Pivoting from a Position of Strength, with Luria Petrucci

Bob (00:00.296) Not recording. It's edited. It's fine. Luria Petrucci (00:00.529) Okay. I was just gonna ask, do you want to be an affiliate for that if we mention it so that I don't use the my URL? Bob (00:11.756) No, use your URL. I'm really happy to support. Yeah, that's that's fine for me. and likewise externally, very happy to support. I don't need to be an affiliate. I'm a fan. Fans support. Okay. Let's do this. So Luria Petrucci (00:13.747) Okay. Luria Petrucci (00:26.058) thank you. I appreciate that. Bob (00:32.856) Hi there and welcome to Building Your Leader Brand. My name is Bob Gentle, and every week I speak with incredible people who share their secrets to building, marketing, and monetizing their expertise and the mindset you need to grow and thrive. If you're new, take a second and hit the follow or the subscribe button if you're on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. If you're on YouTube, it's a miracle. I've published it on YouTube, then do all the things. You know what to do. So this week, I'm as excited as a schoolboy at Christmas. so anybody who knows me knows I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to video. Less so now, but I have been in the past. And many people have helped me in many different ways in my online journey. And this week's guest is probably one of the unsung heroes there, although she probably has no idea. Luria Petrucci, welcome to the show. I'm smacking my microphone while I do that. Welcome. Luria Petrucci (01:26.867) Hey, we're I'm Italian. I talk with my hands. I have to get the mic out of the video frame for myself. it's such a pleasure to be here. And I love, love, love that hearing that you have gotten something from me and I barely even knew it. So that just makes my day. Bob (01:50.734) I think that's one of the things I love about our industry. We work in different strands of it, but the people who tend to thrive, they have a mission mindset. Obviously they need to make money, but the showing up again and again and again, becoming part of people's lives when you've no idea who they are, is just as important as the people who pay you. And we often don't get to see it. So it's lovely to get the opportunity to say thank you and also be an incredibly nosy parker. Luria Petrucci (02:12.486) Yes. Bob (02:20.599) Which is what I'm really looking forward to. Luria Petrucci (02:21.458) Awesome. Can't wait to see where you go. Bob (02:27.095) So for the listener who's meeting you for the first time, obviously Luria Petrucci, live streaming pros, Google it. But Luria, what is it you actually do? And it there's a very broad canvas here, so feel free, go nuts. Luria Petrucci (02:39.13) Yeah. Okay. how much time do we have? So I have been doing video for 20 years. I started back in 2005 when before YouTube was even a thing. So when podcasting was just beginning and I'm now in the podcast hall of fame, etc. But over the 20 years I've had multiple brands, but it's all been typically around technology. So I was one of the first like tech influencers before the word influencer was a word. And then I started teaching the tech of video and live streaming. And I have just always loved building audiences and community. I was the shyest person you'd ever meet before I got on video. And Then I stepped into video and I started breaking rules and I started learning what I was capable of. And that's what I love about video and live streaming is the the way it forces you into bigger and newer and different. And but that that being said, I you know spent I've been on video for 20 years building communities. And I'm in a moment Of 20 years in, and I'm like, you know what? There's so much more to say than just how do you set up your video studio? And I've been feeling this pull for many years, and I decided to finally take action on it. And you know, really now I really love having the conversation around visibility and what it actually takes from us. to experience to push through the discomfort. You said yourself that you, you know, didn't love doing video and that it's easier now. But the video is really interesting because it really pushes us beyond our comfort zone. And that's the conversation that I really enjoy having with people and helping them see what they are truly capable of. Bob (04:53.355) I think one of the things that's fascinating to me is you mentioned being a I I don't know if you used the word introvert or shy. but I've seen you in rooms where that's quite apparent. Obviously you're a you're a confident, mature woman, but at the same time you're not you're not a gregarious, loud, bubbly person. Obviously you there's an element of bubbliness there, obviously. Not trying to be insulting. But Luria Petrucci (05:15.802) Mm. Luria Petrucci (05:21.486) No, my nickname was as a kid was Bubbles, but you're right, like it's a quiet, like I love to laugh. I've always loved to just laugh and enjoy the little things in life, but I I definitely am not like, look at me! Bob (05:34.978) But this is the fascinating thing that a lot of people that you see as l coming across as incredibly charismatic on video, very confident and and sharp, in per would you meet them in person, they are actually quite introverted and shy. They just have a different presence on camera. And I think that's perhaps an important thing for people to understand. Video can actually be a wonderful place when you don't have this extrovert energy. Luria Petrucci (05:48.593) Yeah. Luria Petrucci (06:03.384) It really can be, yeah. And I don't think people realize that because they think if I'm introverted, I can't do video because I can't be seen in a room, let alone through this flat piece of gear, you know, like this camera. and it's definitely It's a release, it's a way of communicating, it's a like if you like people, if you have something to say that helps people, it's one of the best forms of getting that heard and and having that different presence and stepping into that version of you. And I think it changes who you. Can be on the other end. Like I on the personal side, I find that, you know, I as a kid, I was so incredibly shy that I I got called a snob at school because I wouldn't talk to people. And so I just listened and I just observed. And I love sitting in the back of a room just watching people, even to this day. Like if I'm at a party, I don't need to be in the conversations. I love to just observe. And That being said, I can also use what I've learned communicating on video to become more interesting in a room, whether that's on a stage or at a party or wherever, the other day. So this would never be my kid's self. But my partner's boss. had invited us to a thing that he does in