From Isolation to Impact: Marketing Through Connection with April Hiatt

Welcome to Wickedly Branded: Marketing, Magic, and The Messy Middle, the podcast where real conversations meet real strategies. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, founder and fairy godmother of brand clarity at Wickedly Branded. With over 25 years of experience, I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs awaken their brand magic, attract the right people, and build businesses that light them up.

What if the real reason your marketing feels heavy… isn’t strategy at all?

In this episode of the Wickedly Branded Podcast, Beverly Cornell sits down with April Hiatt, founder of Wise Women, to unpack the truth most entrepreneurs don’t talk about: building a business alone is one of the biggest barriers to growth.

April shares her journey from branding and website design to creating powerful mastermind communities for women entrepreneurs craving real connection, honest conversations, and meaningful support. Together, they dive into the emotional and strategic layers of marketing, from imposter syndrome and visibility fears to the power of collaboration, accountability, and shared growth.

Key Marketing Topics

1. Marketing Feels Hard Because You’re Doing It Alone

Many entrepreneurs assume they need better strategies, when the real issue is lack of support and connection. When you’re isolated, decision fatigue and self-doubt increase, making marketing feel heavier than it needs to be.

2. Visibility Requires Confidence, Not Perfection

Imposter syndrome and fear often show up right when you’re about to grow. Learning to move through those emotions, instead of waiting for perfection, is what allows your message to actually reach the people who need it.

3. Community Accelerates Growth and Client Attraction

Being in the right rooms exposes you to new ideas, feedback, and opportunities you wouldn’t access alone. It also naturally leads to referrals, collaborations, and stronger momentum in your marketing.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Did you know that many women entrepreneurs don't struggle because they lack some wonderful strategy? They struggle because they're building a business all by themselves, alone, without connection, support, or a place to be fully and completely honest about the ups and downs of being a business owner. Welcome to the Wickedly Branded Podcast. I'm your host, Beverly Cornell, founder and fairy godmother here at Wickedly Branded. Today's guest is April Hyatt. She is the founder of Wise Women, a community created for women entrepreneurs who crave real connection, support, and belonging, not just, I call it bro swarming networking, April. She's a former educator and a branding agency owner. April followed a deep nudge to build the business she wished had existed just for her. She since facilitated over 50 mastermind groups, hosted sold-out conferences, and created spaces where women feel seen, heard, and truly supported. April, I'm super excited to have you here today. Welcome to the Wickedly Branded Podcast. Thank you. I'm really excited to be here. Amazing. But tell me a little bit about how you went from your former educator, and then you had branding, which is amazing. I'm a love of a good brander, to this particular business. What was that journey like and what really sparked this level of the business?

SPEAKER_01 1:22

I started as an educator. I taught adult education. And funny thing, I actually taught women how to use the internet. And then I spent several years being home with my kids. And then they all went to school. And I thought now I need something to do. And I actually just lucked into learning branding and website design. And I built that business and I loved it. But after my kids got older and started moving out, I felt, you know what? There's got to be more to this. And I started really feeling alone in my business and in my life and just in general. And then that educator piece that I loved started coming back where I thought, really want to be around other people and have conversations about business. When you're a mom and you're going to all the things, you have conversations with other people. Then your kids move out and you're thinking, I'm not really having conversations with anybody except myself sitting in my office, and then my branding clients or my website clients. And that was great, but it was all one-sided because it's meant to be, right? I'm working for them, I'm helping them. It is a one-sided conversation. But at some point, I went, I want to talk about myself and my business and business things. And then you try to do that with your friends, and they don't really want to hear it. They just they're like, they don't get it. Or you're hungry for your spouse. Yeah. And so I really just started looking around for what I wanted. And I wanted a group of other women that I could really talk to about business, I could bounce ideas off of. I'm a verbal processor. I wanted people that I could say, hey, I've got this really good idea. What do you guys think about this? And just talk it through and get the feedback and get other people's ideas. And it's just something cool about being in a space where everybody's talking and then you start brainstorming and then just ideas start flowing. And I really couldn't find that. I started attending networking events and I love those, but it isn't the same environment. I would go to things that were called masterminds and they were workshops, which is great. It's just not the same thing. And so I just created it. Let me just see if anybody else wants this. And interestingly enough, I have all the website skills that I needed, but I just made a Google Doc because I thought I'm not going to spend all the time building the website, building out the funnel, doing all the things if it's not going to work. If nobody wants this, I'm just way too much work. Sure. So I put together a Google Doc and a sign up page and I put it out there and I thought, does anybody want this? And interestingly enough, the first people that signed up were my website clients. So I put it out there, Sam, and they went, Yes, April, we totally want this. Thank you for getting our business going. But we would love these conversations. And so when that one sold out, I thought, I'm going to try this again. I did it again. It sold out in a week. And I just kept adding and went, This is great. Till finally, after about six months, I realized this is where my passion is. And it was one of those moments where I went, I'm good at the branding and the website design, but I don't love it. I'm good at it, but it's not my passion. This thing over here, empowering women and watching them grow and just seeing those light bulb moments, that's my passion. And then that business just exploded to the point that I just I actually retired my website and branding business. I just passed those, I referred those clients off to people that I that I thought were good, that I met through my masterminds. And here I am today.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

