Mick Unplugged - Lauren Cobello | The Power of PR: Lauren’s on Branding & PR Tips for Solopreneurs & Entrepreneurs

Episode Date: November 21, 2024

Welcome back to another compelling episode of "Mick Unplugged." In this episode titled "The Power of PR: Lauren's on Branding & PR Tips for Solopreneurs & Entrepreneurs," we sit down with the remarkable Lauren Cobello, a trailblazing entrepreneur who turned her post-divorce struggles into a seven-figure success story with an all-female leadership team. Lauren shares her insights on aligning a book with your business goals, the nuances of PR versus marketing, and strategic tips for solopreneurs looking to build their brand and achieve visibility. Delve into Lauren's unique perspective on competition—not as adversaries, but as sources of inspiration—and the importance of connecting deeply with your 'because' rather than just your 'why.' She challenges the notion that PR is dead, highlighting its enduring relevance and the pivotal role of strategic storytelling in building trust and authority in your brand. You'll also hear valuable insights on creating effective sales funnels, the significance of national television exposure, and how to leverage media appearances to create marketable assets. Lauren's journey from a personal finance website owner to a national media presence will inspire you to take control of your narrative and push beyond traditional marketing limitations. Whether you're a solopreneur or leading a growing team, this episode is packed with actionable advice and profound insights to elevate your business strategy. Tune in as Mick Hunt and Lauren Cobello explore the intersection of PR, authenticity, and the relentless pursuit of success. Don’t miss it! Takeaways: ·       PR is essential for scaling visibility and credibility. ·       Understanding your deeper 'because' can drive your entrepreneurial journey. ·       Women can empower themselves by believing in their capabilities. ·       Creating a sales funnel is vital for attracting clients. ·       Surrounding yourself with supportive people can boost your confidence. Sound Bites: ·       "I always struggled with PR agencies over promising." ·       "I have a heart and passion for helping other entrepreneurs." ·       "PR is more important than marketing." ·       "You need to understand your target client." Connect and Discover LinkedIn:           linkedin.com/in/laurencobello Instagram:        Instagram.com/lauren_cobello                                                      leveragewithmediapr Facebook:         facebook.com/laurencobello Website:            laurencobello.com                           Leveragewithmediapr.com Podcast:           Beyond the Cover  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I don't like to say competition because I don't agree with competition. I don't see people as competitors. I see them as inspiration. All of us have a because is deeper than our why. I love that we go deeper than the why. Because if I would say the why, I would say, you know, I do this because of my kids, right? But the because is much deeper than that.

You show care. When like somebody fires us I'm like oh like it hurts because you know I'm not like oh I'll just get another one like it hurts because I do care so much not only about them but their businesses. In your journey when did you realize that PR is more important than marketing? Again not saying marketing is not important. I love the question when people come to me and they say, PR is dead, TV is dead. I'm like, I thank you for saying that because it's not.

And this is why it's not. For that solopreneur that should be doing PR, but they can't afford it just yet. What's something that that person can do out of the gate right now? And I want everyone to watch or listen into this because these tips are gonna be very key because a lot of us, you're still a solopreneur. Don't think that it's a side hustle. It does not.

This is strategy. Side hustle with no strategy is just a burnout. We're giving you strategy right here. Tip number one should be that they should set up a sales funnel with a free offer and get people into their email list. It's tip number one. Tip number two is welcome to make unplugged where we ignite potential and fuel purpose. Get ready for raw insights, bold moves and game changing conversations. Buckle up.

Here's Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another exciting episode of Mick Unplugged. And we're doing a first today. We're not only doing a friend, but we're actually doing like a business partner slash coach slash running everything in the world of Mick and Mick Unplugged. I have the distinct honor of bringing on someone who has captivated TV audiences on Good Morning America, the Today Show, you name it if it's popular, she's been there.

Award-winning author, leads the largest, in my mind, the largest, most greatest captivating PR firm in the world, my good friend, I call her Elle Boogie, Ms. Lauren Cabello. Lauren, how are you doing today, dear? Thank you so much, Rick. That was the most amazing introduction. I'm so humbled and so grateful to be here. I'm the humbled one because there's so much that I just want to talk with you about. You know, again, not only being a friend, but a client, business partner, right? Like our relationship started probably somehow on Instagram, right? Because that's it's 2024.

