Mindset, Marketing, & Selling from the Heart for Moms in Leadership with guest Sashka Regina
On this episode of Brainy Moms, Dr. Amy Moore and Teri Miller interview Sashka Regina, an expert in building brand authority by marketing from the heart. Sashka is a brander, marketeer, podcaster, and author of the book, Soul’d Out: Your Guide to Finding Your Life’s Purpose. This episode is perfect for mompreneuers, moms who run businesses, or moms who are dreaming of launching a brand or service. It’s an inspiring conversation with a big personality about creativity, disrupting current marketing trends, growth hacking, and connecting your marketing message to your personal identity and purpose in life.
Read the transcript and show notes for this episode:
Mindset, Marketing, & Selling from the Heart for Moms in Leadership
with guest Sashka Regina
Dr. Amy Moore:
Hi and welcome to this episode of Brainy Moms. I’m Dr. Amy Moore, here with my co-host Teri Miller and we are coming to you today from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Our guest today is Sashka Regina. Sashka is the founder and CEO of Brand Sashka and Future Forward Hub Podcast & Events. She’s an edutainer, brander, marketeer, podcaster, speaker and university lecturer. She’s been featured in Forbes, Buzzfeed, Yahoo Finance, Thrive Global, and more, and has over 35 years of experience, that includes major failures by the way, within communications, marketing, business, branding, consumer psychology and edutainment. She’s the mom of three teenagers and author of the book, Sold Out: Your Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose. She helps entrepreneurs and creative visionaries attract their soul audience, build brand authority and get speaking engagements to voice their impactful vision worldwide.
Teri Miller:
Welcome Sashka.
Sashka Regina:
Thank you so much. It’s always so nice when you hear someone reading a biography and you go, damn, that’s actually quite good.
Teri Miller:
Nice. Yeah.
Sashka Regina:
Pat yourself a little bit. That’s really cool.
Teri Miller:
That’s so good. Yeah.
Sashka Regina:
Thank you for having me.
Teri Miller:
Well, we are super excited to have you as our guest today, and you have a really unique story and approach to helping entrepreneurs. And so our show incidentally is sponsored by a global network of entrepreneurs, and we can’t wait to share the wisdom that you are bringing with them and to the rest of our listeners. Before we get into the work of all that you’re doing, tell us a little about your story and how you ended up in the business of branding the soul, and then writing a book about it.
Sashka Regina:
How long do we have? The story is in the lifetime. Story is the life time. So everybody has a unique story. My unique story is just the way I grew up, the way I was raised. Always in contrasts. So having different religions, having different cultures, having different languages. There was always a contrast of beliefs, of thoughts, of understanding different things, friends. And through it all, it kind of made me ask a lot of questions. Like everybody asked questions, but I was asking them a lot, very, very young and really annoying my family and parents. Because I was always like, “Why, why?” I really took it to the extreme. And through all of that, always questioning everything, it helped me go on a journey to find out, well, why do I only have to have one profession? Why do I only have to have one purpose?
Sashka Regina:
Why am I only supposed to have one friend or one group of friends? Or, why am I only supposed to be following one passion when I’m a multi passionate human being? And I went on this journey of spiritual healing and inner work and vocational and reality and neuroscience and understanding psychology and understanding people. And on the journey, finding yourself obviously as well, and finding yourself at different levels. And that for me was my unique story in that, although I had this big dream, the dream isn’t always the thing that happens for vocation, but it gives an indication of what your vision and your purpose is. And your purpose isn’t always what you think it is.
Sashka Regina:
And then becoming a mom when I never really wanted kids, I was very apprehensive about having kids because I was like, I don’t want to give up my life. I don’t want to be there for somebody else. Very selfish. I just want to be me, me, me. And had my kids and that was another contrast. And I love them for it. It’s been very difficult being a mom. I’m sure moms will all agree. It’s not easy being a mom. And combining it as well with your passion, with your dreams, with wanting to achieve whatever it is that you want, and all the different contrasts as well. Again, going on a mission, moving to a different country, different cultures, different languages, asking different questions. And that’s how it also then came to my book as well that I wrote about. Just answering my own questions.
Teri Miller:
All right, love it.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Yeah, absolutely. So let’s dive into one area of your expertise, and that’s marketing. And we know that entrepreneurs struggle with marketing. And, why is that? Why is that something that’s so tiring and so relentless?
Sashka Regina:
That’s such a good question, Amy. My personal experience is that marketing, two things, it’s seen as stagnant. Like it’s not really ever evolving, although it is, it’s always changing. It’s just the way that it is. And marketing is a reflection of who you are because you have to put yourself out as a brand. And if you don’t know yourself, or at least take the time to understand and get to know yourself, it’s very difficult to market yourself whether it’s through products or services. Because you have to put yourself out there, people buy not the product or the service, they’re buying who you are and who the person is. We know this, we buy things when we feel, I have a connection to that person, or I have a connection to the product or the service. And both of them aligned with one another makes marketing fun.
Sashka Regina:
When you’re not aligned with both of them marketing is hard. It’s sluggish. You always tend to be signing up and signing in for different courses, different ideas, different mentors, different whatever, networking groups, whatever it is, always hoping to get that secret answer when it’s already in you, but you need to be able to find it within yourself before you’re able to express it. We always hear this saying, “You can’t give from an empty cup.” And it’s exactly the same for marketing. You cannot do marketing from an empty cup. You have to fill yourself up first and that will then overflow. And your audience then will then be able to feel it and sense it and have fun with it. You have to have fun with marketing. It’s very, very important. Whether you have a team or you’re just solo. Doesn’t matter where it’s coming from, the energy flows through that.
