In this insightful episode of the One Small Change podcast, host Yvonne McCoy sits down with a branding and clarity expert, Orly Zeewy, to explore how entrepreneurs—especially women—can clarify their core message and embrace their unique strengths. The conversation dives into why identifying your “zone of genius” is crucial for standing out, why authenticity and energy matter more than credentials, and how focusing on the true transformation you offer can attract the right clients. Packed with actionable advice and encouragement, this episode is a must-listen for anyone who struggles to articulate their value and wants to build lasting, genuine business relationships.

Guest Bio:

Orly Zeewy is the author of “Ready, Launch, Brand: The Lean Marketing Guide for Startups,” a sought-after speaker, educator, and self-described facilitator of light bulb moments. With a lineage of both entrepreneurs and educators in her family, Orly specializes in helping women entrepreneurs clarify and communicate what makes their businesses truly memorable. Her unique approach empowers founders to uncover and confidently share their unique value—so they can go from invisible to unforgettable.

Chapters:

00:00 "One Small Change: Big Impact"

03:32 Educator-Entrepreneur's Passionate Pursuit

07:49 Humor Essential for Collaboration

12:28 Focus on Building Relationships

14:03 Efficient Problem-Solving Approaches

16:33 "Attracting Premium Clients"

21:27 "Valuing Female Superpowers"

24:57 Client-Centric Problem Solving Strategy

27:39 "Supercharge Business Connections Weekly"

Quote from the Guest:

“When we get clear on our value, we stop convincing and start connecting.”

Links:

Click here to receive your free Brand Clarity Checklist:

https://crafty-thinker-1809.kit.com/brand-clarity-checklist

Check out Orly’s book:: https://bit.ly/readylaunchbrand 

For more information, visit her website: https://zeewybrands.com/

Welcome to the small. The Small change. No, it's really welcome

to the one small Change. And as usual, I am thrilled that you're taking

time out of your busy schedule to spend some time with me and my

fabulous guest today. And I'm your host, Yvonne McCoy, and I bring almost

30 years of entrepreneurial spirit and experience and

passion to discovering the growth through the power of

seemingly one small change. And most of

us have many one small changes. But anyway,

I want to make sure that you've got somebody to help you along

with this entrepreneurial journey of exploration and inspiration.

And so our guest is going to share how a small

or unexpected or insignificant decision

sparked a remarkable transformation and growth in their life, either

personally, professionally, or both. I am so happy to

introduce my guest today, Orli Ziwi.

Orli, thank you for being here and, you know,

being willing to share all the things that you do and

the ideas that you have that are going to help us shift our mindset.

Well, first of all, thank you so much for inviting me, Yvonne. It's a pleasure

being here. And like you, you know, I'm all about

clarity. That's why I say that I make fuzzy clear.

That's really my. That's really where I begin and where I

end. It's so important because so many people do

not have their fuzzy clear. And so. And they're trying to build marketing

based on things that are so fuzzy that they themselves can't even

articulate. And. And. And, you know, one of the

things that I say all the time is it doesn't matter how fast you're going,

if you're going in the wrong direction. And so,

you know, that's so. It's so funny that you say that, Yvonne, because what I

say is when you ask the wrong question, the answer doesn't matter. So it's very

similar. Yeah. Book ending. We're kind of bookending each

other. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, guys, if

you are struggling with your message, this is a great podcast for you

to listen to because I'm sure some great nuggets are going to come out of

it. So, Orly, tell us a little bit about yourself and your

one small change. Tell you. Tell us how you got here. Oh, my

gosh, how much time we got? Not that much.

I'll give you the short. The short version is, first

of all. So I'm an. I'm the author of the book Ready Launch Brand, the

lead marketing guide for startups. I'm a speaker and educator,

and I call myself a facilitator of Light bulb moments. And

I work primarily with women entrepreneurs to clarify and communicate

their zone of genius and go from invisible to memorable

in three weeks. In terms of change,

there have been a lot of shifts in my career as well as in

my life as you know, having children is definitely. It's not a

small change, it's a big change. And it changes everything, including

your perspective about life and what's important. In fact,

my book was dedicated to my two favorite

startups, my two sons.

