Tedx speaker Shelli Varela uncovers the power of YOUR story in your business. Ep 2 Season 2

One of the most powerful tools in your marketing toolbox is storytelling.  Using your stories effectively costs nothing and creates a connection with your clients like nothing else can

Our guest this week, Tedx Speaker Shelli Varela, helps us understand what our stories are, why we need to tell our stories, how to tell them and create impact, and what that means for our relationship with our clients and customers. 

Shelli walks us through:

·      Everybody has a story – multiple stories in fact – how to uncover yours

·      The power of your story – here’s a secret – it’s not about you – it’s about the listener (aka your clients)

·      How to create a “bridge of possibility” for your clients and customers

·      The pivotal moment that gives your story meaning and makes any event a “story”

·      How using your story helps your customers believe YOU can deliver the transformation they are looking for and that they can actually achieve it as well.

This is a powerful episode that will change how you communicate with your clients, potential clients, friends and family.

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Transcript

Kristy: [00:00:00] One of the most powerful tools in your marketing toolbox is storytelling. Using your stories effectively costs nothing and creates a connection with your clients like nothing else can. Our guest today, TEDx speaker, Shelli Varela is going to help us understand what our stories are, why we need to tell our stories, how to tell them and create impact and what that means for our relationship with our clients and our customers. Shelli is going to explain how everybody has a story, multiple stories in fact, and how to uncover ours. 

She's going to uncover the power of your story. And here's the secret. It's not about you. It's about the listener (or your clients and customers.) We're going to talk through how to create a bridge of possibility for your clients and your customers and the pivotal moment that gives your story meaning and can be used to make any event a story. And the big takeaway here, that will make all of the difference in your marketing, is how using your story helps your customers believe that you are the one that can deliver the transformation they're looking for. And also that they can actually achieve [00:01:00] it as well. 

We are so fortunate to have Shelli Varela with us today. Shelli is a TEDx speaker host of the YES Effect podcast, third generation storyteller, firefighter, and hardcore possibility hacker. She's obsessed with the transformational power of the word YES. And today she is going to help us do one of the most powerful things that we can do for our business, which is learn to tell our own stories.

 It is so great to have you here, Shelli, thank you so much for being on today

Shelli:. Gosh, it's my pleasure to be here and to share some nuggets that hopefully make a difference for not only people's confidence to sell, but the audience's ability to go. “Yes.” 

Kristy: And, you know, I gave a little bit of an intro, but I would love it.

If you could tell us just a little bit about your journey here, how you started and a bit more about what you do now. 

Shelli: Yeah, for sure. , the beginning of my story found me as, um, a anxious kid who had been beaten and bullied and berated and I, and because of that, I used my imagination to not only cope, but to actually [00:02:00] survive.

And so, as I, as I got older, I moved into high school and everybody knew like the colleges they go to and how many kids they'd have and all those things. And I was a hot mess. I didn't know what I was going to do because at this point, the world had labeled me an artist. So as I'm venturing out into the world and I'm trying to figure out what the rest of my life is going to look like.

Um, I'm looking in the lane of artists because that was my label. That's what the world told me. I wasn't, I was artistic. Who I thought I was. So I have a chance meeting with, uh, with a firefighter or mothers were really good friends and I was going through a hard time trying to figure this piece out.

And he was going through a hard time. I was going through a divorce and fighting for his beautiful little. But every second weekend he would have to give his daughter back to his ex wife. So he was, you know, not in the best way. So every second week I would show up and I would keep him , talking as long as I could, about whatever I could.

And the thing that he could talk about forever was his job as a firefighter. And so what I learned about possibility and about story and about inner story,[00:03:00] you know, I'm listening to him, tell these stories of like fires and rescues. I'm like, dude, like that's what you get to do. Like that's your job.

 but here's the danger of labels for, for all of your audience. This is really key because. I thought my label was, I am an artist. So I was looking for things in the realm and in the possibility of artist and for your listeners, but also for their clients, for their customers. There is a story rattling around in their brain that we're looking to crack and break.