Dr. Amy Moore:
I’ve actually never heard anyone say that marketing should be fun, right? It’s just one of those necessary evils. You got to spend money to make money. Right? And so to actually hear your perspective, that it flows through you and from who you are, and in turn makes it fun, is really kind of a cool way to look at it. I’m sorry, Teri, I interrupted you. You were going to ask something.
Teri Miller:
No. That same kind of perspective. I love the idea that I wonder sometimes if marketing, if advertising, sales, promoting yourself, pursuing business pursuits, if that feels so exhausting because I think so often we’re not functioning out of, like what you said, a per. That doesn’t have to be the purpose, the passion, the only thing you’re doing in life. But if we’re not functioning out of a purpose, a passion, something that we care about, I wonder if that’s when it then feels more exhausting. I don’t know.
Sashka Regina:
Definitely. We are always growing. We as human beings are always growing. And I’m going to go back a bit. So there are so many perceptions and misconceptions about marketing, and it depends on generation to generation. So whether you’re gen X or you’re baby boomers, or your millennials, it depends on how you see marketing. Now from mine, so 1974, when you look at marketing it was in the old days where it was all radio, print advertising, TV, and it was very superficial. You had to have a lot of money to advertise and market. You had to hire very expensive agencies. It was all false. Actually Adobe, Adobify yourself, put yourself out there. And then, what’s called it? Touch yourself up and everything. There was nothing real about it. And consumers in the generation now where you just go online and you’re able to see, well that person’s been touched up and that’s got an Instagram life, but it’s not really real. And people are calling you out.
Sashka Regina:
It’s different generations and different cultures. And most business owners still have the perception and the misconception that marketing is from hay days and that’s the way it’s supposed to be done. And the millennials are doing it in a way where, well, and younger, even younger where they’re just like, hey, this is me. I’m just getting on my phone and I’m just actually advertising and marketing, just speaking from the heart. And one and the other arguing with one another, because they’re like, no, that’s not how marketing’s done. And it’s like, well actually it is. You’re still doing a form of marketing because marketing is also sales and sales comes from the heart. If you really, like you were saying, Teri, if you’re really passionate about what you’re doing and how you’re doing it, you just talk from the soul, you talk from the heart and it just flows, rather than a marketing or sales conversation.
Sashka Regina:
How it used to be in the past where you’re just like, oh my God, like Wolf of Wall Street please don’t. I just, I can’t, no, icky. How do I get out of the situation? Help, white flag. So it’s understanding those perceptions as well. So marketing should be fun. And we live in a generation now, and it’s so exciting. You just get on your phone, you do a TikTok. TikTok has got the most amazing effects and you can just edit everything. In the hay day you had to pay so much money just to have that little short clip done. And then you have to have the makeup stylist and money, models, and all these different things. And now it’s just, you do it yourself and it’s like, this is me. And if you don’t like it, well, that’s your problem. Then the mindset comes in as well because I’m aligned with myself and with my passion.
Teri Miller:
So good. Oh my goodness. Even just listening to you I feel so inspired and convicted. Like, yeah, why did I put on makeup for this? Why do I think I have to put on makeup for a podcast for like the 10 people that might go to YouTube and see it? Why?
Dr. Amy Moore:
Like, it’s a podcast. People are listening. They’re not even looking at us, but we feel like, exactly. There are going to be a couple people that want to look at us instead of listen, and so we got to look good for that.
Teri Miller:
And even then, even then, what if people are on YouTube? Is it so bad? That I might have some bags under my eyes? That’s real life.
Sashka Regina:
You got pretty.
Teri Miller:
Yeah. But that’s the passion of being a mom. Yeah. Isn’t that more realistic and more true to advertising and marketing, like you said, to not, what did you say? Adobi?
Sashka Regina:
Adobify.
Teri Miller:
Adobify. Yeah. That I don’t.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Photoshop.
Teri Miller:
Yeah, we don’t need to even try that. This is so inspiring. Okay, so for you, I want to look at what you’re doing for your business, for your work. And good heavens people, such an interesting website. Sashka’s website is so fantastic. So what makes a customer buy from you?
Sashka Regina:
What makes a customer buy from me?
Teri Miller:
Yeah.
Sashka Regina:
Well, first of all, my customer, my tribe, we’re both reflection from one another. So we’re visionaries, we’re created, we live in contrast. It’s a lot of my personality within them. A lot of my behaviors within them. A lot of mindsets that are within them. So whatever I’m writing, it’s me, and whoever’s reading, my clients, my customers, my tribe, they are reflecting back to me and they understand where I’m coming from, and I’m understanding where they’re coming from. We are understanding each other on a personality identity level. On a marketing level, business is business. You need a product or a service, and you need to sell it to a market, and you need to communicate it in the way that someone will resonate it.
Sashka Regina:
So there’s a lot psychology involved with it. A lot of contrasts, again, culture, language, all those different things. What attracts consumers to me, is me. It’s just me. It’s just me being me. The way I write, the way I’m honest. I have a lot of my marketing strategy. So I have my pillars. I know who I want to market to. I know who my audience is. But I also do a lot of inspired action. And I’ll wake up in the morning and I’ll be like, “Oh my God, I just got to download.” Write about it, do a reel about it, do a TikTok, whatever it is and inspired action. And it’s, and it’s fun. And I don’t have to feff around a lot or just like, I wonder if I’ll get all these views. I’m just like, I don’t care. I’m just putting it out there.
