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The Business of Creativity with Aura McKay | RR250
Episode 25019th March 2024 • Relationships Rule • Janice Porter
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My guest today has me buzzing with anticipation. I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with Aura McKay - the visionary behind Business of Creativity, an award-winning photographer, and a dynamic business coach. Aura brings a unique blend of passion and expertise to the table.

In this episode, she takes us on a journey, sharing anecdotes from her unconventional upbringing in the 60s and the impactful lessons from her creative parents - her remarkable story seamlessly weaves together creativity, relationships, and business brilliance. Listen as we explore the struggles creatives face, challenge myths about the starving artist, and discover practical tools like the elusive "magic unicorn spreadsheet."


I’m thrilled we got to explore Aura McKay's world, and I bet you were as hooked on her wisdom as I was - it’s all happening right here on this episode.


In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How parents' creativity shapes their children's perspectives
  • About the impact of external pressure and expectations on creatives
  • Techniques for helping creatives overcome challenges and finding success in their businesses
  • How procrastination is a symptom, not a problem
  • How to manage time and relationships in a service-based industry


You can reach Aura at: aura@auramckay.com

Website: https://businessofcreativity.ca/

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/businessofcreativity.ca

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/auramckay/

Podcast: https://www.businessofcreativity.ca/podcast



A little about me: 

I began my career as a teacher, was a corporate trainer for many years, and then found my niche training & supporting business owners, entrepreneurs & sales professionals to network at a world-class level. My passion is working with motivated people, who are coachable and who want to build their businesses through relationship marketing and networking (online & offline). I help my clients create retention strategies, grow through referrals, and create loyal customers by staying connected. 


In appreciation for being here, I have a couple of items for you. 

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:  

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by taking the  

10 Card Challenge – you won’t regret it.   


Connect with me: 

http://JanicePorter.com 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/ 

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1 


Thanks for listening! 

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Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in the comment section below!


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Transcripts

Janice Porter:

Go Hello everyone, and welcome to

Janice Porter:

relationships rule, a podcast where I interview amazing

Janice Porter:

people. And we talk about relationships and the power of

Janice Porter:

relationships. And also, I love to find out lots about my guests

Janice Porter:

and their take on what they do. My guest today is aura McKay.

Janice Porter:

And aura actually lives in the same area that I do in

Janice Porter:

Vancouver, Canada, which is very unusual that I have someone

Janice Porter:

local here. So welcome to the show. Aura. Thank you. You're

Janice Porter:

welcome. All right, is the founder of Business of

Janice Porter:

creativity and award winning professional photographer and an

Janice Porter:

inspiring business coach. And in the little bit that I've gotten

Janice Porter:

to know her, I can see how inspiring she is just the way

Janice Porter:

you talk, the way you approach things, you have such energy

Janice Porter:

about you that I can see how that would be inspiring. So I'm

Janice Porter:

going to stop there because one question that I think I asked

Janice Porter:

you this when we first met, but it intrigues me. And I want to

Janice Porter:

ask again, because I forgotten the answer is how you got your

Janice Porter:

name, or I said was I asked you, I think was it? Is it your real

Janice Porter:

name? Or was it like a Numerology thing, something

Janice Porter:

because it's unusual, and it is unusual.

Aura McKay:

And I learned, I got my name from my parents. It was,

Aura McKay:

I'm a product of the 60s generation. So I was born in

Aura McKay:

1970. Those of you doing the math? Yes, I am almost 54. So

Aura McKay:

it's happening. But it was at a time when my mom and dad whose

Aura McKay:

names are Sue and Bob, which, you know what I mean? Like,

Aura McKay:

they're completely different, they really wanted to lean into

Aura McKay:

empowering me with the idea that I could be anything and that

Aura McKay:

there were no limits, and that I didn't have to live within the

Aura McKay:

constraints of normal society, even like that there was a lot

Aura McKay:

of freedom to be had. And that actually shaped my life

Aura McKay:

considerably moving forward in terms of how how the kind of

Aura McKay:

burdens I carry, and also the kind of opportunities that I get

Aura McKay:

to see. And an interesting thing about my name, though, Janice is

Aura McKay:

that when I was about six years old, I was so frustrated because

Aura McKay:

I was trying to make relationships, I was trying to

Aura McKay:

make new friends in school. And I was trying to figure out,

Aura McKay:

like, you know, where's my place in school, and I was often the

Aura McKay:

new kid and I had a weird name. And my parents were hippies. So

Aura McKay:

I didn't have the right thing in my my lunchbox, and I didn't

Aura McKay:

have the right clothes. And all of these sort of outside

Aura McKay:

accoutrements are what allow us to belong to belong in a group

Aura McKay:

or belong in, in a place or to connect and make relationships

Aura McKay:

with other people. And so I changed my name. And I actually

Aura McKay:

called myself Kathy, love it nine years.