his local community where they serve coffee, free coffee on the sidewalk in front of their house for the entire neighborhood. So anybody who's walking around, which I thought was a beautiful thing to do. And you know, there my partner and his boss are making the coffee. And I'm just out there, you know Luria Petrucci (08:10.128) Trying to pull people in, like, hey, you want some coffee? Let me take your order. I've never been a server in my life, and I'm like messing up the orders left and right. And it's just but but the the way I can step into who I need to be in that moment to not just sit on the sidelines, but actually create connections with people, random strangers, and have a good time and open up interesting. Conversations and learning new things. Like I learned I've learned to take what I do on video and step into that in the physical realm as well, which I find super interesting. Bob (08:50.967) So one of the things with video is we've kind of got to the point with the tech where the tech is not really that difficult anymore. There's I mean, it's important to get nice light, it's important to get good audio, getting a good image these days when you've got those two things locked in is not that difficult. And yet, people make it difficult. And I think the the challenge for most people is they don't like what they see in the mirror. Luria Petrucci (09:08.178) Mm-hmm. Luria Petrucci (09:12.391) Yeah. Bob (09:20.843) And something I've noticed is it's actually very rare to find somebody who likes what they see in the mirror. It doesn't bother us when we walk down the street, we'll talk to people, we'll be visible. But as soon as there's a camera, we know we're not gonna like what it does, we know we're gonna second guess, we're gonna be self-conscious. What techniques have you discovered that will allow people to Give themselves permission to publish something even when they don't necessarily like it. Because this is what I'd found is for the longest time I knew I didn't like anything I published, but it kind of had to be done anyway. And eventually I was desensitized to that. Now I can see what other people see, but it took a very long time. Most business owners don't have a very long time. So how can people accelerate that acceptance? Luria Petrucci (10:12.09) I love that question. The reality is, is yes, when you step in front of the camera, you see all of your internal flaws, hatreds, the the thing that your mom said to you when you were. 14 about how you look or how you dressed or whatever or the the kids made fun of you in school. Like the things that we're struggling with when it comes to exactly this come from a lifetime of experiences. But you just said the key, actually. I don't know if you recognize that. It's that you can see what others see. And so when I work with my students on this particular thing, I have them do an exercise of look in the mirror and tell me, tell this community exactly what you see. I see personally, I see a forehead that's too big, nostrils that are too big, like an I I hate my smile. I hate I I can list goes on and on. However, apparently back in the day when I was, you know, younger and skinnier, that was good enough to be a model. Like, so, but I hate looking in the mirror. And we What I do with them is I have them identify and get clarity around what they see internally and externally. And then the rest of the community will reflect back that we're their mirror. I I never noticed your nose or your this or your that or the gap in your teeth. It's cute, not ugly, right? Like there's all of these reflections kind of coming back. Luria Petrucci (12:14.372) And that's what I've learned over the years is how to step into seeing what other people see of me. Because then you can start to unpack and release all of the hatred into yourself and start to say, okay, well, first they don't see it the same way. We are our harshest critics, is so true. And you can start to release the self-centeredness of it, the ego of it, and really start to tap into the why of what you're even doing. Right? Like we are here to have an impact. We are here to make a difference in other people's lives. What does it even matter what we look like? Right. And how we feel. Like when we are in front of the camera, how we feel shouldn't matter. whatsoever. What is the audience experiencing? What is the audience feeling? And I learned that flip when I was hosting for Panasonic. It was my fur it wasn't my first TV thing, but It was the first like live stream, thousands of people at CES, which is like the biggest consumer electronics show. And Panasonic was paying me a lot of money to step in front of the camera and interview CEOs and everybody who was at that show. And I had to do multitasking galore. There's a whole point to this. So I had to be reading a teleprompter, reading the chat, the live stream chat. Interviewing people and actually listening to what they were saying. And there was a floor, you know, person director who was, you know, giving me signals, and there was a director in my ear talking to me. So all of these things are happening all at the same time in a high pressure stakes situation. And so the everything was tested, it was working. Luria Petrucci (14:25.658) And the moment the doors open and the floodgates came in, like thousands of people started coming in, the tech went wrong. And I had this buzz in my ear from the director speaking to me from backstage. And I couldn't hear anything except this very loud buzz. And I still had to go and talk, listen, read the chat room, read the prompter, pay attention to all of the different things. And in that moment, what I did for myself was doesn't matter what I'm feeling, doesn't matter what I'm hearing, can't deal with. It only matters what the audience is experiencing. It only matters that I'm giving them the feeling that I want to create. And it was kind of a natural thing that I just stepped into, but that was the moment where I realized it literally doesn't matter. all of my internal things because that's not what the audience is here for. So that allowed me to step into or put aside my issues in favor of theirs. Bob (15:40.876) I think that's really a lot of leadership. And this is one of the things that bugs me from time to time. That I meet, and if this is you at home listening, I beg you to pay attention. There are a lot of people who think, I've I've accomplished this. I'm accomplished in my career. I am senior. And from this point on, if anything makes me uncomfortable, I don't need to do that. Because I've got people for that. And Luria Petrucci (15:44.476) Mm. Bob (16:09.995) There are a few things and really leaning into your personal brand is one of these things that gives people this experience of