Well with Arielle Lorre - 266: How to Build a Brand, Manifest Your Dream Life & Optimize Energy for Success with Cass DiMicco

Episode Date: August 21, 2023

Cass DiMicco is a content creator and founder of the wildly popular jewelry brand, Aureum Collective. She joins the show to discuss how to follow your passion, build a brand, grow on social media and avoid burnout along the way. We talk about maintaining boundaries on social media, how to stop comparing ourselves to others, what’s really happening when we feel triggered by something we see, and how to overcome limiting beliefs. She also shares about what she’s currently struggling with, what she needs to work on and we talk about how to manifest and optimize our energy for success. This is a really fun, authentic conversation that you will love! Produced by Dear MediaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Sonderger Go to your Reisadviceor Orsoniccars. The following podcast is A Dear Media Production Welcome to the Blond Files podcast. I'm your host, Arial Lori, and I'm here to talk all things wellness. From how to

achieve optimal health and well-being to the best beauty tips and everything in between, no topic is off limits. I know there's so much information out there, so I'm bringing on expert guests and sharing my own experiences to help you sift through all the wellness stuff without the BS. Enjoy the show. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the show. I have such a fun episode. For you today, I am talking to Cass D'Amico, I'm sure. A lot of you are familiar with her. She posts amazing fashion and just kind of aspirational lifestyle content on Instagram, which we talk about today. And she's also the founder of Aurium Collective, which is an amazing jewelry brand that I'm also sure you've seen all over Instagram and all over some of your favorite celebrities.

I got to meet her and sit down with her when I was in Miami recently, and I just adore her. She is just really real. She's very honest. She's very open about what she is struggling with and what's working for her and what's not. And she's unapologetically herself. And sometimes I just really click with a guest. And that comes out in the interview.

And that definitely happened here. When I listened back, it sounded like, just kind of eavesdropping on a conversation between friends. So I think you guys will be able to relate to a lot of what we are talking about, even if the circumstances are different. I think you'll find that a lot of the feelings and the things that we are dealing with are similar and applicable to your own life. At least that is my hope. So in this episode, we start by talking about what she's struggling with. Sometimes I like to go into the conversation from this angle. because I think it's easy to look at somebody and it looks like they have this aspirational life.

Again, we talk about why that's her aesthetic in the episode, but they look like they have their shit together for lack of a better term. And, you know, underneath all of that, everybody is struggling with something. So I think that's kind of a nice icebreaker to begin with in some of these conversations. So we talk about that. And then, of course, we talk about her brand and how she built. her brand and how she has grown that brand on social media. A lot of people who follow me ask how to grow on social media nowadays, whether it's too saturated, no matter what your business is. And we talk a lot about that, how to gain a following and build a brand and how to maintain

boundaries on social media and not compare ourselves to others and what's really happening when we see other people and we feel triggered, which is something I'm sure everybody can relate to. and we talk about how to avoid burnout and how to maintain a strong work ethic throughout good and bad and maintain boundaries, just so much there. And then we also talk about manifestation and how manifestation has worked in both of our lives and how to kind of optimize your energy for success or utilize your energy and capitalize on that for success. So it's a really fun conversation. I think you guys are going to love her. So please enjoy Castamico. Welcome. I'm excited. I'm very excited to have you here. I like to ask my guests lately

something that they're struggling with because I feel like people see my guests come on. They probably follow you or look at your content and they're like, wow, she's got everything together. You have an incredible business right now. But I think what people connect most to is, like the real stuff and what people are going through. So I know what's been going on with you, at least the last few days, but do you want to share with the audience a little bit? Sure. So I actually just had ovarian cyst removal surgery. And we were just talking about how awful it is of a surgery and how intense it is. And I was not warned by any mean. And I also feel like this is just opening my eyes to like when I go to have a baby one day, if I ever choose to do

that, I know I'm going to be in such rough shape because I feel like I put so much value into what I look like and feeling good and I'm so used to being busy. I don't think I ever really like lay on the couch for more than a few hours. So just being crippled and looking at my body in the mirror and seeing like a bowling ball is like so alarming. And it's also just making me realize how much work I probably need to do on myself of disconnecting. my body and how good I feel about myself that day because so yeah I feel like that's one of the many struggles. I think something else I struggle with a lot which I've kind of talked about before is building out a team. I feel like right now with my businesses I really need to be learning how to

manage people better and it's a whole skill set and it's making me realize I need to learn how to be a manager? Mm-hmm. What else? Honestly, the list goes on. Well, I, so we were talking before and I went through the ovarian cystectomy as well. And I think we talked about this on a solo episode recently. Maybe the one that comes out this Monday.