Janice Porter:

I get it, I get it. Because I was a school

Janice Porter:

teacher in my first life. And I taught elementary school. And

Janice Porter:

names were really relevant to how a kid was in school. And so

Janice Porter:

I've always felt curious about names and and remember, kids

Janice Porter:

that had struggled with certain things and they usually had

Janice Porter:

unusual names and your name to me is beautiful. And, and it's

Janice Porter:

very, of course, spiritual, and all of that good stuff. And yes,

Janice Porter:

I, I was gonna say Your parents must have been hippies and, and

Janice Porter:

I get it. And it's just, I don't know, I mean, it does shape you

Janice Porter:

for sure. And I remember my daughter, my second daughter had

Janice Porter:

a little girl in her grade one class who changed her name to

Janice Porter:

from Jessica to not Kathy but something really simple like,

Janice Porter:

and then now is back to her. Her true name as well. But yeah,

Janice Porter:

it's so important what you name children because it's, it does.

Janice Porter:

Well,

Aura McKay:

like even thinking about being adults, and being

Aura McKay:

entrepreneurs and running our own business, you can, like even

Aura McKay:

a business name can help you feel more trusting or give you

Aura McKay:

insight into who you might be working with. And so names in

Aura McKay:

terms of building relationships can be really integral to that

Aura McKay:

part of that building block and, and also like how we feel about

Aura McKay:

it can really make a difference. So now

Janice Porter:

do you think Well, I'm sure We're your

Janice Porter:

parents, creatives as well?

Aura McKay:

Yeah. So my mom is still very creative. She is 81

Aura McKay:

and she is an actor and She is in some of the things that you

Aura McKay:

see on Netflix and local, like family law and things like that.

Aura McKay:

And so she, her name is Su Spurlin. Okay, so she is still a

Aura McKay:

creative and growing up, she was a mental soprano opera singer. I

Aura McKay:

mean, she didn't, she worked as a secretary, but she did all of

Aura McKay:

this creative stuff. My dad is absolutely still creative. He

Aura McKay:

and his wife live on Saltspring Island, he is a woodturner and

Aura McKay:

an artist and he works with his hands, and she is a painter, and

Aura McKay:

so very much creativity and you know, growing up with that as an

Aura McKay:

as a, as a kind of a grounding or as like this is the this is

Aura McKay:

how we live is we live with the possibility and anything is

Aura McKay:

possible, it actually created what I call the burden of

Aura McKay:

extraordinary.

Janice Porter:

Yes, okay. Yes,

Aura McKay:

I was told you can do anything, you can be

Aura McKay:

anything, you're so talented, you're so creative, you're so

Aura McKay:

smart, you're so intelligent, you could do anything like

Aura McKay:

you're an extraordinary human being go go. And I was like, Oh,

Aura McKay:

that means that anything I choose to do, I have to be

Aura McKay:

extraordinary. Or I have to choose something in life, that's

Aura McKay:

going to be extraordinary. So I think that there's a lot of sort

Aura McKay:

of external pressure and expectation that we kind of

Aura McKay:

carry with us throughout our lives and can really impact how

Aura McKay:

we move forward in terms of when we are meeting people, or we're

Aura McKay:

trying to move into a new marketplace or create new

Aura McKay:

relationships. So let's, that

Janice Porter:

makes me think to sort of switch to the other

Janice Porter:

side, in a sense, so you and bear with me for a second. So

Janice Porter:

you have been a photographer for professional photographer for 20

Janice Porter:

years, you may have been that route. Now you coach creatives,

Janice Porter:

photographers, designers, artists, I'm guessing musician

Aura McKay:

so much artists not so much. So thank you for that

Aura McKay:

distinction. I like to work with visual creative freelancers,

Aura McKay:

people who are using their creative talents in service of

Aura McKay:

others not so much as to create artwork that's a self expression

Aura McKay:

and then finding a market for it but creating using our creative

Aura McKay:

talents and skills in service to others. So Visual creative

Aura McKay:

freelancers. Yeah.

Janice Porter:

So visual, creative freelancers, like

Janice Porter:

photographers,

Aura McKay:

videographers, graphic designers, illustrators,

Aura McKay:

those are popping up.

Janice Porter:

Okay, because what I was going to say, and I'm

Janice Porter:

just curious to get your take on this because your upbringing

Janice Porter:

made you see or allowed you to see the possibilities and no top

Janice Porter:

on that possibility for the creative. Profession

Janice Porter:

professions. Yeah, but we I remember hearing all the time

Janice Porter:

that there was everyone in that was a starving artist. Yeah.

