Suz Chadwick [00:00:00]:
Hey. Hey. Welcome back to the podcast. I am excited to have you here. I'm going to be doing a few shorter episodes that are a little bit real and raw, that have really come out of conversations with coaching clients that I think is going to be really helpful for you when it comes to building your personal brand, showing up, and really getting out of your own way. So yesterday I had a great conversation with one of my clients, all about practicing imperfection. Quite a few of my clients, especially when we are working on personal brand, I've got some pretty incredible clients, high performing, very high level, have had a lot of success in maybe a different career and now they're wanting to transition into becoming a personal brand, getting paid for what they think instead of just what they do. So, for example, it could be a leadership coach, change manager, actor, who are now wanting to speak on stages and also create programs, so online courses, write books, whatever else it is that they're wanting to do.

Suz Chadwick [00:01:14]:
But with that comes a newness. With that comes, this is new to them. They've potentially not done this in this capacity before. And so when you have to step into a new thing, it can feel super uncomfortable. It kind of takes us back to the very first time we were learning how to do the thing that we might be experts in now, but when you're older and you've been an expert or you've had a lot of success, starting again can feel a lot harder. And so the conversation that I was having with one of my clients is that he wanted to make sure that it was perfect. He wanted to make sure it looked a certain way, which I totally get. Especially when you've come out of something where everything looks amazing, it's, you know, designed well, it's produced well.

Suz Chadwick [00:02:05]:
Me asking him to get on Instagram stories or TikTok and just start to share the journey in a very real and raw way can feel super uncomfortable. And I just want to say this is not exclusive to this one client. As I said before, I am working with a lot of high level clients who have been very successful. And so them stepping out of scene in a certain way is something that they deal with. It's something that they struggle with. One of my other clients, I just said to her, she has such a great personality, she's so funny, she swears like a trooper, but when she communicates online, it's very corporate, it's very straight laced, and I think it's a real missed opportunity. While she doesn't need to swear in her content because she does work With a lot of corporates and professionals, totally fine if she wants to do that as well. But really showing her personality is the big differentiator.

Suz Chadwick [00:03:00]:
And I think the one thing that we don't realize often is that our personality can be the deciding factor as to whether people work with you or not. Because as I say, there could be 10 people who did the same thing in a room. But you being you, your personality, your experience, your stories, your expertise and the way in which you communicate and connect with your clients, that can be the one thing that makes somebody go, you're the person I want to work with, you're the person I want to follow. And when we're also sharing the behind the scenes and the story, that is sticky, that is something that people can really connect with and be like, I want to see what else is coming. I want to see what's next for you. I want to follow this journey. And I think I've mentioned it before, there is a wellness retreat in the uk, A guy who's bought this mansion and he's transforming it and he's got an investor there, he's moved in to the mansion, they're renovating it and he's saying, you know, this is going to become a wellness retreat for really high performing entrepreneurs where they're going to have seminars and talks and they're going to have ice bars and long walks. And I'm obsessed with this story.

Suz Chadwick [00:04:16]:
I watch it. He's now going to be starting a series on YouTube as well. And I'm just here for the journey. There has been no success or failure. There has been no big thing that's happened. But I just want to see what happens. And you've got to remember that your story is something that people will want to follow if you're willing to share it with them. If you're not willing to share it with them, then it can be hard for people to connect with you.

Suz Chadwick [00:04:45]:
It can be hard for people to really see who you are and what you're about. If we only share the shiny end product, we're really missing a huge opportunity for people to get on board and cheer us along the way. And so it is a big part of building a personal brand that I think a lot of people don't think about. One of the elements that I go through with clients in the amplify method is identity. It's purpose and identity because you understanding what it is you're here to do, why you create what you create, and then you being the person that shows up imperfectly to take them on that journey is what the connection is all about. And so if that's something that you struggle with, it's really something you've got to work on as well. It's something that my clients work on. It's something I work on with them, is really helping them to break through the resistance of just showing up as themselves.