Sashka Regina:
Someone sees it, changes them, fantastic. I’m going on about my day. I love my life. This is wonderful. And marketing, and it’s actually an idea that I had this morning that I’m still going to do a video about. Rather than going, “Oh, I have to do a video. Oh, I have to do schedule my tools.” Or, “Oh, I should be going to a network session.” Rather going, “I get to go to a networking session. I get to be with people that actually want to hear me and I want to hear them. I get to schedule content within a scheduling tool that was never there before, and now I can, and I have a lot of content. I get to do a video.” And it just changes the perspective and it makes it, the energy is different as opposed to, have to. Which is a lot in the past. You’re working towards and with your higher self is, I get to. And there’s a lot of gratitude in it. And gratitude is a state of receiving. And then you don’t chase, you attract. That was a lot.
Teri Miller:
So good.
Dr. Amy Moore:
I know. That’s going to be a great clip to promote this idea because it’s all about mindset. And when you can come from a place of excitement, rather than begrudging the fact that, oh, I have to do this, it changes everything, doesn’t it?
Sashka Regina:
Yeah. 100%.
Dr. Amy Moore:
How exciting?
Teri Miller:
Yeah.
Dr. Amy Moore:
How exciting.
Sashka Regina:
With everything, not just business. I mean, it’s the same if you’re in a relationship, or in your vocation or whatever it is, or going to university or needing to do a course. Or if you’re still doing a nine to five and hustling on the side as well. It’s like, “Wow, I actually, I get to go to a nine to five and I get to hustle with my job. And I’m a mom, this is amazing. I’m an incredible human being. There’s so much that I can do.” As opposed to, “Oh, there’s just so much that I have to do.” Like, I’m capable of doing this. I can clean, I can cook. It’s tedious, but I can clean and I can cook and look after the kids. And, I’m here. No, not pretending, because that’s not the right energy either, but rather just in the state of gratitude.
Teri Miller:
I think it could grow. Even if right now, many mornings I wake up and think I’ve got to do all this stuff. Oh my gosh, I’ve got to get the kids here and I’ve got to get this done. I got that taken care of and this to do list. And it feels like this burden. I mean, I don’t know that I can wake up tomorrow and boom, it’s just, because that’s faking it. If I just wake up and say, “I’m going to speak it different. I’m going to be different. I’m going to feel different.”
Teri Miller:
But what if I wake up tomorrow and I choose to say to myself and to other people, “I get to take my kids to such and such today, and I get to do these three things. And I get to accomplish six different things even before lunchtime.” Instead of what I normally say is, “I have to get six different things done before lunchtime.”
Sashka Regina:
Yeah.
Teri Miller:
And I think if I could grow in that, if I could wake up tomorrow and say that, then maybe the next day it wouldn’t be so hard to say it. And two weeks later and three weeks later, and two years from now, shoot, I could be a person who’s really filled with that joy and that passion that I’m hearing in you. I’m so inspired. I want some of that.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Absolutely.
Sashka Regina:
Last night I had to, sorry, I was just outside I had to fetch my son and it was late at night. It was like almost nine or whatever. And it was dark and there’s a storm and I was driving, and rather than going, “I have to go fetch my son.” I was like, “I get to fetch my son.” There are a lot of women, a lot of men who don’t have children, or have lost their children, whatever, and I get to go and fetch my son. And I was like, Ooh. And I was like, “Oh, that’s that’s good.” I was like, “I can’t wait to fetch you.”
Dr. Amy Moore:
Yeah. Well I love that you used that example because you have teenagers and you know that most teenagers are busy. They don’t have a lot of time to spend with you like they used to when they were little. And I found myself with my youngest, before he got his driver’s license, I was tired of driving him everywhere. He was the third one and I was just done running up and down that road, taking him to every activity that he needed to go to. And as it came closer and closer and closer to getting his license, I started thinking about that differently. I need to relish everyone of these drives up and down the road because it’s my only time to see him. And as soon as he gets that license, we’re done. We’re done with those drives together. We’re done with that mom, son time together. It’s over. You see him in passing. And so to be able to flip that and say, “I get to drive him to practice. I get to pick him up because that’s time that I get to spend with my kid.” I love that.
Teri Miller:
How to put that into business. Okay. So we’re sitting here, we’re so soaking it up about being a mom. And then I need to bring it back to what my outline here says. We need to-
Dr. Amy Moore:
Right. I get and to talk about what I do for a living. I get to bless other people with A, B and C. And I get to share that.
Teri Miller:
Yeah. I get to go do this research. I get to dig into this new information and then communicate it to people. And yeah, What a world of difference that would make for the idea of my marketing, for the idea of business development, selling all of those things. Mindset, mindset, mindset. So good.
Dr. Amy Moore:
So I want to talk about selling. All right. Let’s just operate on the assumption that our listeners know what their purpose is. How do they go from knowing their purpose then to bringing an audience in and attracting them based on that purpose and vision? And how do they do that without selling their soul?