Aura McKay:

This is why I have a job like this is part of my

Aura McKay:

business exists, Janice is that partly to dispel that mindset

Aura McKay:

that creative people are starving artists and you'll

Aura McKay:

never make money. And if you follow your heart or follow your

Aura McKay:

passion, you know, you'll live a happy life, but you'll live a

Aura McKay:

poor life. Or the other one that I grew up with was, oh, just do

Aura McKay:

what you love. The money will follow. Oh, just you build it,

Aura McKay:

they will come Yes. Both of those are not really very

Aura McKay:

supportive worldviews if you are a multi passionate, creative

Aura McKay:

person who's looking to bring your voice to the marketplace

Aura McKay:

and contribute your ideas and creativity and innovation. So

Aura McKay:

that's really one reason why I built a business of creativity

Aura McKay:

was because I wanted to challenge that mindset. I wanted

Aura McKay:

to challenge that belief system. And I wanted to challenge that

Aura McKay:

reality in the marketplace because it was based on mostly

Aura McKay:

creative people not being given the training or the skills they

Aura McKay:

need to be successful. It wasn't that it's not that creative.

Aura McKay:

People are incapable. It's just that

Janice Porter:

they don't have the background. They don't have

Janice Porter:

the training and traditional

Aura McKay:

business models. So one of the things that you kind

Aura McKay:

of left out of the biography there is before I became a

Aura McKay:

photographer, I was an accountant.

Janice Porter:

Oh, that's right. And I had that in my notes here

Janice Porter:

actually. Yeah,

Aura McKay:

so that allowed me to get really clear about what

Aura McKay:

are some traditional business models how to how to traditional

Aura McKay:

businesses go about setting out plans and revenue goals and

Aura McKay:

finding clients and marketing and doing all of those businessy

Aura McKay:

things. And then I looked at myself as a as a freelancer and

Aura McKay:

went That's not gonna work. Yeah, that's not gonna work,

Aura McKay:

like no wonder people fail. So how can I support myself and

Aura McKay:

also support others in finding ways to do business and be

Aura McKay:

successful in this gig economy as a creative? So

Janice Porter:

you are, you're the anomaly really, though, to

Janice Porter:

have the left brain, right brain thing to, you know, good at the

Janice Porter:

numbers and so on. So when you're working with the

Janice Porter:

creatives that you're coaching, and they're yawning, when you're

Janice Porter:

talking about numbers, or they're like pulling their hair

Janice Porter:

out, because they're so right brained, that they can't handle

Janice Porter:

it at all. I'm guessing you don't do it for them, but you

Janice Porter:

probably encourage them to have, you know, to have other people

Janice Porter:

do that for them, but then they can't afford it. So how do they

Janice Porter:

deal with it? Well,

Aura McKay:

that's a really good point you're making Janice is

Aura McKay:

that most of my clients are solopreneurs. So they're not in

Aura McKay:

a position of creating team or going into leadership or wanting

Aura McKay:

to even create an agency or expand into an enterprise model.

Aura McKay:

They really like the solopreneur business model. And so then how

Aura McKay:

do they take care of all those things that do make them pull

Aura McKay:

their hair out, or like yawn and fall asleep instantly. And that

Aura McKay:

is the challenge, because there are things that we need to know

Aura McKay:

about business that are about business, like we keep score

Aura McKay:

with numbers, money is how we keep. So we have to know the

Aura McKay:

numbers and be able to keep score. So part of how I support

Aura McKay:

them is I have created a magic unicorn spreadsheet that has

Aura McKay:

color codes, and you only have to fill in the yellow things.

Aura McKay:

And then you look at the blue one and the pink one and the

Aura McKay:

green line. And that helps you figure out your minimum price

Aura McKay:

for profitability, it helps you figure out what your monthly

Aura McKay:

income needs to be, it helps you figure out what your sales goals

Aura McKay:

are. And I do it in a way that has a lot of repetition. Because

Aura McKay:

there are some people that learn this way. And some people that

Aura McKay:

learn this way. And a lot of my clients have neuro divergence in

Aura McKay:

their in their makeup. And so I need to as the instructor and

Aura McKay:

the coach and the supporter, or rather, I choose to I actually

Aura McKay:

love finding multiple different ways of have helping people

Aura McKay:

access the information, they need to be successful in

Aura McKay:

business in a way that actually works for them and for their

Aura McKay:

brain. So that's the challenge for me is how do I stay relevant

Aura McKay:

to everybody? That's really,

Janice Porter:

really, that's the mind of a teacher, to my

Janice Porter:

mind, that is the mind of a teacher, because we know as

Janice Porter:

teachers that, you know, children learn in different ways

Janice Porter:

adults learn in different ways as well, they, and you need to

Janice Porter:

find the way that's going to work for them. So that's a bonus

Janice Porter:

again, in what you're doing. And so being an I love that, I

Janice Porter:

identify and love the idea of the color coding, because when

Janice Porter:

it comes to the numbers and all of that I can only do what I've

Janice Porter:

been taught to do to keep my business on track. Otherwise, I

Janice Porter:

get a headache. And it's not that I'm a completely right

Janice Porter:

brain person. But I don't know, I just have a lecture from my

Janice Porter:

husband about numbers. So yeah.

