#87: Making an Impact on Camera with Molly Trotter, On-Camera Clarity Coach
If you’re anything like me, going live and being on video isn’t necessarily something you look forward to every morning.
It’s usually the thing on the to-do list that you know you need to do but always seems to get shuffled to “later”.
But today, we’re going to take a sneak peek into how getting on-camera can help you accelerate your business growth.
I’m talking about the can’t miss wisdom shared in my interview with Molly Trotter.
In our conversation, Molly shares the undeniable truths about being visible in your business and what that means for you! We talk about:
What key component is critical for on-camera success
The key to accelerating the growth of your brand
Her advice for those who are floundering when it comes to positioning themselves online
Interested in building your authority online? Check out Molly’s free social media audit here and make sure to listen in so you know exactly how to use visibility as a tool.
Learn more about Molly here:https://www.instagram.com/molly_trotter/.
Check out my new free training on www.yournextmillion.me, where several of my seven figure clients and colleagues share what they're doing in the next year to scale their businesses to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond.
Listen to the Show:
Laura (00:02):
So many entrepreneurs, dream of living a life of massive impact by creating a mega successful company, but only a tiny percentage of businesses actually scale to that point. And when they do it is so often lacking the very joy and freedom that got them into entrepreneurship in the first place. So on this podcast, we speak authentically on what it actually takes to scale your business in a way that creates freedom and joy that works for you, your team, and the incredible impact that you are meant to make in the world as a visionary entrepreneur. My name is Laura Meyer and I'm your host. I'm a serial entrepreneur wife, mom, to three. And I love talking all things business, especially digging into what it actually takes to scale joyfully to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond let's get started.
(00:56):
Hello, hello everybody. We are back with a new season of the Scale with Joy Podcast, and I'm so excited to introduce you to Molly Trotter. She reached out to me over Instagram and we had this instant connection of people who are faith-based and care a lot about helping other entrepreneurs be successful. She's an on-camera 30 coach and does a lot of really cool things. So welcome Molly. It is so, so good to have you here.
Molly (01:22):
Thank you, Laura. I'm super excited to be here.
Laura (01:24):
Yeah. And you know, it's so funny because you're so well-spoken and you present so beautifully. And then as I was reading the notes from my podcast producer, I realized that you were actually a news anchor and reporter for CBS affiliate and so you were like pretty much up and down the west coast. Is that right?
Molly (01:44):
Yeah. So in Oregon and in Washington state and the goal was to get to California, but I realized about my second stop. I was like, this isn't going to be for me. So yes, I've had, I was about five years in the industry five years ago today.
Laura (01:57):
Oh my gosh. I've used to go today. What am I asked? What happened that made you decide, you know what, I'm going to leave this and I'm going to start helping entrepreneurs become more confident on camera.
Molly (02:10):
Well, about two years in the industry, I said, okay, they have no problem putting me out in danger. They whenever I tried to say, Hey, this is how I'm gonna protect myself. They said, no, that not like that. They just didn't have no problem putting me in harms way. I didn't really make a whole lot of money, but the impact is really where it was at for me. And I was like, I don't really want to be the voice of telling depressing stories. So I
learned as much as I could. Didn't know how long I was going to be in there. Long story short, I ended up getting fired for basically inspiring people on my own social media. They ended up firing me for that cause they got heat from their corporate bosses. And anyways, I was like, this industry really is not for me, but I've learned a lot.
(02:47):
Right? So all the skills of being able to think on your feet, you know, speak with clarity, really be able to have those people skills as well, that literally can translate into any business. So I've just been doing that, officially the consulting piece for about three years now but I, I kind of dabbled in other industries beforehand, just really building up my network. That's one of the, you know, probably the, the secret, I don't even want to call it a secret. One of the things I love to do is really getting out there and connected with people. Like you are like how we connected because you never know where it goes, but I doubt I would be as far as I am today without those communication skills. So yeah, I mean, that's a long story short, but just really grateful to be out of that industry. I'm not going to lie.
Laura (03:31):
And that, that was very Oprah of you for getting, for getting fired for actually caring too much. Right. I think that happened to her and that's how she started her career too. Why do you think that so many entrepreneurs struggle with that on-camera presence? Like what, what is it that like just holds them back from being successful and showing up in their true self, fully authentic and making an impact?