I don't know if it's even been released. But I remember, so mine was in 2016 and they really don't prepare you at all, especially when it's laparoscopic. Like, they make it seem like a no big deal, kind of outpies. patient thing and I was shook when I woke up. But I was in a time in my life where I was like very obsessed with my wellness and my workouts and everything. And I remember after like five days going back to working out even though it hurt and trying to like just modify things to make it okay and like back to work. And obviously like I regressed a lot and I had to force myself to

slow down. So I feel like sometimes there is kind of a gift. in that and a lesson. And I don't know if you're going to take that and try to apply it, like moving forward. Yeah. I think the workout thing is okay for me. Like I haven't been working out and I'm just accepting that. But then not being able to like work because I, my husband and I literally work seven days a week. Every day, all day. So not being able to do certain things. Like we have a meet and greet happening in like three days. I have to fly to New York. Um, and I have so much going on right now that I'm literally just like, I cannot just lay around and recover. So I need to be working and doing something. And obviously my husband is my business partner. So he's like, are you feeling

better? Okay. Can we discuss this? You're like, I just had all my organs clamped down and cysts taken out of my belly button. Thank you. I was teasing him. He's an amazing husband. This is not a knock on him. But I was teasing him being like, I'm going to be in labor. And you're going to be like, hey, did you get a chance to answer that? Yeah. No, babe. Like, okay, I need like a day. How is that working with your significant other? Yeah. It definitely has its pros and cons. And we're on year like four now. So I think we're in a place where we really enjoy it together. I actually saw it like a cheesy TikTok the other day. that said how if you and your husband, you know, go to work every day separately, I think it's something like 12 years that you're spending apart. Wow. I don't know if that's true. This is TikTok information, but if you do the math, it's 40 hours a week, give or take, transportation time, commuting time. Yeah, your whole life. Yeah. So that sounds legit to me. Yeah. Don't quote me on this number. But I think we just love being.

able to do everything together. We do everything together. And like, we're kind of, we're best friends. And I love being able to, like, share the business with him. I think if it was just mine, it wouldn't feel as exciting. Like, it's so nice to just share in those wins together. But then obviously, when things are not going amazing, it's hard not to, you know, fight or get into, like, a low state, but we're also both very alpha. Like, he's alpha as it comes, and I'm like alpha female as it comes. So we definitely like butt heads a lot. But at the same time, I feel like the reason why we've been able to succeed so fast is

because we're both like all in working all the time. And we have like no boundaries, but we don't really care. And it's just nice to be able to like build this amazing. dream life of what our definition of a dream life is together. And yeah, so not to say that it's a walk in the park because it's definitely not, but the most part, I love it. I love working together. I could see how that would work really well. Like I think initially people here work with significant other. And they're like, oh, God, no. But I think of other couples that I know, I don't know if you know Array. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like SIF and Nish. They do really well together.

And they're the same. They're like best friends and like Lauren and Michael from Dear Media, Skinny Confidential. I think if you're building something that you're really passionate about and you get to share that with your partner, like that's what connects you. You know? And that's like it. Yeah, it just I'm thinking of like in my own relationship. Like I don't know, shared passions. That's what keeps you like going. Yeah. We never have a nothing to talk about. We can talk all day. Every day. A lot of it has. A lot of it has. to do with business. But I also feel like we're just growing together, which is a really nice feeling. I feel like we keep evolving and growing together, like on the exact same page. So I feel like that's a big reason why you can maybe kind of start to not get along so much. If you feel like someone's starting to really succeed in different trajectories. Yeah, exactly. So I also have like my whole personal brand side of things, which is kind of separate, but a little bit mesh. together now lately because I love like traveling with him and him taking my photos. He hates it so much. He does. He doesn't hate it. I feel like he's he participates though,

like the videos of you guys. Exactly. And like he is very analytical. So he jokes around being like your videos do so much better when I'm in them. It's funny though. I feel like people love those videos like the five second clips of like the couple on like Instagram reels. It's funny. Like, I could see that. That's what people want to see ultimately. It's like that real stuff. Yeah. I heard you say in another interview that like the way that you approach content is thinking about what your audience wants to see or no, thinking of what you would want to see if you were your audience essentially. And I think that so many people make the mistake of just posting about themselves for the validation. So has that always been your approach? Because when you started Oriam and two, 2019, you had like 150-ish thousand followers, right? Now you're over 500,000 on your personal account, Oriam is a few hundred thousand, I think. And it seems like everything is just exploding. So what do you attribute the growth to, especially how like everything is changing now? Yeah. Well, I think, I think the growth for my personal brand has to do with like, I still really enjoy.