Aura McKay:

So you're feeling the pain, right? And, and that's

Aura McKay:

it like a lot of the work as you said, it starts with that

Aura McKay:

mindset of, oh, I'm a creative, I'm never going to be

Aura McKay:

successful. And it goes and we look, you know, oh, what other

Aura McKay:

kind of beliefs do you have about who you are in the world?

Aura McKay:

Well, I'm never going to be good at numbers, they're always going

Aura McKay:

to give me a headache. And it's like, you say you're right

Janice Porter:

back. But yeah,

Aura McKay:

my, one of my main rather than leaning into the

Aura McKay:

weaknesses, or the perceived weaknesses, or the perceived

Aura McKay:

lack, I like to lean into what are you awesome at already? What

Aura McKay:

in your business is already working for you? Where are your

Aura McKay:

clients already coming from? How can you get more of those,

Aura McKay:

rather than, Oh, you should be on Instagram, you should be on

Aura McKay:

LinkedIn, you should be using like I don't like to should on

Aura McKay:

anybody, you know. So it's really interesting. There was a

Aura McKay:

book called the Clifton Strengths Finder that I used

Aura McKay:

when I was working in corporate. Because I did work in corporate

Aura McKay:

I was an accountant and working in corporate work and marketing

Aura McKay:

did all of that kind of stuff before I became a freelancer.

Aura McKay:

And the Clifton Strengths Finder is really interesting because it

Aura McKay:

really does lean into what are your strengths and how can you

Aura McKay:

use your strengths to tackle some of the challenges? So how

Aura McKay:

can you use your brilliant brain when it comes to relationships

Aura McKay:

and building relationships and understanding human beings? How

Aura McKay:

could that possibly work for you when it comes to numbers? Yeah.

Aura McKay:

Like, how could that line be drawn? And exploring that and

Aura McKay:

getting curious about? How can we make it work for the

Aura McKay:

individual?

Janice Porter:

So do you find that? I mean, I know everybody's

Janice Porter:

different people are unique and different, but are there like,

Janice Porter:

two or three specific things that often or most often come up

Janice Porter:

when you're when you're working with creatives then is one of

Janice Porter:

them numbers, for example, their lack of

Aura McKay:

them is absolutely numbers, for sure. There's five,

Aura McKay:

because you know, we're creative. So we have lots of

Aura McKay:

different things. Yeah. But one of them is about like, clarity,

Aura McKay:

and focus and direction. And like, I have all of these ideas

Aura McKay:

and all these things that I want to do, and all these things I

Aura McKay:

could do. And all these, like different marketing is so

Aura McKay:

overwhelming, as you know, yeah. Which is why it's so brilliant

Aura McKay:

that you have focused and simplified this is the this is

Aura McKay:

the tool that I'm going to use this is the tool that I know

Aura McKay:

works for me is relationships. So for them, the first thing is

Aura McKay:

getting helping them just get clarity and focus and direction.

Aura McKay:

And then the next one, interestingly enough, is self

Aura McKay:

management. It's time management, boundary management.

Aura McKay:

So it's things like overwhelm, and burnout, and impostor

Aura McKay:

syndrome and self doubt and confidence in running a

Aura McKay:

business. So those two kind of foundational things is where we

Aura McKay:

usually start, and then we get into numbers, we get into

Aura McKay:

pricing and numbers and understanding the numbers that

Aura McKay:

are important, and how to interact with numbers in a

Aura McKay:

different way and change your relationship with numbers. And

Aura McKay:

then we get specifically into clients and really understanding

Aura McKay:

looking at clients. I don't know if you've found this generous,

Aura McKay:

but one of the things that I find a lot with solopreneurs, or

Aura McKay:

people who are using their own skills as their service is that

Aura McKay:

they tend to look at their business only from their

Aura McKay:

perspective. And in order to be successful at relationships and

Aura McKay:

marketing, we have to really put ourselves in somebody else's

Aura McKay:

shoes. Yeah, we have. I

Janice Porter:

know, for me on LinkedIn, it's like creating the

Janice Porter:

profile. Optimum, in an optimum way. I'm trying to say a word

Janice Porter:

that I can't say optimally. optimally. optimally. Thank you.

Janice Porter:

You have to have a client facing if you're an entrepreneurs,

Janice Porter:

solopreneur or business owner, not the about you. And that's a

Janice Porter:

misnomer that a lot of people do on LinkedIn. So yeah, so you

Janice Porter:

have to see it from other people's perspective. For

Aura McKay:

sure. Yeah. So that's really the fourth thing

Aura McKay:

that we look at is really understanding your clients. And

Aura McKay:

then once we have all of that, then we can go into marketing

Aura McKay:

and sales. Yeah, we can go into marketing clarity, what is your

Aura McKay:

marketing message? What is your brand voice going to be like?