So. So, yeah, so that was a big change, you know, really rethinking life through

the eyes and through the perspective of being a parent.

But what I would say is the, the. And I don't know if it's

small change. I feel like it's just been a constant

thread in my life is. So I come from

a long line of entrepreneurs. My father was an entrepreneur.

His father was an entrepreneur. His father. Right. So generations of

entrepreneurs on my father's side and on my mother's side, I

come from generations of educators. So what do I do for a

living? I am an educator and an entrepreneur.

But the change that, And I remember this so distinctly because I

was doing, you know, brand building and messaging and all, you

know, a lot of identity work, specific for all kinds of

businesses, family owned businesses, nonprofits. And one day I had

this eureka moment and I realized, you know, what I really love to

do is I love working with passionate entrepreneurs

because they are not just passionate about what they do, but they're

passionate about helping other people, about taking their

gift and turning into a company that can help lots of people.

And that immediately resonated with me because, of course, you know,

it's in my DNA. And so the whole idea

of working specifically with founders also has a

personal component for me because my father

struggled to be a successful entrepreneur.

And as a result, I grew up with

that experience thinking about how precarious

entrepreneur's life could really be. So for me, when I help

an entrepreneur succeed, I think of

myself. I think of another little girl somewhere who maybe is feeling

a little less concerned about her dad.

And so. So for me, like I said, it's both professional and

business, professional and personal. Yeah, I think, you know, I.

I also come from a family of entrepreneurs, although,

you know, having come through the depression, they thought a job

was security. And so my grandfather was an

entrepreneur. My father, of course, worked a job until we

were through college and then he went out on his own. But I think,

you know, the problem that most people have is

letting people know what it is that they do. And being

able to hit that balance between,

you know, the substance and the emotional.

Right. Yeah, that's such a good point, Yvonne.

I think that, you know, from my perspective, what I find is

that people have trouble encapsulating sort of the

core of what they do in such a way

that somebody is like, literally feels like, my God,

I've been looking for you forever. This is so valuable.

I can't wait to hear more about it. Let's have a conversation. As

opposed to trying to always sell. Right? And I think that this is the

mistake that so many entrepreneurs make is that they're. They're constantly

feeling like the pitch is about a sales pitch, but a sales pitch

is. Is all about the what and the how. What do I. What I do,

how I do it. Isn't it great? Here are all the amazing things we are

able to do when really what people want to hear is why. Why do

people work with you? What is the transformation that they

achieve as a result of working with you? And for me,

that's kind of where the magic is, figuring out what that

is. And it's different for each of each person I work with. No

one comes with the exact same set of, you know,

parameters around their particular zone of genius.

And, and the other thing I'm going to say that probably two years ago I

would not have said is I really think the energy

that you bring to your message. I mean, I don't call it a

pitch. I call it an introduction. Because you're literally introducing yourself

to someone who doesn't know you. Right. And doesn't know what

you're doing. And I can't tell you,

ever since I've really been saying, you know, I don't want to be this

button down, polished person. I just want to be myself.

You know how people are saying to me, I love your

energy. I want to work with somebody that has that kind of energy. Right? They

don't care that I have an mba. They don't care. You know,

all the. All the bells and whistles and stuff. It's like, if you're gonna, you

know, I always. I. I'm not gonna tell you what I really say,

but the bottom line, if I'm going to spend my money with you,

I want to have fun and enjoy it regardless what it is, Right?

Oh, my gosh, I'm so with you on that. That's actually one of the criteria

of me working with someone. They have to have a sense of humor and they've

got it and not take themselves too seriously.

