realize what listening to your body felt like. And your body will always tell you when. And it's like those moments where you are on your computer and maybe it is getting a bit late and you're getting frustrated and you're
Danielle Lewis (18:47):
Like,
Mariah MacInnes (18:47):
That's when you are like, okay, I need to rest. And there's going to be like over the Easter break, I really wanted to have some business development time and refilm some modules to one of my courses and I was just not, you could just tell from the videos, it just wasn't in it. And I think I slept a lot and I read just some novels and just immersed myself in just nothing. And part of my back of my mind was like, oh, you could have got so much done, but now I'm coming to understand that no, no, no. That's what I needed in that moment. And then for the other moments where I want to work a lot, sorry, computer charger nearly,
(19:24):
I get really passionate getting very handsy, the legs. I love it. So yeah, I think you go through those during the season where I needed the surgery and everything, I had to really disconnect and be in my, I guess more feminine and more nurturing stage. And I think that's what happens when some people have a business and maybe become a mother or become a mother to anything, not just a child, maybe a dog or when I started my relationship with my partner, I was already a couple of years into business and I felt that needed nurturing at that time. So I probably wasn't as in I needed that, just that kind of space. And now I'm like, and he helps me in the business and he works with me and it's just so much fun. So I think there's seasons, but I totally resonate with what you're saying.
(20:09):
I think there's a lot of online, I think we're now made to feel guilty if we like working more than what we should should, but it's a legacy thing. We're building a legacy and I think that that's what it really is. And even a client of mine who is more in that business strategy coaching, who really likes integrating rituals and not so much balance, more like that harmony of grounding herself or meditations and things like that. She started a startup, so she's in that phase of, she's got two businesses now, so she's working a lot more. But then there's seasons where I think you have that more of that pause moments and yeah, I think it's a
Danielle Lewis (20:50):
Cycle. I love that. And I also think it's a good point about time horizons. I think if you are just thinking in today, of course you're stressed, of course you want to push yourself too far. Of course you worry about the to-do list. But I love that idea that there will be seasons and moments and check in on your energy. What's my body telling me? Because business is also a really long game. If you're going to build anything meaningful, it takes decades. Dare I say it?
Mariah MacInnes (21:22):
Oh, for sure. No one talks about that though. I think no one actually talks about how long, even with content marketing sales, you would know this as well. You're seeing people go viral and doing this, and nine times out of 10, those influencers that have a lot of followers or those businesses have previous experience in creating content in some way always, as I said, nine times out of 10, unless they're that rare one that goes, I have fucking no idea what has happened. Say they're putting money behind it
Danielle Lewis (21:53):
Or
Mariah MacInnes (21:53):
Money. Exactly. There's never the full picture, but no one actually talks about the fact that they've had a past in X, Y, Z, not as sexy. It's the fact that like, oh, I built this page in five minutes. But they have so much experience. And there's also that energy mindset thing in I know what it's like to deal with hate or negative comments. I know what it's like to talk to an audience in a certain way. I literally had a client say to me like, oh, I know I shouldn't be comparing, but I am with this girl who does a similar thing as me. And she just has like 20,000 followers. And she's like, oh, I never expect to get to that. And that I said, listen to your language. For one, you don't believe you can get there for the first thing, but you also don't know her experience.
(22:34):
She may have done a lot of inner work, she may not care what, she must be really open to that. But she also could have many businesses she started before that never worked. We never know the full picture because no one ever talk about, no one ever says how long it takes field of business. No one ever says one in three businesses fail in the first three years, but no one is talking about how long it takes. We just see how quick I'm going to get there. Just tell me the quickest way to get there. And it's just even now in what I do or in any outsourcing, people are talking about setting boundaries and pricing your worth and all that good onto them, power them. But sometimes you have to do shitty things to get to where you need. I just charged $10 a press release on FIFO when I started.
(23:25):
I don't recommend anyone does that, but that helped me get reviews. It helped me get experience, and it helped me learn all the things. Did I set boundaries at the start? Absolutely not. I took on everything and anything I could because I knew that was the best way to learn. And people that are saying from the beginning, set your boundaries, do this good on you, but also at the same time, you're not going to learn from that place. And then actually sometimes customers will be like, well, what experience do you have? You are just calling the shots, but you've got nothing, no evidence to show that. Not that you're worthy. I think we all are. But that you have been through the shit.