Molly (03:56):
Yeah. I mean, I'll just break it... There's a lot of things, but I'll bring it down to a couple of maybe like two or three key points. Number one, people make it about them and they might be like, Molly, of course, it's about me. I'm on camera. Like, what do you mean? Like, I like, I don't like the way I look. I don't like the way I sound, but you didn't go out and go through everything that you just went through over the last, you know, 10, 20, your entire lifetime, whatever that is for you just to kind of sit on it and be like, oh, it's just a part of my story. But nobody gets to hear it. Those pieces are meant to be mentorship to somebody else. Your story is meant to be mentorship. And so just being able to click into that piece, it's like, okay, yes, we want to look good.
(04:30):
We want to sound good. I actually don't like the way I sound. I don't like to go watch myself on recordings. I do anyways. So I can see where can I refine and sharpen and get better. Even 10 years of doing this right, being on camera. That's the first thing people make it about them. So then they hold their gems back that are actually going to set people free to push them into their next level. That's number one, number two. The biggest thing that I see with a lot of, you know, 6, 7, 8 figure entrepreneurs. That's the crowd that really comes to me just with my expertise. They love showing the results, which, who doesn't like seeing this person has results. That's important, but they really
hide behind that piece right there. The business. If you look at it like a storefront, you know, the storefront looks nice.
(05:11):
It looks pretty. You have the results. You walk in, walk in your first couple of feet looking pretty good, but nobody wants to take you to the back room. Nobody wants to take you to the meat of things. They get scared of. If you actually know me, will you still like me? Do you still want to do business with me? Like, am I still that interesting? And the, and I just want to say, yes, it's the way you frame it and how you put it out there. But that's what I see. Time and time again for those high performers is like, okay, well I built my business like to this point, but then they get stuck being like, I want to get to that next level. There is a level of, you've got to let people in to really get to know you. And I like to frame it like this.
(05:47):
People want to know, can they possibly, at some point go to dinner with you, hang out with you. Would you be enjoyable to be around? And if the answer is no, they're going to keep finding somebody else that they can resonate with. No matter the results that you have. And I've had clients that have had eight and nine figure businesses, a lot of success, but now they want to be able to mentor important to other people, but they have a hard time opening up that door to like being transparent and just being able to share more parts of them and just showing that personality piece. So those would be the top two that are the biggest things that really hold people back when it comes to getting on camera, let alone having that confidence to share who they really are.
Laura (06:23):
That's so interesting. Do you think that there's a line, do you think that like there's only so much that you need to be sharing online in terms of, you know, how personal you get or how authentic you get? Do you think that there is a place in which you cross over and it actually hurts your business?
Molly (06:42):
Hmm. That is such a great question. It's a different recipe for everyone, right? Like everyone, you first, you've got to feel, you know, good enough authentic. Like when you share it and it gets a little uncomfortable in the beginning obviously, cause you're not used to it, but absolutely. There's a line. There's a line of, I like to draw like this, like it's the same. If you have a hard situation, there's a difference, a huge difference between airing your dirty laundry and doing silver lining type of a post and a video. Right. The silver lining is obviously what you would want to lean towards where it's like, Hey, I just went through a situation. It was hard, you know, and be vulnerable, be open with like how you felt and how it went. But then this is what I learned from it. This is what I can take from it.
(07:18):
And if I can help you by sharing this great, that type of a framework rather than, uh, this is what happened to me today, you know, whoa is me. You know what I mean? There's a totally different tonality there. So yes, there's a different framework literally for everyone. And you got to, got to get in your groove. So I have a lot of people saying I don't really want to share like my family or my kids and things like that. And that's okay. You know, it's, it's what feels comfortable to you to the point where you feel like people can actually get to know you in a sense. And there's those boundaries that you have for yourself that only you can set boundaries for me are going to look totally different than what you have for yourself compared to other people that we know. But it's finding that balance. And even finding people online that are showcasing and sharing more of who they are, find something that's find something or someone that resonates with you. And then I like to reverse engineer it being like, how did they get there? What should I do to get there? And it's kind of following an online mentor in a sense, if you ever talk to them or not, you're literally kind of taking their roadmap and making it your own to see this is what's kind of working out there.
Laura (08:17):
Yeah. I love that. You're saying that. Cause I think it's, of course, if you're the kind of person that wants to get along with other people and you want other people to like you, which I, a hundred percent can identify with that personality type, right. Or you're an Enneagram three or performer. So you're like, I just want everybody to think that, you know, I'm doing well and that they could come to me with anything. And I, and I want them to feel comfortable in my presence. Right. It's really hard to then like lean into your edges and say, you know what? I might possibly offend people too. Do you have any examples of people who have maybe come across in a neutral, you know, nice professional, but then leaned into something and they found that it opened up so many new doors for them.
Molly (09:03):
Meaning like just being bold with certain pieces...
Laura (09:05):
Being bold with a message or being bold with a belief.