Because if this isn't fun, you know, it's not

supposed to be onerous, this process. It's because

in the discovery of who you are as a brand and who you

serve and what they get, and, you know, that whole process can

be incredibly fun, enlightening, and it's

really life changing because once you understand

your particular zone of genius, it becomes

really about, wow, I can share that zone of

genius, my superpower, with the people who really need

it, want it, and will value it. That's an amazing thing to be able to

say. Well, you know, the thing that's interesting to me is I don't

think most people realize one, that they have a zone of genius.

I talk about your unique power. And so when I

talk to people, you know, the, the issue,

you know, if they have client, when they, once they get a client

and it's the right client, that client is probably very happy.

They're very happy with the results, they're very happy with the relationship.

It's getting people to, you know,

acknowledge that they need, they need. They have a problem, they need some

help. And when you're not yourself

and tell them, you know, what your uniqueness is,

it's really hard for them to see how you can help them.

Right? Gosh, that's such a good point, Yvonne. You're right. Because,

you know, I was saying this earlier. You know, you ask the wrong question, the

answer doesn't matter. If I don't know enough about

who I am to even know what problem I'm trying to solve,

how do you find the right fit for that problem? The right

solution? I would also say

I think of the elevator pitch really as starting

a conversation. And the first thing you need to do

is make someone curious. That's why you don't sell

in a pitch. You're inviting the start of a

conversation. So when I say I make Fuzzy clear. If that

doesn't mean anything to you, that's great. Now I know we can

talk about something else, because either this intrigues

you or it doesn't. And the people that I work with, the people I want

to talk to, are people who are actually intrigued by that. And what

you always want is, as I always tell people this, what you want to hear

is tell me more, tell me more. Yes. And

one of the things that I see so much of my client is, you know,

they, they want to throw a big, wide net.

And they say, I do this, I do this, I do this, I do this,

I do that, you know, and they're like, not connected in any way.

And I said, you know, if I was interested, you probably lost

me on the third item. Now, now I

don't know what you do. Right. And by the way, more than three

overwhelms people and shut them. Shuts them down. That's true when

you're trying to buy. This is why. And I always use the toothpaste example.

We don't need 20 different types of Crest toothpaste.

Three is more than enough. But they can't stop

themselves. They keep adding more. And all that does is it makes it that much

harder. Like, I can't. It. It's too much. And it's been

shown that, you know, three is kind of the perfect number. If I have

three options, I'll be able to pick one. Going back to

what you just said, that, you know, what people tend to do is they think.

They think broadly because they're so afraid that they're going to miss someone

and. Right. And instead, instead of thinking

of a wide net, think about what's the one thing

that you offer the one person who actually needs

it, wants it and values it. The one thing. There's one thing, and

that one thing is solving a real problem for a real person.

And if you can get clear on that, you know, it

doesn't mean you never get to do these other things. You know, people get all

panicky, like, oh, my God, but wait, I do all these. Yeah, and I

do all these other things, too. But I don't lead with, you know,

I run workshops, I do keynotes. I.

I've written a book. I'm writing my second book. And, oh, by the way, I

also do consult, you know. No, no, you need to pick one

thing at a time and then trust

that you put enough things out there that people will find you and

let them discover the other things you do. And I

think the other thing that people do is so many times

when they see a person, you know, they're like

potential clients. And I think if you take a step back

and say, you know, I'm just looking for a relationship, this is

going to be, you know, it may be a client, it may be a referral

partner, it may be a collaboration, it may be other way

they know somebody. Right. And so if you don't go

in with the idea of, you know, you want to get a sales out

of this, you're going to have much more. First of all, you're going to have

much more goodwill in the world. I mean, people will remember because

you're not jumping down their throat. You Know, asking them to marry them, and

you hardly know their first name. You know, like, buy my stuff. Buying a

stuff, right? And I think the other thing is.

I think. A key

quality that entrepreneurs need to have is continuous

learning. We discover more as

we go along. So whatever the answer is today, first of all,

the world is changing, right? And you're changing.