I have to be vulnerable and scared again. And so it's often avoided. There there's the people have been to the seven circles of hell to get to where they are and they are established. And to go and do that again and be vulnerable, they don't have to do it. And there's a lot of there's a lot of reasons not to do it. But the rewards I think are spectacular. Luria Petrucci (16:25.263) Yes. Luria Petrucci (16:37.114) Mm. Bob (16:38.475) And one of the things I've noticed is that number one, the mirror is not objective. When what you looks what you see in a mirror, that's not what other people see. And you kind of touched on that. We always look at ourselves through a negative lens, but it's fascinating. We always look at others through a positive lens. It's always a generous lens. It's very unusual we look at somebody and think, Goodness me, you look stupid. I would never trust you. Never happens. But we look at ourselves that way. That's the only way we can see. And for me, Luria Petrucci (16:56.998) Yes. Isn't that crazy? Luria Petrucci (17:03.282) Exactly. Mm-hmm. Bob (17:08.363) You spoke about ego, and this comes back to the point. When I realized, and I really borrowed down to my own discomfort, what is it? What is it? What is it? Keep digging, keep taking. When I got to the bottom, I found vanity. And there was nothing under it. Just vanity. And I thought, good grief. It's all about me. And once I realized that, everything was easier. And the other thing, and I can't remember who told me this. Luria Petrucci (17:23.046) Yeah. Yeah. Bob (17:36.279) But for me it was quite liberating when I realized one third of people, they probably won't like me. And that's okay. One third of people will ignore me, but one third of people will love me. And I genuinely mean that. And they probably won't take away what I'd intended to communicate from the videos anyway. So just relax. And everything got easier from that point. Luria Petrucci (17:54.555) Yeah. Good. Yeah. Bob (17:58.936) But like you said, coming to it from a place of service that really helps. Luria Petrucci (18:02.628) Exactly. To speak to the third of people who won't like you. I the the there was a very clear moment early on in my career where I realized, okay, you cannot please everybody and you shouldn't try. Where I would one video, there was two comments back to back on the same video. And one was, my god, you're the best person ever. Marry me. Second comment was You suck, and I won't even use the right language that they used, but like you suck, I hope you die and get off this earth. Like obviously two very different comments. I was like, okay, I'm over it. I can't I can't please everybody. Bob (18:50.689) I think somebody once said your vibe attracts your tribe and so many people are just not transmitting. And when I understood what that meant, if you actually transmit on an authentic frequency, you attract the people where there is a a resonance. They're your people. But a lot of people struggle with Luria Petrucci (18:53.755) Yes. Luria Petrucci (18:57.681) Mm. Luria Petrucci (19:02.704) Yeah. Totally. I like that. And so many people aren't transmitting. That's beautiful. Bob (19:09.687) They are, but when you transmit, you can start to play the numbers and the world starts to go your way a little bit. But what to say? I think this is the problem a lot of people have. They Luria Petrucci (19:12.881) Yeah. Mm-hmm. Bob (19:23.863) They second guess themselves. There's this something I think I've I've heard you talk about, the curse of expertise. And on the other hand, scripting and planning and thing. And we could probably talk about easy strategies for that in a minute. But I would say let's let's talk about the curse of the expert, because I think this is the a big problem for a lot of people listening. Luria Petrucci (19:48.369) Yeah. I call it the curse of expertise. And this is a concept that is known. However, I take a bit of a different spin on it. I think the curse of expertise is that you know so much about what you talk about that, you know, typically what people will say around that is that you can't kind of see it from their lens, from their beginner lens, right? But really when it comes to content creation specifically, we have to also remove stuff. We have to remove a lot of what we know in order to drill down to a single topic, a single takeaway in a video. Otherwise people get so overwhelmed And they get so consumed with all of the things that they don't take any action or watch another one of your videos. And so kind of how I look at this is what is the when you're creating content, what is a single takeaway from this that you want your viewer to walk away and be able to do, know, or have an aha around? And then you have three questions to ask yourself. One, what is it that they want to know? That's pretty obvious with marketing, right? Like we have to meet them where they are. And so you create the video packaging, meaning the title, the description, or if you're on YouTube, like the thumbnail. You create that based on what they want to know. And then inside of the video, you have to ask yourself, what do they need to know that they don't know to ask? And this is where your expertise comes in. But it's targeted because we're not telling them all of the things. It's what is the thing that they need to know in order to get the one takeaway of the video. And then you have to ask yourself the third question, which helps remove information. What do they not need to know? And so that is your guardrail to say, well, they, you know, if I'm teaching them, you know, how to bake a cake. Luria Petrucci (22:10.182) They don't need, or let's let's go with my real topic, because I don't bake cakes. So if I'm teaching, you know, let's say a video setup, they need to know what camera and light to buy. But they don't need to know is what settings mean. Like they don't need to know all the jargon around that. And so I can remove that and make it an easier video to consume. Bob (22:31.069) Yeah, Bob (22:38.615) So something I used to struggle with was every single video had to be the unified theory of everything. And my goodness, that was the biggest barrier. And I think this is a problem a lot of people have at the beginning. Is the the the first video, the first few videos, they just feel like the stakes are so high. This is because of the emotional mountain you have to climb to create one, you just think I have to it has to be. Luria Petrucci (22:45.733) Yeah. Luria Petrucci (23:01.511) Yeah. Bob (23:08.466) And what fascinated me Luria Petrucci (23:08.592) Yeah. Has to be the thing I'll look back in ten years and be proud of. Like, whoa, that's so much pressure. Bob (23:15.817) Yeah, and people have to understand how