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Pippa Goulden (00:43)
Hello and welcome back to another episode of PR Made Simple. Now I've realised this week, it marks two years since I did the talk that changed everything in my business. And I thought it would be useful for me to talk about it today because I think it's one of the most honest things I can share about what actually happens when you back yourself, when you go after the opportunities that you have been watching from the sidelines.

when you put on your big girl pants and when you send the fucking email. And I thought it was a really nice point in time, two years on from doing this thing that really changed the trajectory of my business to look at what's changed in the business and also explain a little bit about how it's helped change the business. So just to give you some context, you may have heard me mention Top Draw before, but in case you haven't or in case you need to kind of hear the story again today, let me just tell you about it.

Before I dive in as well, I just want to mention the doors to Get Known, my six week PR group sprint are officially open this week. So if you have been on the wait list or if you're thinking about joining, this is your moment. The early bird price is available until the 28th of September. The doors are open until the second of October and the link is in the show notes, okay? I just want to mention that before I dive in. So.

TopDraw is one of the biggest trade and retail events in the UK. And for three years previous to me talking at it, I had been watching. I'd been looking. I'd been seeing the people who spoke at it. I'd been seeing other PR people. I'd been seeing other people who I knew who were not necessarily PR people, but doing things in a similar way to me, but in different industries, SEO or ads or retail experts, that kind of thing.

I knew that that was a speaking opportunity. That was right for me. I could see it. I could picture myself on that stage. I knew what I would talk about. I knew it would be exactly the right thing for the right audience for what I do. And do you know what I did? Nothing. For three years, I did nothing about it. Okay, because here's what was going on in my head. What if they say no? What if I pitch and they reject me and I have to like sit with that and the embarrassment of it?

What if they say yes and I get up there and people realize I don't know what I'm talking about? What if I'm found out? Classic imposter syndrome. And I say that as somebody who teaches founders every single day to pitch themselves, to send the email, to back themselves. I wasn't doing it for myself. I was pitching myself for things, absolutely. I I built my business up to that point using PR, absolutely.

but there were some meaty, juicy things that I knew I would be good at deep down and I knew that I wanted for the business. So instead of pitching myself, I did what a lot of us do. I connected with the right people on LinkedIn and I waited. I hoped that they would notice me. I thought I'm doing all the right things. They'll ask me when they want me. You know, I waited for them to invite me and guess what?

Yep, they didn't. And then something happened in my business. I had like a moment, it was a build, probably not one specific moment, but I started getting really honest with myself. This was probably about six or seven months before I did the talk at TopDraw. I really had that moment where I realized that I was done playing small, okay? I had the proof.

over and over again. I was working with amazing founders who were getting incredible results. I knew what I was doing. I knew that I was good at it and I was sitting on the outside of those opportunities that I was more than qualified for because I was getting in my own way. So I invested in some coaching and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made for my business. I did it with Rebecca Hale and she is amazing. She unlocked stuff. I thought I was going for the strategy.

I wasn't, so she combines mindset and strategy. And it was so interesting what we unlocked. Me going back to my five-year-old self and Mrs. Peel, who's got a lot to answer for. But it really was one of the best decisions I'd made because what it did was hold up a mirror and show me very clearly that the only thing standing between me and the opportunities that I wanted for the business was me. And so in October before the January,

I sent the fucking email. Within two weeks, I had a call with the TopDraw team and within, know, straight from that, I was confirmed to do the talk in January. Just like that. Three years of waiting, two weeks after sending the email. And this is exactly what we do in Get Known, by the way. We do the positioning work, we build the list, we send the emails and things start moving. So if you wanna come in to Get Known, doors are open, come on in.

Let's look at Top Draw and what happened. So I think it's really important to talk about this. The build up to the talk, I was a bit of a nightmare. I mean, I'm not sure if my husband remembers, but I was. I bought about eight outfits. I had piles of clothes and shoes and things in the bedroom. I really couldn't decide what to wear. I was kind of focusing all of that nervous energy into what to wear.