Aura McKay:

And then what is the sales model that's going to work best for

Aura McKay:

you to connect to your clients and get successful sales? Yeah,

Aura McKay:

earn more money, stress, less, grow with confidence, just do

Aura McKay:

it.

Janice Porter:

Exactly. But and I can see the passion you have

Janice Porter:

for what you do. So. So talking about that word, I couldn't say

Janice Porter:

I saw that you love big words. I do. Okay, so talk to me about

Janice Porter:

that. Are you a Scrabble player? Or do you do CrossFit

Aura McKay:

not? I have my love of big words. I, one of my core

Aura McKay:

values is communication. And one of my worldviews is that

Aura McKay:

circumstances or circumstances, and it is the stories we tell

Aura McKay:

ourselves about those circumstances, that creates our

Aura McKay:

experience of life. So if we say it's raining, and it's terrible,

Aura McKay:

and it's cold, and oh, that's awful. And that's a story that

Aura McKay:

we can tell ourselves about something that we have no

Aura McKay:

control over. And through our language, we can change the

Aura McKay:

story that we tell ourselves. And so we can start telling

Aura McKay:

ourselves like, oh, man, what a perfect day to stay inside and

Aura McKay:

what a great excuse to cuddle up in front of the fire. And, oh,

Aura McKay:

I'm so grateful for the heater in my house. And we can we can

Aura McKay:

change our focus through our language. So that's where my

Aura McKay:

love of language started. And then I started to learn really

Aura McKay:

cool words like anthropomorphic size and consilience and

Aura McKay:

reification. And, and I got excited about that. There's

Aura McKay:

words and language that we don't use on a regular basis that are

Aura McKay:

so rich and descriptive and wonderful. And it's actually now

Aura McKay:

my Achilles heel when it comes to marketing And because I want

Aura McKay:

to communicate using words and language that are important to

Aura McKay:

me, me facing. And what I need to do to be successful is use

Aura McKay:

words and language that my clients care about and resonate

Aura McKay:

with. So the hard lesson in communication is that it's not

Aura McKay:

about me, it's about the listener. Yes,

Janice Porter:

but I'm loving and talking business right now.

Janice Porter:

I'm just like, I love words. And I love the etymology of words.

Janice Porter:

But I don't know. Like, do you read the dictionary word? All

Aura McKay:

these words come from where do these words come

Aura McKay:

from? Conversations? No, come

Janice Porter:

on. No, no, no, no, because 100% words that you

Janice Porter:

just mentioned, never heard of them. So. So yeah. I'm talking

Janice Porter:

to the wrong people, obviously. Right. And

Aura McKay:

I think that that's, that's really the thing about

Aura McKay:

are you talking to the right people? In your relationships?

Aura McKay:

Like, are you having the conversations that light you up

Aura McKay:

that give you new vocabulary, or new perspectives and new

Aura McKay:

possibilities? And, and really well, and then the other piece

Aura McKay:

about where I learn new words, is, I run a book club for

Aura McKay:

freelancers. So this is a free book club. anybody listening is

Aura McKay:

absolutely welcome to join this book club. We meet twice a

Aura McKay:

month, we usually take a full month to read one book, and

Aura McKay:

they're all business or communications books

Janice Porter:

fun. Okay, so I

Aura McKay:

make them and how this started is I had a short

Aura McKay:

shelf of shame. I had a shelf of books that I was like, oh, I

Aura McKay:

should read that. I should read that. And they were starting to

Aura McKay:

like, kind of weigh on me. Yes. And so I started this book club

Aura McKay:

as a way of doing the reading that I wanted to do, but doing

Aura McKay:

it in support and in relationship with my community.

Aura McKay:

And so now I get all of these new words. And then I share the

Aura McKay:

books with other people. And then we get to have

Aura McKay:

conversations where we get introduced to new language.

Aura McKay:

Yeah,

Janice Porter:

to talk about that offline. So I've had a

Janice Porter:

different challenge. Like, I find that I'm listening to

Janice Porter:

podcasts. I do. I admit, I do watch television. If it's not a

Janice Porter:

basketball game, though, or a tennis match, it's, you know,

Janice Porter:

something on Netflix, or I'm a movie buff, I love really

Janice Porter:

interesting films, not necessarily movies, but Maestro

Janice Porter:

that just came out. Some people loved it. And some people hated

Janice Porter:

it. Because it's an art film. It's not for everybody. But

Janice Porter:

anyway, so I love that kind of thing. But I have in the last

Janice Porter:

few years, the only books that I've been reading really are

Janice Porter:

books of people that are on my podcast, or books, business

Janice Porter:

books, and I can't get myself back to reading a novel. So I

Janice Porter:

bought this book six months ago, because I heard or I saw on CBS

Janice Porter:

Sunday Morning, the author was being interviewed. And it looks

Janice Porter:

really interesting. And she's done amazing with this book.