So I love this. What's interesting about this to me and why it's it connects, it resonated really strongly when I saw you on LinkedIn was the idea that my business since 2011 has been entirely remote. I work from home, I live at home, I'm mom at home, I'm wife at home. And I love the flexibility of that. My husband is military, we have to move every three years. Like I have a place no matter where we go. This is my office. But it is a very lonely road. Like when you work and especially with moving every three years, rebuilding your community is really hard. And what I have found as a business owner, as a woman specifically, I can't speak for men, but I think it is a little bit different in this respect, is that there are not as many women who are starting businesses, especially over six figures, in that like when you get past that, it's 1%. It's growing for sure, but we are the first generation of women that are doing this thing. Yes. That we are the first generation of women who have the ability to build wealth and legacy. And that's a really big pressure because our grandmothers and our mothers have done so much to get us here. There's an immense amount of pressure to be a business woman, I feel today. Have your own business and be successful. And I feel maybe women as well. We don't feel like we can always ask for help.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

And sometimes we're afraid even to say what we want, to step up and say, you know what? I want to run my own business. I want to be my own boss. I want to make six figures a year. And we, I don't know, we're afraid to say it out loud. Why?

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Why do why do we do that to ourselves? I'm writing a book right now called Brand Magic, which is all about women leaders in the container we exist right now and how it wasn't built for women and why we did it so hard. Things like legacy load, which is like the things our parents, our moms did and our grandmothers did. There's all this added pressure for women to do it all, meaning your home life, business life, everything, and then do everything perfectly. Yep. And so I love what you're doing because in my business, what we do and how we help is we specifically work with female founders who are solopreneurs. We help them get from a freelancer status to like an actual business status. That's that evolution. We help them brand to that new evolution. And one thing we've always said is that you need support. Oftentimes I'm the first person who's heard about their dreams and their disappointments and their challenges because they've never talked to anybody about all that before. Like that is super powerful. Like you, there are so many of us doing this really awesome thing. They're brave and brilliant and creative and like amazing women doing such amazing things, but we're all hiding in our own little corners of the world and not sharing all that expertise. So, what you're bringing to the table is so incredibly powerful because I do believe one of our core values is fusion. And fusion is we're great individually, but when we come together, we create this energy that's amazing, right? So I feel like women together, like you have a tribe of women that is so powerful. And the ultimate goal I have, and I I read a little bit of your stuff, April, and I feel like it's definitely in line is if more women have agency, more women have access to wealth and power, this world will be far more soulful and just a better place to live. Yeah. Unimaginable, right? I can't even imagine right now. So this work is not little work, April.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

I agree. And I do think I am so passionate about women are so much more powerful together when they will work together, when they'll support each other. In fact, it's sometimes it's interesting because sometimes, and not always, but sometimes you'll see as women are succeeding and growing, sometimes it's other women that are pulling them down. But it's when women can build each other up that we all do well. And I'm like, don't do that. There's enough for everybody. Let's all grow together and we all rise together. And how much more powerful is that when we can support each other? And then limitless is when we can do that.