creating what other people might consider more like traditional content. Like I love posting like picture perfect fantasy content and I'm not going to be posting like me looking like shit brushing my teeth in my apartment. That's just not the vibe. I love like Pinterest and Tumblr and and I love aspirational like just something that feels like it's almost like transporting you into like my world that's like you know it is like meant to look perfect. And. And, I think that has done really well for me. I also feel like what I've talked about has changed a lot. Like there was a period of time where I was talking a lot about like wellness and working out and writing in my journal and goal setting when I first started OREM because I wanted to kind of bring people on that path of going from like having kind of like an average life or an average way of I was doing things and being like, hey guys, I'm like we're stepping it up this year. like watch us and like I'm going to share everything I do. And I think there's a lot of people who

follow me now who weren't around for that time. So they probably think that I like grew up with all this money and this was always my life. So I find it hard to post some of the more well, not wellness, but some of the more like mental aspects of things, even though that's a massive part of my life. Like that's what I'm usually spending all my time doing, listening to podcasts. Like trying to be better of a human being. But then I feel like I've kind of gotten into this place where I speak mostly about fashion just because it feels more like safe. Like I don't feel like I need to share all of myself.

I think I've learned with like longevity, you also need to kind of protect your own sanity. For sure. So it feels really good that people just love seeing my outfits. And they really don't need to know that deep of who I am. but I would love to be sharing more things like that. I think you do need to protect your peace, though, at a certain point. Like, I definitely, I maintain a lot of privacy in my personal life.

But as far as, like, my thoughts and my feelings and what I've gone through, and I've been very open about that. And people use it against you. Like, people will go back to something that I said, you know, a year ago and use it against me. Or if I shared about a procedure that I did, like, they'll, you know, go on Reddit or whatever. And it's just like, you have to have boundaries. So I understand that like fashion style and this aspirational aesthetic and this kind of dreamy,

like I mean, everybody go to her Instagram. It really is that. But it's not unattainable. It's not like you're flaunting a lifestyle. Like it just feels very natural. Thanks. Because sometimes I do feel like, oh, am I totally flaunting a lifestyle? Which I'm sure like, yes, I'm totally am.

But I think accidentally it's all kind of worked out in a way where I am really lucky to have a community of people, at least who follow me and at least who say anything to my face. Everything is very kind. I feel like I'm growing this community of people because of what I'm like sharing. That is people who aren't afraid to like fall along for someone's lifestyle who isn't like the norm. So and then I think that's also fed in. to orium's kind of success because how we kind of approach orium is actually a little unique as a brand. We, so if you own a brand and you're like launching a new campaign, you can spend, you are going to spend a crazy amount of money on models, you know, stylists, hair, makeup,

the location for the day, the photographer. And you're getting one like set of 20, or not even like eight hours of a shoot. And how we like to do things is like Matt and I will go on a vacation. Like Matt's shooting me. And I'm sharing like, hey guys, this is the earrings I'm wearing for dinner. This is what I'm wearing to the beach club. And it's very authentic. It's literally like what I'm styling in my day to day life on this trip.

And it's definitely aspirational of like where I am. But in terms of what I'm doing, you know, everyone goes to dinner with their with whoever or their girlfriends. And to be able to see like kind of how I'm styling everything in real life. I think people like following along to that because it's more relatable than, you know, these like crazy editorial shots with the model. Like most of the time I'm modeling because I'm free and free usage rights. Like I think people also don't understand that like there's usage rights. Yeah.

There's so much that goes into hiring people. Yeah. And I think people do like to respond to me as the model more because I'm not like a model. Yeah. So yeah, I think we have like a unique approach to things. When you started OREM, so you were doing more traditional content creation before. And then in 2019, you decided to start Orium, right? Yeah. Did you have a business plan? Like, did you know how, like, did you have a vision for what you wanted the brand to be? Or were you just like,

I want to get in the game. And like, this is something that I love. And just like, let's fucking go. Yeah. So we, so Matt is like very creative, but he's also like an ex. finance. He used to work as a trader. He went to Harvard. He's like, as like buttoned up guy as it comes. How did you guys meet? Side note. Oh. Wait, I think I knew that. Coachella, how long ago? In 2017. We met at Neon Carnival. Oh my God. Three in the morning. I was like holding hand, holding his hand. Oh. Like we started making out within two minutes and meeting each other. He was calling me the love of his life. I was calling him my boyfriend. I was a joke. I couldn't remember his name. I was like, where's my boy?