Janice Porter:

It's called Lessons in chemistry. Which in Yes, I've

Janice Porter:

heard of it. Yeah. So it sat on my bedside table. Every night, I

Janice Porter:

would pick up my iPad, or I'd pick up my Crossword Book, or my

Janice Porter:

People Magazine, and I would never open the book. Now the

Janice Porter:

show lessons in chemistry, it's been made into a limited series

Janice Porter:

on Apple TV, and I see it occasionally they're gonna go

Janice Porter:

nope, I'm not gonna watch it until I've read the book. Right.

Janice Porter:

So I finally started the Book Three nights ago. I'm going to

Janice Porter:

Chapter Three now. So I'm going to try and make it through this

Janice Porter:

book. But I lose attention span. That's the problem. I'm so busy

Janice Porter:

with thinking, I've got to write this newsletter, or I've got to

Janice Porter:

listen to this podcast, or I've got to check this person's book

Janice Porter:

out that I never get back to novels anymore. And I love

Aura McKay:

this is interesting, because the first books we read

Aura McKay:

were things like finding focus and an age of distraction, and

Aura McKay:

atomic habits. And now habit. And so those tools help me to do

Aura McKay:

the things that I want to do. Also a really interesting thing

Aura McKay:

about procrastination that I learned and that I see as

Aura McKay:

helpful for the people that I work with it really, I mean, for

Aura McKay:

myself, let's be honest, is the idea that procrastination is not

Aura McKay:

a problem. It's a symptom.

Janice Porter:

Okay, probably, you

Aura McKay:

find yourself procrastinating. It's a symptom

Aura McKay:

of something else happening. Because procrastination is

Aura McKay:

different from avoidance. avoidance is like I'm avoiding

Aura McKay:

doing the dishes. I don't want to do the dishes, and I'm just

Aura McKay:

gonna avoid it. Procrastination is like having your foot on the

Aura McKay:

gas for something you really want to do, but having your foot

Aura McKay:

on the brake at the same time. Have you know, I want to read

Aura McKay:

this book because I hear it's great, but I'm not reading it.

Aura McKay:

So what's that about? And usually procrastinate emotion is

Aura McKay:

coming from a place of fear. I'm afraid I'm not gonna like it.

Aura McKay:

I'm afraid I'll start it and get distracted. I'm afraid it's

Aura McKay:

going to be a waste of my time. I'm afraid whatever it like

Aura McKay:

there can be an it can be really subtle in terms of what it is

Aura McKay:

that that's causing us to stop it. So I think for me, like once

Aura McKay:

I realized that procrastination wasn't a problem, and it wasn't

Aura McKay:

a flaw, and it wasn't something wrong with me and I wasn't bad.

Aura McKay:

It was like a symptom. It was like a headache or like, oh,

Aura McKay:

there's a rock in my shoe, I need to look at it. It gave me

Aura McKay:

way different access to being able to get curious about my

Aura McKay:

behavior and what was behind the behavior. Okay, so

Janice Porter:

going on that theory? I certainly am. Now I've

Janice Porter:

opened that door of that challenge to read the book. If I

Janice Porter:

don't like the book, I won't continue it, because, but I'm

Janice Porter:

liking it. So far. I'm liking the way that she's writing it.

Janice Porter:

And I think, for me, if it was anything, why I procrastinate is

Janice Porter:

because I feel so short of time for all the amazing things that

Janice Porter:

are out there that is this the thing I should focus on? Yeah,

Janice Porter:

much better to focus on People Magazine. Yeah.

Aura McKay:

This is the thing though, Janet. No, I don't

Aura McKay:

remember that. The second thing that I really help people with

Aura McKay:

is sort of that self management time management mindset

Aura McKay:

management thing. One of the biggest access points to

Aura McKay:

understanding your relationship with time is to start looking at

Aura McKay:

your time not on a day to day basis, not in a 24 hour chunk.

Aura McKay:

But to look at it in terms of a week, you have 168 hours in a

Aura McKay:

week, and start to do start to do a breakdown. Okay, I want to

Aura McKay:

I usually I want to sleep eight hours, but it's usually six, or

Aura McKay:

how long am I in bed, and just start to look at it. And some of

Aura McKay:

my people who are the most overwhelmed and burnt out, are

Aura McKay:

trying to do 175 hours worth of stuff in 168. Some of my people

Aura McKay:

who are most afflicted by procrastination, find that they

Aura McKay:

only actually are filling 150 hours with intention. And that

Aura McKay:

there are all of these ghost hours that just seem to

Aura McKay:

disappear. And once they're aware of it, they can make more

Aura McKay:

intentional choices.

