Welcome to the Radiant Soul Sisters Podcast!
Episode #2
Today my guest is Erica Castner, Host of The Voices of Impact Podcast and Personal Brand Strategist.
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If you want to read the transcript, check it out below:
Susan
I am so excited to be here today with Erica Castner. Erica is a friend of mine that I met through No Women. And Erica, if you could give that person or a woman who needs to hear something one tip, one piece of advice today on how to create or achieve work life harmony, what would be your best piece of advice.
Erica
The biggest piece of advice I could share with our audience today is that getting done is better than getting it perfect. And one of the things that is going to inspire you to move forward is inviting the right people in your circle of influence, to cheer you on to tell you can do it. And to keep you motivated on those days that you’re not feeling excited to do those things anymore. So keep going. Keep moving. But but don’t worry about getting it perfect, get done. Because you’ll feel more excited about your progress if you’re in that movement versus staying stagnant and worried about being perfect.
Susan
Thank you. Thank you so much for that great piece of advice. And I so agree with you that being imperfect is getting it done many times, and it makes you relatable. Absolutely. Thank you Erica, have a good day.
Erica
You’re welcome Susan.
Susan
So if you Oh, you know what, Erica? Hold on one second. Okay, your piece. printed the wrong one. Okay, now know what I was gonna say. Here we go talk about imperfect, right.
Erica
It’s all good girl.
Susan
Thank you for being here with me. And dealing with it and all of that, you know.
Erica
Girl, we’re, we’re Yeah, we’re so friends. We’re so yeah, it’s all good.
Susan
But here, here I am working with the podcast queen. Ya know.
Erica
Oh, stop it. Stop it.
Susan
I know. Okay, that’s okay. I know what you got in there. So it’s all it’s all really good. So good. Here we go. We’re gonna get started. So if you have ever wondered how you can live a full and happy life, how you can work and have life harmony. I am excited for you to meet our guests. Today, Erica Castner. I had the opportunity to meet Erica in 2020 When No Women was shifting to virtual events. And at that time, she was working on a big personal challenge for herself, while continuing to grow her personal community, and do it all with awesome personal connections. I can’t wait for you to hear what makes Erica’s radiant soul shine, and what she does to live a radiant life. Erica, I am so glad you’re here today.
Erica
Thank you, Susan, for having me. I’m so excited. We’re gonna have this chat today. Thank you for having me.
Susan
You’re welcome. Yes, glad to have you. So just tell us a little bit about yourself.
Erica
So I help business owners and personal brands expand their presence online and in person. But I also have a podcast myself called Voices of Impact. And I know Susan, we keep talking about getting you on the show one day, we got to make that happen, sister, I am dying, we gotta make it happen. But in addition to that, Susan kind of ticked it off in the intro, but kind of in a vague way, which is good. I’m also an Iron Man. So the big personal goal that I was working on in 2020 and into 2021 was aspirationally, working towards the Ironman goals. So lots of things that I can talk about today as it relates to creating work life harmony and getting the right people on the bus. I’m sure that’s gonna come up on our conversation today with not only my business, but also with my personal goals as well.
Susan
Right, right, so, you know, Erica, I just can’t imagine competing in an Ironman challenge yet. I’m not saying I might not put it on that flight someday. But you know, what is the biggest lesson that you have learned, either with the personal challenges? Or with your being an entrepreneur? What would be your biggest lessons that you’ve learned?
Erica
Through that process? Yeah, so I say that with the right guidance and taking consistent action and perseverance, anything is possible. So having that equation of having some sort of guidance, some sort of support, and then you personally having to take action, and then sticking with it, like not getting mad about, you know, maybe having a bad day or getting frustrated, like they’re gonna have those emotions, but having that perseverance to stick with it, you can do anything. So to give some of our audience a little bit of a clue as to my Ironman journey. Nobody would have ever bet on me being an athlete. I wore stiletto heels from the time I came out of the womb. I’m just kidding, but I never I never I had an athletic bone into my body, and I didn’t become an Iron Man until it became one. And so for anybody that’s listening to this today, if you present your sites out for a goal, again, is having the right guidance, it’s having the consistent action and putting yourself in that persistent mode of getting stuff done is going to make it happen for you.
Susan
Do you feel that when you challenged yourself with this real physical activity, right, you had to train? I’ve heard persistence, I’ve heard the word consistency, right? But you are pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. So how do you feel that related or that added to your business world.