That's how our relationship started now, right? Right. And it wasn't a pitch or anything. It literally was two people that saw two good humans and was like, I think we need to know each other. And then from there, I think I had to beg you to at least talk to me or send me some information. And then once I got the information, I was like, I should have been a client five years

ago. Crazy how that works. It is. I love social media. I love how it connects all of us. And I love that I get to hang out with cool people like you who are doing amazing things in the world. So totally honored to just know you as a person and to have you

as a part of Leverage as well. Again, I'm the honored one. I'm the humbled one. And Lauren, you know, again, been a fan of yours forever. We talked so much that this is going to be the coolest podcast ever. You know, on Make Unplugged, I talk about your because and that thing that gets you past those days, right? Like all of us have a because that's deeper than our why. I would love, because I purposely have never asked you this question to go there really, because I was waiting for today.

What's Elle Boogie's because? What's my because? That's a great question. So I love that we go deeper than the why. Cause if I would say the why, I would say, you know, I do this because of my kids, right? That would be my why, right? But the because is much deeper than that.

And that's why I love this question so much is I've been an entrepreneur for 19 years, right? I started my first brand back in 2007, 2006 actually, really. And I've been in this industry a long time. I've been a national TV personality, written the books, done the online courses, been a coach, done the lead funnels, all of the things. And I always struggled. And being in the world of entrepreneurism and being ingrained in all of my friends, you know, I'm one of us, right? An entrepreneur. I struggled finding a PR firm that understood us. I struggled with

PR agencies over promising and under delivering. I struggled with hiring a publicist that I felt like understood, like the business mentality of what drives the needle of us as business owners and entrepreneurs and understood us as visionaries. And so after many, many years of my friends basically begging me, Lauren, like you have so much gold inside of you, Please start an agency to help us. I sold my personal finance company and started Leverage with Media PR to help us entrepreneurs scale using strategic PR like I had done for all of those years. And so it didn't come easy. Like

my friends like literally begged me to do it. So that's why I do this because I've done it myself and my friends literally, I always say hot tub therapy, like when we go in mastermind where we all have some drinks and we're in the hot tub talking about our deepest fears or insecurities as entrepreneurs. And that's where leverage was born. And that's why I do it because I have a heart and passion for helping other entrepreneurs use strategic PR to become the number one thought leaders. And yeah, scale.

I can totally co-sign on that because you do care. And care, everyone knows this, I say this all the time, it's my favorite four letter word because it's actionable, right? Like it's something you don't have to talk about it's something that you show. And again, some of this is a little surreal for me, Lauren, because we talk so much, but we never really get to talk like this.

And so I want you to know that the sole reason that I said yes, even though you're the one that said yes, but we're going to pretend like I said this, the sole reason that I reached out that I was like, please, was because you show care. And when I talked to Lauren and everyone on the team, I feel care. I don't feel like I'm one of a thousand. And I've never asked, nor do I care how many clients you have. It's none of my business. I feel like I'm your only one. And to me, that's what it's about. When you have not just a publicist, and that's why I call you my partner,

you wanna feel like you're the only one. And again, I know you're busy. I know the team's busy, but when we talk, when we review, when we have our meetings, I feel like I'm the only person that your team works with. And I'm sitting there like, how can you do all of this stuff? It's crazy.

I'm so glad you feel that way. Cause that's, you know, I live, breathe and care so much about you and about your brand and about where you go. And I see myself as a, a part of the brand and how can we take what you've already built and grow and help you reach those levels that you want to achieve? And knowing that we have this amazing team that can help you reach those and bring you to those new heights and that we do it day in and day out and that I have the best team. You know, as a leader, I actually just did a LinkedIn post today about how when people always say like, you have the most amazing

company, I say, well, I have the most amazing team. My team is phenomenal and I invest so much in the people that I bring into my team and we build our culture so carefully. And that means the world to me, the people that I bring into the team so that we can have our clients feel that way. Because to me, I don't want to feel like a number, you know? And I truly care. Like, I love all of our clients, love every single one of them.

And it pains me when like somebody fires us. I'm like, oh, like it hurts because, you know, I'm not like, oh, I'll just get another one. Like, it hurts because I do care so much, not only about them, but their businesses. And so, yeah, I just appreciate any of those words, like, thank you. Absolutely. And so now, El Boogie, we're going to get into it. We're literally going to get into it, not you and I, but it's going to be you and I against the world right here, because I've've been saying hardcore for the last year from a business strategy standpoint that publicity and PR is more important than marketing.