And we do that with a story. So I thought that I was an artist. And as an artist, I couldn't find anything that. But what happened was these stories that he kept telling? I kept coming back again and again and again, and I was obsessed with him and I was obsessed with the stories, but the stories turned into lessons.

And what I realized was that I had a natural mechanical aptitude. And so I remember I was like hanging off his, every word and just like, wow, like, this is what you get to do. And I just could not [00:04:00] get enough. And I'll never forget the day we were driving in his pickup truck together and we pulled up next to this tractor trailer.

And on the back of it was this dangerous goods, placard or label. And I remember thinking because inside I'm still that shy bully kid with no confidence and no, you know, like no, putting myself out there. I looked at this label and I'd been listening to everything he said, and I thought, I know what that means, but I was too shy to tell him.

So instead I asked him when he gave me the wrong answer, Uh, I corrected him and he turns to me and looked me square in the eye and says, why don't you just apply Shelly I am a 108 pound manicurist. I'm working, you know, uh, for, for my mum's nails shop. I'm not big enough or brave enough, smart enough, strong enough.

I don't have any skills. I don't have any knowledge. I don't have any experience like, and this is 30 years ago and there's. Women firefighting at the time. And, I said, well, that's ridiculous. Like look at me. And he says, uh, there's going to be a girl one day. Why wouldn't [00:05:00] it be you? And I was like, oh, and, how this relates to story is that the story that I was telling myself of who I was and the label that I was and the identity that I was and what was possible for me and what was not possible for me was a story that was rattling around in my.

When I quarter turn that. And when I realized, because here's the thing, I actually didn't believe that I could do it, but I knew more than anything in the world that he knew and that he wouldn't like. And, and that is literally all it took So for us, as we're building our stories in is we're building our audiences and we're getting people to say yes, so that we can make a transformation for them.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is have them borrow our confidence until they have their own. So for me, I bought into that and I'm like he said, yes. So I knew that I was going to get my teeth kicked. But 1,162 days later, I had transformed my body, my education, my experience, and I was hired at my city's first female firefighter.

I was still in the inside, this shy, [00:06:00] introverted person. And I didn't like sharing my story, but because it was newsworthy, it was on, you know, it was on the local TV and radio and print press. I kept getting asked about my story again and again, and I found it really kind of intrusive.

Until a lady says to me, this, she said, thank you so much for sharing my story. I see myself in your story. And I thought there were things I couldn't do, but now I'm gonna go do them. And in that moment I was like, oh, my story actually has nothing to do with me. neither does yours. And so this is how story actually works.

The way I do story is if you think of story instead of like an output or a result or what you want to be known for the thing that you're going to tell to people, if you think of that as the exhale portion of the story, and it's true, and that, and we need to express that we need to be able to communicate who we are and what we stand for and what we stand against for sure.

But it's only half of the story [00:07:00] and here's where. people get caught up specifically women. They forget that the root of the story and story equals possibility. The root of the story is actually on the inhale part of the story. So the result is the exhale, but the inhale part of the story is what you believe.

What you believe you're worth, what you believe you're not worth, what you believe is possible for yourself, what you believe is possible for others, but not you and all of your pre-cognitive commitments that you make from the time or five years old about what the world means and your place or value in it.

The thing is what you will find. And this is a parallel for your audiences as well, for anybody out there thinking that they want to, you know, get their business off the ground. when you learn to uncover your story, what you're actually doing at the same time. Is creating neural pathways between you and your audience, because they will hear your story, but they will feel theirs and that's how you unlock them.

And that's how you get them to say this. And that's how you make the transformation. That is how [00:08:00] you do it. Right. And so. If you can, quarter-turn the inner story of what you believe is possible. Then it literally is like finding the first domino and then all of the other dominoes fall. So that's thing that you were efforting against formerly, whether it be, I want to create a six-figure business.

I want to lose a hundred pounds. I want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, whatever that looks like efforting, efforting, efforting. But if you quarter-turn that inner story, Then all of the dominoes fall, and then it's easy. It's still work. It's still, you know, going through the process of learning the things you need to learn.

and so on, but, but it then becomes simple, impossible. And so for anybody who's looking to share their story, you know, there are three things that I hear more than anything, which is, that's easy for you to say, Shelly have this fancy firefighter story. I don't have a story. So the first thing I want everybody to know that.