SPEAKER_00 9:01

I feel like when I first started out in the marketing world, there was more of that of the women not helping each other. But I didn't really have a lot of mentors when I worked in corporate America when I worked in advertising for Chrysler in Detroit, like I worked at Chrysler headquarters. My entire floor was women or was men my dad's age. Oh wow. And the only women were secretaries. Yep. I remember coming home and telling my dad, I was like 23 years old, 24 years old, April.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

And telling my dad, I'm literally in a business room with a bunch of my dads. And I had been raised to respect my elders and to speak nicely to them and like all those things. And so it was really challenging for me to step in those rooms and be considered an equal. When I was much younger, and there was one woman I remember, her name was Elaine, and she was awesome. And she was like, you just go in there and you tell them. Like you don't, like you just tell them. And if they don't listen, it's their fault. And I had one of the fellas, his name was Jack, he was amazing. He was always pushing me to be myself, pushing me to show up as me. He was phenomenal. And I think at that time, for a man who was almost retirement age to be pushing a woman to show up was really powerful. Yeah. But the thing that I think that matters, and what I feel like you're building, and what we're trying to do with our clients is I feel like you have to build a strong boat before you can pull them in. Yes, I agree. So by building the strong boat, you're not able to then help the other ones into the boat. And what does that look like? And even to their own boat. But we have to build a really strong boat so that the next generation's next business owners can really thrive and not. I feel like I made every mistake, April. Everything, right? Raise our hands. I have made every mistake, done everything the wrong way. I have learned so much in that. Obviously, it's tuition, right? I do believe entrepreneurship is probably the graduate level of life. If you could get there, that's like the graduate level of life. But I really want, like most of my team is female. I really want to help them not make some of the same mistakes that I not live as small as I lived for some years.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

That's the key is giving each other permission to think big, to dream big, to not live small. And I think the power in groups of women is that they can build confidence in each other. And when you have another woman that says, April, that's such a great idea. Wow, you totally should do that. Now my confidence is built. Now I can get the vision, I can look bigger, I can dream bigger, and I'm just going to grow faster, just often from a comment from somebody that's wow, that's brilliant. And that's the kind of support that we all need in our businesses to help grow. That's how we build confidence and we build each other up.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

So talk a little bit about how your mastermind and your organizations kind of work. So talk about that and then what it really takes to create a successful mastermind. What are the key ingredients for that?

SPEAKER_01 12:02

All right. So a couple of different things there. So the way that they work is they really are true peer-to-peer masterminds. So I love it when people come in and they're working with a coach in a certain area. They're working with you on branding or they've got a business coach or something like that. And that's awesome. They're getting all that advice in a specific area from that person. But sometimes they need a place to still verbally process to talk about something different. You're helping them with branding, but now they need help with, I don't even know, pricing or something else. And they're like, I really just need to talk this through with somebody. And that's how the mastermind works. I have both online and in-person groups, which the in-person groups are new this year because the same thing. I was doing everything online. And then I had a lot of women say, April, this is awesome, but we want that in-person connection. But we hold each other accountable, we talk things through. We do have dedicated hot seats. So you get a long time. So when it's your turn in the hot seat, you're gonna get 20 to 30 minutes to talk things through and ask questions and get ideas from people. And the masterminds I run are fairly structured. For example, when it's your turn in a hot seat, there's a specific way to ask a question. So I tell people and I say, okay, ask your question, then give us a little bit of background and then ask your question again. And the reason for that is one, to keep you focused, but it also helps those that are answering your question to make sure they're answering the question that you're asking and that we're not going off either. But then you're gonna get feedback from eight other people. The groups are small, they're intentionally, there's only up to nine people in a mastermind, but that's eight people with expertise in various areas that you're gonna get feedback from. And often those people are also consumers. So if somebody's asking, say, a marketing question, the person who's in the group that's the mental health therapist can't tell you about marketing necessarily, but she can tell you as a consumer, hey, this is what would resonate with me. This is what would I hear. And then she can also hear things when you're asking the question, some of those self-doubts, some of those boundaries that you don't even know you're saying.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Oh, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:29