You're becoming better. So the thing that. The thing, you know,

as you go along, I just find it really interesting. I mean,

I consider myself a pretty smart, methodical person. I've checked all the

boxes and stuff like that. But I like to have fun. And it always

amazes me when I learn

something and go, oh, my God, why didn't

I know this? Oh, I have that all the time.

All the time. Your clarity gets even

clearer. And because I think people think I'll have the answer, and I'm

set for life. I did my workshop the other

day, and there's a story that I tell, and basically, you know,

I consider myself an implementator. You know, I get you to do things

right away. And so in the story, I tell this

about my math class where I got. I did got the answer

in three steps, and everybody else took 20 or more, right?

And, you know, when I put it on the board, the teacher was like, yes,

this will work, but why don't you read the chapter, do it the right way,

right? Could somebody else put the answer? And at the very end, and just

accidentally, I set up my workshop. So you have a choice.

You can do it the old way and take 20 some steps, or you can

do it a different way and just take three or, you know, three or four.

That's your choice. But why would you want to take all those extra

steps? And I was like, I never connected those two

things together. And I was like, oh, God, this is so good. You

know, that's clarity.

And, you know, it's about the message. You're also, you know, you're.

You're bringing up another really good point with this, which is this,

and I say this a lot to my clients. Do you want to focus on

the process or the outcome? And because so often

we go down the weeds, we go down those rabbit holes and talk about the

process and this and that, you know, and the truth is that until. Even

when somebody works with you, they're much less interested in how you do it

and much more interested in what happens to them as a

result. Because ultimately, it's ourselves we care about.

Like, am I getting value out of this? Is there some transformation

that's happening is my business going to be more successful after we work

together? Because, you know, otherwise it's just,

you know, you're just kind of talking to hear yourself talk, which I

find a lot of. A lot of business people do this.

But the reality is that there's always

this piece where I feel like this is where curiosity really

comes into play. Like I want to come into conversations

where I am truly and genuinely curious about you.

Because, honestly, I'm not for everyone, and

it may not be a fit, and that's okay, but I may know somebody

who is. The other thing is, you couldn't be. Of

service to everyone, nor would I want to be.

Right? Because then you'd be a service to nobody. You'd be, you know,

so. So I, you know, to emphasize

the point that you're making, you know, I. I guess apparently

one of my things is I tell stories all the time. But, you know, so

my story is, if I want a gooey brownie, and I come in a bakery,

and you say, okay, here's two cups of flour, here's some cocoa, some egg,

right? And so I'm willing to pay much

more for the gooey brownie than I am to pay for

the parts and the recipe. Which is why when you attract

your right client, you are attracting premium clients

that value you, that, you know, they want to know what you know,

they're willing to pay what you're worth. And that makes the work

even more joyful, I think. And I think because we

both work primarily with women, this is something that women

struggle with, and it's really. And. And it goes back to

understanding your worth and your superpower, your zone of

genius, if you will. When we are unclear about that,

we feel like we're convincing someone to buy something.

Whereas when we get clear on our value, which is

what. Why I always start with what is your value proposition? Right. What

is the thing that is. Differentiates you from your

competition and is the thing that you and only you can really provide.

And when you get clear on that, and even if you at first don't

think it's a. It's a superpower, I guarantee you there's

a superpower in there. The thing is

that, you know, most of us don't think we have a superpower

because it comes so naturally to us. Oh, yes, exactly.

Exactly. True. And so you need somebody

that's a blind spot. You need somebody else to help you

to do that. And I have to tell you, I just recently somebody told

me about Gallup Strength Finder. Oh, my God.

Now I don't know that you can get the book.

I don't have any, you know, skin in this. You can get the book on

Amazon, I think it's about $30. But it comes with a coupon

to take the, take the assessment. And

what is it called, Yvonne? It's called. Hold on, I got

it right here. It's called Strength Finders 2.0. Oh

yeah, I have, I have two copies of it. Yes, I've, I've taken the test

several times. Yeah. And what. I love that book. Love that book.