And here's my stance with that. When you're marketing, and by no means am I saying that marketing is not important. So for all the entrepreneurs, the solopreneurs, the I want to be apreneur, whenever that is, I'm not saying marketing is not important, but the world has told us for so long that it's marketing, marketing, marketing. And you normally see marketers out front because they have all these cool things that you can do, not saying you should do, but that you can do. In the meanwhile, PR and publicists

are making relationships, right? And so if I'm marketing, and let's just say I've got a hundred people that view me and I don't care where it is, right? If I've got a hundred eyeballs, I'm always only marketing to those hundred eyeballs. And at some point that hundred starts to shrink. It is just natural.

I don't care who you are. That email subscription that you have, that newsletter subscription that you put out there, those numbers shrink, right? Like it's just the nature of the beast that anyone telling you otherwise is lying. So if I start with a hundred within 12 months, if I've never grown that list,

I just now I'm gonna have 90 or 85 or 80. Publicity is what takes your viewing from 100 to 1,000, 1,000 to 10,000, 10,000 to 100, 100 to 500, 500 to a million. I know your answer because of the world that you're in, but even in your journey, when did you realize that PR, publicity, viewing is more important than marketing? Again, not saying marketing is not important, but when we have a hierarchy, I promise you PR is more important. Elle Boogie, your stance. I love this question and I love the question when people come to me and they say, PR is dead, TV is dead.

I'm like, I thank you for saying that because it's not. And this is why it's not, right? Is we still have 5 million people tuning in to the Today Show, 5 million. So you've now taken that hundred right from your email list and turned it into five million people. And from that five million that are regulars of the Today Show that are watching through

social media, we now have another three million, five million from their social media channels. So now we've added an additional five million from people that are watching them on Instagram and YouTube and their TikToks, right? So now we've added an additional five million from people that are watching them on Instagram and YouTube and their TikToks, right? So now we've added an additional five million. Now, what's great about all of that is that we can now tag all of these audiences with these marketable assets. So I always say that PR and marketing work really, really well together, right? And I also love the saying that if a tree falls in the forest, does it even make a sound? Yes. But if nobody's around it, does anybody hear it? Well, nobody might not hear it, but it still makes a sound.

Still makes a sound, but does it ever move the needle? Right. Right. So when you're marketing to an audience that is dead, right? We need new eyeballs, right? And what's actually really brilliant about kind of the way that marketing is now is that everybody is so focused on social media and becoming an influencer and paying for numbers and paying for likes and paying for influence, right? That what we're seeing is a rush back to traditional media for people that are smart because you cannot pay for those appearances. You can't pay for a Today Show appearance.

You can't pay for a TV segment. There's some pay-to-play segments that are out there, but everybody knows what they are. You can't pay for a GMA, you know, or a cheddar or any of our CNBC segment. Those are earned because you are valuable enough for your story to get featured, right? And so you have to have the combination of marketing and PR. But if you go to two different Instagrams or two different TikToks and you see two different platforms and you know, just their land on each of their pages and you see one that just has reels and You see one that has reels with as seen on today as seen on GMA as seen on CNBC

Which one are you going to listen to more? right the one that has a Scene on Forbes CNBC Fox CNN, you know all of those things so you have to sprinkle in PR because if nobody knows your message, and if nobody sees that you're getting these really amazing earned media segments because you are the expert and the thought leader in that,

you're gonna blend in with everybody else. And the goal is to stick to the top and to be the number one and to have your message number one. The people that are standing out right now are the people that are having that national media exposure and all of that press. It's just the way it is. It's the way it always has been. And marketers will say, well, we have an ROI. So, yeah. So do PR and turn those into marketable assets. And then we can judge the ROI of those. But there's still an ROI in PR. There's just a different way to measure it through what's called AVM.