Everybody has a story, whoever you are out there listening right now, you, you, there, you have a story that is worth telling. Uh, the second thing is that your story matters. Your story is the [00:09:00] vehicle of possibility for your listeners. so oftentimes we'll, you know, we will feel self-conscious or, or uncomfortable, or we don't want to sound like we're bragging.

But wrap your brain around this. Your story is not about you. It is the vehicle by which you deliver other people's possibility. And here's how that works. So a story is, is like the juxtaposition between ordinary and extraordinary. So when people are hearing your story, whatever that be, you know, you started a business or you left an abusive relationship or whatever that is, doesn't matter for the listener.

You are on a pedestal. You're extraordinary. and that might be inspiring and that, that might be moving to them, but they don't necessarily feel it. if you start your story, not from when you had it all figured out your cool and your social media profile, and you know, you've got it all figured out.

but if rather you start your story when you're not extraordinary, but when you're ordinary, when you were broke, broken, homeless, hadn't come out to your parents. Don't feel [00:10:00] fearful living in your car or whatever. The emotional math of that for the listener is, oh, I'm exactly like Christy. In fact, I am her and if I am her and she did that, then the emotional math is I can do my version of that too.

And that's the bridge of possible. It has to be relatable. It has to be relatable because here's the thing like Robert Cialdini wrote a book called influence and he talks about reciprocity and scarcity and authority and social proof and consistency and all those things. But the one that I really, focus on usually is reciprocity.

And it's the idea that as human beings, we are wired to want to give somebody something back who's who gives us something. And if the thing that you give first is vulnerability, then people are wired to want to give you their vulnerability back. Here's where that gets really mad. we are all trying to be okay.

And most of us to some [00:11:00] degree are not okay. We're all not okay. At some point. we're all suffering in silence in silos. We either feel not good enough or, you know, not, not smart enough or not worthy enough or, or whatever, somewhere in the back there. Those stories are rattling around in all of our heads.

But if somebody gives you the gift of vulnerability, what happens is that little calcification around your heart cracks open. And you're like, whether you say it actually, or whether you feel it in your body, you will say me too. That's why the me too movement was so powerful because someone said it first and everyone's like me too.

Me too. Me too. Me too. Once you crack people open. Then they are, then they're pliable. Then that's where the transformation and the beauty happens. That's where you can help them. That's where you can sell them, your offering. That's where, you know, you can leave a legacy and build your business and all of the things.

So the second thing is your story matters and your story is not about you. and the third thing is, your story has the ability to change the world. If you were [00:12:00] to trace back the route of I'll use my story as an example, I am now sharing my story with people and I'm, and I'm sharing it in a way that they see themselves in my story.

I've had so many people approach me and say, you know, thank you for sharing that, you know, I didn't know how I was going to XYZ. Cause the truth is I'm the world's most unlikely firefighter. Like I am not a big human. But when you watch the ripple effect of what happens. So I've had people leave jobs that they hated leave marriages, that they hated start a business, go back to school, as a full-time mom, caring for an elderly parents.

But if you watch the ripple effect of what happens, you realize that those people are taking what they learned from your story. And they're going out into the. And applying it to 

Kristy: their own lives. you actually inspired me to tell, finally tell my story. and it was such a powerful exercise.

I'm a really private person as well. And I found it really [00:13:00] difficult to put it out there. And a lot of people that knew me didn't actually know the full story, nevermind. You know, the world at large. but because I was open and I was vulnerable and. It started with, you know, me and being homeless, you know, I mean, how you get much, 

Shelli: much more 

Kristy: vulnerable than that.

it, it really resonated with people and then it was actually featured on entrepreneur and it went a bit viral and got picked up by several other publications of all of the articles that I've written to date. It got the best reception. And I almost didn't write it because a, I didn't want to let everybody, you know, see me there.