Molly (09:08):
Yes, that is so good. Especially right now. Like literally this year there's been, there are, I'll just call them influencers online. Like people who really love to build in their brand, you know, whether you have 5,000 followers or 500,000 followers, there's people that are following you because they want to hear your voice. And I'm seeing either people just not sharing it all. Cause they're scared to lose business. They're scared to lose followers, all of that. But what I'm happy to see is more people actually using that and taking a stand and being like, look, if I share something of politics or something of faith or something of just as, this is what I believe for me, you know, take it or leave it. But this is where I stand. You may lose one, but when you lose one, there's a lot of studies
that say, when you lose one, you're going to gain like 10 and 10 real ones and people that really want to be with you.
(09:51):
So that is scary when you're bold with, you know, get politics and religion, politics and faith are two very common ones that people don't want to talk about. The part that I love actually like sharing where you're at is not to make people feel uncomfortable because you're not responsible for how they feel. If they come across, you're not responsible for how they're, what's coming up for them. But when you're sharing that, they get to decide now, okay, wow, this is really how Molly or Laura or so-and-so thinks do I want to resonate with that or not? I personally, and I've met a lot of people who are bolded their content online. They actually welcomed the opposite. They welcomed just the challenge when it comes to how people think, because if you're never challenged and you never step up to kind of just talk to that challenge and really like test yourself that this is what I believe or not.
Molly (10:38):
How are you really ever going to know? And I'll tell you, I've been triggered way too many times. And it's taken me a lot, a long time to figure out like how to respond with grace and love, you know, like what would Jesus do type of a thing. Right. But at the end of the day, I'm so grateful for those because I really get to check, how am I showing up? What's coming up for me and then just be like, Hey, take it or leave it. This is where I'm at. But respectfully it's okay to agree to disagree.
Laura (11:02):
Right. Right. And I think that is the thing that transcends business, right. It's like, it's our faith, it's our legacy. It's who we get to be. It's, it's how we get to become known. And then what are we going to be remembered by? Right. And, um, I think that we're not necessarily going to be remembered by our offer, right? Like points in our offer, whether or not it includes boxer access or whatever. But I think we're remembered by, you know, we're we difficult when somebody else came at us, right? Like how did we respond? We respond with grace or do we respond at their level? And that happens. I think in life it happens in business. Um, I play tennis competitively for people who listen, they know that and you know, it happens on the tennis court when someone throws their rocket and you know, you can, you can respond and be like at their same level of intensity of being like that's totally inappropriate or you can be like, you know what it is like sometimes it's really frustrating.
(11:58):
And to not have things go the way that you want them to and, you know, and, and I'm here to be supportive and loving, even if you're on the other team, you know? And, and that's kind of the mindset. I think that we get to that we get to be challenged, as people of influence and expertise. Right? Any advice that comes to mind when it comes to people who are just kind of struggling with their visibility online or their, their personal
brand online. Is there any other tips that you think that our audience would love to hear from you?
Molly (12:31):
Yes. So the here's some of the things that are like, and I always love to give tangibles as if you're listening, watching whatever you're doing with this episode. I mean, literally I have my sticky note and then I'm holding up that I have all the time. Next makes you never know when something's going to hit write these down. Number one, figure out your three pillars. This is really key. When somebody comes to your social media, it's like your TV show, right? What are the three main topics that people are going to see from your page? Say it's entrepreneurship, women's empowerment, financial freedom. Okay, great. Those are the main three. Now get subcategories. What is it about entrepreneurship? Women's empowerment, financial freedom, start writing down topics. And I really recommend a spreadsheet to keep it clean. I love to be as efficient as possible. And then even inside of that, okay.
(13:15):
Now that you have women's empowerment, I love to be able to talk about, you know, diversity in the workplace or whatever. Now, when you're going to share that piece of the content, share that video, break it down even more. What are your three points you want to cover in that video? So you see how I just categorize that. And when you get to that refining point, you're going to have content for days. When I do this with my clients, literally in 30 minutes, they have over a hundred to 150 videos or topics that they can go off of in 30 minutes of just going back and forth and just kind of saying it out loud, but then your videos become so crystal clear on what you want to say. And most people are like, I'm a bad communicator. I'm not good on video because people just don't know how to really like, just like concisely, categorize their thoughts.
(14:01):
And most people talk too much. To be honest with you, they talk too much, it's nervous energy. They don't know what to do. So take the time to map it out. And just like I brought my sticky notes up earlier, I'll bring them up again on my ring light whenever I record a video, but my phone in there. Cause you know, thank God for these phones that it just have like such great quality of just amazing. I'll have a sticky note right there, right on my ring light in case I forget or in case, Hey, the doorbell just rang or something popped up in my head or things are coming up all the time. But I have my bullet point A B and C. And I made sure that I stay on track as best as I can because short form content right now is going like crazy.