She's gonna pick that out. She's gonna hear those things because that's her area of expertise. And then she's gonna help you hone in on the questions you're not even asking or the things you're not saying out loud, but you are saying, if that makes sense. It's incredibly powerful because you're getting feedback from a whole host of different areas of expertise.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Well, one thing that I talk about a lot is that when you're a high performer, high performer, overachiever, often overwhelmed. And I like to actually joke, like sometimes even over it. They are like, I'm done. I almost want to give this back to whoever it is. Like, I don't want to do it anymore because it's so much work. And I think when you get in your own head sometimes, it's almost like dangerous. Like you can spiral in a way you don't even know you're spiraling. Yes. And self-doubt and imposter syndrome and perfectionism and fears and all these things can control you. But when you I love that you're a verbal processor because I feel I'm the same way. When you say it out loud and you release it from inside of you, first of all, that's power. But having a group of people who are cheering for you to hone it and to like really take it, maybe like you have the edge of an idea, and then that other person's what about this? And they're like, Oh, that is exactly it. I feel like that is that's something that the energy of that is so interesting to me because I I know even with my husband. Like, I'll tell him, like, oh yeah, he thinks I build websites. That's what he thinks I do. But really, like this book that I'm writing is all about how Brendan is identity work for women specific. So we're talking about identity here. Oh, yeah. And when you're talking about a mastermind where you're in front of other people, you are now being vulnerable, you're now sharing these things, your challenges, things that are hard, but you're also cheering for other people. So I sometimes I have a coach that I work with, and we have pods with like masterminds. Yes. Okay. And we earn pods for a quarter. So we have us the same pod, and they're, I think it's like eight people are pod for one quarter. And in there, I'll hear somebody say, they'll say like a self-doubt, right? And I'm like, what? Oh my gosh, it's a good thing I respect about you or something. Yes. And it changes, it reframes it for them almost immediately. Yes. You see their magic, and they don't even see the magic inside of them yet. Right. I love this idea of the people coming together and having that. We talk about marketing and we also talk about being a business owner. So we're in that space. But we talk a lot about that. We talk about raising our prices and why sometimes that's hard. And we we talk about so many things that that you get have a challenge, but it's not only women, it's there's men in the group too. We still love our men. Don't get we don't, we just have a little bit of different experience of the way we build businesses in the world. So it there's just there's a uniqueness to it. And I think we are conditioned a certain way, and men are conditioned a certain way. So we both have things that we carry from the conditioning that comes forward. Yeah. But I think that's been for me, and it's actually the reason why I joined the program. I wanted a system for sure. I'm a systems gal, love a good system, but I also wanted people who were experiencing the same thing I was experiencing.

SPEAKER_01 18:41

Yeah, and that's the power, too, is the validation that you get as a business owner. Because no matter what kind of business you run, there are ups and downs in your business. And we all logically know that, but we often feel like we're the only one feeling what we're feeling. And then when we come to a group of trusted people, and that's the power, like you said in your cohort too, the masterminds are the same people for three to six months so that you can be vulnerable, but that's the power is you have a space that's safe, and you can say, Oh my gosh, guys, I am just not feeling it today, or I'm struggling with this. And you have eight other people that go, Yeah, we get that. We've struggled with it too. You're like, oh, I am not the only fun.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

It's not me. I think that's the thing that has been the most powerful powerful is, and even when I talk about the brand magic in the container with which women live in, it's not them that's the challenge. No, it's the container sometimes of the challenge. And naming that and understanding that and having awareness of that helps you see differently the next best step. Because when you are internalizing some of that, you think I have to get another certification, or I have to all of a sudden, like it becomes this thing of I need to be better in some way. But when you have a peer group who's saying, No, wait a minute, that's just the way business is. Yes, then you look at the solution differently. It's not like you need to get better. Maybe you do. There's still times you have to get better skills, but it might just be like you have to ride out the wave or you have to maybe think of a different product offering. Right. I am so glad there are people like you and organizations like this out there for women, specifically for women, to connect, to create relationships in which you can help each other grow. That's that as humans and as business people, period.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

Just knowing that there are people, like if I have a question, I got a group of people I can talk to or ask about it or whatever. And then that little bit of accountability. If I say I'm gonna do something, I know the next time I see them, it is gonna be done because somebody's gonna ask me if I did it, or if I didn't do it, what happened? Okay, I wasn't able to because of this. Now they can help me solve that whatever thing it was that came up, and then I can still finish it. So I you reach more goals that way, you think bigger because you've got people supporting you. It's in life, we want our families to support us or whatever. We need that, and in business, it's just a different kind of support.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

