My Words Your Day: Joe’s Story (Part 2)
Yesterday, I shared Joe’s story in Part 1. You may want to start there to get the full impact of this story-time share.
As today, I want to dive into my perspective on Joe and share what came next.
In case you missed it, this story is all about being in FLOW, being in ALIGNMENT, which is the word that took root in my life this month. Big time.
And it all starts with the post on July 1st - I Make A Difference.
You may want to swing back to that post and the one that came next — I Am Aligned — as this way of being makes all the difference in the world.
I am living proof of that as you will read in the continuation of Joe’s story below.
My Story Of Joe…
Joe became one of my Clarity Coaching clients recently after obtaining my details from his friend, Teddy, also a client of mine.
That’s how I’ve always coached and wrote, until very recently, via referrals. More on that to come another day.
We had a powerful call that was productive, ambitious and extremely clarifying for Joe.
He wanted to talk writing like many, but not all, of my clients.
A newbie, wanna-be writer, a secret sci-fi lover, Joe had a wealth of ideas and a passion that jumped out of our virtual meeting to embrace me.
To say Joe was fun-loving would be an understatement.
He radiated happiness and while he didn’t know where to begin with this new idea, he was on the call with the purpose of gaining direction and clarity.
Never did he doubt he could.
And I loved that in him immediately.
That Knowing You Can Do Anything
If You Say You Can.
Joe ended his Clarity Call with a rough outline, a starting point, and booked a second call 15 days out — to hold himself accountable.
This is a man who made decisions look easy.
For our second call, he came with three completed chapters to share, discuss and receive critical feedback on. He was cute, braced for my impact, and after relaxing a bit, I had to share with him the truth.
Because that’s what I offer my writing clients. All my clients. Truth, as I see it.
And I must say, his words were good.
For a first draft, first go — real good. And I don’t just say that… I never just say that.
But when Joe turned around and critiqued me, it gave me a moment of pause.
I’ve been coaching a long time, just quietly, so I know I add value. I know I bring intuitive clarity to the table for writers, for artists, for creatives, for visionaries...
It’s simply what I do.
But when he started in on me at the end of our second call with, “Why are you hiding what you offer people like me?” I had to frigging laugh.
And I admit, it came out as a snort-laugh. Yep, for real!
Not. Even. Embarrassed.
Joe’s wife Missy, heard my less-than-lady-like, whatever that even means, snort, and with the cutest-ever giggle, she joined the last five minutes of the call. Perched on her husband’s lap.
I watched as Joe thanked his wife for his tea and then turned back to me with a firm, pointed stare.
Yikes.
“Jill, you need to make it easier for people to find you."
And Missy chimed it with “— And easier to book a call.”
I had to laugh and the coach in me felt duty-bound to hold the mirror up to my client, as we were still on the clock of his time, and this wasn’t about me.
Joe is a well-known speaker, in his area of expertise, and yet had no online presence himself. He received all his work via referrals.
We were two peas in the same pod — apparently.
The need to step out, to own what I did, publicly was something I’d become increasingly aware of over the last year or so.
For me, there was so much resistance. And that’s a story worth sharing — one day.
I mean, I was online, half-heartedly and with mixed messages about JOY and an old brand in education and random social media posts. Mostly about my rescue goats, of all things, and my new, unexpected, crazy island life.
Nowhere in that mix was a way to book me really, except via a contact form on my prolific, but chaotic, unfocused website. Or as a referral, through word-of-mouth.
The one I just launched under my real name in November of last year. The very thing I’d fought doing my entire life.
Going public.
When I say resistance, I mean knock-down-drag-out, two-steps forward and ten-steps back, resistance. For decades. For a lifetime.
I was a hider. I liked the shadows of ghostwriting and not being seen.
And yet, it had become increasingly clear to me that it was way-past-time to own my worth, as a coach of more than two decades, and a writer for more than 30 years.
Gasp! I started young. Don’t judge! Actually, judge away as I no longer care. George Micheal is singing Freedom somewhere right about now!
It was way past time to love myself enough to step fully into being me.
It was way past time to own my slice of sunlight and impact more people.
I mean literally, who was I to be so selfish and hide all the gifts I’d been given.
Joe booked a third Clarity Coaching Call with me while Missy gently read me the riot act for not allowing it to be easy. She reminded me of the wisdom my own coach and woman I am honored to call friend, had been sharing for the last year or so.
I heard the message loud and clear. Again.
And for some reason, this month, this moment in time, it all simply clicked for me.
Complete And Utter Alignment
I implemented all I know and like a MoFo, and created what is now visible for all to see.
And I’m so okay with it.
No more doubt.
No more angst.
No more two steps in and ten steps back.
No more hiding who I am and what I offer the world.
Instead, I created my own slice of online real estate that brings together my passion, my purpose which has always blessed me with profit.
What you have now is my online, completely me, totally aligned home.
What I share on my site is 100% in alignment with who I am being, who I serve and how I show up in the world.
What I offer people like Joe. Perhaps someone like you.
And therein lies the shocking — to me — surprise.
My first ‘client’ within 24-hours of going live — completely and utterly aligned — was Joe.
See Joe, the public speaker with no online presence, who’d already had two clarity coaching calls with me about his book idea, saw my new site, and along with his wife, devoured it. [He later confessed.]
He had no idea I wrote words outside of fiction.
He had no idea I offered Clarity Coaching to people other than those like him — writers.
Why?
Because he was being coached on writing. And his college buddy, Teddy, had worked with me on fiction writing.
And now Joe realized he could refer me to a much wider scope of people than writers and those whose chosen genre was fiction.
And Joe could see just how much more I could help him!
