RV (00:07): Hey brand builder, Rory Vaden here. Thank you so much for taking the time to check out this interview as always it’s our honor to provide it to you for free and wanted to let you know the there’s no big sales pitch or anything coming at the end. However, if you are someone who is looking to build and monetize your personal brand, we would love to talk to you and get to know you a little bit and hear about some of your dreams and visions and share with you a little bit about what we’re up to to see if we might be a fit. So if you’re interested in a free strategy call with someone from Martin team, we would love to hear from you. You can do that at brand builders, group.com/pod call brand builders, group.com/pod call. We hope to talk to you soon. RV (00:54): So I knew when I was gonna sit down with Gabby Bernstein, that we were gonna talk about books and book launches and book writing. That was, that was part of like what we decided on the front end that we were gonna talk about. But I had no idea that we would get into such a conversation about spirituality and what the spiritual connection is to launching books. But I’m, I’m so glad that we did, because that was a conversation. If you haven’t listened to it, you have to go back and listen to this interview with Gabby Bernstein. I mean, she’s a number one New York times bestselling author. She’s written nine books. Several of them have hit the New York times list. And several of them sell very, very well. She’s built a huge social media following. You know, she’s a, and she’s a, she’s a spiritual teacher which, you know, like I don’t follow her super closely on that side of things cuz you know, I’m a hardcore Bible thumpin Jesus freak. RV (01:54): So I, I tend to follow more of like, you know, pastors and stuff like that. But I like, I like following Gabby, but I thought what was really the interesting, and I’ve always followed her as like a marketer to see what, what she’s doing and she’s just sweet and kind. And so, you know, I built a relationship with her just recently with some of the other stuff we were doing. And then she mentioned, Hey, she is doing a free training for authors on how to become a bestseller. And I said, well, Hey, that’s something we should talk about. Like our community would, would really care about that. And so by the way, if you go to brand buildersgroup.com/gabby, so brand builders, group.com/gabby, G A B B Y you can check out depending on when you hear this you can sign up for the free training that she’s doing. RV (02:42): And if you miss the free training, it’ll just point you directly to like whatever the course is. But she’s, she’s you know, doing this free training on it. And I said, Hey, well, we should talk about it on the podcast. And so anyways, we got into this wonderful conversation and, and I guess that that was enlightening for me was never really not so directly connecting the idea of just what a spiritual journey writing a book is. And so I just thought it was really a beautiful conversation. I’m gonna share with you kind of my three biggest ahas, my three biggest takeaway, my, you know, what, what was, what were the highlights for me? And the first one was about vulnerability. So here’s here’s, I’ll tell you, these are the three things I’m gonna talk about vulnerability, responsibility and clarity. These are the three things that came out of the conversation, vulnerability, responsibility and clarity. RV (03:36): And the first one is vulnerability, cuz this is something that I’ve always with, which is how vulnerable should I be? Meaning how much should I expose to the world? What is going on in my private life? And you know, just how intimate exactly should we, should we be? And so I’m always fascinated by people who have these really massive platforms, how they, you know, reconcile that issue and, and, and, and use it cuz you know, everyone talks about vulnerability and of course it, it builds a deep, deep, you know, that’s what intimacy is right. Is you’re, you’re sharing these, these intimate details about your life with somebody and, and that’s what makes people feel like, you know, you, but at the same time, people, you know, on the internet, there’s a lot of strangers on the internet who don’t really know you. And so it’s kind of a kind of weird thing. RV (04:25): And, and I thought the answer that she gave when I asked her that question, how, where do you draw the line of how much you share was really brilliant? Cause I kind of thought she was gonna say one of two things, which is what most people say is they say, Hey, you should share everything. And just like, you know, you, you know, this is, this is the modern way of the world. Just like, you know, share everything and that if you wanna build fans, you would share everything, which is like, I, I kind of thought maybe she might say that or she might say the other thing, which is you hear a lot, which is like, Hey, these your followers, these are not your personal