You look at the average of millions of views on articles and TV segments. And our clients are getting millions and millions of views. We have one client in the past year and a half who's had over 35 million eyeballs on him, new eyeballs. And you can't tell me that that's not worth something. Exactly. And again, I'm going to keep saying this. I'm not saying marketing is not important, but there comes a time for most people where

PR becomes the most important thing. And then again, I don't ever think that anyone should try to be a celebrity, aim to be a celebrity. You should always be your authentic self. And we're going to come back to that in a second. But when you see these A-listers and B-listers, they all have publicists. They all still have publicists. They all still have PR teams that handle all of their public relations because that is

what you need. And that's what I think the solopreneur, the entrepreneur with small teams, the people that are trying to get there, it's the biggest miss is that you focus on the marketing strategy. Again, very important. But what you really need to be doing

is trying to figure out how do I get eyeballs. And I will also say social media makes that easy, er. Easier, easier, not, there's no easy button. Social media does make it easy, er. But I would love Lauren, because I have a moment that I realized it. When did you realize that for you personally, that all right, if I don't do something,

I can't get to where I know I should be. Yeah. So for me, it was when I was, you know, I owned my personal finance website. It was called I am that lady dot com, which was the initial version of it. And I wanted to get in a traditional book deal. I had already self published two books. And to get a traditional book deal, you need to put together a pretty robust marketing plan. And it was at that time,

I had been doing a lot of local television in my local area, and it wasn't enough for me to get a book deal. And so it was then that I tried to hire my first publicist and she sent me a whole bunch of like go banking rate articles. And now I'm not going to say bad on go banking rates, but we actually have a rule in our agency that we don't do go banking rates articles because I was like, I can flip a coin as an entrepreneur and get a go banking rate article. Like we all

know people that write for go banking rates. Like we as entrepreneurs can get those so quickly, right? Now some of them are really good. And if it's like, you're just starting out with us and we need to get some quick press fast to get you some good SEO, like we'll do it because it makes strategic sense, right? Cause we need to get your name out there. So I hired this publicist and that's all she sent me.

And I'm like, all of my friends write for this. Like I'm wasting my money. But I realized that, you know, a lot of people in my industry, there were a couple, maybe two or three people that were on national television. And I realized that in order to set myself apart from my competition, I needed to take a step forward. And so I invested in a media trainer. I invested in a high tier publicist and a talent coach. And that's when I started making that big shift towards trying for national.

And I would do the craziest things, Mick. Like one time I answered, somebody on Twitter, this was like in probably 2011 maybe. Somebody on Twitter posted looking for a guest and their mom with a shocking revelation or something like that to come on a national TV show. And I had no idea what it was. So I'm like, oh, my poor mom, I always put her up to things. I'm like, yeah, me and my mom will do it. I'll do it fine. And it was for Dr. Oz. And I didn't find that out till later. And so I flew myself to New York City and I did the Dr. Oz show. They sat me in the

audience. The only reason I did that is because I was trying to break into national and I knew that if I met the producers, I could try to convince her to have me on the show. That turned into a four-year regular gig with the Dr. Raj show. So I invested in learning the skill. I invested the money in understanding how national television works, hired a publicist, but then I didn't just wait for the publicist. I went and did stuff like that myself and I found out the name of the producer and then I had my publicist picture and then that turned into a four-year relationship. So I'm a very strategic person. Like, what do I need to do to get to that next level? I need a book. I need a traditional book deal in order to break to that next level. How do I get there? How do I get that book deal? I need national television. Okay. So

I need to get on national television first. So that's how I kind of got into national TV, then use that to get the book deal. And then the book deal need to get on national television first. So that's how I kind of got into national TV, then use that to get the book deal. And then the book deal helped me get more national and made me a best seller. So like, to me, it was like kind of looking, I don't like to say competition because I don't agree with competition.

I don't see people as competitors. I see them as inspiration. And so for me, that was the strategy behind, you know, okay, I see a couple people are doing this. What did they have to do to get there? I'm gonna do what they did, do it better, and secure myself on there. And all of those things are what I teach our clients now,

like how do we get you there? It doesn't have to take you flying yourself and sit in the audience of Dr. Oz now, and now I can teach you those secrets before. You have to do something like that. I love it. I love it. I love everything you those secrets before. You have to do something like that. I love it. I love it. I love everything that you said there.

And for me, you know, it was for 24 years, most of social media, i.e. LinkedIn, because that was the only social media I had until March of this year, right? I was just on LinkedIn. Really? I didn't know that. Yeah. So on LinkedIn forever, I was the insurance consultant.

I scaled businesses, built businesses, coached CEOs, but they knew me in the insurance world. And it was at that point that I realized social media perspective, that's what they know of me. But all of my friends in my communities know this leadership guy, right? This guy that is their words, not mine, like the leader's leader, the modern leader. And I said to myself, easy, I'll start an account. And that's what I'll post about, right?