Sashka Regina:
Good. Well, lots, lots, lots in that. So I’m going to unpack it. First of all, if I’m going to a networking event and obviously you’re going to be selling, or you’re sitting with friends wherever you are, you’re always selling. And when you’re selling from the heart, it comes naturally. When I’m in a state of, oh my God, this is my purpose and I’m going to be fulfilling it, there’s a lot of pressure in that state. Also, your purpose, in my opinion, and through my experience, is not your vocation it’s your mission and your vision. That has a lot to do with your dream as well. Because we are multi passionate human beings and our vocation changes all the time as we are growing in our body, mind and soul.
Sashka Regina:
So we are a mom, then you’re a business woman, or man, then you’re working for somebody. Then you’re a wife. There’s so many different vocations, professions, that’s not your purpose. Your purpose is how you grow within yourself in relation to all the different areas happening in life. I don’t know if you and the listeners are familiar with the wheel of life? All the different things that are happening within our life. So our vocation, social, education, health, financial, all these different areas in our life that happens simultaneously, not just on its own one day at a time, everything’s happening at the same time. How I show up for all of those areas.
Sashka Regina:
So let me take financial, for example. If we had a circle and it was cut into different equal pieces for the wheel of life and you take financial. And you’re going, my purpose to show, so my purpose is leadership. So how do I show up within financial in this area? And that financial area will have different levels happening at different areas in my life. So when I was 12, financial meant something different to me than to where I am now at 47 and with children. And I’ve experienced a lot more and had a lot more trials and errors going through there. So how do I show up in my purpose in leadership? How am I leading myself within this financial area with what tasks are happening right now? And there’s not just a mindset, there’s a body mind, soul set. So how am I showing up for that in my leadership purpose role within that sphere, within that pie?
Sashka Regina:
So when I show up at a networking event, or whatever, rather than coming with, and I know I’m going to have to sell myself, because it’s what I want to do. I get to do this. I get to be, I’ll be an imposter for a day. I feel like an imposter syndrome. That’s just the way. I’m just going to fake it today because you know what? I’m going to put on a different face. I’m going to be a Beyonce. I’m just going to put on my alter ego because it gives me a little bit more courage and I feel a little bit more brave. And how am I using my purpose to show up in that conversation when I meet Teri for the first time, and where I meet Amy for the first time, and we are having a conversation as opposed to going, “Oh my God, I got to tell them what my purpose is, which is my profession. And then I have to list my pitch so that when I tell you my pitch, then you’ll be so excited that you want to then buy from me. Yes, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Sashka Regina:
As opposed to, “Hey, how you going Teri?” And then you’re talking about mom stuff, and then you’re talking about getting to do this. And then you’re talking about, “Oh my God, I got bags under my eyes.” I’m like, “I know me too. How Terible is that?” It’s like, “I love dancing.” “Oh my God, so do I.” Amy’s like, “No.” You just had a conversation. And then you’re like, “So what do you do?” “Well, I do a lot of things, but at the moment what I’ve been doing for a long time is marketing. And I work in a lot of digital marketing. And I do websites and I have my team and we put things together so that you work from inspired action as opposed to being so tedious in marketing.” “Oh my God, that sounds so amazing.” And it just flows from the heart.
Sashka Regina:
I’m showing up in my purpose with leadership. How am I leading myself with my personality, behavior, gifts, talents, identity. In this situation I’m aligned with my marketing. I’m aligned with who I am. Showing up as who I am, and it’s a natural state. And then you just kind of, and then you move onto the next person. And then you move onto the next person. And you sell from the heart.
Dr. Amy Moore:
That’s beautiful.
Teri Miller:
It is. I just love that. Being yourself. That if I’m selling something, even if I have to, being yourself can be, I’m pulling out a little tidbit of what you said, can be having to put on that, I’m going to be Beyonce today. Beyonce, how do we say her name correctly? I don’t know. But there are times where we may need to put on a more professional front that feels a little bit like a fraud. That feels a little fakey. But that doesn’t mean I’m not being myself. That doesn’t mean I’m not still functioning out of my passion, it just means that I’m adaptable enough to go, “Okay, in this environment, out of my passion, I’m going to put a certain face forward that may not be the face I put forward all the time. And that’s okay.” I love that. It’s not being fakey. It’s not being false. It’s not just being a sales person. It’s still selling out of the passion of who I am.
Sashka Regina:
Yeah.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Yeah. So I’m going to deviate from our script for just a minute and ask you a question. So how do you brand yourself, right, as an entrepreneur? What is your advice for building your own brand by selling what you have to offer and your passion and your purpose, not just selling you as a brand? Can you talk about the difference there?
Sashka Regina:
If I understand correctly. So your brand is you, your brand isn’t necessarily the product or service. Those are product or services that fall under your brand. So Coca-Cola is a brand. Their subbrands are all the different things that they sell. Beyonce is a brand. Her music is products and services that she sells. Perfumes, clothing, those are all the different elements that she sells. But the brand is her. So we buy it, doesn’t matter what she sells. I’m just using Beyonce as an example right now.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Sure.
Teri Miller:
Yeah.
Sashka Regina:
But whatever she sells you buy into it because we, well, I align with her values, her personality, her character, her behavior, her identity, her gifts, her talents, where she’s come from, her motivation, her inspiration, where she’s going to her higher self, the energy that’s there. So I’m able to connect with that brand and we are co-creating together. That is the brand.