So I talked a little bit about why women don't think that they need they don't they're afraid to get asked for support. What would you tell the listener right now who's I'm doing this all by myself? I I don't know if I need this kind of support. What would you tell her to help her see that this group is like exactly what you need? What would you tell her? I would say that you do need support.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

You will grow 5,000 times faster with people behind you. It's if you're trying to push a car all by yourself, good luck. But if you get 10 people all pushing a car, it's easy. Everybody can do it. So get those people with you. It's not a bad thing to have people supporting you. It's actually a sign of leadership, it's a sign of growth, it's a sign of you opening up to other ideas and just being in that place just helps your business grow so much faster. Plus, the added benefit is you got other people that know you that are referring you, that are helping you grow your business just by saying, Hey, I know Beverly, she's awesome. So the next time somebody says to me, What do you know anybody that's really good at branding? I'm like, actually, I do. Let me send you the referral. You know what I mean? You've got all those other people now helping you in ways you didn't even think about.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

There are side benefits you don't even know. I feel like you don't even know the power of it until you try it. And then from there, you can make some decisions. So at least try it because I feel like when you have the cheerleading squad or your support sisters or whatever you want to call them, those people behind you, you are more emboldened, you are more powerful, you are more magical in that. And I'm a firm believer. Like I did it by myself for many years, and I have since gotten a coach, I have a therapist, I have done the things because when you look at the Olympics, you look at the Olympians right now, the winter Olympics are happening, but it's these people aren't doing it by themselves. No, they have a whole team of people other athletes that they're working with that are helping them get better and be accountable. Like you talked about are you doing the training? What do you need to do? Even look at Simone Biles from a few years ago. She ended up getting a therapist to help work through some of her stuff. Right. Need a support system. And just because you can do it alone, does not mean you should do it alone. And as somebody who is hyper-independent because of trauma, I can tell you that it's way better when you can do it with other people. And I feel like you can create real relationships with people. And I know from myself, being a high performer, when you are friends with other high performers, like other people who are like you, they are just better friends because they get your whole personality, your whole type A, all the things they they really understand. I have struggled with that. Being a military spouse, a lot of spouses don't work because every three years they have to move. Right. And having people who are in the same boat as you, building that thing that matters so much to you, can change your trajectory in ways you never even knew were possible. So I am huge on that. So I also want to talk about though, that there's the starting of the business, the ending of the business. It's always glamorized, but in the middle is that messy middle. Yes. What's been your messy middle? What's been the hard thing for you in developing this network and developing the masterminds and the conferences? What has been the messy middle, the hardest part for you? I'll be totally honest.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

The hardest part for me is I still have imposter syndrome. And no matter how successful I get, and I've learned no matter how successful all these women I'm working with get, we all still have those fears. We have just that little bit of imposter syndrome. In fact, I'll give you an example. One of the things I'm doing right now is Wise Women is expanding to in-person groups, and I'm certifying leaders to run those groups. So the first step I had to do was come to the place of I can't do everything. And as cool as I am, I cannot be the only person running all of these groups. If my business is going to scale the way I plan on it, I've got to get other people in place. So I've got a leadership certification program for people to run groups in their areas where they live. I literally got the program 95% done. It was ready to go. I had people on a waiting list that wanted to sign up. And then I got in my head and I couldn't do it. It took me two weeks to invite those people to be part of the program. And interestingly enough, every single person that I invited signed up. Every single person that was on the waiting list signed up. And I knew that, but something I just got to the very end and I was like, oh, maybe it's not good enough. And honestly, I had to talk to other women in some of the masterminds and say, all right, ladies, you've helped me get here. You've helped me with this. I just need that little bit of extra push to just put it out there and do it. They're like, oh my gosh, April, are you kidding me? Yes, this is amazing. Do it. Why? But I did. I needed that because I still have that too. And I think we all do, we all put on these great fronts and we always want to look great and all the things. But I think no matter how successful we get, there's always that little part of us. And maybe I shouldn't talk about everybody. Maybe not everybody has this.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