Joe Later Shared How I Was Like A High-End, One-Plate Restaurant Whose Full, Decadent Menu Was Reserved For Those Who Thought To Ask For It.
And when he put it like that, in terms of food, I got his point. Clearly.
When he reached out and shared he and Missy had read every word, on each of the pages, three times and were floored.
Because just wow was his exact words.
And annoyed.
Because Joe had no idea I offered all that I did.
How could they when I didn’t say? Didn’t share? How could anyone..?
And ecstatic.
Because he saw how I could help him on a new level.
Which is what my fabulous coach, Lisa Carpenter, recently shared with me — Jill, people know you write, but beyond that, they really don’t know much or how successful you truly are. And that’s a shame.
I paraphrase her words, but that was the gist of her message to me.
But back to Joe. After feeling-all-the-emotions, Joe said he became excited by what was possible.
See my, new-to-him offer of My Words Your Day® VIP Experience, a one day intensive, was something he could really, seriously use.
Those were his words!
And my first thought was, No way! Who knew?
Gives new meaning to “leaving money on the table”, does it not?
But for me, the real hit-home-moment was not about the money left on the table, but the realization that
I Have Been Robbing People,
My Clients And Others
An Opportunity To Work With Me
On A More Intimate Level
Simply Because I Did Not Share Me
And All That I Do.
I had to take a look at my own mirror and see just how selfish I was being.
And chose to make a change.
So back to Joe and Missy. Like most, perhaps like you, until now, they didn’t know just what I did.
I mean, writing words and spending a day was just something I did for some people, some times, in the past.
No Big Deal.
They went nuts.
And I Had A Second Wake Up Call
About How Often I Look At The Work I Do And Don’t Honor It, Celebrate It And
Brush It Off As No Big Deal.
I actually see that way of being in many of my clients… maybe you can relate.
But to Joe, this was a huge deal, my newly revealed offer of My Words Your Day® VIP Experience, and he was a bit peeved that I had been hiding it.
Which made me, at first, roll my eyes.
Not in disrespect, but in a what’s-the-big-deal way. As in, you don’t need that, so, no-harm no-foul.
But the email he sent me in the middle of his night, less than 24-hours after I put my new site, brand, and offers live, gave me and my habit of judging another’s needs — oops! — pause.
And made me laugh.
Joe’s opening line was “As my seven year old grandson would say…
‘You Suck.’”
And, well-done, as he got my attention.
The gist of his message — do for me what you did for you. But I’ll share some of his words with you.
“Jill, can you take this day and do that for me? Put me online? With your incredible, clear words that speak to just what I have to offer, as well as my wife’s soul. (And if I’m humble, mine too).
What you created for you, would you create for me?
Put me online. On the map. So I can serve a wider audience from the comfort of the lake house.
After, of course, I finish the rough draft of the book. It’s coming along, by the way.
And yes, I was up late writing! Caught me.”
As you can tell, Joe is a gem and he got me thinking about just what’s possible. For him and for others just like him.
I thought about it.
Could I do for him what I had done for me? Yes.
I could certainly write all his words. That’s a no-brainer. A big fat yes.
As many words as I had on my site? Well, not in one day.
But I knew that wasn’t his ask.
And the time for true clarity on his needs would come, as that’s part of the My Words Your Day® VIP Experience.
A deep-dive Pre-Intensive Clarity Call, a bit of Pre-Work “homework” and a real coming-home-to-just-who-you-are-being as you show up in life, online and in your work.
This Is Where The Marriage Of A Person’s Passion And Purpose Lead To Massive Impact And Therefore, Naturally, Profits.
It’s happened for me — it’s happened for my clients.
Yet, before I could formulate a response for Joe, and narrow down his request, he booked!
Catch This, Friend,
Less Than 24-Hours After Being
Fully Aligned With My Messaging, My Brand, My Impact And How I Serve Others,
I Sold My First Offer Online.
And it’s not cheap. I’m not cheap.
And I must admit, I got excited by all the possibilities. All of Joe’s possibilities.
Because it made me wonder, who else, like Joe, was out there without a clear path to impact?
Without an online presence that spoke to who they were showing up being in the world and how they were here to serve.
Given our sudden new-world way of living, I’d imagine Joe — and even my former self — are not the only professionals without an online home that allows them to shine, serve and be seen.
All without the need to travel, stand on a stage or be in large or small groups of people to impact and earn a living.
Who else was out there has needed to know what I do, that I could honor and serve and impact with my rich skill sets?
My gut tells me there are so many, just like Joe, maybe just like you.
Well, I just found out Missy pressed the purchase button and his words to me were, “She has faith in you, Jill. I have faith in you.”
So, here we are…
About to embark on his My Words Your Day® VIP Experience, a day-long intensive and get him the starting place for an online home.
A mix of My Words and My Eye for Design, along with my marketing know-how and we’re going to see what we can create for him, that he can then take online, in one day.
Imagine What Would Be Possible
If You Went From Nada
To Clear Messaging In One Day
Can I give you the answer to this non-question statement?
Yes? Good.
E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.
If you liked reading this section of the tale, give it a 💜 and leave a comment.
It’s not over yet. Joe’s tale.
Tomorrow I’ll release Part 3 but first…
If this story-time impacted you, please consider sharing it with someone who might enjoy it.
Or someone who may need to hear the message, be looking for some clarity of their own or simply get a kick out of Joe.
Share this on your social channels and allow others to read these words and be impacted just as you have been.
And then schedule you time for the wrap-up of this tale tomorrow. You won’t regret it, I guarantee it.
Photo Credit: Jack Patrick @jack_patrick