I love the idea that you can have, I mean, so first of all, I

should tell you you should take a lot of assessments and not every

assess, any assessment is going to be 100% right. But

if you can get some nugget or some awareness out of that

assessment, then, then that's going to help you. But

I just found that this was so amazing. There were a couple things I was

like, oh, I need to highlight this, I need to include this. And there

are things that I would never have thought of myself. And then what I

did is I took, I had chat GPT,

upload my report and say it are

these things coming across in what I, in my post and my

marketing and stuff. And it was really, I got really interesting results.

Oh, I bet. What a great way to. I've never thought to use it that

way, but that's a great idea. Well, because I think, I think again,

we do not what we do,

our gift is so easy to us that

we do not think that it has value. I mean, for

instance, I had a client and

one of the things that we just did is, you know, I put together her,

you know, like I helped her get a name for her program. I helped her

with her pricing and stuff like that. And she did a post and

she, that she said something like, I couldn't believe that she

could put this together in 20 minutes.

Right. Okay. It's like can't everybody,

do everybody do that?

I mean, and I think, I think the other thing is for women

that is so strangling for them is

we were probably brought up to be well behaved and to be

followers. You know, it's like don't make a ruckus, you

know, be seen but not heard. All that kind of

nonsense as you were a kid. And so you have to go against that.

And so we have a lot of self doubt, I think, you know, and,

and I think that that is so unfortunate.

And so that's why when you've got something tangible that oh,

these. I don't have to. I mean, I just changed my workshop to say

the unique powers you already have, because it's not like you take a pill

or you get bonked on the head with a wand thing and you've already

got it. And it's probably the thing that your parents

found the most irritating when you were a kid.

You're not wrong there, but you're right. I think also there's this

other piece, which is that because we

don't recognize it as a superpower and because it comes so

easily to us, it's like we're almost embarrassed to ask for

money for it. And that's something we need, especially as

women. And as you know, I'm working on my second book, which

is for and about women, and I have a whole

chapter on, on how we don't. We don't value

our superpower and we don't, as a result, we don't ask for what we're worth.

The problem with that is that it's not just bad for your

bottom line. It sets the expectation that when the

next woman comes along with her own superpower,

you know, it's going to be that much harder for her to ask for what

she's worth. So in a way, we're, we're setting kind of

others to fail. And that really, when I realized that, that's

when I really started rethinking how I was, how I

was establishing myself and what I was charging. Because,

you know, we need to stop doing that. We could talk

about this forever. I mean, yes, we could, because we're. Both

really passionate about this. But tell us about the free gift that you brought,

because it's amazing.

So I have a brand clarity checklist,

which is really a way to see, like, where are you

on the. How well do you know your brand? And how well are you.

Are you cutting through the noise? Because for me, it's all about, are you

cutting through the noise? Can you. Can your clients find you?

Are you using the right messaging? Is it coming across right? So

it's like really just a checklist to see, you know. And also one

of the things I always ask is, you know, why did you start your business?

That's always a, you know, such an interesting question for me.

So, yes. So I'll have the, the links will be. The link will be in

the, in the, in the comments, I guess, in the. In the notes

and other ways hold of you as well. So, yes,

if you were going to give entrepreneurs three steps

to help them clarity, what Would it be okay?

Well, the first step is don't be afraid to look at

your superpower from a. And I would even ask

people, I will tell you, me saying I make Fuzzy

clear. I didn't come up with that. Someone told me that. Someone else

told me, I know who you are. I know what you do. You're a facilitator

of light bulb moments. You know, it's all. That was my light bulb moment.

So ask people who know you well, who've worked with you,

what's the thing that. What's the one thing that you really got from work? Like,

what is it? Like, what. What can you identify the thing that,

you know, you feel is really a superpower of mine if you don't know it?

