Unconventional Life – Podcast, Blog, Live Events

Author: Jules Schroeder

“Ep:193 Want to Be Successful? Quit Hustling” With Mindvalley’s Co-Founder Kristina Mänd Lakhiani”
America glorifies the #hustle. We’ve got an entire city that never sleeps. We don’t take our paid vacations; we work over the holidays; we eat at our desks.

While the #hustle is real, the question we’re all dying to know is, it is effective?

Kristina Mänd Lakhiani, the co-founder of Mindvalley, a wellness education platform that serves 2.5 Million active users a month, says, without hesitation, no.

“We have this fantasy that hustling is the thing that brings you success,” Mänd Lakhiani says. “So what a lot of entrepreneurs do from not knowing better is they put themselves in the hamster’s wheel.”

Chances are if you’ve been on the hamster wheel, you’ve also wanted to get off the hamster wheel-like, immediately.

That’s because the hamster wheel is exhausting.

Everyone—no matter how much momentum they’re starting with—eventually burns out on the hamster wheel. And then, says the Harvard Business Review, becomes a more cynical person. #relatable

So if hustling doesn’t work, what does?

“[Entrepreneurship] requires some space to do nothing, to think nothing, to catch that elusive inspiration,” Mänd-Lakhiani says. “If you think of business as a creative process, then you realize you cannot be in a rush, you have to have space.”

Okay, but wait.

How do you create spaciousness in your life when you’re literally busy #allthetime?

For starters, you can start delegating things to others.

Hustlers tend to want to do everything there is to do, all by themselves. In theory, this seems like a good idea—after all, you’re saving money and maximizing the amount of control you have at every level of operation—but it keeps you from having the space you need to thrive as a creative.

“I’m very good at cleaning my house,” Mänd-Lakhiani says, “But I would never do that because [if I hire someone else to do it] I’ll have much more time in my day.”

Ask yourself, can someone else do this task? If the answer is yes, let them, if you have the option to.

When we see entrepreneurship as a creative process, spaciousness becomes integral to that process rather than threatening to that process. It flips the value-system of #hustling on its head so that “busyness” is no longer something to strive for and spaciousness is no longer something to be guilty for.

So what are you waiting for? Own your inner creative and choose to make some space for yourself today.
- 3:02 Mänd-Lakhiani on her “absolutely magical” experience of motherhood
- 9:55 Why entrepreneurship is actually a creative process
- 16:06 The art of delegating
- 17:12 How Mind Valley developed into the company it is today
- 25:13 Why you should never judge yourself for the thoughts and feelings you’re having
- 28:08 What your judgments about other people have to say about you
- 31:08 Mänd-Lakhiani’s favorite resources for self-development
*Article was written by Raya Schroeder
October 21, 2019
Ep:192 How to use Pinterest as a Search Engine to Scale Your Business, With Pinterest Expert, Kristina Day

Millions of people love finding inspiration, information, and the latest trends via Pinterest. Did you know that the #1 misconception is that Pinterest is a social media site? At its core, Pinterest is a highly targeted search engine site that provides valuable links to your website. If you are able to brand yourself as an expert in your niche your pins will appear at the top of the page whenever someone searches for your keywords related to your brand.
Sounds a lot like your standard SEO, right? That’s because it is, Pinterest works similarly to a Google Search.

This week on the Unconventional Life show is Kristina Day, a Pinterest account manager.
Kristina is a pro when it comes to optimizing your account, creating a strategic approach to marketing content and getting fresh eyes to your website. In this episode, Kristina shares what to focus on and what to not waste your time on when it comes to the world of Pinterest. So let’s take advantage of this free opportunity to reach your target market!

Kristina explains it simply, “It’s like Google but with pictures!”

The biggest misconception

As previously mentioned, the biggest misconception is that Pinterest is a social media site, when really it is a search engine. If you want to find inspiration about a topic you would type that keyword in the search bar, you wouldn’t go through someone’s specific account.

When you type in a keyword such as “entrepreneur” you get a ton of secondary keywords, such as mindset, business, lifestyle, boss babe, etc. this allows you to learn what other keywords are related to your niche so you can start to include those additional keywords into your posts and on the titles of your boards to hyper-target your audience.

An extension of your website

Think about Pinterest as an extension of your website. On Instagram and Facebook, you have to create new content specifically for that site. With Pinterest, you can recycle all of your content and link podcasts, blogs, Etsy shop, youtube Instagram or your website.

To repost content click the red “Save” to Pinterest button in the left-hand corner and the graphic automatically loads to your Pinterest board with a backlink to the original source. The only social that Pinterest isnt compatible with is Facebook.

Have a clear call to action

The goal is to drive traffic to your website and get people to take action. This action could be a simple opt-in for a free gift in exchange for their email or purchasing your product or service. You must optimize your website to have a clear call to action to convert people, otherwise, it’s not worth your time to put all the effort into search engine optimization if you can’t convert any sales.