Sashka Regina:
To create a brand, it’s never short term, it’s always long term. We tend to, from the misconception perception from the past, we believe that a brand is like very quickly. We go to an ad agency, they create it, they do a TV ad, we go viral, boom, I’m a brand. Those are one hit wonders. You got to keep sustaining a relationship, as with everything. With everything in life, you have to keep a relation, building that relationship. With your child, your partner, your business, your clients, yourself. You have to keep building that. And that relationship is what builds a brand. Identifying the brand for the audience when you brand yourself, or when I brand for my clients, my tribe, without selling your soul. So it’s from the soul. I need to see your soul, which I can. And from that soul, it’s a direct reflection in your visual branding.
Sashka Regina:
So it’ll be your mood boards, your photography, your typography, your colors, your logo, the things that are used to express who you are without you actually being there. So when you go on my website, for example, both of my websites, there’s always a through line. There’s always a golden thread of my values, my perceptions, my personality, everything flows through there. And the visual branding is always similar. Doesn’t matter what it is, whether it’s for Future Forward Hub, or for Brand Sashka. If you were not to meet me, you would still me in my brand. I’m still represented in that brand. And that’s creating the brand long term so that people can identify with the brand without actually seeing you immediately. So you get a feeling and there’s no disconnection. There’s always an alignment between me and my brands. And the same with Beyonce. Doesn’t matter what she sells, there’s always the same undertone golden thread between her brand and whatever she’s selling.
Sashka Regina:
So it’s always cohesive. Even though she’s multi passionate, even though I’m multi passionate, even though I have a lot of vocations, professions, there’s still a cohesiveness within the brand. I hope I answered your question, Amy.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Yes, absolutely. Yes.
Sashka Regina:
Awesome.
Teri Miller:
Goodness. Okay. Well, we have just kind of gone all over the place. I’m like, let’s see, getting back to the outline here. I’m not sure where to go to this.
Teri Miller:
Running a business and parenting. Let’s shift to that. Oh my goodness, talk about cohesiveness. So you’ve got three teenagers, which can I just admit and just acknowledge that there’s a certain exhaustion to parenting that happens when your kids are little, and you’re chasing after them physically. And there is an entirely different psychological exhaustion that comes from when your kids are teenagers and growing up and heading into adulthood. And you are in that particular exhaustion right now. And so how do you balance that, that work that you’re passionate about and keep it cohesive with the fact that you’re also a mom?
Sashka Regina:
Great question. So this is my experience. Everyone has their own experience. For me, when the kids were young … We have a saying in Austria, small kids, small problems, big kids, big problems. And they’re just on different levels. When the kids were younger, also the misconception perception that we are told as mothers that we are raising children. And I had to teach myself that I’m not raising my children, I’m giving my children space because they chose me. I’m giving them space where I’m finding my tools that I can teach you, that you will use on your journey further on. So now in the phase of teenagers and balance, there’s not even a balance, just working self-employed and my kids is one, boundaries. My kids always come first, but also my business, because my business is me.
So there are certain moments where I’m just like, an example for today. My youngest child wants to go and sleep by a friend, spontaneously organized, take me now. I’m like, “I don’t think so.” I have a podcast interview. No, I need to go right now. It’s like, there’s a boundary. If I had to do it, it’s you walking over me. I have to set the boundary and go, “This is my time now. When I am done, then you come.” I’m not saying no to you, you just have to wait. Instant gratification is not going to happen right now. Also. In the space of teenagers is that I’m not raising my teenagers anymore. I am now in a state of empty nest. And it’s coming to terms with, like you were saying before, Amy, when your son was getting his driver’s license. It’s now, I’ve given you the tools.
Maya Angelou said it as well. When she made the decision to take her child, I think she was 13 or 15, when she had a baby and decided to leave home. Her mother said, “This is the happiest day of my life.” And she was like, “What?” And she goes, “You have shown me, as a mother, that I have given you the tools that you feel confident enough to do your own thing and go on your own journey.” And I remember hearing that and going, oh, that’s going to be a hard one when it comes to that day. And it has come to that where I have to give the space for my children, for my teenagers, to explore what they need to explore, but there has to be boundaries. And I need to know what my boundaries are, and I need to know what battles I’m going to be fighting for.
I can’t fight every battle. I can’t put fires out everywhere. And with my business as well is I know what’s important to me. So I don’t know if we were recording already, but there’s so many different things to do every single day. So I have my list, but I also go, is this a priority? Do I really want to get to do this today, or is this more important? Because I create my reality, so if I’m going to create my reality, what reality do I want in front of me right now? Do I want to be working so hard in my business that I’ve ignored the space that my children or child has asked me for in this moment to work with them? Who’s teaching who at the moment?
So like you said, you go to bed at night and it’s like this emotional, did I do a good job today? Can I tick off some kind of success, people? Thank you. I will rest my body and mind and soul right now because I think I did something. But that’s how I, me personally, my experience, I don’t want to say balancing, but working with the two. It’s not easy, but it works.
Teri Miller:
Yeah.
Dr. Amy Moore:
So you talk about that there’s a connection between running a business and parenting. That your purpose and your why and your vision with your business also prepares you to parent and vice versa. Can you talk a little bit about that connection?