Janice Porter:

That's really a great lesson. So here you are

Janice Porter:

coaching me and thank you for that. I find that very

Janice Porter:

interesting. I might do

Aura McKay:

FYI, when I when I binge watch, because I totally

Aura McKay:

binge watch my schedule. I have I booked time for it, because I

Aura McKay:

know I'm gonna do it anyways. I binge watch Home Improvement

Aura McKay:

shows. Oh, I love those two. Yeah. And what I really like

Aura McKay:

about it when I'm watching them is it's not completely zoned

Aura McKay:

out, because what I watch about them is I pay attention to

Aura McKay:

there's the home rental person. And then there's the client. And

Aura McKay:

the questions that the home rental person asks the client is

Aura McKay:

like doing a creative brief. And it's it's really doing a needs

Aura McKay:

discovery. It's like a sales call. And then when I noticed

Aura McKay:

throughout the show is that keep coming back to Oh, you want this

Aura McKay:

outcome. So you know, yeah, we're going to fix all the

Aura McKay:

plumbing. And we're going to do all of this so that you can have

Aura McKay:

your spa bathroom. And finally so it really focuses on outcome

Aura McKay:

based conversations, outcome based cars, like promised

Aura McKay:

watching the twins. I've been watching all of them. I think

Aura McKay:

I'm on repeats for everybody.

Janice Porter:

That's the one they all have. So it's

Aura McKay:

it's really interesting to me to be even

Aura McKay:

just observing, where can I learn about how relationships

Aura McKay:

work in a service based industry? How can I pay

Aura McKay:

attention to what can I take away from what somebody else is

Aura McKay:

doing? I mean, one of the beautiful things I was going to

Aura McKay:

grab it off my my corkboard because it was usually over

Aura McKay:

here, but I moved it. After our first conversation, Janice, you

Aura McKay:

sent me a thank you card. And you personalized the Thank You

Aura McKay:

card. And you created something that I thought like it really

Aura McKay:

made an impact on me. I remembered it I have it saved

Aura McKay:

for me. And it's like that kind of when you can make that kind

Aura McKay:

of connection with someone and then have it have some longevity

Aura McKay:

is super powerful.

Janice Porter:

Thank you. Yes, I agree. I think especially if

Janice Porter:

it's something tactile. Yeah. Because it takes people from

Janice Porter:

their head to their heart. And that's the hope anyway. Okay, so

Janice Porter:

this has been delightful and did I know I was getting Get

Janice Porter:

coaching here. No, I did not. But I

Aura McKay:

did ask permission. I did not, but I hope it's okay.

Aura McKay:

I'm

Janice Porter:

open to it and I love it. So um, I know that you

Janice Porter:

what was I gonna say you have a podcast to your podcast you do

Janice Porter:

solo episodes Correct? Or do you do interviews as well? I'm not

Janice Porter:

sure.

Aura McKay:

I'm only doing solo episodes right now I'm looking

Aura McKay:

at. One of the things that I really love is evidence of

Aura McKay:

awesome and celebrating wins and progress and process and really

Aura McKay:

encouraging ourselves like even when we do something that feels

Aura McKay:

really minor, like, oh, I sent that email. Yeah, I know. Like,

Aura McKay:

I'm really all about that. So I'm looking at possibly in the

Aura McKay:

future, expanding my podcast to include opportunities to feature

Aura McKay:

some of my clients embrace them. At the moment, it's more of kind

Aura McKay:

of like edutainment, I pick specific topics. And I usually

Aura McKay:

give about eight to 10 minutes worth of Bite Size little

Janice Porter:

I saw that I listened to, to one or two and

Janice Porter:

yeah, very useful for your for your target audience for sure.

Janice Porter:

Okay, last question. No second last question. You may or may

Janice Porter:

not have seen on the sheet that I sent you. i And you know this

Janice Porter:

about me already, that I'm a curious person. So I always like

Janice Porter:

to get people's take on curiosity. So it's a two part

Janice Porter:

question. Do you believe that curiosity is innate? Or learned?

Janice Porter:

And part two is what are you most curious about these days?

Aura McKay:

Hmm. So do I believe that curiosity is innate? Or

Aura McKay:

learned? My answer is yes, both. So I feel like all human beings

Aura McKay:

have some curiosity, especially when we're born, because that's

Aura McKay:

how we learn. We get curious about things and we learn. I

Aura McKay:

think that the practice of applying curiosity with

Aura McKay:

intention does take some training. And I think especially

Aura McKay:

for adults, playing with what if rather than having to know, I

Aura McKay:

think adults are really uncomfortable with uncertainty.