Collaborative boards

A collaborative or group board is owned by one person and other pinners can contribute to that board. Group boards aren’t a great idea for two reasons. One, they were introduced as a way to help friends or coworkers collaborate on an event, like planning a wedding or party and not for marketing. Two, many people post content that isn’t specific to that board which makes it disorganized and messy.

Set it and forget it

You can schedule all your posts in 2 hours for the entire month by using Tailwind. It equips you with analytics, a reporting system and advises you about the ideal times to schedule your pins. This takes out the guessing game of when your target audience will be on Pinterest, getting you the most exposure. If you are a beginner and are starting from scratch Kristina recommends posting 10-15 pins per day with an 80:20 ratio, 20% is your original pins and 80% pins from someone else in your same demographic.

Ps. Tailwind offers a free trial, which allows you to schedule your first 100 pins for free.

How to create a good pin.

Pins look best when photos are vertically oriented. Pins get cut off in feeds if the ratio is greater than 1:3.5 so make sure the image isn’t too tall. For example, an image that is 600px wide should be between 900px and 2100px tall.

Create an image with some text. This not only shows what your product is but what someone can do with your product. The text should be similar to an email subject line that catches attention and sparks a sense of curiosity.

Canva or Picmonkey is a great resource for creating the correct aspect ratio and adding text and personalization to your photo.

Now you are all set to start your Pinterest account! Get out there and start repurposing your awesome content and drive more traffic to your site!

Giveaway!

Kristina is giving away a free 30 min consultation with her to go over how to start an account or if you already have one she will audit your account and give you tips on how you can improve your SEO! Thanks, Kristina!

You can find more about Kristina through her website or connect with her through Instagram.

October 14, 2019
Ep:191 The Art of Business, and the Business of Art , With Theatre Performer, Clyde P Riddlesbrood

In today’s world, it would seem that many people believe that art and Entrepreneurialism “just don’t mix”. I’ve heard some artist friends say that putting a price on art devalues the piece. While some entrepreneurs might think that business is all logic and reason, leaving no space for creativity.
The truth is that art and entrepreneurialism are two expressions of one shared desire: to leave a personal imprint and impact on the world. In reality, art and entrepreneurialism are quite complementary and interwoven.
This week on the Unconventional Life show is Clyde P Riddlesbrood. He is the founder of the Riddlesbrood touring theatre company which is known as being one of the most successful and vibrant theatre companies in the New York and New Jersey area. Clydes shares some insight on how he manages to make his art a successful business.
Art first, business second
Most art starts out when we are children with an explosion of colors in a finger paint session. From early years, art is a fantastic way to allow children to explore and experiment with a variety of modalities of self-expression. Whether it’s drawing, dancing, theatre, music or fashion, each starts out as a hobby or a passion before art can become a business.

“And after all, if you do really like what you’re doing, it doesn’t matter what it is, you can eventually become a master of it. It’s the only way to become a master of something, to be really with it. And then you’ll be able to get a good fee for whatever it is.”
– Allan Watts
Bridging Art and Business
“As we know business is the analytical side of your mind, the money side, the practical side. Artists cherish the subjective, the imaginative and bizarre and perhaps even incoherence. All art means no business, all business means no art.”
-Clyde P.R.

Both sides need each other, despite their apparent differences; If only we could meet in the middle, we might find a perfect balance of mind and body, calculation and creativity.
Clyde’s hack for balancing these two areas is to compartmentalize as he states, “Sometimes the art wins. and sometimes the business wins in different realms.”
Compartmentalizing Business
In Clyde’s experience when it comes to the budget, the business must always win. You can’t be one of these people that say, I’m going to take all my money, and I’m going to get the most beautiful costumes or the best quality paint, and then you do one piece and you’re out of business. “You have to learn first that the budget is God, you must not spend more than you need.”
Receiving money is what takes your hobby and turns it into a business. I understand that selling your art can be intimidating, you put so much time and effort into your art and wait in anticipation when you put your art up for sale, hoping that someone will find your art brilliant and will gladly purchase your piece or attend your show.
In reality, by focusing on sales and marketing you could be able to make art for a really long time and supporting yourself off something you love to do. I think that money is a beautiful reflection and a great energetic exchange that respects the craft.
Compartmentalizing Art
If you don’t have a large budget you can make up for it with bootstrapping creativity with the currency of time. This not only saves you money but also creates really nuanced and unique pieces.
“My time is the art,” says Clyde. He will sit in his garage and spend three days painting something or will work really hard doing cool sound effects even if it’s only for a moment in the show. Normal businesses value efficiency but Clyde contributes his longevity in the arts to this tactic.
Giveaway!
Clyde is giving away a copy of his book “The Greatest Brochure”
To connect with Clyde or book him for a show check out his Linkedin or his website.