I was terrible to live with, I have to say. I was so nervous in a way that I'd not been nervous about something for quite a long time. And all that imposter syndrome that I thought I'd sorted, you know, came flooding back. What if no one comes? What if they hate it? What if I freeze? What if they don't agree with what I'm saying? So the talk was about how to use PR to get known for what you do and grow your business for free. The timing was strategic as well because I was also launching the very first Get Known cohort around the...

around the same time, you know, we're now in the sixth cohort and it, you know, it blows my mind that I've been able to build this and it started really with that TopDraw talk. But, you know, the talk, the launch, I had launched my podcast actually, that was part of the work that I did with Beck, my coach, you know, everything came back to, you need a podcast, we need a podcast. So I launched the podcast, I pitched myself for TopDraw.

You know, it was all building into me stepping into my authority and me owning my authority. So not just focusing on the earned stuff, but owning that stuff as well. And I did this, I got on that stage, I did the talk and I could see it happening in real time. The nodding heads, the penny drop moments, people leaning forward, scribbling notes, the laughs you get.

That feeling when you're talking about something that you generally know and love and you can see it landing, that was so amazing. It's so powerful, that feeling. I love it. I absolutely love that. I love seeing people go from, I don't think I can do PR for my business, to, my God, I can do this. I totally get it. I understand how it can help me and how it can impact my business and how I can actually take action and do this myself. So.

After Top Draw, I think this is quite useful for anyone who's doing these kind of talks, I did something that I would really recommend doing. I hosted the talk as a webinar because there were people who were at the event but couldn't make my session. So, you know, the storeholders who paid an absolute fortune to be at that event to meet buyers and that kind of thing, you know, I would not expect them to leave their store to come and listen to my talk.

and other people who weren't at Top Draw on the day. So I used it as a real momentum builder within the business and I had a really good turnout to an online webinar that I hosted a few weeks later. So I turned that one talk into two opportunities, immediate impact was brilliant. And from that actual talk, so when I'm talking about the impact it's had on my business, I think there is an immediate effect of doing the talk.

Okay, so several people joined the first Get Known cohort directly from being on that talk and probably from the webinar as well. I definitely got a few accelerator clients from being at TopDraw and I also had lots of people join the membership as well. So I could see that impact straight away. Some maybe, know, days within days, some weeks or months later, but that one took also...

when I amplified it and I used it strategically has had a tangible direct impact on my business revenue. We're talking about an additional 40K of impact tracked back to that one decision to reach out and send the email and put myself forward. So as well as the immediate impact of it, I've also seen other things happen. I also...

then got approached to speak at other events. So people had seen me and the way that I amplified the fact that I had spoken at TopDraw. So people approached me, it's that momentum building, one opportunity creates more. I also, you then felt more confident pitching myself for other opportunities, bigger podcasts, other speaking opportunities. And I started saying yes to things that maybe I might have talked myself out of before. And...

This is something I talk about all the time and I could see it with myself and I see it with the people that I work with. That energy had shifted and people feel that. They see you when I call it the Peacock Feather Effect. When the Peacock Feathers come out and you're believing in what you're doing and you have that excitement behind your business. it's led me two years on. I'm hosting Get Known Live in November.

16th of November, a full day dedicated to you and helping you get known for what you do. And we've got some of the most extraordinary speakers that I could have ever imagined. I would never have imagined this two years ago that I'd be putting on this event. I've got Hattie Pratt, who's just left her job as the editor in chief of Grazia. I've got Dr. Lizzo Reardon, who went from 2,000 followers to being a regular on Lorraine in the UK media, working across the pond in the US.

I've got my amazing friend Caroline Britton who's doing a session on mindset and getting out of your way. There are still some tickets available, but not many. So hurry up, link is in the show notes. But you know, if you told me two years ago that I would be hosting an event for 80 incredible female founders that I would be bringing together, curating this event with these speakers who, you know, they're not doing the circuit. They are a very...

deliberately chosen people who I know will be able to take people from being there in the morning and going, I'm not sure if I can do PR, to sending the fucking email as soon as they get home, if not, whilst they're at the event. I would not have believed you. And I think this is what I'm talking about in terms of what that speaking opportunity did for me and the business. Because...