Danielle Lewis (24:02):
Yeah. Oh my God, I love you so much. Seriously. No, I completely agree. Because even with the whole boundary thing kind of shits me. And I feel like yes, also seasonally, right?
Mariah MacInnes (24:16):
Yes.
Danielle Lewis (24:17):
I talk to people who they're like, well, I'm only available here. And I'm like, so you basically are just cutting yourself out of all the people who aren't available at that time. And don't get me wrong, I know there will be things in life where you can only be available at certain times, but also there's these wild statistics around a sales person who opens up their diary for just an hour before and after everybody else, and how much more money they will sell in the month just because they're a little bit more available and open and the people that will call people back straight away. But even I even think about the podcast right at the moment. I'm on this mission to grow spark into a media company, and I was like, well, I need to be available. And I'll tell you, I do not waking up early, I hate it, but I have my diary open from a 7:00 AM slot because some people, they need to do their podcast before they get the kids up or before they go to their full-time job or before whatever. It's like if I have this big dream for myself, I love your shitty things sometimes,
Mariah MacInnes (25:26):
And it makes for the story that builds the character. And I think I honestly believe in my own business, I've learned a lot. And I think the thing, and actually I learned this today, there's different types of boundaries. There's closed boundary, compassionate boundary, and open boundary. And I have an open boundary. So I will say, okay, I'm available at these times, say my calendar. But I'll always say to someone, if there's not an available time, please let me know. And yes, if there's someone in the United States that can't do, what am I going to say no to something that could be fucking cool. We've done cool stuff in my business. My partner designed a billboard. So we have this billboard in Queensland for a client because a client was like, Hey, I can go with the company, but I wanted to see because you do a content, maybe Mitch could do the billboard and some merch.
(26:14):
And we're like, why would we say no to that? That's just cool. And so when we went up there, we get this photo with Mitch pointing to the billboard. So cool. So I'm an experienced person. I love experience. So I of course, yeah, within reason, if I'm feeling like, no, that's a no, I won't do that. I won't do it, but I would hate to close myself off to something that could be amazing. And if it's shitty, then I learn from it. I've said yes to clients and opportunities that haven't worked out, but it's built me into the person and the business owner I am now my partner and I are always just like, okay, what are the lessons? And I remember specifically having this client, it was just a nightmare. I got caught up in a divorce and literally the marketing manager and the CEO EO with getting a divorce, and I didn't know, and I was literally in the middle of it.
(27:02):
It was a disaster, and I was just so gutted and so just tired. But me taking on that client allowed me to hire my partner. It was good money and I could hire him and he could quit his job. And it was just like then we could start traveling. So that was the catalyst for that. And I remember we were in Vietnam. He's like, all right, well what's the lesson from me? I'm like, there's no lesson. I'm just so tired. I'm so over this and it's just so, and then six months later or two months later, I'm like, no, that was the reason why I had to on that client. And now I could also tell that story. I had a client not pay me for three months. They still owe me four and a half thousand dollars. It was crappy.
Danielle Lewis (27:36):
Oh my God,
Mariah MacInnes (27:36):
We're in the middle of Europe and we are running out of money dramatically and this person just refuses to pay me. What do I learn from that? I will have a hard boundary on my invoice. That is a hard boundary. I will have, we learn these things from the disasters. And I think that if you go into business wanting to set all these boundaries and block yourself off from those experiences, I don't know that you're going to get the lessons that you would if you just open it up a little bit more. And as you say, you'll be thinking in 10 years time when you've got this amazing media company. You're like, I got up at 7:00 AM to do these interviews or 6:00 AM even to prepare for these interviews and now I can just do my interviews. Between this time, my partner and I, when he worked at a hotel, we slept on the floor on a mattress. I took a photo of, I said, one day when we're in our mansion, we're going to remember this day when we slept on the floor.
Danielle Lewis (28:25):
It's so true. Oh my God, I love it. I love it. It is so true. I think you're right. It's like people just I think expect to come out of the gate going, this is the little bubble that I live in, but it is all of the experiences. If someone can actually tell you, you need a contract, you need these terms on your own voice, you need to get payment upfront or partial or whatever, or you need to do this. But unless you feel the pain, sometimes you don't do those things and someone can actually tell you what to do. But sometimes until you feel the pain and have the shit client and have the shit experience, you don't actually value the advice anyway.