But I don't think we are.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

Yeah. I think women particularly are conditioned for imposter syndrome. Yeah. Looked at and not heard necessarily. Like from a very young age, we're conditioned to that. So for us to grow and push and be visible, and that is all outside the container with which we've been given, April. So I'm not surprised. But when you look at CEOs of like big companies, 70% of CEOs have imposter syndrome on the daily. Right. So this is like a real thing. But the thing that we I talk about the monk, I have wickedly branded as like a very Oz Wizard of Oz, wicked thing. And I talk about the flying monkeys of distraction. When you are about to level up, which is what you were doing, yes, when those appear. Yeah. And they are teachers. There, it's information for you.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

But it's expanding you in a way that you just haven't up till now. So you don't have to kind of like rest your laurels on. Oh, I got this. So when you're in that expansion zone, there the flying links are going to come at you in ways you never even thought possible. Yep. And it is, it is you working and just knowing, okay, this means like if you're like fearful, it probably means a lot for you. Like if you have fear, it probably means something so deeply to you. That's why you're scared, right?

SPEAKER_02 27:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

If you have imposter syndrome, it's just because you haven't done this thing yet. So you're growing your skill set outside of what you've done before. So that's a little bit scary, right? So these are all teachers, it just tells you where you're at in that. So I love that you like this idea of imposter syndrome because so many of us carry it. I was raising my prices recently on a legacy client that's been my client for 15 years. And people don't stay with a marketing company for 15 years. Right. I know that this relationship is super strong. And I know that I've helped them go from one location to six locations. I know my value, but I was having such a hard time raising my prices. I had to go to my pod and say, Hey, I just need so while I was on the call, they were like, send the letter, send the note, and I did I press send in the call because I was so nervous about them. Like I was again, my own head, my own now from there. I did, they're not continuing with me, but not because of the pricing of locations. That's good, that's cool. Exactly what you want them to do. You want them to go and do the thing. So, and so we're spending about the next four to six months training and offloading and all of that, like making a really good transition. It's a great relationship. So I got worried about something that actually wasn't even gonna happen. Yes, like I was so in my head about it that it was really not the case at all. It was just maybe I was sensing they were growing. I don't know that I had other senses that were happening, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:16

But I think sometimes you just need someone to help you push the send button, especially like you said, when we're growing and expanding, because we have confidence in the things that we've done already that have worked. Like we've done them, we know it works. I can keep doing this, I know it works. But when it's something brand new, you don't know if it's gonna work or not. Then you've got the fear in the and you're like, I know it's a good. So that's when you really need the support of other people saying, No, really, this is great, go for it, do it. And then once you do and it works, you're like, okay, there we go. But yes, every time we're gonna expand. And I remind myself every single time those come up, I'm like, I must be on the brink of something amazing because look at all this stuff I'm feeling.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

And yeah, I have to remind myself that every time. And you talk about business is up and down, it's always up and down, like it's always never like this, right? It's a marathon. You're not gonna run the sprint and win, you're there for the long haul, and it does this depending on the economy. COVID taught us that. Like all kinds of things have taught us about how business can be different, right? So it that alone can create some anxiety, but then you add in like when you want to grow or add a new product or add a new service or whatever, that it's a whole nother level of oh crap. I'm draging this out. But yeah, I think that there's so much that in so many women and so many men experience it too. Of course, we all have our. I just believe that we maybe have it more magnified because we are taught from a young age not to be brave, right? We are taught to be play safe, we are taught to take care of everyone else, not ourselves. Like we're taught so many things that kind of are counterintuitive to being brave and showing up.