friends. They don’t need to know everything going on in your marriage and you know, what’s going on with your kids and, and, and whatever. RV (05:01): But her answer was so eloquent and brilliant and she didn’t even have to think about it. And she said, share only what you feel safe in share what you feel safe in. And I thought that was just such a, a great thing to go share as much as you feel safe sharing. That’s a really beautiful way to answer that because it’s like, if I feel safe sharing it, then it, it means, you know, that God, the universe, you know, I, I call it God Gabby calls it the universe like, but I think you’re, you’re you have a sense of going it’s I feel good about this. I’m I’m I’m talking about something that I’ve processed enough to where I’m past it. I’m not in the middle of it. And that was another, another really key point that she said, which I thought was a real practical step is she said, make sure you’re able to tell the story safely without being triggered by it. RV (05:58): And I think that’s a, that’s a key delineation point is to go, okay, if what I’m sharing triggers me, then that means I’m probably still too close to it. Like I’m still, I’m still, I’m still living inside of it. And so that’s gonna be dangerous because I don’t yet really have the full perspective on what happened, which means some of my emotions might be taking more of center stage or front stage versus like, you know, rationale or logic of, of, of what really it went on. So I thought that just was, was, was really good. Like you know, and it doesn’t give you necessarily a hard and fast answer, which is kind of what I was looking for, but it kind of does it actually gives a, a better answer share only what you feel safe in. And so I think that’s just really, really good. RV (06:44): So that’s, that’s vulnerability. That was my, my first takeaway, my second takeaway, which I think is gonna be looking back on this, this, this is gonna actually be my biggest takeaway from this is about responsibility. And when she said launching a book is a spiritual practice like that really hit me. I mean, I, I know that at a distance because I connect everything like for everything I do, you know, I connect spiritually and for me and AJ, like I mean our work is our, is our ministry. I mean that, it, it it’s a, a part of what our ministry would be, but like the, the speak thinking. So specifically that of, of your, of writing a book and marketing a book is a, is a spiritual practice and there’s two parts. There, there are several parts of it. She said, it’s having the first of all, you have to have the bravery to reveal the truth. RV (07:41): And that’s really true, right? Is like you gotta have enough faith and enough comfort enough, a confidence security that like what you are sharing you know, is like, you have to be brave to let people see into your mind and see into your heart and see into the things that you’re thinking. And I, so anyways, I think that was really, really good. And then you, and then you also have to establish the worthiness in your own life. Like believing that what you have is worthwhile to say, and I think everybody, right, when they first start out the idea of being an author, every single author has this question of like, well, why would anyone in the world listen to me? Or like what gives, you know, like what gives me the right to, to share this? And I think that’s just the, that’s the wrong way of processing it. RV (08:30): You can’t ask yourself who am I to share this with the world? You have to ask yourself who in the world needs this. And if somebody in the world needs this, then that’s why you are experiencing that calling. I mean, this is why we say the calling that you feel to share your message with the world is the result of a signal that is being sent out from someone else. And that person needs you more than you need them. And it is your responsibility to share that message, not because of what it will do for you, but because of what it will do for them, that’s a spiritual practice that that’s powerful. That’s, that’s allowing your, your life to be used. It’s allowing your voice to be a vessel, right? It, it’s allowing your, your, your story to be a conduit to impact and better improve somebody else’s. RV (09:28): And, and that is a great responsibility. And so, you know, she said this so directly, which very much aligns with what we say. You have to make it less about you and make it more about the impact that you’re gonna have on other people. And specifically, again, I loved how it was like, you know, really kind of like spiritual and, and, and, you know, like up there, but then it was also so practical the way she brought it down. And, and she said, visualize your reader, like reading your book and visualize the moment of them having a breakthrough in their life. Right. That changes everything. Like, you’re not going, am I good enough? Am I smart enough? Are people gonna think I’m stupid? Like, is