And we just started. And you both lived in New York? Yeah. Wow. Started just dating right away. Oh my God. I love that. Yeah. So now he's like, I know it's hilarious. I'm like, where's my Coachella sponsor? Yeah. But now I feel like he lives such a different life. And I feel like I really opened his eyes to how much nicer of a life it is when you can be on your own schedule and travel and I have to like no amount of money is worth like being chained to a desk. Yes. All day, every day. I cannot, truly cannot imagine. And I know that's like not relatable for a lot of people listening who have to do that. But yeah, like I would trade any amount

of money for the freedom and the flexibility of like being able to make your own hours, even though they're kind of all the time. Like that's a misconception that people have like or, or that you just sit there and take a picture and post and like call it a day. Like no. But it is kind of the best job in the world. Yeah. And I think it's we, we basically just decided we wanted to start a business together. I used to be an assistant buyer and I used to do product development. So I always knew I wanted to start my own brand.

I didn't know exactly what. And we just one day like snapped. We had no business plan. But I definitely had a vision for exactly like the vibe of the brand. And so did Matt. Like he's very creative. He's the one who plans the feed. Really?

Yeah. Wow. He is really good taste. He's a good photographer, good videographer. Yeah, he actually like really inspired my taste. I used to be definitely a little more like trashy dressing and he was, he opened my eyes to like a quiet luxury. Yeah. So yeah, we just kind of went all in and just started. I think that's the problem. So many people just like hesitate or they're like, in two years from now, I think I want to start a brand. It's like, no, you have to just go forward and start and just adjust as you're doing things. Yeah. I remember Lauren Bostic said launch fast and

adjust. And that was why I started this podcast in 2019 also. I was like, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, but like I'm just going to do it. Thank God because I got in before like everybody had one. And now everybody has a brand. So do you think that it's too saturated now to to start like a personal brand if somebody wants to or not even a personal, whatever they want to do. I think nowadays with TikTok, like, there's always random girls I'm discovering who have, like, who are just starting out. And I'm like, oh, my God, I'm obsessed with her style. Yeah. Yeah. So I think you, if you're bringing something unique to the table, people will find you. I think if you just stay consistent with it and, like, work hard and just keep going. That's the other thing is I feel like people, like start and they expect to see success right away. Like, for me, it's been a slow, steady grind for a long time. And I just have never given up. And I never will. of up. And I think that's what can really help you just stick with it. It's be like, okay, you're not going to, you know, have a million followers in a year. It doesn't really happen. It has happened to people. Yeah. It's rare. Yeah. It happens. So you have to just keep doing it and

keep up with it. Yeah. I hear some people talk about how saturated it is, whether you want to be a content creator, whether you want to have a brand, whether you want to have a podcast. And that it's too late. And I'm like, no, I think if anything, that just shows that your audience is out there. And with TikTok, reels to some extent, but mostly TikTok, like the discoverability is like it never has been before. And if you're consistent, like that content will reach your target audience, for sure. And I think that more than any time ever, it's a great time to start. Like if somebody wants to work for themselves, start an online business, start. a brand, be a content creator. I just think that the opportunity for growth is like it never

has been before. Exactly. I think there's so many tools and things you can do for free with social media if you just put in the work. And even if you're not in a position to quit your job right away, like I was doing taking photos and stuff on Saturdays for like a year or two. I think it's like two years that I was doing that. So because I couldn't afford to just not. make a living. So there's so many ways that you could still be just doing it even on the side as you're like trying to build it up. Where did your work ethic come from? I don't know. Honestly, I think Matt had a lot to do with it because I definitely think I'm always been a huge dreamer. And I'm like, and I think it's a good quality as an entrepreneur is I'm so delusional. Same. Yeah. Same. I like,