everything connects. but what I've discovered consistently is that the feedback I get from videos is it's always they got something I'd never intended. So in many respects, it almost doesn't matter. I think your your your focus on make one point and make it well. Luria Petrucci (23:18.864) Hmm. Luria Petrucci (23:32.3) Hehehehehe Bob (23:38.679) probably matters more than anything because it's It is when you can kind of guarantee they will get it. If you tr if you try and be too broad, they will misunderstand you. If people are thinking, Okay, no, please go ahead. Luria Petrucci (23:46.928) Yeah. Exactly. Luria Petrucci (23:52.56) Here's the thing go ahead. The two things that you can kind of hold on to is one, yes, like you you have you're gonna confuse them so they won't consume the message. you're trying to prove yourself when you're trying to put all of your knowledge into one video. And nobody needs you to prove yourself. They tr they trust you innately if they've fine found you saying a video on the thing that they want to hear. at at some level at least. The second thing is you will say the same thing over and over and over. So you have a ton of chances to redo it, to say it better, to do it differently. You if you're doing content right, if you're putting yourself out there well, then you are going to be saying repeating the same message. over and over and over just said various ways. And that can release a lot of pressure on getting it right the first time. Bob (25:05.387) I think this is something a lot of people get uncomfortable about. Repetition is one of the key principles in marketing. And for Coca-Cola, they can talk about Coca-Cola makes you happy and it's red every day of the week, multiple times every day. We talk about the same thing twice in one week. It's my goodness, the sky's gonna fall down, it's so uncomfortable. Luria Petrucci (25:10.354) Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Luria Petrucci (25:23.292) Yeah. Luria Petrucci (25:31.824) Yeah. Bob (25:32.822) When I was at social media marketing world, I was talking to I think it might have been Ben Amos, who thought he's he's he's also quite well in on the word video world. But I was talking about this, and he pointed at Roberto Blake and said, That guy just makes the same video again and again and again and again, and they all go viral because it's about something people care about, and it's always a slightly different flavor. But he becomes known for one thing. And That's really what we want to accomplish. If people are listening and thinking, okay, I might have a go at video. The first one is always the hardest. My my accountant actually said, because I I had to let somebody go, and he said, It's all right. The first one, it's like murder. The first one's always the hardest. And I I think your first video is probably the hardest as well. When people are looking at Luria Petrucci (26:20.592) the first one is the hardest. Bob (26:27.563) showing up on social media after a big break. It's often recommended to do that. In case we haven't met or we haven't met for a long time, here's what you need to know about me post. How can people approach something similar on video where they just got the first one done and they can now move forwards knowing that there's a little momentum here. Luria Petrucci (26:49.52) I mean the the thing that I always ask people to do first is just take the thing that you get asked so much and you're also matching that with passion for you to actually talk about and then have one takeaway from it. List out three bullet points, go do it. Like don't Formulate it. I mean, I I have a formula for our videos that we almost just went through. But if that's gonna stop you or make it feel too much pressure, literally just pick up your phone and talk through that in your own way, but keep it to three bullet points. Keep that, you know, idea in mind that you don't want to say too much and go release that. And it's not the end of the world. My first video is still online from twenty years ago and I have survived. Bob (27:52.408) So I'm gonna handbrake turn. And so the listeners may or may not know. Sometimes when people are coming on podcasts, they send them a document to say, here's some things we can talk about. And I usually scan them and delete them and talk about something else. But Luria has something that's 100% now that I would actually like to talk about, which is this whole yapping trend. So and I'm guessing a lot of the listeners have possibly never heard of this. And I'm super curious. I have heard of it and I've witnessed it. And I'm I'm really interested in your perspective and if there is an application that we should be thinking about. What's your perspective? What is it, first of all? Luria Petrucci (28:38.162) Sure. So yapping is understood in the industry right now to be a casual conversation. You're not in front of a professional setup. You are just talking to the audience. And typically you will see this done with somebody holding a microphone in their hands. So like instead of having the microphone put on their body. Or in a studio, they're holding it. And you might have even seen some people do things like take a pencil or a hammer and put the microphone on that, and that's what they're holding. So there's this big trend of yapping. And the reason that it works is that it signals authenticity. It signals we're just having a conversation. I'm not here to sell to you. I'm I'm a real person. I'm not AI. You know, all of these trust signals. And at the same time, it cracks me up. I mean, just my curse has been is that I've been in this business way too long. And so I'm like, you guys, this has always been the case. Talking to people, having conversations, being human. Isn't a new concept, yet everybody is really like treating it as this new concept. And while I am a big proponent of professional setups in my part of my business, there's a time and a place for that. And I have always taught also raw video because there's a time and a place for that. So you get instant credibility in the zones that you need it with professionalism. But you connect with life conversation. And so what I always encourage people to do is understand the three universal languages, which is these are languages in content and words that you can use that people will understand all across, no matter what language they speak. Pets, food, everyday life moments. Luria Petrucci (31:00.018) And when you integrate those conversations as examples, as behind the scenes of your life, whatever, you're able to connect with people on a deeper level that allows them to comprehend, hear, take in the actual content that you want them to. So yapping really is about. That at the end of the day. Bob (31:33.303) So w what I like I love about this is when I first saw it, I mean I've it's I've been peripheral peripherally aware of yapping as a named phenomena. Like you said, it's been around for a long time, but that somebody's called it something, now it's become a thing. Luria Petrucci (31:43.601) Mm-hmm. Luria Petrucci (31:53.584) Yeah. Bob (31:55.192) What I love is it sits right in between live streaming and produced video. And one of the things that I often encourage people when they are super conscious about, super self-conscious about video, particularly if they feel burdened by the e the video editing, to do a live stream. Because nobody expects it to be edited, nobody expects high production value, nobody expects you to talk nonstop and not take a breath or maybe have a drink. Luria Petrucci (32:01.414) Yeah. That's well said. Luria Petrucci (32:15.89) Mm-hmm. Bob (32:23.499) And stumble over something, it looks natural and authentic. Whereas the yapping, it it's it has a bit more permanence and it probably gets a little more reach. and you can. Yeah, there's probably many other reasons it's a good idea, but Bob (32:43.937) What I've noticed, so I'm pretty sure you've your answer to this question will be yes. You must have used virtual reality at some point. And what I noticed with virtual reality is you know it's not real, I know it's not real, but your body doesn't. When you put on the virtual reality goggles and you're in a dangerous situation, you get you get an adrenaline rush and all the other autonomic responses. Parasocial relationships are exactly the same. And I remember Todd Herman's book, The Alter Ego Effect, had a huge impact on my life and my business. And I followed him on Instagram. And I knew where he lived. I knew what he was doing for fun. And I knew what he was reading. I knew where he's been on holiday. And then one day he's standing right in front of me. Luria Petrucci (33:18.684) Yes. Bob (33:32.3) And my entire body from the from my everything other than the super tiny rational bit in my brain was behaving like this is my friend Todd. And it was really embarrassing. My brain's shouting, shut up, stop it. It's embarrassing. And this is what this is for. This yapping that you described in these non-business environments, maybe a little bit in between, you're transiting, even sitting at your desk having a conversation. It's it's Luria Petrucci (33:44.838) Hmm. Bob (34:01.439) It's cultivating this parasocial relationship. It's it's giving people the raw material that they need to engage in what for their subconscious and their autonomic system is a very real relationship. Which for any leader listening, being bonded to and present with the people who matter to you is a superpower. And the way you described it there is very accessible. So I really like that. Luria Petrucci (34:28.954) Yeah, it's it's something to try, something to experiment with. I think it's you can hold the mic in your hands or not, but it's interesting because I come from such professionalism when it comes to video. I've from day one I always have, but I was like, never in my life will I hold the mic. Like, how dare them? Right. And I and then one day I was like, you know what? Bob (34:29.153) I have a lot of things. Luria Petrucci (34:58.118) I so so as I'm going through this pivot, I'm gonna take a little squirrel here, but come back to the point. As I'm going through this pivot, I And and I'm starting to to lean into new content. And I launched my personal brand YouTube channel and Instagram, and I'm having a different conversation, and I'm not even bringing my existing audience along with me for it. Well, I am in a way, but I'm I'm actually not promoting the link to my existing audience. So I don't have a built-in audience there. And that's on purpose. So the problem is I've had a way of delivery for 20 years. And I want this new personal brand to be fresh and like my coaching calls, not like my tech YouTuber voice, right? Like, because we have these different kind of vibes. And I was struggling to find my co like my behind the scenes coaching voice on public content. And It's it you said this earlier, which I loved. You were talking about like, okay, we're building new skill sets. We've we're we've really gotten comfortable at this thing, and then you want you don't want to do anything new. I'm really pushing myself right now to learn new skill sets and or new ways. It's not even skill sets yet, but new ways of exploring my my my my communication. And that's been interesting, fun. exhausting, frustrating all at the same time. But to to come back to the point, I it was like, no, I'm not doing the yapping, holding the mic thing. That's weird. It blah blah blah. And then I was really struggling there and I just needed to get my body to go casual, more casual than I'm used to when I step in front of the camera. And so I Luria Petrucci (37:01.904) Said, okay, I'm just gonna do it. I did one take without with just the mic append to my shirt. And then I did one take holding the mic. And I don't know, there was something about it. It kind of relaxes you. And it forces you into it, gives you something to do with your hands. It forces you into this conversational style as much as the audience is consuming it more conversationally. And so I was like, okay, I guess I was wrong. Bob (37:30.285) I remember watching a video of some movie director, and he said whenever they have a wooden actor or actress, they just give them a bottle of water to hold and it just transforms them. And it's this this this act of holding something completely changes how the body works. I don't I don't know what it is, but I think the holding the mic, there's a there's a it's greater than its the sum of its part. Well it's only one part, but you know what I mean. Luria Petrucci (37:37.51) Yeah. Luria Petrucci (37:41.787) interesting. Luria Petrucci (37:47.28) Huh. Luria Petrucci (37:50.864) Yeah. Luria Petrucci (37:56.549) Yeah, totally. That's interesting. I never heard that before. Bob (38:01.015) So I think this whole pivoting thing, a lot of people don't really give themselves permission sometimes. And what I love what you're doing, so I had a rummage around earlier and you have a brand new YouTube channel, which delights me because I see people like you with giant YouTube channels. And to be able to watch something grow from the beginning is a real treat. Luria Petrucci (38:25.308) Hm. Bob (38:28.385) What are you most excited about with this pivot? Have you given yourself permission to really engage in a bit of fantasy and think, forget all the constraints, forget all the what I think I know, and just play with if I could do anything, what would this look like? I'm really curious to know what that would look