October 7, 2019
Ep: 190 Creating a Movement with your Message, With Internationally-known Speaker, Williams
Most people know the classic acronym for ROI as ‘Return on Investment’ but the acronym you might not have heard of yet is ‘Ripples of Impact’
How much impact you have in the world is also your direct return on investment and the number one way to increase both versions of ROI is through learning how to become a powerful communicator.
If you have the ability to impact your listener’s at their heart, then it’s much easier for them to join your movement and take inspired action. This will have a positive ripple effect not only in your career but also in your personal life and the lives of the people you serve.
This week on the Unconventional Life show is Joe Williams. Joe is an internationally- known speaker, who coaches entrepreneurs become world-class speakers. Whether you need help finding your message, developing your message, or learning how to take the stage with confidence and aliveness then Joe is your go-to guy.
Joe was the head trainer and lead speaker for peak performance coach, Tony Robbins. For 15 years Joe spoke to “roaring crowds, got standing ovations and rock star treatment all around the world” but what he realized was that he was living someone else’s dream. What Joe was really craving was more family time and to create something more meaningful with his life. Joe pivoted and designed two offerings that stem from creating a lifestyle and career based on what you actually care about.
The first is the Creative Performance Group, which helps people master their message through ritual programs, a live event called the Speakers Bootcamp and 1-1 mentoring. The other is a book called “The Impact Awakening – How to go from having a calling to changing lives.” Ps. Click the link for a free download of the book 😉
In this episode, Joe drops some unconventional wisdom on how to master your message and how to structure your message so that the audience stays engaged and is left feeling inspired to take action.
Have an idea so big that it walks the line of being possible.
Your idea needs to be big enough and different enough, from everything else that’s out there. “You don’t create movements based around the status quo, you don’t create movements by an incremental improvement of what’s already out there, you tend to create movements by having an idea that is so big that the idea walks that line of being possible.”
Designing your Message of Mastery
Your message has three major parts
1.Your life story. What has your life uniquely primed you for to be the emissary of this message? “ Learn to tell both, the upsides of your story and, more importantly, the downsides of your journey with a moral of what you learned.” Likely you have had an experience in your life that has shaped who you are and in going through that experience you are able to authentically help and guide others to find their own way and become the hero of their own story.
“Great storytellers don’t retell stories, they relive them.” – anonymous
2. Your passions. Your passion is your greater why and will give you the motivation that you need to keep going when challenges arise. If you create your business based on your passions the joy that it brings you will effortlessly come alive through your words and within your being when you are speaking about it.
3.Your offering. How can you serve the world, what results you can really help people receive?
Communicate Effectively
The next step is learning how to communicate, how to present your message powerfully and in a way that moves people emotionally. Your goal here is to motivate people to do something different, to take action, as a result of listening to your message.
Joe shares that he took all of the classic training, Toastmasters, Dale Carnegie ect and they all taught him the same thing… script out your talk, memorize it, rehearse it and perform. He found that methodology outdated and the performance aspect did the opposite of the desired goal, to connect and have a conversation with the audience.
People can tell the difference between performing versus you showing up as your most empower self and having a truthful conversation. So Joe developed an amazing way of teaching that shows you how to tap into the specific mental and emotional state that is needed in order to deliver your message. He guides you to be able to tap into your excitement and enthusiasm to the point where your brain turns on and the words just flow out. He also teaches a great method for the structure of the talk and what areas are the most important to focus on. For a more in-depth look at the structure below, you can download the Impact Awakening Book.

The Structure

Begin with the end. “This is always your starting point when laying out an outline or structure for everything from a presentation to a book to even coaching or consulting session. What is the result you want to achieve when you are done and things have gone well?”
Create the start. “Your opening should be strong and get attention. Open with a question, a bold statement or a challenge.”
Balance “big ideas” and stories. “You will need time to introduce it, teach it, share a story to bring it alive, answer questions about it and have the audience do something to experience using the idea.”
Close with a call to action. “Decide what you want your call to action to be and then everything you do to design and deliver your message will lead to that action. All great learning experiences end with leading you to take action on what you just experienced.”
“People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel” – Maya Angelou
Giveaway!
Joe is giving away a 1-hour private session where together, you will get to dive into crafting and mastering your message. This session is valued at 2,000$ and one of you will receive it for free 😀 Thanks, Joe!
September 30, 2019
Ep: 189 Have you Discovered your Truth? with Poet, Janne Robinson