Mariah MacInnes (29:03):
No, no way. I had a girl, a woman that does amazing content and she started doing content in I Niche and she took on her first few clients. Yep. And then she didn't have a contract, so then they didn't give her 30 days notice. And she come to me and she was like, oh. And I said, next time contract. But she wouldn't. I remember talking about that with the call, this is what I have, this is what I do. But obviously at the time she didn't feel she needed a contract. It was a friend. It was a person that she knew, so she didn't feel the need to have to make one. Now she bloody does. I can tell you that she wants that contract and she wants that in writing. But I think you just have to realize if business was easy, everyone would do it.
(29:39):
And you just have to make all the mistakes because it just definitely, it builds character and it makes for great stories on podcasts. You can come on a podcast and the title can be How I ran Out of Money in Europe and Lost four and a half thousand dollars because someone wouldn't pay. Literally I had to start put stuff on credit cards. I'm like, this guy ain't paying me. So I have to, we've got to live somewhere. But now we travel. I've now built the business up to a point. There's just never any of that stress about how are we going to pay for that next Airbnb. But it made us, even as a partnership, so much stronger we had to go through that together. So yeah, I mean good on you. You can set lots of boundaries, but I dunno.
Danielle Lewis (30:21):
And I think it's interesting, your point about stress earlier and how my grandma's stress, this is my stress. We're all stressed. It's like you're never going to go through life whether you choose a corporate courier, whether you choose to be a stay-at-home mom, whether you choose to run a business, there is no path that stress doesn't exist. Stress isn't bad. Challenges, problems, they're not bad. But I feel like people intentionally go out and try and avoid them. But you are spot on. It is the stress, the challenges, the problem solving, the overcoming all of these things. That is the great stories. That is the life. That is the whole reason that we're doing it. No one wants to just be bored for their whole life.
Mariah MacInnes (31:03):
No, and actually that's a really good book on this about, it's called A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield, and he was a monk. He teaches spirituality to everyday people.
(31:13):
And he talked about how people go to spirituality or religion to avoid conflict, but that is not the point of something like a belief, whatever you believe in, whether it's nothing, whether it's the universe, whether it's God, actually the point is to understand that you can handle any challenge and rather than avoid it, you go. And the minute I was always that one that never wanted to do conflict, I didn't want to have uncomfortable conversations. I hated all of that when I was growing up. But actually, yes, as you say, it creates this bubble around you that it's not only boring, it doesn't give you the life experience that you need. And actually what will happen is if you do believe in the universe or whatever you believe it, more challenges will come to you because you're trying to avoid them. So you'll attract what you are trying to avoid.
(31:55):
So I was attracting, so when I started my business, I didn't want to have uncomfortable conversations with clients. I didn't want to do all that stuff. So it just kept coming to me until I, and it still does. There are still moments where I do, but last year it was a massive light bulb moment for me. It was like, you need to stop avoiding challenges and clinging onto clients accidentally. If you lose one, it's the end of the world. You have to get tougher because you are just going to keep attracting. And actually, since I've realized that I've had amazing clients, obviously things still go wrong and you get feedback and all that, but I've been so much better at handling it because I haven't been avoiding. I think you're so right with that. If you try and avoid it, it'll come to you anyway, so don't even bother.
Danielle Lewis (32:37):
Yeah. Well, reminds me of there's also that hard thing now, easy later, easy now, hard later. So it is that kind of have the hard conversation now and things will actually be easier because you've set boundaries, done whatever, get them to sign boundaries. But it's like if you go into the easy now, so I don't want to have the hard conversation. You're spot on. You attract all of these problems because you didn't want to have the hard thing. Now it's like going to the gym. It sucks today, but long-term health benefits or whatever it is. So
Mariah MacInnes (33:13):
Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (33:14):
It is so interesting how people, yeah, they don't want stress, they don't want challenges. They set all of these boundaries. It makes me laugh. Even showing up on social media, and you would know this as a content person. No one wants to be on social media for some reason. And I'm like, that's fine, but how are you going to tell people that you exist? I know it's uncomfortable. I know it's hard. I know it's scary. But that's where the magic happens.