So that's the first step. The second step is you need to really identify

and clarify who needs it. Not everybody on the planet

needs or wants what you have, and that's okay. And

then the third thing you have to do is you have to understand

a true problem that this person has, not one

that you'd like to. You think you're fixing. No.

If. If not. If you don't know, I would suggest do

an online survey. You know, it's like you can do one on Google.

I mean, you know, survey monkey. I mean, there's so many now, you know, and

it's free. And ask a bunch of people

to tell you, you know, like, people that, you know, who share

some. You know, who share the. The qualities of that person that

you're looking for. And ask them, you know, what is the problem that keeps

you up at night? What is the one thing that if you could fix, would

make your business more successful, would make you feel

less stressed out. Whatever it is, you know, doesn't have to be long. Five

to seven questions at most. And then,

you know, take that really to heart, and then look at your

business and say, am I communicating this? You know, it

took me a long time to be able to say, not only do I

make Fuzzy clear, but here's the problem. The problem

is where it's like each of us is standing in the middle of Times Square

trying to stand out, trying to be heard, trying to, you know, find,

have our clients find us? That's for every entrepreneur.

That's what it looks like. And so my, My. My

question is not, here's what I can do to help you, but here's the problem

that I truly understand, and I know how to fix

it. You don't have to go into detail. You just have to be clear.

About my superpower, who needs it, and then

communicate based on the thing, you know,

that is the most important thing that you're fixing for them.

Excellent. And the checklist will help you with that. It

will. So. All right, last question.

No, it's not the last, but it's the next.

When was the last time you did something new for the first time?

Oh, let's see. I'm trying. This is a really good

question. When

I. When I started writing a book, I'd never written a book before,

and I kind of kicked around the idea,

and. And then I thought, wait a second, I don't have to

come up with all of it myself. I can go talk to other entrepreneurs and

get their story. And that's what I did with the first book, and it's what

I did with the second book. So I think becoming an author,

it scared the heck out of me, I could tell you that. And, you know,

it's. What's really funny is when I was doing the first book, I kept saying,

well, why me? Like, who am I to write this book, right? Why me? And

now the second book, the title is why

Not Me? The Female Guide for Entrepreneurship. And I

think that's. That's. That's the question that I think so many

female entrepreneurs have absolutely. That. Hold them

back. Okay, people, time for the ad. So

what I'd like you to do, if you've enjoyed what you've heard and you've gotten

information, I want you to subscribe and share and engage with

the podcast on social media. Because I did this as a way

to give back to the community. I wanted to help you supercharge

your business through connection. And so this is a way for me to introduce you

to lots of people in the business world and make

your community much more vibrant and fuel your quest for growth and

impact. So I hope that you will join me for the one small change

every week and listen to all the things that are going on. And if you

haven't done it yet, you might want to listen to the first episode

that why I started doing this. And so, Orly,

I can't believe we have to cut this off. So. Me

too. I was really enjoying our conversation. So have you got any

words of wisdom or any last words that you want to share with everybody?

Things that get you. You know, if you've got a mantra or something that gets

you through the day. Oh, you know what?

Yeah, there is a mantra, and it actually comes from my first book,

which is. Let me. I'll

pull it up right here. Because it's such a. It's a Japanese

proverb. And the proverb is action without vision is

a dream. Vision without action is a nightmare.

I think I saw that somewhere. I love that. I love that. Okay,

good people, bring this to an end. So the

last thing I want to say is remember that change is not

easy, but it is simple. And if you don't change

something, you're going to be where you are. If not, and even

worse, you could be stagnating because the rest of the world is changing.

But simply so, it requires courage and resilience and a willingness to

step outside your comfort zone. And I hope that you're willing to do that.

And some of the information that I gave you today will help you with that.

So join me for another episode of the One Small

Change as we embark on a journey of old vision and

innovative possibilities. And until then,

stay curious. Thank you, Orly. Thank you so much,

Yvonne. It was a pleasure.