And B I had that same thing. I think that so many women have, which is. Why does anyone want to hear my story? Right? So it was a really powerful extra. And I think that, you know, the same thing you're saying here is the bridge to possibility people, people saw themselves in it. I had so many people contact me afterwards and say, I.

I really relate with this. I'm somewhere similar now. And thank you for sharing it because now I can see a path forward or I can see, you know, a future [00:14:00] that's different than this. So it's, it's so powerful and, and everybody has a 

story 

Shelli: true. And the truth is as human beings, we. We can spiral really easy.

I know I do. Like if I'm, if I'm in a certain thought process, right? It goes your belief, your thought, your thought to your action, your action to your result or something like that. Right. But it all starts with what you believe, you believe what you believe is true. And so when you start to believe something about yourself that isn't flattering or that, that is frightening, or that is derogatory.

It's it's amazing how quickly that can spiral. And then all of a sudden you're feeling helpless and hopeless. And then along comes somebody like you and says, oh, let me pull up a chair beside you and tell you about my most vulnerable moment. And in that moment, your audience, your person, your human feels not alone.

They feel not only not alone, but they feel like you get them. You are them, you were them. And then you become their lifeline. And so there's nothing more [00:15:00] beautiful than providing somebody hope for something that, that is going to change their lives. And so for all of your listeners, you know, like so many people are out there and they have these gifts and these offerings that they want to give.

And. some people are trying to create an offering, but they don't know what that looks like. Some people have an offering, but nobody's, buying it. but at some point you have to get people to buy in before they will buy from you. They have to buy in and the best and the easiest way to do that.

And honestly, the best way to create, the type of connection that will have people follow you and trust you is through the telling of your vulnerable. There's a very specific story arc and all movies use it. And that's not an accident, right? the audience that like the neurosciences, your mirror, neurons are like, I am you in the story.

And for anybody who's nervous telling their story, I will share this. There is a point in your story where. if you start when you're ordinary, so again, you're starting with ordinary and then you're taking them on a journey to [00:16:00] extraordinary and in between is the bridge of possibility, but the journey has a number of steps.

So you start with where you were and it's very simple. It's who you were before. And then something happened and you know, it doesn't have to be a big dramatic thing. Think of it this way. The thing that happened, you have a, before you have an after. and then you have something in between and the something in between is justice.

Simple is the statement. And then I realized, and then I realized because all the great stories are based on a noticing it's snapshot in time when you perceive something and it's the meaning you give it, it, that is actually what a story is. It's a fulcrum, that's it? It's just a pivot point. 

Kristy: you have a great example that people will say, well, you have this great story of how you fought to become, uh, the first woman firefighter.

And, and that is a great story. And that is, huge kind of story arc, but you've given examples before. And I think it really helps to illustrate for, especially for women that think, well, I don't have a story. You know, you, shared a much [00:17:00] smaller. Incident and how that became a great story about being bullied, at school.

And I think that's a great illustration for people as to how you can take any kind of pivotal event and make that your story. 

Shelli: Yeah. Yeah. It's a noticing. It's a small kernel. Oprah used to have a show ironically called everyone's got a story. remember this particular day, how it worked was they'd have this map, the USA, and they'd throw a dart at, and they'd go and they'd rush over and they'd see where the dart landed.

And then they would go to that small town. It was usually a small town for whatever reason. And then they would go to a payphone cause it was back in the day, flip through the white pages with their eyes closed, drop their finger and go and tell that person. And every single time they would show up and the person would be like, oh my gosh, can you imagine?

Right. Oprah and her entire crew on your doorstep. Um, and every single time they would hear the person say like, oh, I I'm nobody, I don't have this. And every single time it was mind blowing. And there was one time. This, this young lady, she lived with her parents on a [00:18:00] farm and they had nothing in terms of ways or means they were pretty broken.

Her mum and her dad were up at sunset and they worked till sundown and, as they were interviewing her and as they were uncovering, I will not tell the story without getting choked up. Just as a, as an example, I heard this story 30 years ago and it does this to me 

Kristy: makes you cry 

Shelli: all the time, every time.