Erica
So, it forced me to think about things differently, so I had a lot of time on the bike. So if you don’t know what an Ironman is, it’s a mega triathlon. So it’s three sports, swimming, biking, and running. And you when you actually do the race, you don’t get to have the fortunate luxury of listening to music. So I trained without listening to music. So a lot of that training time was my own thought process in terms of what I could be doing for my business. And as I was training for Ironman was obviously 2020. And it was a pivotal year for so many people. And I needed to rethink the way my business was functioning. Because predominantly before 2020, a lot of my business was in the in person space. And since a lot of that was going away, everything was going to virtual, I did have a division of a company that was virtual, but I really needed to rethink reimagine double down on some of those things. And so having that time to train and do this thing that was okay, I’m going to be spending hours and hours and hours on the bike and on the run and in the pool. It allowed me to also quiet my thoughts and think about what were those things that I was going to do when I could get back into my business.
Susan
I love that such a great point. Yeah, I love physical challenges and how they push you out of your comfort zone. Right? They challenge you. But then they go over they flow into all areas of your life. Yeah, it’s like confidence.
Erica
Yeah. And so you know, when you start thinking about oh, my goodness, I’m pushing my body to this level, what else could I do to push my mindset or my relationships or my capabilities to the next level? And so it just gives you that confidence. It does it trickles into all aspects of your life? Susan, you’re absolutely right.
Susan
So you know, you’re out there in you did this Ironman, and you’re building this business and community is so important, but your wife and your mom, you know, what are the lessons are the things you’ve learned about work life, harmony, and how to manage that.
Erica
So, I would say that the biggest lesson that I’ve learned in my own journey with work life harmony, is to ensure that the people that I’m inviting into my circle of influence are the ones that are actually going to get me to the next level. And I don’t mean like necessarily, like in a, in a dubious way, I just mean that, you’ve got to be so careful, and so guarded about who you’re letting into your circle of influence, they can make or break your success. So, if you’re letting a bunch of Debbie downers into your world, and you are thinking, oh, I want to do these epic things, and I want to grow and I want to challenge myself and you have a bunch of naysayers in your corner saying, why you’re doing that. That’s dumb, blah blah blah. I mean, they’re gonna eat away at what you want in terms of your own harmony, your own peace. So just be really judicious about who you’re inviting into your circle. I’ve learned that early on, and surround yourself with people that are going to cheer you on in the process, too. So it’s just discarding the people or at least distance yourself from people that aren’t going to cheer you on. But putting yourself in the arena of people that are going to hold you accountable, cheer you on and give you some coaching and guidance along the way for those bigger goals.
Susan
Right? And do you find that oftentimes, when you put yourself in a situation, where you’re in a room that maybe people are smarter than you are or you perceive them being smarter than you are or they’re further along in their business journey. They are the ones that cheer you on? And they are the ones that want to share their success secrets, right.
Erica
Yeah. And I used to be really intimidated by those people. But I have found over the years that they are definitely more willing to share they definitely are more. They’re not playing into the negativity, right. And then the other piece of it too is that that if you are asking questions of them, if you can get brave to have those conversations, I have found that by asking them questions and finding out what their current areas of focus are, makes me more valuable in time in their eyes because I’m engaged in whatever they’re working on. So, anybody out there that is maybe feeling a little intimidated by surrounding yourself with people that are perceived smarter or more successful. Put yourself in that conversation with them to, ask them questions about what they’re working on how you can support them in their endeavors. It’ll give you that perception that you are more valuable in their eyes as well.
Susan
I totally agree with you. I totally agree with you. And I’ll tell you, you know, in building just my podcast, right, you’ve been podcasting a long time. So I was kind of nervous about saying, Hey, come on, but I’m learning. We’re friends, sister. I mean, come on. So
Erica
We’re friends, sister. I mean, come on. So we got this. And you know what, and I’m so proud of you for doing this. Because I know that this has been a goal of yours for quite some time. And so now you’re making it happen. And you’re doing it. So when you when you send me that message, I’m like, Heck, yeah, Sister, I’m all about it. Let’s do it.
Susan
Let’s do it. That’s yeah. So you know, I’m all about our radiant souls. And I just love it when I see women shining, too. Just you can tell that their content and they’re happy, or they’re loving what they’re doing. So Erica, tell me, what do you do every day? What is one thing you do every day, that makes your radiant soul shine.