SPEAKER_02 30:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

So it there's a lot of voices in our heads that kind of want to keep us small in those moments of growth and expansion, whether it's from a mindset issue or like an actual service set issue, it can be really challenging for that.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Yeah. And sometimes I think women are taught like they're nurturers by nature, but then sometimes they're taught in order to make other people feel good, we keep ourselves small. So we're not gonna say, hey, I'm doing awesome and I'm expanding and I'm doing these great things around somebody who's not because you might make them feel bad. Right. We need to be able to just say, look, I've got an idea, I've got a vision, I want to grow, I want to expand and be okay saying that out loud because that's when it's gonna happen. That's when we're gonna move forward. But we just have to just recognize yes, there's a fear here, but it's okay if I walk through that and keep going.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Yeah, that's good. Okay, so I have a magic wand, April. I'm ready. And the magic wand I want to ask you is there one marketing or branding problem or challenge you have, or maybe it's common for people you work with that you want to talk about today? If I could wait, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 32:14

Honestly, mostly what I said, just the fears that women have to put themselves out there, and even myself, like I've finally just gotten over it. But I say that, but that's not true. I'm like, oh yeah, I've gotten over that. And then I'm like, no, I just gave you an example of the time, and I didn't want to put myself out there. So just overcoming those fears of putting yourself out there and being okay with it.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

So I'm gonna write a permission slip. All right. You can build the exact business that you want. Whatever's been built before was built before in a post-industrial era by men, for men with support systems at home. So it is our time to push, grow, change, create for us. And the only permission you need is the one from yourself to do it. And so if you need to write yourself a permission slip and put it on your computer, on your wall, or whatever, but you are the creator of your destiny, you are the creator of this thing that you have. And I would say to you and to anyone, and I actually in my book, I actually put a permission slip you can actually take out of it.

SPEAKER_02 33:22

Love it.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

The idea is that you have permission. I'm giving it to you right now. You have permission to build the exact business that works for you and your life. And just because somebody else hasn't done it yet or hasn't done it that way yet, does not mean it's the right way to do it. If it feels good for you and it's working, you keep testing it and it's working and maybe tweaking or whatever, go in, go all in, do that thing. Just like April did. April was like, this is more my calling. Like I'm loving this. She went from branding to this mastermind group, the women group, because that's where she felt called. If you are feeling that, and I call that the magic, because that's what we have. You can call it the gift, you can call it the purpose, you can call it whatever you want, but I call it the magic. If you have that magic that's calling you, it's the medicine that the world needs. And if you don't go in, you're preventing people from having that. And I just feel like I'm gonna give you the permission slip today if that's what you need. Everyone needs a permission slip to build the life and the business that they want. And there is no, just like with parenting, there's no book that's for everyone, right? You know yourself, you know your kids. Like you are the only one that can do that for yourself.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

One of my values is do it different. Yeah, whatever it is, do it different.

SPEAKER_00 34:39

Yeah, and even if you do it the same, it's okay, but do it for you, I guess. Do it my way. Do it for you, not for anyone else. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. So I just feel like women, they don't feel like it's like they can claim it, they don't feel like they can own it, they don't feel that for whatever reason. So the permission slip, I feel like is that. And then, you know, when you have the flying monkeys and all the things come at you to know they're teachers and that so once you have to put them in a cage. I was like, no, I don't want them in a cage because if I put them in a cage, I won't continue to grow. I want them maybe on a leash, not as well as a cage, right? But the idea is to recognize, name them, and once you have that awareness of that, you are able to then, I believe, conquer it when you know what it is. Then you can you have the antidote for it, whether it's the group, meeting with a group and saying, hey, I'm really struggling right now, or if it's writing, I do a lot of journaling. I actually use AI a lot to reframe my mindset. Hey, I'm struggling with this today. How can I reframe this to help me? And always will help me reframe it in a way that's beneficial because it's like immediate for me, and it will help me sometimes process that. But I just feel like women need each other in that. And I'm because only we understand all of the cognitive load that we carry, the emotional load that we carry, the energy that we carry as nurturers and all the things, and you'll have a squad of people who will be cheering for you and helping you get through some of that. So I love what you're doing. It's amazing. Okay. So, did I answer your question? You think did I Yeah? That was great. So, my last question or my last set of questions is this What does it mean to you to be wickedly branded? How do you think you show up as that? And then what tips would you give our listeners to be more wickedly branded? Okay, you might have to ask me those ones.