So this woman, uh, this girl rather she's like 20, her mum comes in from the field to, to cash a check and she didn't have time to do her hair and her makeup and get dressed. She was filthy. She had blood and blisters and dirt under her fingernails and she goes to the bank and she says to her daughter, do you want to.

So this is the daughter who the Oprah show is interviewing and the daughter standing in line, and she's watching her mom standing in line and she's watching people, judge her mom, and she's watching this guy in a beautiful suit, standing behind her, and he's looking down his nose at her and she watches [00:19:00] her mother's sledge.

And she's holding this meager check in her hand and she feels shit. And in that moment, her daughter realized like, this is what a hero looks like. This is a woman who was at the foot of the dying. This is the woman, who's the first to be offering a bake sale or to give her last crumb of food to somebody else.

That is what a hero look like. And I'm like, heard that story 30 years ago and that entire story. Hinges on this young girl realizing. No, no, no. That is what a hero looks like. like I've been her, right?

Like we've all been. And so, but it also emancipates you, right? I believe that, emotions move most emotions, move joy, moves, anger, moves, grief, moves, but fear and shame don't move unless you move them. What they do is they calcify and they, they form like this layer around your heart and they harden you.

But when somebody [00:20:00] shares something like that, first it cracks it open. And allows the light to come in and people are like, yeah, me too. And it's so powerful. It is literally always, even my story, the reason people like it is because of the way I built it. Yeah. It has a couple of cool details or whatever, but it's, but it hinges around that moment when I was like, I realized, yeah, why not?

when I heard myself say those words, it was like a switch and then everything changed and it will change for your audience also. 

Kristy: Let's talk about how, how we can put together the stories and what different kinds of stories we should kind of have 

Shelli: at the ready.

 I have my clients build it, what it called a story toolbox. So if you were to look at your, your audience or, or the types of stories you want to solve for say, you want to solve for somebody who feels overwhelmed or somebody who feels angry, or somebody who feels hopeful or somebody who, um, Who was an underdog.

If you look through the [00:21:00] list of human emotions that you are typically solving for, even whether it's talking to your kids or whether it's talking to your clients, there is a series of human emotions that we all experience. So I want people to start looking through their day for those tiny little micro moments and start building a story toolbox.

And we, we are all guilty of this. we're guilty of saying, oh, I'll remember that story. And we never. in my phone, I have a section that I call quotes and notes. So anytime I hear a good quote, anytime I remember a story, if you look back through your lived experience, there are things you remember.

Like, I remember, something that happened to me in my grade five math class. I remember falling on the driveway and getting this big goose egg on my head. For each of those stories, if you're to sit and listen to them, you're able to tie a lesson to it. It's like, oh, well, if I were to have a takeaway from that story, what would it be?

So I would start with a list of, just like things that you want to solve for. I'll give you a very [00:22:00] quick example. when I was a kid, we lived in this not great neighborhood and The fences on the front lawns were made of polypropylene rope. And so me and my friends were doing time trials, and we were running and we were hurdling over these polypropylene ropes and we'd go over the lawn then over the driveway and then over the lawn and over the driveway.

And we'd run all the way down. And so, I made it to the finals it's between me and another kid. And I am running with a full head of steam. I'm running faster than they should be running. And the reason I know this is because I caught my toe on the polypropylene rope and I was running so fast. I didn't have time. To put my hands up to catch myself before my face hit the asphalt from a full run, like bam face rate on the asphalt. And I was in shock. And so my friends walked me over to my dad who was outside fixing the car and he starts to pick the pebbles out of my forehead and he takes me in and he starts to clean me up and I'm a little tiny, tiny kid and I can barely reach the sink.

So I lean over, he's washing my face and I see some blood dripping in it. So. Hop up. [00:23:00] And I look in the mirror started freaking. And my dad looks me square in the eye. He says, will you knock it off? You were fine. Literally five seconds ago, you're making a big deal out of nothing. there are so many times when I can feel myself get amped up.