Sashka Regina:
When I wake up in the morning, I am not motivated to be a mom. I’ve disciplined myself to be a mom. There are a lot of things that need to be done that I have chosen to take responsibility for. And when I make a choice, I have a discipline and I have responsibility to fulfill that choice that I’ve taken, or am going to be doing. And the same applies to business. The same theology or whatever, same ideology applies then to business where I’m like, okay, I have made a choice that this is the direction that I want to go to. This is what I want to achieve. I have chosen to be a businesswoman because I love doing this, but I need to be disciplined with it. Not motivate myself because motivation brings a short term happiness and happiness for me is in the past. It’s not in the, now.
The now is discipline because discipline instigates and creates momentum for action. And action is what’s going to get me to my higher self, to my future. And also be in the present moment. And there’s an alignment with that between parenting and between business. It’s the same. For me, it’s the same thing. Me and my business is how I am also then with my kids. If I am a different person in my business, to what I am with my kids, I’m not the same person. I’m my brand. So when I’m true to my business, I’m true to my kids. When I’m true to my kids, I’m true to my brand. And there’s an alignment between all of them. My why, which I also work with, with my tribe, that comes from working out your purpose and your dream from your dreams.
My why is when you feel like an underdog, that feeling of an underdog, that you’re a minority, that you always have less, that you’re always the outcast. That you’re always the one that’s being told to fit in when you were born to stand out. That is a lot of kids. A lot of kids are like that. And my kids as well and myself as well. And there’s an alignment with it. So my why is I can see in my tribe and my why is also in my kids. And there is an alignment with it. So when I’m working with my kids, I’m not working with them. When we are co-creating situations that are happening and I’m learning from that, I’m going, oh, that’s pretty interesting. And seeing it from a different perspective and how to bring it to my business, then as well.
When people come to me and they’re going, people, doesn’t matter who because I just speak to everyone and they say, oh I don’t feel I’m good enough to do videos. I’m not bold enough. I’m not an educator entertainer. I don’t know. I’m camera shy and everything. I’m like, well that’s fine. You don’t have to. You don’t have to do what I’m doing because you’re not me. So do, you. Create, and then I come up with different ideas. There’s different growth hacking ideas that you can do for that for growth marketing. But it’s being true to yourself. And that underdog feeling is what I can understand as well because I’ve been there. Sometimes I still am there. And I’m like, “Oh my God, I thought I worked through this. I’m back here. Let’s work myself back out of this again.” And then work through that. Yeah, exactly. And my kids will have the same because we are constantly going through social pressure.
I don’t know who to be friends with. I’m being used by girlfriends. I’m being used by guy friends. They don’t see me. I feel lonely. I don’t know who I need to be. Because teenagers are going through an identity crisis, they don’t know who they are. We’ve been feffing over them their whole lives and all of a sudden they’re like, “I want to be free and independent, but I don’t know how to do that.” And then you’re just kind of like, “Well then just jump in the water and swim.” And they’re like, “I don’t know how to swim.” You’re just like, “Well you’ll learn. That’s just the way it’s going to be.” And it’s the same way in business. You just got to jump in and do it rather than trying to be perfect. Done is better than perfect.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Yes. We always say don’t get don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough.
Sashka Regina:
Yeah.
Dr. Amy Moore:
So we do need to take a break and let Teri read a word from our sponsor, LearningRx. And when we come back, I want to revisit that idea of growth hacking, and see if you can share some tips and strategies and what the trends are looking like right now with our listeners.
Sashka Regina:
Sounds good.
Teri Miller: (reading sponsor ad from LearningRx)
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Dr. Amy Moore:
And we are back talking to Sashka about marketing to your purpose. So let’s go back to the growth hacking idea. Talk to us a little bit about that and what are some tips that you have for our mompreneurs, and moms and business out there?
Sashka Regina:
I love for growth hacking. Growth hacking, I do it my way. It’s just how you’re going to hack into whatever’s happening at the moment. And like I mentioned before, just diving in and swimming, and just doing it. So there’s a lot of hesitance, for example, doing TikTok or doing an Instagram reel, or getting onto YouTube, or getting online at all, or whatever it is. And that could be exactly what you need to grow, growth hack your business for the marketing that you’re going to be doing. It’s not complicated. It’s just sometimes doing, actually it’s all the time, doing things that are out of your comfort zone. That are going to challenge you, but not make you feel fake. So it’s not doing something where you feel fake, but it’s also doing something that’s going to … So if someone’s doing, in your business, in your market, where they are doing X, Y, Z, and everyone does X, Y, Z in this market, growth hacking is doing the opposite.
Sashka Regina:
So you’re disrupting whatever marketing is at the moment and doing something else. So TikTok disrupted social media because it’s your five minutes of fame. Your 60 seconds of fame, not five minutes, your 60 seconds of fame, which everyone wants. And during the pandemic, everything went dead and TikTok boomed because everyone who is anyone came online and realized, hang on a moment, the power is really with the people. Not with the celebrities, not with the government, not with all the people in power. Even when celebrities started coming onto TikTok, people were like, most of the communities were like, “Leave. Go back to Instagram. We’re not interested.” There’s so much talent, actually, amongst normal people and there’s so many things that are moving within TikTok. So there’s a lot of educational. There’s a lot of understanding cult. I’ve learned so much about cultures, indigenous people, African people are cultures.