Starting a podcast and everything will be about the modern leader because that's like my people on Instagram are going to know because that's who they see every day. But all of a sudden on LinkedIn, though, the 15000 followers that I have and connections that I have, when I start doing all of this leadership stuff and the things that I actually pull the curtain behind, like I'll say the real Mick, it's going to be different. And that's when I understood PR is more important than marketing, because I could market to these 15,000 people, but the message isn't going to connect because they know this one

instance of me, this one version of me, right? And that's when I said, oh, PR. And the light bulb went off and it was like, it's more eyeballs and it's more views, but I am always authentically me, right? So even though I talk insurance, I still talk my style. I still talk about the same things in insurance that I talk about elsewhere. But for those 15,000 that were connected with me,

the couple of hundred other thousand people that really know me, like this is who I always have been. And so it was like, okay, PR, I get it. And to think about it this way, PR is if nobody tells your story, somebody's telling your story, just not you. If you're not the one that's doing it. And so PR is a way and a methodology of telling your story online and through TV segments and articles and podcasts, right?

So it's all strategy of how do we want Mick to show up in the world? What are the things that we want? And it even comes down to like, what do we put on the lower third of every single TV segment that we do? What are the talking points that we put in front of TV producers, making sure that they're crafted so that you can answer the way that Mick wants to answer?

Everything is perfectly crafted so that you can amplify the message that you need to amplify to bring in new clients. And so it's not like we're just going to throw spaghetti at a wall and hope that you get clients. It's very strategic. And how do we put the brand story out there in a way that resonates with people in a relationship way, but also resonates with people that see you and say, oh, like, I need to go and follow

him. You know, and I think that then you can turn those into marketable assets, but it's a method of storytelling and warming up your audience and building trust and likeability and like, oh my gosh, I saw you on TV. Like I have to work with this person over this person. And if you don't tell your story, somebody else will in a way that you don't really like, probably control Or control. Or control.

So it's a way that you can control the narrative. And then we turn them into marketable assets. Every time I was on the Rachel Ray show or the Today show, I would always take the picture that I took on set and then create an ad to that audience. Like, hey, did you see me on the Rachel Ray show yesterday or see me on the Today show? And then create a sales funnel on the back end of that. So you can turn what we do in PR into those marketable assets to have an ROI on the back end that gives you some sort of, as marketers, we like to see those.

But I think that trips some people up. It's like, well, I can't see who clicked or who got me from this segment. It's like, well, that's not the point. Right. It's not the point. It's like, how did you see me? You found me on Instagram. That's like exactly how PR works.

Yeah, exactly. That's PR. Exactly. In a nutshell. So let's do some education here, Lauren. Okay. Because we could do this for hours. And actually I do think we need to have a little series

to help people. So I think we go the PR strategy 101 with Mick and his L Boogie over there. So for the... And I want to start with the solopreneur, right? So the person that they've started a business, they've started a brand, and they might have followers, following. They may have some subset of an email list or a social list or whatever. But in their mind, they can't afford PR just yet, right?

I'm going to be honest, you probably shouldn't spend money on PR just yet because there's other things you should be doing. So, Lauren's tip number one, for that solopreneur that should be doing PR but they can't afford it just yet, what's something that that person can do out of the gate right now? And I want everyone to watch or listen into this because these tips are going to be very key because a lot of us, right, some of you are, you know, you've got a nine to five, but you're looking for that side gig or that thing that's going to give you extra income until you can get there and make it your thing. You're still a solopreneur. Don't think that it's a side hustle. It does not. This is strategy. Side hustle with no strategy is just a burnout. We are giving you strategy right here. So tip number one, Lauren,

what should that person do? So tip number one should be that they should set up a sales funnel with a free offer and get people into their email list. Tip number one. Tip number two is really clear on what their brand is and what their brand is not. Who is their target demographic? And then they're gonna write a thought leadership book about that topic. But they cannot write a memoir. Do not write a memoir. So many, there needs to be the right book for your brand.