like. Luria Petrucci (38:46.097) Yeah. Yeah, so it's interesting. I've been sitting on this pivot for 10 years, in the back of my mind, and a few false starts. And at the time when I first started to try to go here, I was in a toxic situation and I kept getting pulled back away from it. And It was just a process for myself to remove the toxicity away from it so that I could actually do the things that I wanted to do and give myself permission to be who I am without anybody else's input. And that has been incredibly freeing. And it has been incredibly scary. I it matters so much to me that I say what I want to say and that have been sitting on for so long that it's almost as if there was a blockage, right? And it mmm I I I'm kind of at the starter stage again where everybody starts. There there is a blockage. What do I say? How do I say it? Am I gonna do it right? And I like getting back into beginner mode. I had to do it for so 10 years into my career. Luria Petrucci (40:27.766) I burnt out, lost two million followers, had to start from scratch. And that was my first like whew major sh pivot. And that learning to start from scratch, that's where I learned to remove ego because I had it easy the first time. I just I just started and went. And I was super popular all of a sudden, right? And then that that second time I had. To look at the numbers and watch four people watching my live streams and think I went from two million to this. Ugh, right? And then now I'm in a much better place because I have brought, you know, I'm I'm I'm I'm in a better place starting from scratch, quote unquote. But yes, like to answer your question, there's this freedom of there's both this freedom and this tie. So I have my existing business where all of the revenue comes from. And I have a team. And it's been scary because I feel like I'm trying to bridge things a little bit so that I don't just lose everything I've built, but I bring this along with me so that I can transition or I can still teach the stuff that I've been teaching, but on the back end, not the front end. Bob (41:39.959) Yeah. Luria Petrucci (41:51.487) And when I dream, the dream is To not be a how-to tech person, but like, let's get me on Oprah, let's have bigger conversations. Let's, you know, like, let's let's talk about what this really is, not what the procrastination method is. Because I feel like tech a lot of times is a procrastination method for people to not do the thing that they really want to do. And so Bob (42:21.439) yeah. Luria Petrucci (42:26.35) It's really been, it's been an interesting journey for sure. It's been a hard journey. It's been an exciting journey. But I yes, I am in that zone of, all right, let me dream and explore. And I know where I'm going. Like I have a book in me. I have like all of these things. How to get there. I know innately because I've been doing this visibility audience building thing for so long that I know I can do it. But the interesting thing is the like the beginner level stuff, because I'm still figuring out, like, all right, like, well, this is right, this is wrong, like this new brand should be this, or maybe that wasn't quite where I wanted to go with it. And so it's I'm allowing myself to build in public. And play because I know that clarity only comes from action. And that's what I tell my students all the time. And so I had to take my own advice and say, I know ultimately where I'm going. And I do have the dream and the vision. But it's not clear on the exact steps. So I'm having fun with it and letting it be what it is. Bob (43:40.578) I think there's two things that I I've noticed so I've pivoted my business a few times. And when you do it, when it's not a something has failed, so I have to do something else, because that's not the situation. You're you have a thriving business. So it's not a a this or this, it's a this and this. And there's often an anxiety that, well, what about my existing customers? Because I need them to continue seeing me for this thing that we do. Luria Petrucci (43:53.41) Right. Yes. Luria Petrucci (44:03.866) Yeah. Bob (44:07.117) But what I realized is confirmation bias is a really strong thing. And I haven't built a website for money for a decade. I still have people referring me for this kind of thing. because that's the version of me that they know. And confirmation bias will not really change that. So we can invest much more freely than we realize into this new brand. because Luria Petrucci (44:17.478) Ha ha ha. Luria Petrucci (44:24.86) Yeah. Bob (44:32.257) That's what ultimately defeats confirmation bias is this repetition and strong signaling. But it's the same thing that will rapidly allow you to build this new audience. I can't remember what the other thing I was gonna say is, but yes, I remember. The discovery through action. I think a lot of people, it's a little bit like you've never seen these computer games where it's a dark. Luria Petrucci (44:43.194) Hm. Bob (44:57.727) Landscape, you're looking from above, and there's a little guy standing in the middle of the landscape wiggling his sword in a light patch. If he just stands there, he stands stands in a small light patch. He starts moving around, he discovers it. And I think that's how you uncover a brand, and that's what makes a pivot thrive. And what I'm really excited about is Luria Petrucci (45:03.943) Yeah. Luria Petrucci (45:12.572) Hmm. Bob (45:20.875) What you built with live streaming pros, the capability, the competence, the confidence. There is one hundred percent a bigger play for you. You've Bob (45:38.381) I think when we're early in our careers, we do the work of people who are early in their careers. But there comes a time when there's an opportunity to serve bigger. And that's what gets me excited right now. If anybody's listening thinking, maybe, who's a great conversation for you? Luria Petrucci (46:00.509) Can you clarify the question? Bob (46:02.859) If somebody's thinking, you know what, maybe I need a bit of Luria in my life, what does a great potential client look like for you? Luria Petrucci (46:09.484) a great potential person for me is somebody who has a successful business who is doing the things that you want to do, and there's more, right? And there's I it starts with this whisper internally, like it did for me 10 years ago. And what I've noticed is that most people spend 10 years on an idea. I've I've done the work of asking the questions and looking at all my clients. And the average is 10 years sitting on an idea. And I would love to get people past that faster just by giving them space and permission to do the thing that they want to do. We get held back because, in my case, Toxis toxic relationship. In other people's cases, it might be people hold