Sashka Regina:
And it’s been so interesting. A lot of mindset, a lot of body set that you learn on there and it disrupts the market. Even now within TikTok, I’m talking about TikTok just as an example with growth hacking marketing, there’s still, so everyone’s doing X, Y, Z, you need to disrupt that X, Y, Z with something else. That’s growth hacking marketing. And you have to find that idea in order to disrupt it. And that’s one of my talents. That’s what I love seeing what the trend is, seeing what it is, how we can disrupt it, and then creating a campaign out of that in order to do it.
Dr. Amy Moore:
And when you say disrupt it, something completely different from what’s on trend at the moment, or is there a disruption that you can hop onto at the time? Like TikTok was the disruption, so can you jump on that coattail then and ride that for a while until there’s something else that’s disruptive?
Sashka Regina:
Brilliant question, Amy. Yes. And yes. Yes. That’s what it is. So TikTok disrupted, but you can still hop on there and disrupt what’s happening there doing your own thing. So for example, YouTube’s always had a lot of makeup tutorials. So you go into YouTube to find out how to do your makeup. On TikTok, you had 60 seconds where they were doing makeup tutorials in 60 seconds. So there was a lot of transitioning with music and there’s entertainment. And you’re going, “How did they do that? Like where?” And then they send you to a tutorial. That’s the marketing. So you’ve disrupted something. So people want to find out more, really appeals to me, click on their profile, and it takes you to the marketing. The systems, and the process. There’s a website or a download or whatever it is.
Sashka Regina:
Now, for example, everyone’s doing these makeup tutorials in this style. When you change a style, you disrupt it. So people are going, I was so used to that, because your mind gets so used to scrolling and going, oh, I’ve seen this, I’ve seen this. This is really cool. Double tap. Oh cool. And then you see someone do it differently and you’re kind of like, huh? I haven’t seen that one before. And then you start, then you don’t just go to the profile to find out what they’re doing, you start going through all their content to see who the person is. Because that’s what we do, we stalk people in a good way. Because we want to know, so what do you like? What’s your values like? What’s your personality like? And then you go through and you going, “Oh I actually like this person. That’s really nice.” And then click on the web, you take them to whatever link. And then they find out more about you. Maybe signing up for an email list or for an event or whatever it is.
Dr. Amy Moore:
So this is a dynamic process, right? Like what you choose to do with disruptive marketing or growth hacking today is not the same thing that you’re going to try a year from now. Right? You have to continuously monitor those trends, find out what people are doing and really engage the creative aspects of your soul in order to keep on top of that.
Sashka Regina:
Definitely. I said it right in the beginning when you asked me the question with marketing and it being fun and how it can be fun. Is marketing, we have the perception that it’s always the same. But marketing is us. So we are changing. So marketing is always changing. And like you said, in a year’s time, it’s going to become, nobody ever thought that TikTok would be around. I mean, Musical.ly was around. It was before TikTok, or Vine. But all these things are evolving as we are evolving, as the audience is evolving, as people are evolving. Who knows where it’s going to go from now.
Sashka Regina:
But understanding and seeing, I don’t follow trends. I just see something and I’m going, “Oh my God, this is really good. This is going to be great.” Like Clubhouse is not my thing. I was like, I can’t use this. There’s nothing recorded. I can’t repurpose it. No, I’m wasting my, I mean, for me I was like, just, no, this is not for me. But that was for me. But for a lot of people it’s been really, really, really good for them. Yeah. So to answer your question, yes. Like that.
Dr. Amy Moore:
What about the people, and I know they’re out there right now going, there’s no way I can do this. There’s no way. That is outside of my comfort zone. I cannot click on my phone and just start talking. Or, I’m not creative enough. So what can they do? What can those people do? I know there are listeners right now that can’t wait to get started. I’m going to growth hack all day to day. And others who are deer caught in headlights. Holy crap. What am I supposed to do with this?
Teri Miller:
Yeah.
Dr. Amy Moore:
What’s your advice to them and what resources are there?
Sashka Regina:
First of all, it is scary doing something out of your comfort zone. It is scary. So even if you’re a deer caught in the headlights and it’s just kind of like, I don’t even know where to start. As with anything in life, there’s always the big mountain and all you need is the first step. So even if you start scrolling through TikTok or Instagram reels, or whatever medium it is, paging through a magazine, and you just do the one thing where you just list the ideas that inspire you. List some creative ideas that inspire you. You’re kind of like, I really like this. I really like that. I really like the way they do this. And record it for yourself. I noticed for myself that when I start a batch recording TikToks and for Instagram reels, I started looking at my, and I’m in the entertainment business.
Sashka Regina:
So I’m very critical of myself as well. But whilst I was doing everything, I was like, I’m really having fun. This is so much fun. And I’m just getting better and better from one reel to the next. And transitioning and editing and all these music. And I was like, “This is so much fun.” Because practice makes perfect. The more you practice something, the more you repeat something positively, the better it becomes for yourself. So for those that are going, “Oh my God, I just, I just.” One step is all you need. It doesn’t mean you have to switch on the phone right now, because there’s a lot to overcome between switching the phone on and where you are right now. That, for a lot of people, they go, it’s just switching on a phone. But for a lot of people there’s crevices in between what’s happening over there.
Sashka Regina:
There’s a lot of mindset, body set, spirit set that you need to be going into. A lot of encouragement, a lot of accountability, a lot of self-worth, a lot of feeling enough. Everything needs to be perfect, perception. There’s so much that’s in between and that’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with actually feeling it, being within it. I would just recommend starting off writing down ideas, or people that inspire you and what they’re doing. And finding your way of how you would like to take that idea and make it yours. Because it has to be yours, you can’t copy someone else. Every everybody’s taken. So you have to be yourself. And that would be the first step. You don’t even have to record anything now, just first inspire yourself.