Mariah MacInnes (33:44):
And it's this free to a degree untapped potential that we've imagine trying to market your business. 50 years ago, it would've all been word of mouth. You would've had to have given a really great service, which you still do. I feel like if you give a shitty service, you won't get word of mouth and that's what you want. But just hustle would've been next level if we were trying to do this sort of stuff 50, now we can communicate with the amount of clients you get from random places all over the world. It's like, what is this? It's nuts. So yeah, I think it's uncomfortable for sure. And someone said like, oh, you're so natural in front of the camera. I'm like, you should have seen my first live. I was shaking like a leaf. My housemate was like, just click the button. I was like, I can't do it. I was like, no one watched it. So it didn't even matter.
Danielle Lewis (34:28):
No one was there. That's so funny. I know. I literally recorded a reel. I was getting mad about the all female astronaut thing that just happened, but I was mad that everyone was having a go at them. I'm like, well, how about we not be mean to women on the internet? Women already have a hard enough time showing up, and then it's like, whatever you do, you're in the wrong. Anyway. So I was having a rant about that on a reel. I was just woke up mad about it for some reason. And I did have that looked at it and I was like, oh, that's the worst angle. I've got this double chin my thing. You can see my tag and my thing. I was like, oh, fuck it. I don't care. Someone once did that. So they, I'm phrase to me, fuck it, just post it. And I was like, oh, well. And you just never know what's going to work or land or not work. And I guarantee you the things that work are solve a problem or hit a nerve, have nothing to do with the fact that you've got a pimple or a double chin or your gut hanging out. No one gives a shit.
Mariah MacInnes (35:28):
And if they do, they'll comment on it and then you'll get more breach. So jokes on those people if they're commenting on it, your video's just going to keep pushing out there. And I always have this concept, intrusive thoughts will always be top of funnel content that will land. Yes, I love that. At the end of the day, you can always just archive it if it goes viral and you get heaps of hate, just archive it. Yes, there's cancel culture, but we business owners, unless you say something incredibly racist, you shouldn't be saying it anyway or sexist, but if you have something you want to share and it does happen to go viral and then you want to just archive it, people won't remember. It's only the influencers that you become an influencer, then you have to start worrying about it. That TikTok place is wild. But I think always, I had a client who shared her son was riding on the footpath in New South Wales, and apparently it's legal in their council to do that. He's under 16. And a woman, he said passing and the woman put her foot out and he tripped and he hurt himself.
Danielle Lewis (36:28):
Oh my God.
Mariah MacInnes (36:28):
And she did a video on it. I was like, just whatever comes to your mind, do a video on it. And yeah, of course it gets 20,000 views on TikTok and heaps of comments. And I'm like, it's always the random things that you never think and it's got nothing to do with her business, but it's something that it kind of makes up her personality, which is part of her brand. So there's always something random that will get people's attention. And usually if it's your brand and about you, it'll pick up the traction that you need it to. But at the end of the day, or if it gets zero views, you just archive. It doesn't matter. If it doesn't reach anyone, no worries. There's an archive button.
Danielle Lewis (37:06):
Totally. Isn't it wild how we are the boss? We're in control of our own businesses.
Mariah MacInnes (37:12):
Exactly. Exactly. It's like, yeah, isn't that funny? You could do whatever you want. And for some reason we have this higher person that's our boss. It's not actually us. And we're like, oh yeah,
Danielle Lewis (37:22):
My boss is an asshole sometimes.
Mariah MacInnes (37:25):
But it's like, yeah, I do that all the time. Well, this has to go out now or whatever. And it's like, well, why? You're the one that knows if it doesn't go,
Danielle Lewis (37:36):
Oh my God, I love that so much. It's like I had just a cold, nothing dramatic. And I was behind on my solo episodes of the podcast and then I started batching new ones and I did one about what happens when you are kind of a solo founder or a small team or you are the face of the business and you don't show up, you don't hit a deadline. I was like, nothing. None of you contacted me and told me that you were missing my solo episodes. I'm so mad. But the world didn't end, nothing happened. No one noticed.
Mariah MacInnes (38:09):
Exactly. It's sort of like a double-edged sword. It's good for your own accountability. If you're in that mindset, you're at least hitting accountability, which is great. You're not being so compassionate that you don't get it done. But then at the same time, there's that like, oh yeah, it doesn't really matter really. Yeah, the world doesn't end. But it's good to have that level of accountability, especially for things like content. I know when someone falls off the wagon, it's so hard to get them back on. Unless I actually do it, I'll do it and then it'll happen. Otherwise, with business owners, we've got 101 million other things to do, and sometimes we think showing up on social media is stupid, but it's actually, it will help move that needle and actually build momentum. One of the clients that when we started being more consistent for them on social media, they weren't, it was crazy.