We'll be like, I dream so big and so, like, absurdly. Like, nothing is out of reach to me. And I think that's, like, a quality you need to have is to be like, oh, I deserve that. I can have that in my life. Yeah, you attract what you think you deserve. Exactly. So I think I've always kind of been, like, hardworking and driven and just have had the ability to kind of think for myself. But then I think when it comes to, like, how hard you actually have to work to be able to see. see even more exceptional results, that definitely was a really big influence from Matt, because I think he's like so type A and very hardworking and he's so consistent. Like he doesn't miss anything ever. He doesn't miss like posting ever or like, you know, sometimes I'm like, I'm not posting today. I'm not in the mood. And I, yeah, I think that was a big influence. It's like, he almost kind of like trained me of how hard we're going to have to work to like get what we want. I can't just be like dreaming about XYZ and think it's going to just

happen. You have to have both sides of the coin. Yes, you do. People talk so much about manifestation and all of that and think that you can like sit there and do your Joe Dispenza meditation, which I do and then it's all going to come to you. But no, there's like two parts

to manifestation. There's the thought and the manifestation and then there's the action. Like you have to put in the footwork and I think that's the part that a lot of people mess and you have to be delusional. Like I have talked about this too. I'm like I don't know why. Maybe like I've been naive, but I don't know. I've just always believed that certain things will happen for me. And then I do the footwork and then they do. Yeah. I also think you have to be not scared to do or start anything. Like I remember when I first started doing like posting my outfits online, people would be like, who do you think you are? I'm like, that's the point. I'm no one. And I think even I feel like I've also kind of taught Matt that where he would be like, okay, all my friends are going into finance and we're all going to have finance jobs. And that's just like what we do. And I was just like, no, you can kind of think for yourself and create your own path and, you know, take things however you want to take things. Yeah, I totally agree. So do you post every day? Do you have like a schedule? Do you plan things out? Or is it just like fly by the seat of your pants? I'm full fly by the seat of my pants.

Like, I'm very disorganized. I'm very chaotic a bit. I am too. But obviously for Oriam, it's much different. That's, we have like a team now and it's scheduled and that's organized and well executed, whereas mine is so just random. I have no rhyme or reason. If I wake up one day and I decide I don't want to do a Q&A, I'm doing a Q&A. But I don't really like plan out my feed or my posts or anything.

Do you edit content for Oriam or does your team do that? I'll do all the editing. I was wondering how much. Yeah, I know. I was going to say I've tried to hire people to like do all my stuff and I'll just send them like, you know, Dropbox or Google Drive, whatever of all my videos and then have them edit. Can't do it. No, it's hard.

When it's you, like you know exactly what you want. Oh yeah. It's hard to relinquish control. Well, now I've started editing once we do a campaign. I'll edit everything down. if I think I look disgusting in something, it just gets deleted. Like it doesn't get added to the Dropbox anymore because I would get into fights with Matt and the team of being like, guys, don't you see my eyebags in this photo? No one was going to edit this movie?

Like, what the hell? So now we kind of, I do everything before just so there's no issues with me being like, I look disgusting. Why did you guys post that? That's smart. Where do you get your inspiration, both for your personal brand and for Oriam? I kind of go, I still love going on Pinterest. I love following like inspo accounts. And I, I'm always like searching websites for like what's new arrivals are and kind of like I'm always looking at vintage pieces. I'm like sitting on the real real all day every day. So it kind of comes from everywhere. I really try when I'm doing my best as a content creator is when I'm in a flow of I'm not really looking at someone else. Like when you start to get into a house. of really like deep diving into other people and trying to do what they do or just even subconsciously, that's when I think you get into trouble because you're not going to have this unique perspective of

what makes you unique. Yes. Yeah. And that I think ultimately is what's going to help you grow and have it be sustainable too. I'm the same way. Like I don't know. I follow maybe like 300 people, but I don't follow. I don't really look at anybody's content. I look at you. and I'm not just saying that. I love it. I just love like the tones and I love your clothes and the whole vibe of it. But even with like recipe content creators, like I will not follow them. Because I'm like, I don't want to do what they're doing because it does get into your subconscious. How do you avoid the comparison though? Because whether you follow along or not, like we are seeing you know, our peers and their successes and their growth and all of that. And sometimes people have like this

crazy growth in a year and you're just like wait wait what am i doing different like why did that happen for them um so how do you avoid that comparison trap i think the reality is is i it's definitely something i'm still working on i compare myself to other people a lot and it's now i'm kind of more interested in like when i compare myself to certain people why only certain people doesn't bother me Do you find that? Yes, I do. And I think, I feel like I was reading maybe Jay Shetty's book about comparison. And there was like a million lines that I highlighted about how if you're really seeing,

if you're really comparing yourself to someone, why is that? So if there's a content creator that is, it's upsetting me of what she's doing and I'm not, I have to look inside myself and be like, why is this bothering me? Is it because she's putting out more content and I'm so self-conscious about how lazy I've been this month and not putting out as much content? Like, you kind of have to dissect what it is about someone. I remember someone used to like, it used to just bother me when I would see her content. And, you know, I'm happy to be honest with that. And I realized it was because of how confident she was in her content.