anyone even gonna read like this? Like, no, one’s gonna, you know, I don’t, who am I in the world, all these negative self doubts. RV (10:16): And, and then when you visualize the idea of somebody, can, can you visualize, can you visualize the idea of one reader, one person looking at the work that you’ve done and saying, whoa, this is going to help me live a better life for the rest of my life. And if so, like, then you have to do it like that is a spiritual calling. And that is just a real powerful thought. It’s your, it’s your responsibility? It’s your privilege? It’s your privilege? It’s your, it’s your pleasure, hopefully, but it’s also your obligation. It’s your duty, it’s your responsibility. And that’s what we believe that that calling that you feel on your heart is the result of a signal being sent out by another person. And so that’s just a different way of, of thinking about it and, and going, gosh, you know, where she was, she was talking about being unapologetic, right? RV (11:13): You have to be unapologetic. She said, yes, I have unapologetically put my face on the cover and told the world about the works that I have created. Why not, not out of vanity for myself, not out of a, a, a desire to, to boost, you know, my own self-esteem, but out of a desire to serve and a desire to love and a desire to be useful and helpful to the world around me, which is like the H that’s the highest expression of my life. That what a great way to, to think about it and to overcome, and, and to really put in context what you’re doing when you are writing so that’s responsibility. And, and, and by the way, so just inside of her course, you know, she talks about this. So this is interesting. So I haven’t gone through her course yet. RV (12:01): You know, that one of the reasons that we’re, we’re, you know, at least promoting the free training, which again, if you go to brand builders, group.com/gabby Gabby and, and press me enough from a distance you know, I, I know that I have something to learn from her because I mean, the, the woman has sold a lot of books. She’s impacted a lot of lives and she’s got a huge platform and she is speaking to a lot of people, right. So on a practical side, I go, I, I have something to learn from this woman on a personal side, she’s just been totally endearing and just warm, just a complete doll, like and so, you know, and so she’s got this free training, so, but I haven’t, I’ve never gone through her course, but I planning on going through it. And, and I thought, what was interesting is this, this whole kind of module she has on this spirituality and like, you know, and she does meditations, things like that, you know, I would, I hall and prayers, whatever, but she’s, she’s got, she’s guiding people through meditations in terms of the mental component of this, of getting yourself to move past some of these limiting beliefs. RV (13:03): Cuz I think that’s really true. We really do struggle. Like most of our brand builders clients I’d say most of them have this issue of they’re worried about self-promotion, they’re worried about healing vein. They’re worried about not being humble. And so it holds them back from impacting people. And so I think this is a really, really big obstacle that we gotta make sense of. And, and, and I think, you know, the approach that she’s taking here is, you know, V very similar in terms of the, the posture, right? It might be a little bit different in of like the exact philosophy, but, but the posture of making it about other people and doing it for them and doing it out of service is exactly the same thing that we teach. It’s exactly the same thing that we believe. And so I’m really curious about that. RV (13:49): And, and, and what she’s doing there with those with, with those, you know, those thoughts. So I, I would call ’em prayers. She calls ’em meditations, you call ’em limiting beliefs, call it mindset whatever you call it. It’s, it’s a reality that the way, whatever you think in your own mind about marketing is either going to empower you to reach people, or it is going to disempower you to reach people. And so this is something we have to explore and I’m, I can’t wait to see it. So anyways, brand builders, group.com/gabby, if it sounds interesting, you could, you can, you can check it out. Of course, we have our best seller launch plan training too, and it’s great. And you, and, and you might go, well, why do you promote both of them? Cuz we have an abundance mindset around here and I wanna learn from Gabby and I go, Hey, you know, we do, we want you to learn from us? RV (14:38): Yeah, we do. Like we think we’re some of the best in the world at launching books. You know, we sent this, this big email out a couple weeks ago, we’re working with ed millet right now and his book launch. We we’ve helped him sell over 45,000 units. Like mostly he’s done it, but he’s following our system and we’re, you know, he’s a client and he’s following our plan. So like our system works