Aura McKay:

And I think curiosity lives in uncertainty and getting. So

Aura McKay:

getting comfortable with being uncertain. So you can be

Aura McKay:

practicing curiosity, that I think is the difficult thing for

Aura McKay:

my clients is that uncertainty feels like anxiety. And I don't

Aura McKay:

know, and it kind of stops them and they get really fixed in the

Aura McKay:

uncertainty and don't can't really access curiosity without

Aura McKay:

maybe help. And I think that that's the really key piece is

Aura McKay:

that as solopreneurs or when you're by yourself, it's hard to

Aura McKay:

ask those curiosity questions and get new answers. Also,

Janice Porter:

though, having a comfortable array, a strong

Janice Porter:

sense of curiosity helps you with what you talked about

Janice Porter:

earlier, right in, in finding out from your client, what they

Janice Porter:

really want, and also what they need, because sometimes those

Janice Porter:

are different, and being able to pull that out of them. So yeah,

Janice Porter:

fair enough. And

Aura McKay:

what do you think that there's a lot of blocks to

Aura McKay:

curiosity, like, Oh, I'm not here to get curious, I can't ask

Aura McKay:

questions about my client, because it's gonna make me look

Aura McKay:

stupid, or like, I don't know what I'm talking about. So I

Aura McKay:

think that there's, I think the practice of curiosity as an

Aura McKay:

adult, and the practice of curiosity, in sales and in

Aura McKay:

business, is something that isn't innate, that how to do it

Aura McKay:

in a way that you feel comfortable with that, that

Aura McKay:

comes across as professional and that gets you the kind of

Aura McKay:

information that you need to move forward is something that

Aura McKay:

needs to be trained. And that's definitely part of how I focus.

Aura McKay:

So yes, it may and entering and then then that the last question

Aura McKay:

you asked, which is what am I currently curious about?

Aura McKay:

long I'm gonna share what's really on my mind, and what's

Aura McKay:

what's really personal, it's not about my business right now. I

Aura McKay:

have external forces that are happening and things that are

Aura McKay:

out of my control. My family member, one of my family members

Aura McKay:

is quite ill and got quite ill quite suddenly and will likely

Aura McKay:

pass in the next three to four days. And so my curiosity is a

Aura McKay:

place where I can lean into as a safe place to swim right now is

Aura McKay:

to okay, I can be curious about what is this process going to

Aura McKay:

look like and where what kind of resources can I get to and who

Aura McKay:

can I turn to support and How do other people are in this. So I

Aura McKay:

think that what I'm curious about is less important than

Aura McKay:

having curiosity as a tool to lean into.

Janice Porter:

Wow, that's huge. Thank you for sharing that. I

Janice Porter:

appreciate that. Because that that's a big message there. All

Janice Porter:

right, let's take the last question as knowing how

Janice Porter:

passionate you are about your work, and I see that I can tell

Janice Porter:

that your clients are probably really loyal clients, and lean

Janice Porter:

on everything that you tell them, I can just feel the

Janice Porter:

connection, the relationship that you have with them is

Janice Porter:

important. What would be one piece of advice you could share

Janice Porter:

with my audience before we wrap up about this?

Aura McKay:

Okay. So I'm going to share my core message for

Aura McKay:

success, which no matter what industry you're in, or where

Aura McKay:

you're at, and whatever phase of life you're in, or whatever

Aura McKay:

you're doing is what are the three core beliefs that are

Aura McKay:

going to help you be successful. And the first core belief is

Aura McKay:

around hope and possibility that you have to believe that success

Aura McKay:

is possible. And I think that this is what we were speaking

Aura McKay:

around earlier about the core messages that are like, Oh,

Aura McKay:

starving artists. And if you're creative, you'll never word and

Aura McKay:

all of this, this stuff. So changing that mindset, and being

Aura McKay:

able to believe that it is possible. And then the second

Aura McKay:

piece is that it's possible for you. There's all this like, oh,

Aura McKay:

other people can do it, oh, other people have more better,

Aura McKay:

different, whatever it is, but I can't because I have lack and

Aura McKay:

insufficiency and whatever. So really believing that success is

Aura McKay:

possible that it's possible for you. And then the final one,

Aura McKay:

which is the one that speaks to your relationship with numbers,

Aura McKay:

is that success is worth it, that it's worth it, to look at

Aura McKay:

the numbers and do the number part and be uncomfortable and be

Aura McKay:

in a place that's not your zone of genius, and really getting

Aura McKay:

connected to why it's worth it. Wow,

Janice Porter:

those are amazing. I appreciate that. So

Janice Porter:

good. And I thank you for being here and for, for sharing all of

Janice Porter:

your I love having conversations with new people that I've only

Janice Porter:

met briefly because so much more comes out. And I want to hear so

Janice Porter:

much more from you next time I talk to you kind of thing. So

Janice Porter:

thank you again, or for being on the show. I have the information

Janice Porter:

of where people can reach you, your website, business of

Janice Porter:

creativity.ca We'll put all of that and you have a YouTube

Janice Porter:

channel. You're on LinkedIn and you have a podcast. We'll put

Janice Porter:

all that in the show notes. Right and thank you to my

Janice Porter:

audience for being here for being loyal to me and for

Janice Porter:

listening. Please let us know that you enjoyed the episode by

Janice Porter:

leaving a positive review. We appreciate that and remember to

Janice Porter:

stay connected and be remembered

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