Now, what I say about this is, and this happens all the time, and people mess this up all the time and they come to me too late with their book, right? Is you need to have a book that solves the problems of your customers and clients. It can have your stories in it, but it needs to have some sort of how to. So tip number one, do the sales funnel. Tip number two, be really clear. Tip number three, write a thought leadership book and include that thought leadership book

in that sales funnel. All right, let's start with one. Okay. Because I wanna be clear with everyone here in how this all ties together. And Lauren, I know that that's where you were going, but you've got that, you know, upstate New York, you talk 100 miles an hour and I couldn't follow it.

No, I'm joking, I can follow it. You know that, I love you, Lauren. I'm going slow too, geez. So here's what I need everyone to understand. When Lauren says have a free offer or a giveaway, have something that is compelling that someone would actually want it. And beyond want it, they need it.

Because I will tell you, a lot of solo, even I see big brands also mess this up, but they can get away with it because they're big brands. And sometimes they're A-B testing. I'm like, they really didn't want to do that. Have something that people need, whoever your ideal client or clients are, talk specifically to them and give them something that they need. And that's something.

And here's also where people get it wrong. It doesn't have to be something grand. It could be a guide. It could be five tips that they can implement every day. It could be whatever. You want to have something that people want and need that's your ideal client. Right Lauren? Yep, exactly. Number two is critically important and Lauren I'm gonna let you deep dive here. Yeah, so you need to understand what your brand is and what it isn't. You need to understand your target client.

You need to understand their pain points. You need to understand what keeps them up at night. You need to understand what makes them buy, what makes them not buy. You need to understand what makes them excited and what their goals are in order to make this sales funnel work. And what this sales funnel is gonna do

is bring people into your email list and bring in some revenue for you on the backend. So one of my sales funnels starts with is your brand ready for PR actually? On my personal website, laurencabello.com, I talk about that specifically. Is your brand ready for PR? Because if you're not set up for PR activities

on the backend, you don't even know what the goal of PR is. It's gonna be a waste of your money. And so we're very specific about the clients that we bring in. Like they need to be at a certain place of their brand in order to work with us because it's very strategic in what we're doing. Right. So that's crucial in this whole play of knowing and being really honed in on what

your brand is and what it is. Yeah. And one and two have to jive together. Right. You can't have an offer or a giveaway that doesn't tie to your brand and your message. Like I would actually say in my world, because it is more thought leadership. Right. I would say you have to have a message first. You need to have a message, a giveaway and then the brand identity. Right. But let's just go along these lines. It all still has to tie together. Right. Like you don't want to give away a free combo at

McDonald's. And then your actual message is about self-improvement or whatever. So you've got to make sure that everything ties together. And shout out to McDonald's, by the way. That wasn't a jab. I'm just saying you've got to be consistent. You can't talk about football in your giveaway, but your how-to and your strategy is all about basketball. You've got to be consistent. You can't talk about football in your giveaway, but your how-to and your strategy is all about basketball, right? You've got to make sure that everything is together. Exactly. Very much aligned. And the same thing with your book. It needs to be aligned in the same way. And building the brand needs to come before writing the book and launching

the book. I would say it's crucial to have some sort of personal brand before you write the thought leadership book piece. And I would say that the thought leadership book is about a topic that you want to solve. But when I say write the right book for your brand, is it needs to be similar to what your business goals are. So for example, if your business goals are to be a speaker, I'll use this example. Like let's say if you want to be a speaker at dental conventions, if you're a dentist and you want to speak at dental conventions and you want to sell this book to dentists, right? Then you should write a book that is sellable to dentists,

something that dentists care about. Maybe it's about scaling a dental practice. Maybe it's about how to scale your dental practice to eight figures or something like that. I would not write a children's book on getting how parents need to teach their kids how to brush their teeth better. Okay. Does that make sense? So like, you need to match the book with the end results. Now, if you're an educator who's going to take a kid's book into parent teacher conferences or parent, you know,

events, and you're going to be targeting parents, then that would make a lot more sense. So when you're writing your book, you need to kind of have the end goal in mind of where is this going to sell and then work backwards because it's going to help with the strategy and the sales strategy of how to sell that book a lot better in the end goal. There we go.