too, but it’s, it’s not a, it’s like, I want more. Right. And there’s not that many people in the world that teach how to launch a book who have actually launched books at the level that Gabby has. So you know, I, I wanna learn. And so I go, Hey, if I wanna learn from her, then you know, some of you probably do too. It’s not a matter of either. RV (15:17): Or it’s, it’s a matter of both. So anyways, you could check that out brand builders, group.com/gabby. And then the third thing, which again, is also very aligned with us is clarity is clarity. You have to have this core message the through line. I mean, sh the things that we teach in finding your brand DNA about boiling your entire book down to one sentence, boil your whole speech, your entire personal brand down to one sentence. And I, you know, we talk about it all the time and then I think people come and they go, man, that’s a lot of work. And I don’t know, like I wanna talk about all these different things and it’s like, fine do your own thing. But listen to the, listen to the interviews. It’s not just me or AJ it’s, it’s the Gabby Bernstein. It’s the Donald Millers. It’s it’s the Michael hyats it’s it’s everybody we have on this show. RV (16:03): Who’s like making worldwide global impact is saying, you gotta have that core message. That central message it’s, it’s gotta be boiled down and the hardest work you’ll do. And nobody does it, except the biggest, the biggest, you know, brands, biggest personal brands in the world, the biggest influences, the biggest authors and the speakers, cuz they do that work and it’s, and is difficult. But you have to know it because it becomes the litmus test of what is allowed in the book and what isn’t in the book. And, and it clarifies who you’re marketing to and who you’re not marketing to. You know, not every book you write is gonna be a fit for everyone in your audience. Like there’s gonna be new people that your new book is a better fit for that. Aren’t yet in your audience. And there’s some people in your current audience that aren’t a great fit for your current thing. RV (16:51): So that’s why it’s like, you’re always evolving in your, and, and you have to have clarity about who you’re trying to serve too many, too many times. We go, well, what’s my purpose. And it, the faster way to get there is not to ask what’s my purpose is to ask, who can I help? Who can I serve? How can I be of value and, and narrowing down? Who is this for? Like, what is the core message and who is it for? And then the practical thing she said again, this was super, you know, the super practical. She said, this prevents you from, from writing five books in one. And that is so true. That’s what happens. Like the reason why the majority of books don’t transmit and sell and get passed on from person to person is because they say a little about a lot. RV (17:38): And as my mentor, Eric Chester taught me the very first day. I met with him when I first set out on this journey, like in my early twenties to say, I wanna be a speakers. He said, Rory, don’t say a little about a lot, say a lot about a little, right. And that’s what Gabby’s talking about here. Don’t, don’t try to combine five books into one, take one idea and deep dive on that. That is what makes a great, a great book. And I just, yeah, so I just, I think that, I think that is, is really genius and useful and Edon to all the things that we talk about. So I hope you enjoy this. The conversation is totally different than I expected, but Gabby was delightful and, and sweet, you know, and intelligent and brilliant as she is. You know, and to me, it’s just like, I’m curious to learn from people like that. RV (18:24): And, and even though, you know, if you, if you don’t know or you haven’t picked up, you know, we have different spiritual views on the world. I think Gabby’s just, you know, sort of prided herself on just being very like open, which is, which is great. You know, I happen to be clearly a Christian, but, but I still can learn so much from her. And we’re so aligned. It’s like, they’re not mutually exclusive. And, and I, so I’ve learned ton from her. I hope you’ve learned a ton from her. I love following her. She’s so uplifting and encouraging and what an honor to get to interview her. And you know, somebody that has, has impacted as many people as she had and, and for her to share. So generously some of these things that she has learned. So I hope you enjoyed it. RV (19:10): I hope you get a conversa. You got to listen in on a conversation between two people that you wouldn’t hear anybody else or you wouldn’t hear anywhere else. Excuse me. Like you would right here. So if you know somebody who is an author, aspiring author wants to be better marketing, send them this episode, send the, the interview of me and Gabby. And hopefully you’ll keep the coming back on and listening week in and week out to the influential personal brand podcast. Thanks for being here. We’ll catch you next time. Bye. Bye.