(38:55):
The other stuff that happened in their business, it was that momentum of her consistently showing up and having to film videos and she fully stepped into a business owner. She's still side hustling it right now, but it was crazy. That momentum that builds when you commit to that. Even a client that hired me when she was side hustling straight away, she went full-time in her business within six months, and the momentum that it just built was just crazy. She just committed to something. It didn't mean to have to be me doing it. It's just like you show up a consistent presence online. The momentum is crazy that it can build. And someone, I don't necessarily think I get loads of sales direct from Instagram, but it's like people look at me at that point, they go on my page or they refer me to someone, oh, I saw this girl. It's not necessarily they click on link bio or DM you that code word. It's not always about that. It's like that momentum and that presence that you build will create that ripple effect, I think, which is, it's pretty crazy. And I think we underestimate it a
Danielle Lewis (39:52):
Lot. Well, and a really good point about just how many touch points I think you do need. People often say, well, I posted a reel and I didn't get any sales. It's like, yeah, but that person that saw you, you got a new follower and then that person joined your email list and another thing, and now you're top of mind. And then you do do a thing and maybe they see an ad and it's like all of a sudden you are so in their world and in their universe that they trust you. It might not be the first reel that you post that goes viral and gets you sales. It's like a whole ecosystem. And I just love that point about committing because yeah, you commit to one thing and you just do start committing to your whole business.
Mariah MacInnes (40:31):
Yeah, 100%. And you've got to talk about it 50 million times. I've been talking strategy and I did a poster at the top. It was like 200 and no, 2,149 days talking about strategy until someone listens.
Danielle Lewis (40:47):
Oh my God. I love it. I love it. Okay, well, I could keep you all day here, but I won't. I always love to wrap up these podcasts on one last piece of advice. So reflecting on your time in business, what would be a piece of advice that you would give to another woman on her business journey?
Mariah MacInnes (41:07):
So this one is a mixture of action, and I guess that's sort of letting it be, but trusting the process I think has been the hardest thing that I've ever had to do in business, but it's so important and there's this level of taking action. So you take the action and then you have to trust the process because as we just said, posting one video, oh, social media doesn't work next. You have to trust that process because every time it will work out. It might not work out the exact way that you intended it to, but it does if you just trust. It's like every time I've lost a client and every time you go, okay, what's moving? Actually losing a client once made me join Spark because I was like, I need to find community of people. I feel really lonely right now. I just felt like, and then I found you on Google and I was like, done bye because, and you never know where people are going to come from and you never know what opportunities are going to come from that challenge and that shit.
(42:03):
So you really, and I just repeat it every time, trust the process, trust the process because it sparks something in you to do even something bad will spark, spark something for you to do, to take action. So that's something I've learned that's been incredibly hard, but it's like that's that element of surrendering and trusting, but you have to have those foundations. So do the work on your business so that you are at that point where you can start trusting, trust yourself, trust the people around you, trust your team, trust everyone in your community to help you build up your business because we are all here to support you, but we don't know unless you ask and trust us to do that. So it's like there's just so much that comes out of trusting. Even when we've traveled and overstayed our visa by one day with my partner had a rip passport, and just throughout the process, trust, trust, trust. And it always works out. And I know it just sounds so like, oh, that sounds so nice, but I've done. It's not because I'm just going. I trust I've done work. I'm not just leaving it up to the fairies to make it happen. I've actually done something about it. But then you've got to learn when to let go and trust. So that is always my piece of advice. Served me a lot in the last six years and I'm hoping it'll serve me until retirement.
Danielle Lewis (43:20):
Oh my God, I love it so much. Mariah, you are absolutely the best. Thank you so much for sharing your journey and your insights and your wisdom. That was just a fantastic chat. Thank you.
Mariah MacInnes (43:34):
Thank you so much now for having me. Yeah, could talk for days. We could be here for three
Danielle Lewis (43:38):
Days. I know. Good thing we didn't have a wine otherwise we would've been in a lot of trouble. That wraps another episode of Spark tv. Shout out to Spark TV sponsor IP Australia for their amazing support of the Spark Podcast and women in business. And if no one tells you today, you've got this.
✨ Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business ✨