Teri Miller:
I think that’s so important. Yeah. Especially if you’re listening to this and you’re a mom of teenagers, it’s likely that you’re about the same age we are, which means you didn’t grow up with a cell phone in hand. And so even launching into, what is TikTok? I got to get that on my phone. And I think that, that mindset, it brings me back to that mindset where I could wake up tomorrow and go, “Oh, I’ve got to figure out TikTok. I got to dig into Instagram. I just figured out Facebook yesterday.”
Teri Miller:
But if we could start to get excited, if we could start to think, hey, maybe that’s a way I can build a bridge with my teenager, connect with my teenager. Hey buddy, can you coach me on, what is this? Will you get it on my phone for me? And, how do I look through things? And teach me about this? And if we can all start to think, I can, I get to, this is a fun thing I’m going to do today. Instead of, this is a burden. Just because it’s new, doesn’t have to be a burden.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Yeah.
Sashka Regina:
Well said, Teri.
Teri Miller:
Thanks. Well, hey, I want to hear about your podcast. And you have a live event coming up, so tell us about what you’ve got going. What’s coming up for you.
Sashka Regina:
Thank you for letting me speak about it. It’s really dear to me. So I had a podcast for three and a half years. Called The No Name Brand Podcast. And during the pandemic, like a lot of people, I got bored. I just didn’t feel like doing it anymore. And as with every entrepreneur, we want to do something. We are doing something with impact with our businesses, but I wanted to do something more, if that makes sense. And I got a download. It wasn’t even, and strategy or research. I just got a download and Future Forward Hub was born last year and it’s centered around six of the World Health Organization global goals that are meaningful to me that I stand for, and stand against as well. Gender equality, decent work and economic growth, quality education, reduced inequalities. And around that I hold conversations with different people. Because change comes from within and through having a conversation. As we are having a conversation, you might say something or you do say something and I’m going, I never thought about it like that. That’s actually quite cool.
Sashka Regina:
And that creates change within myself. Without debate and it’s just with empathy, and you make your own decision on that opinion, or on where that’s going. And so the live event, which is also virtual, is happening in November and there’s a live podcast on the Sunday. And on the Monday, with the Shakers, there’s a live and interactive workshop where we are working together as a community. We’re all just regular people with creating extraordinary change. Where we are doing live interactive workshops around the six global goals in order to achieve the global goals by 2030. So for example, gender equality is with Tyran Mogray and Katie Wrestler. Katie is a grief counselor or grief healer. And Tyran is a sex coach, mainly for men. And how that within gender equality, how we are breaking the stigma around toxic masculinity.
Sashka Regina:
And by doing that, you are going through a state of grief. Because you’re giving up a part of yourself that has been your identity for such a long time, and how you work around that. So that’s a workshop. Or for example, with Beth Turner and Renee. Renee is a music artist and Beth Turner works with kids who are going into speaking careers, who are highly sensitive persons. And how they’re working around that to help parents and children understand each other in highly sensitive persons in order to achieve that global goal. And that’s in a nutshell. So it’s futureforwardhub.com.
Teri Miller:
Okay.
Dr. Amy Moore:
All right. That sounds exciting. And that’s in November of this year?
Sashka Regina:
Yes.
Dr. Amy Moore:
All right. You also have some coaching services and you have a special offer for our listeners. You want to talk about that? Okay. Let’s see. It was, you know what? I’m going to put that in the show notes.
Teri Miller:
Okay. Yeah, that’s okay. We’re putting you on the spot. You sent us information like weeks and weeks ago, so we don’t need to put you on the spot.
Dr. Amy Moore:
So we booked Sashka months ago when we first launched. And so she does not necessarily remember the offer. And that’s fine.
Sashka Regina:
Brain fart.
Dr. Amy Moore:
In the show notes as well.
Teri Miller:
It’s okay.
Dr. Amy Moore:
Yeah, we are out of time and need to wrap up. But this has been a really interesting conversation with you. And so Sashka, we just appreciate your taking the time to be with us today and to inspire our listeners. Many of whom are entrepreneurs and mompreneurs. And I think needed something to ignite their excitement about marketing and branding. And this conversation is probably exactly what they needed to hear. And so if you’d like to connect with Sashka, or learn more about her book and her services and her upcoming events, you can visit brandsashka.com and futureforwardhub.com. We will actually put those links in the show notes, along with her social media handles as well so that you can connect with her.
Dr. Amy Moore:
So thanks so much for listening today. If you liked our show, we would love it if you would leave us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts. If you’d rather watch us, we are on YouTube. You can follow us on social media @thebrainymoms. So until next time, look, we know you’re busy moms and we are busy moms. So we are out.
Teri Miller:
See ya.
Sashka Regina:
Thank you, bye.
Connect with Sashka:
Special offer from Sashka for Brainy Moms listeners: Free 30-minute brand and business audit – not a discovery call – but a chance to pick her brain to get insight on the loopholes on your business currently and how to scale it. It’s not a coaching call – it’s an audit. Email her at [email protected]
Website: http://www.brandsashka.com
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram: @brandsashka @sashkareginaofficial @sashkaregina @futureforwardhub
Podcast: Future Forward Hub
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