And I was like, okay, that's because I don't feel confident. And it has nothing to do with her. It has to do with me. And how can I get to a place to feel more? confident. I think you can almost kind of use it as a reflection for yourself of what is it about that person's success that's making me feel like it's taking away from mine. Because it has to do with you. And if you see someone growing really fast, maybe you're saying to yourself, okay, let me actually be honest with myself. Why am I not growing so fast? Is it because I'm not,

can I be doing more realistically? Or can I like change things up? I think just kind of, It's going to happen, but I think trying to use it as more of a positive in a way to reflect on your own views of yourself. Yeah. I think it's, I think that's great because it is always about you. And that goes for like people trolling too online, which is like so rampant right now. Like just nasty, snarky comments. Like that's the same thing. There's like a insecurity or like an envy component to it. it where they're just projecting, like, whatever it is. And sometimes I honestly, I don't care. Maybe it's petty. Maybe this is not a mature way to handle things. Sometimes I'll just mute the person. Oh, I have so many people meet it. Yeah. Because if I'm just like, this person is irking me. Yeah. Something about let me just not see it to make myself feel a little bit better. Yes. Got to have boundaries these days with all of it.

How do you maintain boundaries? Like I know you said that you guys work all the time. And I think when you're building something that's like natural and that's going to happen. But there have to be times when you turn off or maybe not. What are your boundaries like? And how do you avoid burnout? Because like, I know for me, I do go days at a time without posting because I hit a wall between the podcast and stories and Instagram and TikTok and now like threads, whatever. Like there's just so many. And then trying to manage all of the in between stuff that people don't see. Like I just. I just. I just. And then. I just. feel like sometimes my creative well, it's like fucking empty and I have nothing. So that's something that I'm working on. But like, how do you, how do you stay consistent but also avoid that

burnout? So I definitely don't even think I'm that consistent, honestly. I definitely feel like for me when it comes to content, I travel a lot. So when I'm traveling, I'm pumping out the outfits so that when I come home, I can have that week of computer work, week of working on ORAM, and I am still got a month-long vacation content to post. So it's not the most sustainable thing at all. Like Matt and I keep talking about how unsustainable it is. We're like, we can't keep traveling every second to solve all of our houses. But for now, that's kind of just how I do things.

So even if you're not traveling, maybe you're like banking on a full shoot day where you're just like, okay, today is shoot day. I'm in the zone. and I'm doing all the videos or whatever. And then I think how I don't get burnt out is what we were kind of saying before is lately not sharing all of myself. I think having like I think lately the past at least year or two, I've kind of more honed into the fashion space and just gone all in on fashion

because I can post and create a new outfit every second of every day. I think I can pump that out. So the day I die. But when it comes to feeling like, oh, I need to talk about this or that, like kind of the more deeper things is when I feel like I'm kind of, that feels more exhausting to me because I'm actually an introvert. And it feels like a lot for me to like share so much of myself. So if I'm just kind of sharing outfits, it feels a little bit easier to not be burnt out. But I think I kind of just, I also think what has helped. what's worked for me and it's not great because as you built a team, it's it's difficult. But I like to

wake up and whatever mood I'm in to like pursue what is what I just go for instead of feeling like, okay, today I have to do this, this and this. Like I sometimes I wake up and I have, I have, you know, new designs do for Oriam. And I'm like, I, no, that's not happening today. Like I can't just like pull that out of my brain out of nowhere. But then another day, I'll literally just sit down and I can design a whole collection in like three hours. That's crazy. So I kind of just go where the wind takes me and listen to my intuition and like listen to where my creativity is flowing that day. And it's always in different directions. So I just kind of listen to that. Yeah. That's how I am too. I hear other people. I think like Mariana Hewitt and like Lauren, just other people that are in this

space talk about batching content, batching time and like one day is for the business, one day is for Instagram content one day. And I tried to do that. And I was like, okay, Tuesdays are podcast days. And then Wednesday is TikTok day. And I was like, I can't do this. I'm the same as you. Like, consistency. That's why I feel like it's really difficult for me to have a team because my brain is so chaotic that I'll be, I need to. I need to. just kind of be scattered. Yes. Yeah. And I struggle with this too. I talk about this a lot on the show. It's hard for me as well because then they expect things from you and they need things from you. Like whenever I've had a team before, I'm like, it's just more work for me. So much more work. Yeah. Whereas like I have contractors who just do

everything for me. They know how I work. They don't have, they don't even like bother me ever. But like a team team that's like running. I can't do that. because it's just overwhelming. That's what I realized. It's like I can't have someone reporting to me at the same time every morning. I don't like structure. That's literally why I'm working for myself is because I like to be able to. I think the other reason why I don't feel burnt out is because never a million years on a Tuesday, am I like sitting around watching TV that's not happening?