Some of it is slow build, some of it is momentum. Not all of this stuff will happen overnight, but you've got to start somewhere, right? You've got to start making the moves and believing in yourself and backing yourself. And I've done a podcast episode on this before, a whole podcast episode on this, but confidence is a muscle. And I massively feel

That me two years ago is so different to the me now in terms of the belief I have in myself, the ability that I have, that I know that I can do. I've exercised that muscle more and more over the last couple of years and it's really leading to some really exciting and brilliant things in my business. And I would really encourage you to do that too because if you haven't started doing this work,

The sooner you get on with it, the more you're gonna see this impact having on your business in the long term. So here we are two years later, and that is what that one talk, that one email that I sent in October after three years of waiting has built. My business has hit six figures, I've gone VAT registered, I've become a limited company, I can invest in freelance support and in other female-led businesses. It's not just from that specific talk, right, but it's from...

the mindset shift from the build, from the momentum that I have taken from that talk. And that is important because when I do this work, I know that the impact I have on other female founders allows them to have more impact on the people that they work with. And that creates a ripple effect.

So the more of us that are doing this, the more of us that are stepping up to get known for what we do, the more of us that are putting our heads above the parapet and saying, I can do this work, the more positive impact we're gonna have on all the other people. So I'm now on my sixth cohort of get known, know? What started as a PR talk has become a group program that's helped so many founders back themselves, pitch themselves, build the authority and profile that grows their business. I have trademarked my get known methods.

you know, Get Known Live is happening in November with these speakers. And I honestly don't think that any of that would exist without me doing that coaching work that was really important, but without that email that I sent in October two years ago. And this is what I want you to take from this. It wasn't that talk that I did. It was the decision to back myself, to stop waiting, to feel more ready, to hope the invitation would come and to go and create that opportunity for myself.

One of the questions I've asked myself is whether I would still be in the same place if TopDraw had said no. And I do think, yeah, I do think I would be because it wasn't TopDraw that did that for me. It was me. And it was me going after opportunities that I know would help me scale my business, would help me put my stake in the ground as an authority, as a go-to.

stuff that other people would see me doing and think, okay, I want to work with her, stuff that would get me in front of them when they'd never come across me in any other way. And that's what PR does for you. So I'm not letting TopDraw take all the credit for this, actually, I'm gonna take the credit for it because it was that shift in mindset that has had such a mega impact on my business. And it's living proof.

on how you can use PR to scale your business, to use it as a core growth strategy for your business, on how you can use it to get known, to build that authority, to build that credibility, to build that trust. So I really hope that you can see the benefits and you can see how important doing this work, how deep diving into your subjects, how deep diving into showing that you know what you're talking about.

how much of an impact that can have on your business in a way that an eight second reel just absolutely can't. So it was that decision to back myself, to stop waiting to feel more ready, to stop hoping the invitation would come and to go and create that opportunity for myself and the opportunities that have then built from there. So when you do that, something changes in your energy. Other people feel it, the right clients find you, the right opportunities come. Things compound in ways that you just can't predict.

So if I could go back and tell myself something two years ago, it would be that the opportunities you are waiting to feel ready for are the ones that will make you feel ready. You don't get the confidence because you do the scary thing, you get it after. It's like a positive impact. It's that muscle being exercised. And another thing, imposter syndrome does not go away ever completely. You know?

it will still be there, I will still go, should I pitch to this person? But I will now know that actually, yes, I should pitch to that person because it doesn't matter if they say no, you know, but if they say yes, amazing. know, getting on the stage is the whole point, getting on the podcast is the whole point, getting the right press for your business is the whole point. And the no you're afraid of is never as bad as the time that you spend waiting for that invitation that doesn't come, right?

So the yes when it comes changes more than you could ever have imagined. So that is the story of Top Draw, two years on from the talk that changed everything. And if you're listening to this with something on your radar, something that you're been watching for however long, few weeks, a year, three years, please don't, thinking, I don't know whether I should put myself forward for it. I don't know if I'm ready for it yet. Maybe someone will notice me. I want you to hear this.

send the fucking email this week, not next week, this week, because the version of you two years from now is gonna be so glad that you did, okay? Get Known is open right now, six weeks of doing this properly with me, the early bird price is available until the 28th September If you want a taste of first my free...

Training is on the 22nd of September done waiting if you're listening to this before then All the links are in the show notes and if you want to be in the room in November There's still some tickets left for get no live So I'll be back again next week for another episode of PR made simple and in the meantime go send the fucking email