When I, when I learn something. I know a lot of people that will experience something and the wrap their head around a certain piece of something and they can't let it go. And then it escalates and I will say it to them. The same thing, like you were literally like nothing between five seconds ago and now history.

And it's interesting how many people are able to like talk themselves down. But yeah, I, I actually am. I'm feeling amped, but I'm actually fine. So look through your, your lived experiences and look for moments that you remember, because if you remember them, you remember them for a reason and then pair them up with what do people need help with so there are stories like in the story toolbox that are meant to solve a problem. And then there is your signature story, and that is basically your flag in the sand, who you are, what you stand for, what you [00:24:00] stand against and why you've earned the right to tell your story. And everybody has, but it's basically how you articulate how you've earned the right to leave.

Kristy: And I think everyone needs to have versions of that story too. Right? You know, your, a short version of your signature story, the long version, because there's going to be places that you're going to want to pull that out and you say, tell your story often.

Shelli: Right. So, yeah, don't wait until you're ready. A fun fact about me. I've done a Ted talk two times and I'm probably the world's most terrified person of public speaking. So I, so I ended up taking a Dale Carnegie course early, early, early on in my life.

And it was a public speaking course geared specifically for people who are terrified. and one thing I learned there and I've, I've learned it a number of times since, and I use it and I teach it now is you can never be wrong in your story. Part of the reason people get nervous telling their stories, because they're trying to remember it.

It's like, oh, it goes from this beat to that beat, to the other beat and it, and it's, you know, and you don't want to mess it up. And, and you're like, well, what if I forget it? You can't [00:25:00] forget your story. And so the beauty of that is just being in one of my mentors, Gail Larson calls your home zone.

The truth is nobody was there with you. You can tell a story, the same story, eight different ways, and it will be correct every single time. So instead of, retelling it, relive it because it connects in a really visceral. 

Kristy: So rather than rehearsing it, maybe just understand the motivation and the meaning behind it 

Shelli: before you, before you tell them.

Well, I mean, it's really, it's just like a before and after, and then and I realized in the middle, but here's, , pro tip. That is, that is helpful for you. Right? So in moments when you're stuck in traffic or you're waiting in the doctor's office, run through the details in your mind, And walk through, like, have you ever seen one of those, one of those movies where you can, pause the actors and you're able to walk around among the actors?

 Walk around in your own story and I want you to look for what I call holograms and layers of sound.[00:26:00] what is the area smell like? Is it musty? Is it cold? Is it warm? Are your feet clicking on the floor? What kind of shoes are you wearing? Is it linoleum floor?

What kind of lighting is it like look around in the scene, How do you feel? Why do you feel that way? What are you listening to? If you peel back the layer of what you can hear readily, what's quiet or under there that you can hear. And if you peel that layer back, what can you barely hear that still there?

And when you, do that, It informs your neurosystem. So when you're telling the story, you can never be caught with something without something to say, because you're just describing what you remember and you remember it because you thought of it. So remember the, before part, remember the after part and remember that pinnacle moment, like, like I just told you with Steve, um, I remember sitting in that car.

I remember looking at the truck. I remember the placard. I remember turning to him and so I've sat in that truck a thousand times and I've looked around at the dash and I've looked at what the traffic was. [00:27:00] And I remember what street we were on. So if you relive it, then you never have to remember.

Kristy: That's great. That's great. But, and for any storytelling for written stories as well, that's fantastic advice. So before we move on, I want to talk a little bit about what you're doing now, because you've got some really exciting things coming up with your podcast too. Is there any other tips, as far as telling the stories, when to tell them how to maximize, let's say maximize the use of their stories, but really to, to use their stories to their fullest, potential.

Anything else that we want to let everybody know about 

Shelli: early until it often, and pay attention to what resonates with people Pay attention to how brave you are to share vulnerably and watch the difference. 'cause just like two seconds ago, I was on the fence about, am I going to share that Oprah story?

Cause I know I'm going to cry and I'm like, screw it. Like I'm in because it's important, right? Pay attention to how people respond when you share first, my buddy, Justin dimmers calls it the gift of going second. When you share first, you give somebody [00:28:00] else the ability to be vulnerable, but you give them the gift of going second, because you've shown them, your Hurdy bits and your vulnerable bets.

this is a safe place for me to show you my. And something interesting. 