But if there's just like 30 minutes of the day that I need to just kind of like my lunch, take a breather, sit for a second. Like, I can do that because I'm my own boss. So I give myself tiny breaks whenever I need them. And then I notice that the breaks are really small. And I feel ready to go right after. So I think just kind of listening to yourself and just what you said, maybe they're, you know, if we both do this the same way, maybe everyone works in a different way. And different things work for different people. And there's not like a set. rulebook for certain things because I know a lot of people talk a lot about like thinking time too like in the morning sometimes I will just come up with ideas that will really move my business

in a different direction. So I think you kind of have to give yourself that space to just kind of be thinking and not feeling like you need to just go go go. Yeah. And like have time for other things. I can't remember if it was when he was on my podcast, but my husband is like a creative person. And he's, you know, had six shows on TV at one time and a million things going on and hundreds of people working for him and stuff. But he is so good. I think it's a generational thing. But also like he will turn off and he'll read a book and he'll watch a movie and he's and he'll go, you know, do things.

And he's like, I remember him saying, you need time to input stuff. Yeah. Like that. Those were his exact words because if you are a creative, that's your job. Your job is to produce content or design or whatever it is. You need time where you're inputting things into your brain that are going to inspire what it is that you're putting out. Like, because we aren't creative wells. It doesn't all just like come out of nowhere.

Yeah. Matt and I also will do like a two hour walk multiple times a week where we're just kind of strategizing and talking through things because you're kind of moving your body and your brain's just working better and we'll just talk and brainstorm. And it's always about work. It's not. Sometimes it's about life. It's usually about maybe where we want to travel, where we're going to shoot the next campaign. But it's just a good way to just feel good and get outside the house and just brainstorm. Yeah. And I think that is probably good for your brain and that like it's a different environment. You're doing something.

So like your thinking is passive or something. I'm sure there's science behind why that's helpful. What are some other things that you do? I know that you've moved away from wellness, but are there other things that you feel like have helped, whether it's like meditation or do you still journal that have helped you build your brand and or I am to where they are today? Yeah. I definitely, there was a long period of time where I was doing journaling. I think once you get, once you get, once you you start your wellness journey, it's great to kind of go all in. And then you finally get to a place where it's just like feels very natural. Like for me now, I wake up. I go to the gym. That's just like my routine. You know, it's my lifestyle. And I don't journal as much anymore, but I love meditating. My favorite thing in the world to do is listen to podcasts and clean. I organize my closet, organize the house. It's my favorite activity. And Mac, it's really job. And Mac, it's really job. Alice because I just zone out. I'm in another world. And I'm just like have headphones on and I'm just, that's usually what I do at night to kind of like wind down. But then I still feel like I'm

doing something. I do the same. I never watch TV or anything. Like if I have time where I'm like doing my skincare or winding down getting ready for bed or walking or cleaning, whatever, it's always a podcast. Like I would just so much rather be doing that than like I can't just sit there and watch something. Exactly. I also feel like I'm an auditory learner. Yeah. So I think I just, I think that has helped so much because we now have access to hear tips from everyone from every walk of life and every path they've taken. So I think it's just so nice that you get to hear from so many different people and what has helped them. Yeah, agreed. What are your, what are some of your favorite podcasts? Well, I was binging yours.

Thank you. What I will say, what I love about yours is it's very like, girl talk, I would say. This is my first podcast that's been not only about business. I love Skinny Confidential. Ed Milette is like my literal hero. I'm obsessed with him. I love Rob Deerdeck. I'm starting to get into Jay Shettys. And then when I'm in the mood to zone out and just laugh, I love Giggly Squad. Oh, yeah. I know Paige from college. So she's like, oh, that's funny. And those are kind of the main ones I listen to. I didn't know Rob Deerdeck. That's a podcast. It's a little hard to follow.

If you've listened to the Ed Milet episode that he was on, it's the best episode in the I'm going to listen to it today. Oh, my God, you're going to die. It's Ed on Rob's, not Rob on Ed's. It's. Oh, Rob on Ed's. Okay. Mind blowing.