SPEAKER_01 36:20

But I got this. What is that? What is it to you? And then what tips would you give? Okay. So, what is it to me? Wickedly branded means that other people are talking about me and my business in a good way. They understand it enough, they know who I am, and they want to talk about it outside me. So I want people to talk about me behind my back, not in a negative way, but in a good way. I want people talking about me. That means I have branded really well if they're talking about me and I'm not there. I think my biggest tip is really be you in your business. Don't try to be somebody else, really be you, be authentic to you. But then also don't be afraid to talk about your business and your vision for it. Rather than just saying, I'm April Hyatt, founder of Wise Women. Uh, nobody's gonna remember that. But if I talk about this is wise women and this is what it means to me, and I am so passionate about it and I love putting women together and supporting them. Now you can feel that. Now you're gonna remember that.

SPEAKER_00 37:28

The thing that happens when you do the work with us, that you know, that branding identity work, I believe, is that when you fully come home to who you are and you talk about it from that perspective, you are a magnet for the perfect client to come to you because they see it. They agree it. There's an energy that's different that you've put out in the world. But when you play it safe, you're containing your energy in a way that doesn't help people find you. So, yes, unapologized to you in all of my sparkles and my wands and everything else. I am unapologetically me, no matter if I'm at the grocery store or if you see me on here, and people know. Like I will be at a networking event, and 10 people behind you is like, that's Beverly, because I have pink hair and I wear sparkly shoes to every event. They know who I am in that. So I yeah, be who you are, whatever it looks like. If you're buttoned up and you're super polished, be that person. I'm okay with that. That's not, but I want you to really feel at home in where you are with your brand so that it just oozes from every pore, April. A bad it to ooze from every pore. So yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 38:37

That I love that and the biggest thing for me, even in what you said too, is I think it's so important. The person that you project to be online and in your branding needs to be you in real life, too. Because what you don't want to have happen is somebody to meet you in real life and go, Oh, I thought you were a little like they just don't quite know what to sit for. You can tell when they're talking, like that, you know, you want them to meet you, go, oh my gosh, you're exactly the same as you are online. Yes, you sound the same, you talk like you're exactly the same person. Yeah, that's what you want.

SPEAKER_00 39:10

Yes. And I think it's no, I know this, it's far less energy just to be who you are than to have to be like two different people and remember who you are and which space. And that's it's cognitive low. That adds to the thing. You can only do that for so long without burning yourself out. So don't do that.

SPEAKER_02 39:26

Yes, don't do that.

SPEAKER_00 39:27

Okay, April, where can people find you? Your website. Do you have a free resource maybe? I mean, what's your favorite social platform to hang out on? Where can people come and chat with you?

SPEAKER_02 39:37

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 39:37

So, my favorite platform is actually Facebook. I'm on LinkedIn also, but I'm really on Facebook. Okay. And I have a Facebook group, it's called Wiseman Masterminds. It's a very active group, it's supportive. It's really women supporting each other, asking questions. I do have a visibility freebie that works, it's specifically for Facebook. It's wisewomenmasterminds.com. And that's where you'll find all my information.

SPEAKER_00 40:05

Awesome. I just followed you on Facebook. Oh, perfect. So make sure you go to the website and check it out because there's a few things in there that are nice that I think that you can really get a taste of what April is and how she works so you can test it and feel how comfortable you feel there, and then take the next step as you feel comfortable, kind of thing. April, I am so glad you came on today. I'm always excited to meet people who are helping women specifically grow, be better, feel better about what they're doing. So to me, that is my whole point. It's like my little silent feminist movement over here. And I it's a middle protest of the world, but I am it's just nice to see other people doing that as well. And I think the more people who are doing that and holding us up is gonna be better for everyone. Thank you so much for being with us today. I really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. I hope that you maybe got a little bit of an inspiration or a new idea, or maybe just took a deep breath of I don't have to do this all by myself. Because what I know for sure is that your message matters, your work matters, and the world needs to hear what you have to say. And if you play it small, you're not gonna have the impact that you want to make. So I believe that marketing isn't just about visibility, it's about the impact that you make. And when you have other people around you, like in a mastermind or a group, you'll be able to do more things. So it's about connecting with the right people in a way that feels good to you and true to you. But I want you to keep showing up, keep sharing your brilliance, and keep making magic in the world. And if you ever feel stuck, no you don't have to do it alone. April's here, her group is here, our group is there to help you turn your spark into a wildfire. But until next time, I want to dare you to be wickedly branded.