Love that. Those three tips. Amazing. We're here to educate. We're here to educate. Now I have one more question slash tip that I want you to be able to give out because again, I know you like one of my closest friends in the world. And I know that you also are huge on not just empowerment, huge on not just empowerment, but you're really big on women togetherness, women community, women building. And we have a lot of listeners and viewers and I have a lot of friends that I want you

to give this message to because in today's society, right, like a lot of times people don't have self-belief. They don't have the courage that they can take these steps. So for the listener or viewer, Lauren, that's like, all right, I don't have confidence in myself that I can go start this business. I don't have confidence in myself that I can go demand that raise that I deserve or that I can apply for that promotion. I'd love for you to give one, a powerful message, but two, some tips around that too. Yeah, thank you for giving me the platform

on this topic particularly, because it's something I'm really passionate about. A lot of people don't know, but I'm actually a single mom of four. And I got divorced seven years ago. And one of the biggest reasons why I got divorced was because the more successful I got, the more difficult it was for my ex-husband to handle my success. And not that that led to the end of the marriage, but I think that as strong, powerful women, I left that marriage feeling

very down on myself. I left that marriage feeling actually like I had a lot of trauma around how successful I had been. This was at the peak of my national television career. And I kind of resented that success for a really long time. And I said to myself, I've got a son who's 19 now and I have three daughters who are 15, 13 and 11. And I looked at my kids when I sold my personal finance company and I looked at them and they were like, mom, why'd you sell your business? Like, how are we gonna make money?

And I said, kids, I just said, watch me. I'm gonna build this to a million dollars in a year. Just watch me. And we did it in one year. Just watch me. And we did it in one year, seven figure business surrounded by all female employees, a female leadership team, and me as the founder and CEO. I'm not a feminist in the sense of like, guys suck because I don't think that at all. I think that guys, it's just happened that the best people that I've been able to find

in my organization are female. And I'm not opposed to hiring a man to come and join us. My CFO is a man, actually. So we have one guy and I'm not opposed to that. But I just know that I am so passionate about women feeling empowered that they don't have to sit around and wait for the people in their lives to give them permission. And if I had waited for my ex-husband to give me permission to be successful, for my kids to believe in me instead of me just believing in myself, I would have still been waiting.

And so a lot of my success has come from the concept of jumping out in faith before I believed in myself and doing the actions before they made sense. And so I've always just surrounded myself with people that are smarter than I am, people that believed in me before I believed in myself and just believed that anything is possible as long as I just keep on

moving. And so whenever I get knocked down, I get back up. And I always believe that that is the key to success with anybody is that nobody can keep us down as long as we just believe that, you know, knock me down, I'll get back up twice, you know, that that is the path to success. And so, yeah, now, you know, at Leverage, we have seven full time employees, they're all female, they care. I think that that's, you know, we're all, most of us are moms. I think that's where like, you know, I employ like three other single moms. It gives me such great pleasure to like support other single moms that make a great living. I pay my employees very well. I want them to make a living.

I want them to have good work-life balance. I wanna provide a culture that they show up to and enjoy work. And I wanna provide that for myself. So I am so proud of like what we've built. But the other women listening that like, you don't have to wait for other people to give you permission.

You can just go out and do it yourself and you can do it. Damn right, damn right. Damn right. Lauren, we could do this forever. I think we need to have another series on this too. So I think we're gonna have like three good sets with Lauren for the series. I would be honored.

Let's do it. And you were like the dream client, just let you know. Like just honored, yeah, like just honored. Yeah, you really are. I've talked to 27 other clients and they all told me that you said the same thing. So did not. You really are amazing. I'm so inspired by you.

And I'm so grateful that you had me on. I'm honored that you took the time. So where can people follow you and find you? And we'll make sure we have access to all that in the show notes and all the descriptions. Yeah, so the agency is at leveragewithmediapr.com and same on Instagram, leveragewithmediapr. And then my personal Instagram is lauren underscore cabello. That's C-O-B-E-L-L-O. And then that's my website laurencabello.com as well. And you can find me on LinkedIn under my name. But I'd love to connect with people. I love talking to people and just,

I mean, that's how we talk. We just like talked on Instagram for a couple of months and- And then I begged you to hire me. It's really me on Instagram. Like I don't have a team. I manage my own Instagram. So I love, just love talking with people. There you go.

One of my best friends in the world, one of the best humans on the planet Earth, Ms. Lauren Cabello. Lauren, thank you so much today, dear. Thank you so much, Mick. You got it. And to all the listeners and viewers, remember your because is your superpower.

Go unleash it. Thank you for tuning in to Mick Unplugged. Keep pushing your limits, embracing your purpose and chasing greatness. Until next time, stay unstoppable.