I've listened to it thousands of times. What's so good about it? One of the main things I took away from it was just, you know, when you're on this high frequency state of your just like everything is going well. He basically just talks about how he gets to a place where he's like, always in that state. And that's something I really agree with because I think I've been there. And once you get there where you're in this high frequency state where things are just

coming to you and life is good and it's a breezy. You're like, whoa. How can I make this a consistent thing? So that's kind of what he talks about in that episode. It's really good. I'm going to listen to that. I remember hearing you say on another interview that you feel like energy can be like transmitted through your content. And I think it's all energy. Like even for me recently,

like I said, I do the Joe dispens a thing. And that's all about energy too. And I was feeling like really stuck, especially the last few weeks. And then like something happened where my energy was like forced to change. And literally in one day, I had all these things happen workwise that I had been like trying to manifest for so long. And I was like, holy shit. It was because like that stuck stagnant energy like fell away. And all of a sudden it was like the channels were open. And it was bizarre. Yeah. It happens a lot. Yeah. If you're paying attention to it. Yes. Yes. If you pay attention. That's the key. Yeah. Like we, I've had so many scenarios where things like that happened. Like there was like a two month period where I was getting a little worry about like incoming partnerships and like just getting

a little worried about money. And I think I went shopping with Matt. This is probably bad advice. And I went shopping with Matt and I was like, you know what? I'm not worried. I'm going to buy you whatever you want. Blah, blah, blah. I had my highest amount of like the most amount of money I've ever made in a day happen later that day. Wow. By like a lot. Wow. Wild. So I've heard people talk about kind of money blocks and there's, There's so many different forms of just kind of, I also think when it comes to manifesting, like squeezing on to wanting success so bad. It's not good energy. You want it to feel like, you know, you don't want to be kind of desperate. It's the same thing with dating, right? I want to be coming off desperate. Yeah. Whatever you're chasing is like running away from you. Exactly. I read Matthew McCona Hay's book and he kind of talks about that too where he when he was like looking for an agent, the best advice he got was to tell you. He was to. like go on a vacation and not think about it because you're too, you need it too bad.

Mm-hmm. And you need, you want things to come to a place where like they're lucky to work with you. Yes. It's the opposite. Yeah. Yeah. So many. I was going to say, we could do like a whole episode just on that.

I've been noticing that a lot too. It's like more I kind of like squeeze and want something bad with like this intense energy, the worse I do. Yeah. Or I'm just kind of like confident and low. and I'm just kind of onto the next thing, the next idea is constantly like doing my thing in my frequency, the more things just like attract to you. It's wild.

Yeah, I agree. Love that. Okay, so what's next for you? Or is it just day by day? Well, we have exciting things coming to Oriam. It's like something we've been working on for over a year. I think that will be happening by end of August, September. and I'm so excited.

It's kind of like a new, not a rebrand, I would say, but a little bit. So some big changes coming for ORIM that I'm very excited about. And basically just kind of continuing to grow everything, I feel like I should be looking more ahead about where I want to go. I think I eventually want to be doing more like investing in brands. And I also have like things I get to do with my personal brands. I have another naked collection coming out next year, which I'm excited about. I love designing and I love doing all the things.

And those are kind of like the main things. Amazing. Well, I think you can stay in the moment. Like, you know where you want to go and you're headed in that direction. But I'm kind of like you, like where I don't, I'm not like in six months, I'm doing this. And because I'm like, I don't know. Like whenever I try to plan out my life, I shortchange myself. Put it that way.

Yeah. Like if I think about the things that I want, whereas if I try to align myself, like what we're talking about with the energy and just be open to whatever comes, like the things that come are so much better than what I could have planned for myself. Yeah. I also think like when you try to make goals and you give yourself such a strict timeline, that can cause so much stress. There's so many things that were on my vision board three years ago that I thought what happened that year. And like they happened to now. Yeah. And which is amazing. It's still just as sweet for that to happen. I think I kind of know the things

I want to happen, but I'm not giving myself this strict timeline of when it needs to happen by it kind of just continuing to do things. Amazing. Well, tell everyone where they can find you, where they can find Oriam. She's wearing it today. Everybody, this is great. Promo. So my personal brand is at Castamiko, C-I-S-S-D-I-C-C-O, and ORIM is A-R-E-U-M-D-M-D-C-C-O. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed that episode, and if you liked it, and if you liked the show in general, please take a second to rate, review, and subscribe. It goes a long way, and it's actually the best way to support the show.

Also, if you want to see more about each episode, you can head over to the Blond Files podcast on Instagram, You can go to areaallory.com. And I'm always posting about each episode over on my personal page at Ariel Lori. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.