Kristy: We talked about previously that really hit home for me because I tend to identify as an introvert, which a lot of people wouldn't believe, but I am very much so. And I said, as an introvert, it was hard to tell my story.

And you had a great point to that, which kind of taken on board. And I think it's really important for people to hear that as an introvert, it's actually even more important to tell your story and it makes things easier for. 

Shelli: Storytelling is an introvert's dream. And here's why, because, we're not the people that are comfortable saying, Hey, look at me.

And then I did this thing and wait, no, no stop. I'm not done talking about. We are not comfortable being those people. But what happens when you tell your story is you get to stop screaming in deaf ears and you get to stop knocking on lock doors because you become a sought after guests. You become a sought after [00:29:00] person who people want to listen to.

And so instead of like crying to be heard, people seek to listen to you. I know that because I am a ridiculous introvert myself. I'm not comfortable talking about myself, but when we realized we're not actually talking about ourselves, it's just a vehicle for other people's possibility for their emotions for them to go, oh, you know, it's not just inspirational.

It unlocks possibility in their hearts and in their minds. And just like that day with Steve. I didn't think I could do it. But I knew that he did. And so you allow people to borrow your confidence until they have their own in there is no bigger gift than that.

Yeah. So, 

Kristy: so no more excuses, introverts, no more this is not my thing. Excuses are gone. You've got to tell your story. So I mentioned before you have some really, really cool things coming up on your podcast this season. So tell us what's going on with. 

Shelli: Absolutely. So my podcast, the S effect, I had paused it for a little while because I was [00:30:00] working on some other things.

And now I am super stoked because we are rereleasing it. And we've got all kinds of goodies. I realized that if I could change as many people's. Lives as I had with my story, what happens if I start shrouding people with example, after example amazing people that have gone ahead and done incredible things, but have brought back the roadmap and are telling you who they were when they weren't cool when they didn't have it figured out when they were terrible.

So we're going to be bringing not only a bunch of those amazing stories from some really, really generous and inspirational guests that are going to give you the how to, and they're going to give it to you in a raw and real way so that you can go me too. But we're also going to be doing something really cool and fun that I'm calling pod classes, which are going to be like mini trilogies of.

 For all of us who are out there being amazing entrepreneurs or leaders or change makers in the world, We often focus on what it is we're doing and we need tips and tools and tricks and [00:31:00] trainings and all of that's true. but also I want to also deal with the human being that has to go out there and do that.

So we're going to be doing things like the grief Chronicles. We're going to talk about other things like writing books and how do you start a podcast and how do you tell your story? And those sorts of things, but it's basically going to be like an ongoing time living masterclass for your humanity and for your possible.

Kristy: I'm so excited. I can't wait for it to come out. 

Shelli: If anybody wants to jump over right now, we have a Facebook group called the yes. Effect inner circle, and we're sharing the inside track. We're going to have some of our guests on there doing some, some lives and basically some behind the scenes stuff.

So, it is a place where, people can feel welcome to believe, to belong and to be. And 

Kristy: the podcast itself is called the yes effect podcast. Right. And any anywhere else they can, that everyone can get in touch with you where they can find you where's the Facebook group, the best place to 

Shelli: do that.

Facebook group is the best place for interaction, can find me anywhere else on social media at Shelly Varella. So I'm [00:32:00] on Instagram, Facebook, tick-tock you name it? I'm there

all right. Well, we're going to 

Kristy: put all of those links as well in the show notes. So if you're listening on a platform where you can't see our notes, you can always head over to one step empire.com and, all of the, the, the notes, the links, all the episodes, everything is there that you need.

So one step empire.co.com. You'll find it all there. And of course, you'll see some of it on the platform that you're listening to. So thank you so much for joining me today, Shelly. It was truly a pleasure. It's always amazing to hear from you. You are. You're a great story. Of course you are. Well, I thank 

Shelli: you.