the identity. We hold the identity for ourselves on the old, and people hold what you said, confirmation by us, the identity of who we are. And that is scary to release and let go of. And there's a big fear around that because it could lose money, you could lose your partner in life, could be like, well. Calculating the mortgage right now, if you're gonna make some changes, your clients will freak out. And so there's also this part of you, if you feel like when I try to take up more space, I hit walls or hit a ceiling of what my body is comfortable with, my nervous system is comfortable with in that sense. And yeah, that right person for me is in this moment of my pivot, somebody who is a little bit going through the same thing. it's important for me to hold a place and a safe space for these kinds of conversations. in fact, last year I spent $22,500 on a coaching program and I didn't even care about the curriculum or the things that was being taught. I Luria Petrucci (48:29.978) just needed a to put myself in a space that was, you know, full of women energy because I being in the tech space, I've been full of male, you know, egocentric energy for my entire career. And so I was like just feeling the need. I need to be around these women and I need to be encouraged and I need a place to say, I don't know what I want anymore. Like, but it's not what I've built. And I paid a lot of money for that. And so it's really important for me because I've realized that that doesn't exist. Like a space does not exist for us to say the things out loud and experience it and move through the roller coaster of emotions with it. So that's kind of where I am right now as I'm opening that space up for people and kind of going really behind the scenes with my own pivot and sharing everything, all the mistakes that I'm surely gonna make over the next few couple months. Bob (49:39.032) I think the world is changing really quickly. And I don't think there's been a time for a long time when there was as much anxiety around what people are doing, but also as much opportunity. And I think one thing that you highlighted, I don't know whether it was intentionally or unintentionally, but there are business pivots, content pivots, emotional pivots. These are all opportunities to move from one place to another. And like you said, Luria Petrucci (49:48.432) Yeah, right? Luria Petrucci (50:00.498) Mm-hmm. Bob (50:07.745) These aren't conversations that we have normally, especially if you're a business owner. Entrepreneurial loneliness is a very real phenomena. They don't have place people to speak to. I think creating a space for that is a great idea. I was gonna joke and say, you know what, you spent two twenty two thousand dollars on it. I'd have done it for twenty one and a half. Luria Petrucci (50:31.95) Only I don't. But but you know, it's exactly right. But every successful entrepreneur shares the 2020 vision, shares the mistakes after they're made. But I've I've made a lot of mistakes in my career, I've made a lot of right choices. I've done every time I've pivoted, I've come out on top because that's just who I am. I'm going to go after what I want when I give myself permission to do so. But Bob (50:34.497) You don't know, you don't know. Luria Petrucci (51:02.524) the the the missing piece of the conversation isn't that, you know, it happens, but it's The choices that we make within it, the the ability to move forward despite having it all figured out. Because I guarantee you anybody you've ever seen making pivots, you know, Amy Porterfield, Jenna Kutcher made big pivots over the last year. But we we really only see we see it might might be when it's happening, but we don't see the behind the scenes conversations. That's not to pick on them. I just like I I I love watching them do their thing and and reaching for what they're wanting. You know, I just I I think that we it's okay to be vulnerable and share the ups and downs without risking losing. Bob (51:55.448) I think the sharing is important as well because there are pivots that were a choice and they were action and then there are pivots where it's a reaction. And having a space where you can test your reactions, and I see this all the time at the moment, then maybe you can move from reaction to action and actually have some agency and and make something that's a bit more forward thinking than simply a short term adjustment. Luria Petrucci (52:03.27) Yeah, for sure. Exactly. Luria Petrucci (52:12.198) Yeah. Luria Petrucci (52:17.072) Right. And the other thing I've noticed coaching my own students through their pivots over the years is that we all think it's a massive change. When in fact it's more likely a small shift that needs to be made. Exactly. They're like, I'm so glad that you did that. That makes sense. Like your reaction to me before we started this, I was like, Bob (52:35.127) That everyone was waiting for. Luria Petrucci (52:46.556) Thank goodness, because you actually have been following me for a while and you're like, I love this. I think you're in the exact right space. And that give me a sigh of relief of like, okay, it's not a mistake, right? Or it's not that big of a deal. And I I have to coach myself, my students through that. And I'm having to coach myself through that as well currently, because it's usually not as big of a deal as we make it in our heads. Bob (53:11.893) Yeah. So I've taken a lot of your time and we haven't got to the three things. I could honestly chat to you all day long, but we moved to the part of the show where Luria will share three amplifiers. These are things that you can eat, you can play with, you can read, you can educate yourself, you can be inspired or motivated, or just see things differently. Luria, if I'm honest, hasn't had the preparation she should have had. So it's on me. But Luria, do you have three amplifiers? Amplifier number one. Bob (53:53.301) If I was using eCamp, I'd have elevator music. Luria Petrucci (54:04.582) The first one is very close to my heart, which is 10x. The book 10x is easier than 2x. I read that book a couple of years ago, and I just wanted it so bad in my life. And that's what I keep looking at when as I'm going through this pivot is what How do I 10X? How do I not 2X this stuff, meaning taking smaller choices? But when you 2X, you are forced to make different decisions. You're forced to look at things in a new way and put aside things that you think matter, but that don't. So that concept and way of operating within my business is proving to be very, very special to me. Second thing I go ahead. Bob (55:00.215) You I was gonna say you couldn't have reminded me of that at a more important moment. It's making my eyes water, which I always pay attention to. Well Luria Petrucci (55:05.585) Hmm. what's going what's coming up for you? Bob (55:15.405) So in my business, I've kind of almost for the listener, you can switch off for a second. I've almost hit capacity on the thing that I've been aiming for for a long time. And it would be easy to just make incremental improvements here and there. But really looking at, well, if I wanted to 10X this, I wouldn't cut it. I would need to completely rethink the entire business model. which is a really interesting thought experiment. But I'm a creative person. And now is the time for that conversation. So thank you. Amplifier number two. Luria Petrucci (55:46.706) I love that. Say one of the biggest exercises that I have been doing mentally lately, especially because AI has been so all-consuming and we all use it so much, is to step outside to go on a hike. I live near the ocean, so you know, go wherever you makes you happy and turn the phone off. Get out in nature, step away from that, and practice journaling again and not using AI to get my thoughts out. And so that's been a big practice of mine lately that has been incredibly beneficial just to come back to who I am without any input. Bob (56:40.875) I think that's really, really good advice. I think AI is a great amplifier, but you can't multiply by zero. And if you are a creative person, AI will make you more creative. It will allow you to go faster and have a bigger impact. But if you don't feel like a creative person, AI is not gonna help you. So cultivate a creative practice. And I absolutely echo that. There's an exercise. Have you come across James Alticher's book, Choose Yourself? Luria Petrucci (57:06.981) No, I haven't Bob (57:08.937) It's a fascinating book. And in there he has this exercise called Ten Things. And he he recommends on a menu note menu book where they write Take Your Order. Every day, just write ten ideas. Not ideas you want to execute on. So it could be ten folders I could create on my desktop or ten places I could put my water bottle and I know I would find it there. And you scrunch them up and you put them away. But it trains the brain that you value ideas. And you bring the reticular activating system to bear and it knows, this guy likes ideas. Journaling works in much the same way. you want things to the surface. There you go. And that repeated activity is what cultivates the creative practice. Then you have something worth taking to AI. so yeah, that's a fascinating way of looking at it. Luria Petrucci (57:57.073) Hmm, yeah. Love that. Bob (58:01.525) Amplifier number three. Luria Petrucci (58:07.132) This one is personal, and I don't exactly know how to say it, but hopefully it's helpful to people. I find that as I'm stepping into new levels within myself, that what has served me in the past, good or bad. Luria Petrucci (58:29.668) is a fight to put down. Meaning old habits or ways of living my life or whatever that might be. But I'm discovering and I've I've known for a while intellectually, but I'm physically discovering like it's really important to Set aside the old in favor for a la allowing the new to come out. And I think that regardless of what we're talking about, my pivot or anybody's leveling up within themselves, we have to be conscious of releasing what served the old us because it'll be a dead weight. Bob (59:19.735) There's actually a lot there, so it would be very easy for me to react superficially to that. Bob (59:26.999) And it does bring up a lot. I think I remember one of my very first podcast guests, when I started to get people pitching, there was a lady pitched to come on the podcast who made soap at home. And I thought, another one. I nearly hit the delete key. But I thought, there's something here. So I had her on the podcast and and she and I think the thing that triggered me was How many people do you know make soap at home? It's one of these standard businesses that people dry at home. They go to farmers market, it's a lot of work, and they stop. She turned it into a $10 million business in about four years. And I thought, what's going on here? So I can't remember how the interview went, but there was one question, the answer to which was: When you grow, your business grows. You don't really get one without the other. And Luria Petrucci (01:00:01.169) Hmm. Wow. Luria Petrucci (01:00:16.912) Yeah. That just gave me chills. Bob (01:00:19.903) Yeah. it's similarly there's a lot to unpack there in in a few words. So hopefully that's a wonderful place to end on Luria's response to my question, not what I said. I'm gonna have to go back and listen again because again it's the right thing at the right time. Luria, this has been a lot of fun. achievement unlocked for this guy. Hopefully we can do this again sometime. For you at home listening. Yeah, for you at home listening. Luria Petrucci (01:00:41.938) Same. I would absolutely love to. Bob (01:00:50.157) Thank you for staying with us. If you've enjoyed this, you will love the personal brand business roadmap. Fifty pages of everything you need to start, scale, or fix your expert business. 100% free as a gift from me. Just visit amplifyme.agency forward slash roadmap. Again, if you have enjoyed this, you can demonstrate that by leaving a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts. It's five. Count them if you have hands. Thank you for your tolerance at home. And Luria, thank you. You have been awesome. no, no, no, no, no. We don't get away here. Rewind. Luria Petrucci (01:01:19.79) Bob (01:01:24.841) Luria, if people want to get close to you, if they want to find out more about you, where can they do that? Luria Petrucci (01:01:29.936) Totally like spaced on that, yeah. you can you know what if the pivoting conversation, if you're going through something, a shift, a whisper, a change, you want more for your life, your business, yourself, then I would love for you to join me in this room that I'm opening to have a safe place for us all to go through this together. And that's at livestreamingpros.com slash pivot. And I would absolutely love to see you there and just get to know you and support you and take you behind the scenes of what I'm doing as well. All the good, bad, and ugly. Because there will be a lot of good. There will be a lot of mistakes as we all and that's okay as well. And I just want to thank you. This I've gotten as much of out of this as I hope that the audience has gotten out of it and that you have gotten out of it, but this has brought me a lot of I don't know. I don't know what word to use there, but I I've gotten a lot out of it. So I want to thank you for the for the time as well. Bob (01:02:39.233) Wow, that means a lot. Thank you very much. And thank you for joining us. You have been an awesome guest. Bob (01:02:47.265)