Erica
So this is gonna sound counterintuitive, because it will seem like I’m putting more on my plate. But one of the things that I challenged myself to do every day is reaching out to at least three people in my network, simply just to say, How’s it going? What are you working on? Is there anything I can do to support you? If nothing else, other than, like, I just like I’m here for you. Like, I just want to know what’s up. And if I’m going to ask them that if they get back with me, then I need to follow through on whatever requests that they have. So, I do realize that there, I do end up putting some extra things on my plate. But what I have found is by reaching out, it inspires me with the projects and the initiatives that these people are working on. But it also encourages them to know that somebody is looking out for them. And oftentimes we just don’t, we don’t get that pat on the back all the time. And you know, how often do we go through, especially in entrepreneurship, and all the other hats that we wear? There’s so many times where we feel beaten down. So how awesome is it to get just a quick DM from a girlfriend just saying, “Hey, girl, thinking about you, how’s it going?” So, I want to be that chick, I want to be that person. And for nothing else, no other gain other than just to be that cheerleader. And if she or he needs help, then I need to be in a good position to offer that support. And that help and whatever capacity. So that’s the thing that I do every single day is reaching out to three people just ask how are you doing? What can I do to support you?
Susan
You know, I’m finding through these podcast interviews with these amazing women, and I can’t wait for you to hear some of them. That there’s this underlying theme that you know, we have these hearts that want to lift others up, right that we want to see other women really shine. And to know that hey, like you say, Hey, sister, I am here just to say hello. And see what I can do to serve you. And so thank you for that. I think that’s super cool. I love it. Absolutely love it
Erica
Thanks. And you know, going back to what you just said there with people feeling that heart to connect and to lift other women up. I used to think it had to be this big grandiose thing that I had to stop the world traffic to make some impact. And if you just do what I suggested, I mean, everybody has at least three people in their network, you don’t have to pick three different people every single time you do this, but you know, let’s just say you had 100 people in your network, which most of us do. Most of us have at least 100 people that we know. So, you know, if you did three people a day, five days a week, I mean, that’s only 60 people that you’re reaching out to so in the greater scheme of things, in one month I should say, so in the greater scheme of things, you know, it will take you another two months to get around to that other person to reach back out again. So don’t think you have to stop the world to make it happen. Just focus on who’s right in front of you and make an impact in their world.
Susan
Awesome. Great tip. So thank you so much for that wonderful tip. I have one more big question. But before we get there I would love for you to share what you’re doing and how can our listeners connect with you?
Erica
Yeah, thank you so much for that so my biggest area of focus right now is helping female business owners accelerate their personal brand efforts, so much of what they’re doing in terms of how they want to shine and how they want to stand out in this world and impact more people. I love helping women kind of craft that and position them smartly and more effectively. So one of the initiatives that I have going on right now is bringing those women together inside of my community, which is over at EricaCastner.com/community. But it’s a way for women who are building personal brands to just connect, get to know each other. It’s a free community. So if you want to learn more about that, head on over to EricaCastner.com/community to get the deets on that.
Susan
And we will have that link in the show notes and on the post, so everybody will be able to easily connect to you there. But thank you, thank you so much for that. So, if this episode has you thinking about how to put yourself first while living your life on purpose, and creating work life harmony, be sure to connect with me at all my socials at SusanCrewsCo. And if you want, reach out, let’s chat. Also, if you’d like to bring this energy and fun to an event, I am available for speaking engagements so reach out at SusanCrewsCo.com. So now we’re on to that last big question. Erica, can you tell me what is that one piece of advice or that one big word of wisdom that you would like to share with someone who might need to hear it today.
Erica
So, there’s no badge of courage with doing it all by yourself. So, the one thing I could recommend is if you’re feeling stuck, if you’re feeling complacent, if you’re feeling like you are in that perfection it is mode, get other people involved because it’s much better to seek wisdom and counsel from people that are doing the things that you want to do. And it’s also better to get the things done, just so you can get the momentum without having to worry about being perfect, but having that community of people that are going to cheer you on in that process is certainly going to help you know that you’re on the right track.
Susan
Oh, I love that. I love that so much. I struggled with perfectionism for way too long in my life you now. Well anyway, thank you Erica, thank you so much for being here today. I appreciate your time and your words of wisdom.
Erica
You’re welcome, Susan. Thank you for having me, you rock, my friend.
Susan
Thanks. We hope you’ve enjoyed our episode of the radiant soul sisters. So my thanks again to Erica Castner and if you’d like to join us next time we’re going to shine the light on another beautiful soul whose radiant soul shines. Until then, my friend. I’m your host Susan Crews. And remember you can find all of our episodes, resources and community at SusanCrewsCo.com. Have a great day.
