Written by: Katie Johns, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I believe we are on the cusp of a massive shift in business, one that is more conscious, collaborative, and compassionate. One that embraces soul, energy, and alignment and moves us from following a set of outdated rules to creating our own.
I know there is another way to do business and marketing, which feels aligned, authentic, joyful, and full of ease. One that creates natural attraction and genuine connections. Not sleazy, pushy, salesy, manipulative, must be everywhere, or any of the other ways we have been led to believe we have to do it.
This is about doing business differently. The soul led the way.
It’s about trusting yourself and your intuition. It’s about listening inwards and honoring the nudges. It’s about being fully connected to who you are and being the real you. It’s about being true to your passions and doing business and marketing in a way that feels right, and most importantly, believing in yourself enough to own it.
This isn’t about following somebody else's blueprint, ‘make a million’ method, or whatever else has worked for others but just hasn’t worked for you.
This is about creating your own soul-led business and marketing strategy.
And despite how it might sound, it’s not about sitting back in a zen-like state, journaling, and waiting for inspiration to hit and clients to flood in. There is action, strategy, clarity and vision, and all that important stuff you need to do to market your business. The difference is, it’s the kind you need because it’s aligned and authentic to you, not because someone else told you to do it.
This marketing method is not all head and data-driven. It’s about leading with your heart, with your head to support you. It’s about listening to your soul and what she or he has to say because she/he always knows best. It’s about balancing our feminine (creativity/intuition) and masculine (strategy/action), sharing our message to do good in the world, and being of the highest service.
It’s about learning to trust ourselves, that we know what’s best for our business.
And it’s not just about doing things differently because it feels better for us. There is a bigger impact. It’s about the energy we put out into the world and the legacy we leave, the products and services we choose to create, and the way we decide to sell them. The old paradigm of marketing runs on FOMO, scarcity, pain points, pushing, and manipulation, but it doesn’t mean it has to be that way. After all, you are a changemaker, so it’s time for you to start doing business differently and more consciously too. You are here to create that shift.
And this is what’s so exciting and empowering about following a soul-led strategy, and I promise you, it’s available to every single one of us.
So, how did I get to this point, and how do I know it works.
I have worked in marketing for 22 years, primarily with small business owners and solopreneurs, helping them scale to the next level of success and beyond. I know the tactics, methods, metrics, and ‘rules.’ I have worked in-house, in agencies, and freelance. 10 years ago, I started my marketing consultancy and agency. I built a successful business (on paper) and helped many others do the same, all by doing things the ‘old’ way.
But for as long as I can remember, there has been a niggle inside of me, an urge to do things differently but not knowing quite what or how that might look, and as the years went on, I felt more and more disenchanted and disconnected with the work I was doing. I didn’t like how old paradigm business made me feel. I didn’t like doing my marketing, the irony was not lost on me, and I seriously considered giving it all up.
One of my core values is authenticity, and I didn’t feel I was so. So I did what many of us do. I started looking outside of me for answers, coaches, programs, blueprints. If I couldn’t work out what the disconnect was, someone else could. In hindsight, I followed what I was told, never feeling 100% right, and still ignored my internal voice. I pushed myself in directions that didn’t feel good for me, searching, learning, consuming more and more; I burnt myself out twice in the process, my body was desperately trying to stop me, and still, I plowed on. I was attracting the wrong type of clients, doing work I didn’t love, working long hours. I felt so far removed from the vision I had for myself when I started running my own business and who I am as a person. I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. And I still didn’t enjoy my marketing.
In hindsight, I know my soul was trying to wake me up, desperately trying to stop me from pursuing the wrong direction and sacrificing myself and my family in the process.
Then Covid came, every client has gone overnight finally, the messenger could not be ignored.
And so I found myself in a new place. I now had a choice ( I always did ). Rebuild what I had or STOP! Start listening to me, trusting my instincts, and following my soul.
Today I am not the same person.
I do my soul work every day. I work with the most amazing soul-aligned clients. I have the most incredible soul-aligned network who are collaborative and supportive in a way I have never experienced before. I love my work. It doesn't feel like work at all. The most incredible people, opportunities, and ideas are always flowing my way. I don't hustle anymore. I spend time on myself every day and with my precious family. I am so much more abundant in every aspect of my life, including my finances.
This is the incredible difference a year can make when you decide enough is enough, that it's time to do things differently. It's time to start listening to you and your soul. It's time to do things your way. The soul led the way.
I love marketing. I love helping entrepreneurs share their passion and purpose, to see them make a difference, not only to their own lives but to the people they serve. But I never felt comfortable with the purely masculine, old paradigm, bro marketing way of doing it. It never sat well with me, but it was also positioned as the only way to do it. It was the way I was taught, which led to so much self-doubt, discomfort, and ‘not-enoughness,’ and I know it does this to other soul-led entrepreneurs too.
I know now that if you are a changemaker, the traditional way of marketing your business is unlikely to work for you. If you feel stuck, procrastinate, second guess yourself, dislike it, don’t feel any good at it, there is nothing wrong with you. You need to do it differently. The soul led the way.
For you, it’s about joy, service, and loving what you do. Leading with your heart (not a cerebral/how do I get more clients/will this get me more sales), fully embracing who you are and what you were put on this planet to do—sharing your passion with people you love to work with, in your unique way, listening to your intuition and nudges (even when they don't make sense). Communicating your purpose, making real connections with real people, not just another number or follower.
You need it all to be aligned to you, or it won’t feel authentic, and you won’t want to show up and share. If your energy is out of alignment, your soul mate clients will feel that too. There is no blueprint for you to follow. You are unique, and this is where the beauty of soul-led marketing lies; the right way is within you. It always has been.
Katie Johns, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Katie Johns is a Soul-Led Business, Marketing & Inner Guidance Mentor who works with Conscious Change Makers, helping them to run and market their business from soul, through her particular method of soul + energy + action. Katie knows that the traditional, old paradigm ways of marketing and running a business can leave soul-led entrepreneurs feeling disconnected, burnt out and unhappy. She believes that your business is an energetic extension of you, so if you are not in alignment with certain areas, you are not going to create the impact and legacy you desire.
Katie empowers soul-led entrepreneurs to start doing business their way, connecting them back to their purpose, passion and personal power, ready to take inspired, aligned action in the direction of their dreams. Doing business and marketing that feels good and does good.
Katie is a monthly contributor at Brainz and Soulacy magazine and she is regularly asked to guest speak on podcasts about her subject.
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