Janne Robinson is the CEO of ‘This is for the women’, a line of poetry products and apparel. Janne is a feminist poet, a life coach, an activist and a motivational speaker who shares slabs of her heart for a living.
With popular poems such as “ This is for the women who don’t give a fuck’, “I will never be a well-behaved woman” and “There’s cobwebs on her vagina”, the world is being exposed to a whole new level of raw and unfiltered truth. These topics may seem controversial, and Janne has fought off her fair share of kickback. However, what she holds strongly to is sharing her vulnerability and truth, no matter what. She doesn’t tiptoe around trying to please anyone and breaks through societal “shoulds” and conventional norms while encouraging people to ‘build their own box’.
Janne gives a voice to experiences that many women and people have, but don’t always have permission to share or have the ability to articulate. In this episode, Janne shares how she “walks tall” in her truth and how you can too.
“I think that our truth is medicine because it allows other people to have permission to understand themselves and to access different pieces of themselves.” – Janne Robinson
Janne’s journey to truth started back in 2014 when she got pregnant and decided to have an abortion. As she was laying in bed and healing the words started to pour out of her.
She wrote about the opinions of the doctor, telling her she shouldn’t get an abortion to the conversations she had with the potential spirit within. That day, as Janne processed her emotions, she found that it was the first time her words had depth and really took on a greater meaning.
The article “Aborting Shame: One Woman’s Experience Within Abortion” was born and soon after was published to the 17 million readers on Elephant Journal.
The decision to share the article stemmed from her not finding any information explaining a woman’s emotional process with her choice to have an abortion and how the world needed to hear stories like hers. So many people are shameful regarding their choice to have an abortion and its talked about in hushed whispers and the stigma doesn’t need to exist anymore.
She received 500 messages, emails, and comments from women all over the world. One of them read “I was 16. My father dropped me off at the clinic and told me not to tell anyone—including my mother. You’re the first person I am telling.”
Hearing the impact she made from so many women lead her face to face with her “why” she does what she does— and she has been empowering women to take back their narrative ever since.
If you have stuff inside of you that you haven’t given a voice to but you want to share, keep reading because Janne shares insights about truth and how to access it.
Your truth is medicine
Janne is a believer that emotional and physical heaviness, disease, illness, depression, and anxiety comes from when we’re not living in our truth.
What that means on a deeper level is that when you’re doing things that you don’t love, they exhaust you, you feel resentful towards them and you get tired. They’re not true to who you are what you do and they weigh you down.
When you don’t live from your truth you are denying a part of yourself that wants to be seen and expressed. How often do you say yes or maybe to something when really you want to say no? Maybe you want to be polite or you’re shy but when you are not living your truth it manifests as negative emotions in your life, like anger and guilt.
A recommended book is “You can heal your life” by Louise Hay. This book takes a look at how emotions directly result and manifest as a physical disease when we don’t look at them or talk about them and how you can heal yourself by making choices in your life that empowers you to step out of things that don’t fit anymore.
“Truth is medicine and sharing that truth is so healing and liberating” which is why Janne’s main mission of empowering women to take back their narrative is woven into everything she does and creates.
All artists need someone to believe in them
“I think all artists need someone to believe in them, see them, and say yes. Ultimately you decide that your art belongs and your art belongs simply if it gives you joy, but to have someone cheer you on in the infancy stages is massive.”
Our parents and friends are like not always the best cheerleaders because they teach us and want us to walk a path that has made them feel safe. Don’t be afraid to find mentors that are walking on, or have walked on a similar path and receive advice and guidance from them.
Connect to the natural world
Humans need to connect to the natural world. We become sick because we do not spend enough time in nature. “we need nature as much as we need ourselves.”
The earth is nourishing and grounding and rooting for us connecting us back to many generations to the truth of who we are and what we are made up of. We have seven generations inside of us and how we walk on this planet influences the next seven generations of our family, which is why doing this work of speaking your truth is so important because it breaks cycles, seven generations backward and forwards.
“Our Earth really needs us. Our Earth is not just asking, she is crying for advocacy, and it is fairly hard to care about the earth when you do not feel taken care of. So I think that it is our duty to create the space to come beyond your work to become in alignment to then be able to go, ‘how do I want to create impact and change? How do we protect our mother?
Because, without her, There’s nothing.”
Be Brave
A lot of courage is needed to step outside of the conventional mold. As Abraham Hicks says, there’s not a lot of people on the leading edge, and it can be quite lonely out there, Sometimes you won’t have anybody else in your life living in courage.
That’s especially hard if you are wanting to branch out and do your own thing. You might not have those courage cheerleaders, but go find them because we need people brave enough to become exactly who they are, and do their work.
It doesn’t matter if a hundred people are doing it, or nobody’s doing it. It’s what calls us and when you follow that you heal yourself, which heals this world.
“Believe differently, you get to choose your story. You and every human being are worthy of love, and any story that you want.”
Check out Janne’s Poem ‘I am a woman of distinction’ feature video, which is also directed by Janne.
If you want to connect deeper with Janne you can check out her website or follow her on Instagram for her latest poetry and inspiration.

September 23, 2019