(14:38):
Like you got anywhere from three minutes to 20 minutes, like really in that window is a great window. We don't need to have stuff that's 30, 60, 90 minutes these days. And there's a time and a place for that. So when people think I've got to put out a video, but like, gosh, I don't know how to talk for 30 minutes. Well, good news is you don't have to, you can start small and then grow on it. But as long as you're clear, concise to the point
that's, what's important. So the three pillars is probably the biggest thing for people. And then outside of that, it's, you know, I'm going to reiterate, what I said is just, you have to get kind of over yourself and understand it's kind of selfish when you're not sharing what it is that you have gone through, what you have, because you said it so beautifully.
(15:15):
Laura, we're not going to be remembered by we're our offers. We're going to be remembered by how we treated people, how we made them feel, what we're able to give with our time here on earth. So how are you going to give and leave somebody better from when you found them, met them all the above and really be able to share that out there. So it may take time for you to sit down and be like, okay, what do I want to share? How do I do it? And then of course show up consistently with it. We'll get that going. And then people are going to start to see you and start to tune into your, you know, quote unquote show on Instagram and then just follow along. And I've been doing this for a long time. Now I have DMS all the time of people being like I needed this today. Thank you so much. Oh my gosh, that person was my person. And that's what I love to do it for because just like you with my live Instagram show, I love being able to kind of cherry pick all the awesome people that I can find, feature them. And then just let nature take its course, whoever needs to connect with who that's, what they get to do.
Laura (16:10):
Oh my gosh. I love that. And I love that you asked me to be on your Instagram live because then I realized that we had so much in common and I was so excited to share your expertise with our audience. Really, really appreciate you being here. And just as we're wrapping up one last final question that wasn't planned. So if you need to think about it for a minute, feel free. What is your favorite scripture?
Molly (16:30):
Oh my gosh. That is a good one.
Laura (16:33):
And you don't have to quote it. Just what comes to mind?
Molly (16:36):
Oh gosh. And I'm always like, yeah, it's, I believe it's James 4:1. If I, um, if I remember correctly, but basically it's like where much is given much is required. And when you really think on that, like where much is given much is required, we've all been given so much. So yes. There's going to be requirements of us, like sharing your story, giving to other people, showing grace, love, mercy things that the world needs more of. And that right there will stick with me forever. So I may have quoted the exact script or wrong. I know it's in James.
Laura (17:07):
Depends on the version. If it's the message. It was probably about accurate. If it's king James, might've been a little bit tweaked. Very true. The message was, I was just curious because I knew that you probably had one and I love that you shared that because I think it's so true. Like when we are so blessed, when we are provided with favor, then we're required to show up in a certain way in the world. And I think that was great share. So as we wrap up where, and thank you for humoring me by being on the spot with that one, where can people find you? If they're just like, wow, Molly's awesome. I need to connect with her. What's the best platform for them to check you out on?
Molly (17:43):
Well, Laura, I just want to say thank you for having me on here. This has been an absolute blast. It's fun to be able to reconnect with you again and the easiest way to connect with me. It would be probably Molly_Trotter on Instagram. You'll also see me. My name is Kingdompreneur. So I have Molly_Trotter as my handle, but then Kingdompreneurs. My name to just, yeah. Obviously show that I'm here to do kingdom work and send me a message. Let me know that you heard me on this show, but again, Laura, thank you so much for having me on today.
Laura (18:08):
Great Instagram. I highly recommend that if you're listening to you, check it out and thank you again, Molly, for being here, it was such a pleasure.
Laura (18:15):
Hey there: before you head out, I want to let you know about a free new training I have right on a brand new website called yournextmillion.me. It's yournextmillion.me, where several of my seven figure clients and colleagues share what they're doing in the next year to scale their businesses, to the multi-million dollar mark and beyond. And I have to tell you, it is not what you think. So check it out at yournextmillion.me. And if you loved this show, will you subscribe to it and share it with a friend or just say something nice about it to someone, you know? I'd really appreciate it so much. Thanks so much for being here and I'll see you next time.
The Scale with Joy podcast dives into the mindset and strategies of scaling your company to the million dollar mark and beyond. Each week, we follow the journeys of innovators, disruptors, experts and leaders - sharing behind the scenes stories of their most challenging moments and greatest lessons learned-all while building their multi-million dollar empires.