Suz Chadwick [00:05:44]:
And it's such an interesting thing, isn't it? Because sometimes we've played a character, and I know this can sound a little strange, but a lot of times we play a character in our professional lives. So the way that I am with my friends, the way that I am when I'm just with family and people who I'm super comfortable with, and the person I am when I'm in a corporate job, when I'm at work, when I'm working with other people, if you've put on a Persona, if you've acted in a certain way in order to fit into your corporate job or into whatever work you're doing, when I say to you, I just want you to be yourself, sometimes that can be a struggle for people because they're like, what do you mean you want me to be myself? Just like, I just want you to be you. I want you to say what you're thinking. I want you to tell me, like, the way that you're processing information. I want you to share with me how you got to this conclusion. I want you to tell me about a time when you failed or when something didn't work. Tell me about the highs, but tell me about the lows. If you can't share that, then it's going to be hard for you, I think, to build a personal brand that really connects with people.

Suz Chadwick [00:07:00]:
Because right now, in 2025, as I'm recording this, that is what people want. We're done with perfection. We're done with things. Things looking amazing all the time, which is really unrelatable. And so you've got to find your voice. You've got to find your way of sharing what it is that you're doing, what you're thinking, the journey that you're on so that you can allow people in. Because when you do that, you create incredible loyalty. Like when I think of Amy Smale from Odd Amuse her, sharing her weekly insights into the business meetings that she has, and she's talking about what she doesn't understand about business.

Suz Chadwick [00:07:46]:
And, you know, the things that are going well and the things that are not going well. They recently put out a leisurewear suit, tracksuit, and it was at a more expensive price point. Her customer base was complaining about how expensive it was. So she shared all of that. She said, we released it, we decided to go with a much heavier weight fabric which cost a lot more, and so the price was more expensive. And now that we've gotten your feedback on this, we're going to go back to the drawing board and get a fabric that is still great quality but less weighted, which means that it can be less expensive when we put it out. Even just showing the ups and downs of that, the criticism that she got and why they did what they did once again just endears her as somebody who can be trusted. Why? Because there's transparency and that is one of the key things.

Suz Chadwick [00:08:40]:
If you are not transparent, it is hard to trust. If you are only showing the good, it can be hard to trust. So if you are somebody who is wanting to get paid for what you think and not just what you do, maybe you are transitioning out of a service based business, maybe you are wanting to become more visible and get on more stages, share what it is that you have, then you've got to start to work out how you are going to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, how you are going to embrace imperfection and practice it every day. I've talked about this many times. I have used to do YouTube, haven't done it for a while. Getting back into it. Not perfect by any means. Growing the podcast is another thing.

Suz Chadwick [00:09:23]:
Being on TikTok is another thing. There's constantly acts of imperfection happening because I know that I can't get better at anything unless I'm creating. And it may not be perfect and it may not be the best, but it's me learning and growing and getting better every day. And so you have to be willing to practice imperfection if you want to get good. I shared this with my subscribers the other day that I was listening to Mr. Beast on a podcast recently and I think he said he did over 430, 40 videos before he ended up going viral. And the question is, are you willing to put in the work and keep going until you get the result that you want? Because your personal brand is going to be exactly that. It's going to be showing up, it's going to be sharing.

Suz Chadwick [00:10:11]:
Some things will flop and some things will fly and you'll learn a lot about yourself in the process, but really working on your identity as a person who shows up and shares, as a person who shows up and creates, that's the identity that you've got to work on and Ask yourself if that's not something that you're doing. Ask yourself in the morning whenever your optimal creative time is. If you're not creating and showing up, why not? There might be things that come up. Fear. Fear of judgment, Fear of getting it wrong. Fear of looking stupid. And then you've got to ask yourself, am I willing to practice imperfection so that I can get better and better at this? And also look for evidence where you've done it before, because that's what you need. Your brain's like, we weren't great at what we do now way back when, but we did the work, we learned, we got better, and now we're really great at what we do.

Suz Chadwick [00:11:11]:
So today, my message to you is, practice imperfection. Embrace it as part of your identity. I embrace it every day as part of my identity. I don't expect anything to be perfect, but me showing up and creating means that I get better and better and better at it. I hope that's helpful. Let me know your thoughts. Make sure that you, like subscribe and comment, and I will see you in the next episode.