April 9, 2020
Transcript
Crystal Washington: Hello, I’m Crystal Washington, Technology Strategist, and Futurist
Karen McCullough: and I’m Karen McCullough, the millennial evangelist who helps you adapt to change and we want you to rethink it forward.
Crystal Washington: And by rethinking it forward, we mean that there are things that have worked for you in the past that are not going to work for you in the future. And when we’re honest, they’re not even working for us right now.
Karen McCullough: No. Well, today it’s money day.
Crystal Washington: Yeah. And Karen, I know in the past we talked about saving money, but today we’re kind of taking an opposite approach and we’re talking about spending money and investing in yourself.
Karen McCullough: We’re talking about investing in yourself. And, uh, I love this topic, uh, because it’s, it’s me. Um, I started speaking in 2000 and I realized right off the bat because I came from a business background, I knew I had to have the right collateral. I knew I had to look good. I knew that whatever I put out in front was going to represent me and it was going to represent my fee. So right from the beginning, even though I was broke, because if you remember if you heard the very first video, I had just come out of bankruptcy and I was really, really having a hard time, but I had a credit card. And, um, I use that card to really grow my business, to grow my business in every way. And so I started getting all of my collateral and my marketing materials, but in 2008 when the recession hit, something interesting happened to me.
Karen McCullough: Uh, and it happened, it happened, uh, online. I was watching videos and I have no idea how I stumbled upon a guy named Gary Vaynerchuk. I don’t know if any of you know Gary V. Um, he’s, he swears a little, I’m just going to give you if you go Google and don’t get mad at me, but he was back in 2008 talking about his dad’s business. He has a dad who had a liquor store and he tells the story of how he worked in the liquor store as a kid. And he got this great idea because he was very technologically advanced to create a blog, a video blog. And he called it the wine library. And I started watching him and studying him and I realized the world was changing and that I was going to go digital and it’s going to save me a whole lot of money cause I wasn’t going to have to print my stuff up anymore, but I was going to have to get more equipment and I began to invest.
Karen McCullough: So for me, I believe that we are the product and we are in product development at every single thing that we put into the product. Everything that we put into our offices and our businesses is going to help us succeed. So to do this, to do this, a session with crystal, to do these videos, I had to get a new camera and I had to go buy a bagel microphone over here and get some lighting. And so I am the first person to tell you to invest in yourself because you’re in product development and you’re the product.
Crystal Washington: And I think Karen, that’s true. Whether you’re an entrepreneur or even if you work for another company, you know at the of the day you always have to improve because you are your own product, right? It’s not even just what we put out. You are a product selling yourself as well. And so we know that packaging matters, right? And so everything that we’re investing as part of that packaging, it changes the way that we speak. It changes the language that we use, it changes what ideas we bring to the table and maybe even how we physically show up. So I do believe in investing in yourself as well. You know, one of the things that you taught me, Karen, so in the last episode, we talked about how we went to that conference together and how on day three I ran away to Disneyland. I’ve taught the rest of you in the classes, but I remember I was a baby speaker when you told me, crystal, you have to invest in this conference. This is going to help your career. And, and it was not cheap, you know, to go there. The registration, the flights, the hotel, it was expensive. Actually, and I remember I looked at you and I said, well, she’s where I want to be and I want to speak on this level. I have to do what she tells me to do.
Crystal Washington: He said, what now? I didn’t know I had that much power. You did. You did. Cause you were where I wanted to be. And I knew that if you’re saying that this is what’s necessary and this is what you’re doing, I needed to step in your footsteps. That was going to be the quickest way to success, to step in the same footsteps. And so I went to the conference. Now mind you, I didn’t run away on the last day, but that’s just because I know where my learning limits are, and if I absorbed too much, I can’t absorb anymore and I don’t take action, right? So I went to that, but here’s what’s even funnier, Karen. So I spent all this money to get there and I was so proud of myself. I’m patting myself on the back here and I’m like, I did what Karen told me.
Crystal Washington: I scraped this many together. I’m going to be amazing in my career and my business. And then you said, well Crystal, there’s this piece of technology and you need to order this for your business. And I went and I saw how much it costs a month. And I was like, Holy moly, you know, and, and I wasn’t making very much as a speaker, as a baby speaker, Karen. But I said you know what, if this is what she says, it’s going to take me to be successful. And now Karen, that technology is truly the base of my entire business, right? That investment made a huge difference. And I think you know, here you are, you just invested in new equipment for us to do these videos together. Anyone else that’s watching us doesn’t know this, but you know, you’re continuously adapting. So right now we’re in my office, but I’ve converted my living room into a studio right now.
Crystal Washington: So while I’m here, you know, while we’re all social distancing to protect each other for good reason, I actually have, my living room has three sets right now. My husband is a photographer. He can’t leave the house either. So he knows all about lighting and video too, and so we can make all kinds of videos, with different sets, make it look like I’m on a stage, all kinds of things now. So even now I’m still adapting. I’m still investing in myself because we can’t rest on our laurels. So it’s never-ending.
Karen McCullough: It’s never-ending. But you just motivated me. I’m to clean up my living room, live stream here because it’s great. But I think you’ve got to have that mindset and I think that the fear, I know there’s a fear of spending money, but you have to invest in yourself. You have to believe in yourself and you have to invest in yourself and we have to dream. And right now this is called rethink it. You get to be thinking about where you are going to be when this is over and hopefully it’s sooner than later, but where will you be and how will you be positioned? Invest in yourself.
Crystal Washington: I love it. And Karen, the best part is not only will we be back tomorrow, but tomorrow is our fun Friday episode. Yes. Everyone who’s listening to us, whether it’s a YouTube or podcasts, make sure you’re subscribed and make sure you tune in tomorrow because again, fun Friday,
Karen McCullough: you’re gonna have fun. Bye guys.