The Quantum Leap From 75K to 400K with Lashay Lewis

Lashay: [00:00:00] One of the keys to my growth has been community, right? So when I say community, I don't necessarily mean like, Oh, create a circle account and throw everybody in it. It's like community is wherever you and your crew hang at, right?
So it's like I make people feel a part of something and again, goes back to The in house market is not having that voice. It's just making people feel like you're a part of something, building a real brand, being relatable with people, not being a perfectionist, you know, understanding that all of this is a part of the process.
Dustin: Welcome back to seven figure leap, another amazing guest. If you can believe it, probably I hate to say this because a lot of my clients listen to this podcast, but probably my favorite client, or at least one of my favorite case studies, Lashay Lewis is joining us today. And if you've been following me for any time, you've probably seen Lashay's story.
but today we're gonna go a lot deeper and get the real story and not just the, you know, LinkedIn summary version of, let's say his journey over the [00:01:00] last couple of years. but let's say super grateful to have you here. I'd love for you to just take a few minutes here. Introduce yourself to the audience and give us a snapshot of what you're up to today in your business.
Lashay: Well, Dustin, first of all, thank you. Super grateful to be, uh, back where it all started at. But, um, so basically what I do now is I am a B to B consultant and I run a content strategy consultancy and, I got my start back in, was, but it was like 15 years ago.
Dustin: No. Wow. Okay.
Lashay: Yes. And I was about 15 years old.
And so now y'all know my age. But I started building affiliate websites and, started teaching myself content strategy. I took a heavy interest in that at a young age. Entrepreneurship in general at a young age. so I started building these websites and teaching myself content strategy. In the midst of that, I was teaching myself, what a [00:02:00] top mid and bottom of funnel strategy is and what it meant. I didn't know at the time, but it kind of formulated into my career as an adult. So, like, once I got my early twenties, I started working at content
marketing agencies, moving around a little bit. I eventually in my later twenties went in house and started doing content marketing that way.
But after a certain point in time, I was just like, you know what? I'm tired of trying to, like, get my thoughts across in house and people, like, not, understanding what I want to do. Even across agencies, too, Dustin, It was, difficult to get people to take me seriously. And I don't know if I was, because I'm young, if it was a race thing.
I have no idea. But, um, it was almost like people didn't take me seriously enough. So at that point, I decided to, take a step out on my own. And all of that led to me running a consultancy. And the cool thing is that the moment I stepped out on my own, that's when everything changed.
So [00:03:00] when I was in house, you know, I was telling people, you know, anybody that knows me or follows my content knows I'm a, Bofu specialist. But you know, when I was trying
Dustin: funnel for those
Lashay: bottom a funnel, okay, so for anybody that doesn't know, Bofu is an acronym for bottom of funnel, and it's just a representation of where somebody mentally is in the buyer's journey, right?
So top of funnel, meaning high level awareness, middle funnel. They know a little bit about their problem, but totally not sure. And then bottom of funnel, they're problems aware. That's what I focus on again, because that's where I bring the value and when I was in house, I was trying to tell the people in house like we need to focus on this thing right here.
Because when I was working across agencies, they didn't want to focus on conversions. They wanted to focus on other what other people call vanity metrics, which is like, you know, clicks and impressions and all this other stuff. but The moment I stepped out on my own and I started putting my thoughts on the Internet, specifically LinkedIn, [00:04:00] that's when everything changed.
I started, gaining a following and people were interested in the topic because they never heard anybody talk about it in this way before. I also think something else that's interesting is, in a way, I felt like I became voice for the voiceless in house marketers and not that they're voiceless, but it's like they probably feel that way.
they want their thoughts, considered and their strategies considered and things like that. And it's like, I'm that voice for everybody might be still in house that maybe articulate or get their thoughts across how they want to to executive leadership. So I think that's one of the bigger reasons for growth, probably.
But that's my story. I've been, uh,
Dustin: That's amazing.
Lashay: stuff since a youngin.
Dustin: So we're going to come back and dig into the more recent history and sort of like how we cross paths and what's happened since then, but, uh, we're going to I want to go back a little bit and this, I don't know if anyone's ever asked you this question, and maybe this feels like totally normal to you, but I've never met a 15 year old, especially 15 years ago when it was all newer.
who's like, and you know, I started doing affiliate marketing websites. [00:05:00] So did you come from a family of entrepreneurship? Did this come from a lack and like, No one's giving me any money. I got to go figure out how to hustle. Like what brought you into entrepreneurship as a teenager? Cause that's a pretty, that's a pretty unique story that from the people I've interviewed,
Lashay: That's a great question. I do feel like some of it is, if I say hereditary, but it's like, that does play into it a little bit. I think what's More interesting is that I knew at a very young age that I did not want to work a nine to five type of job. I seen, family members work up until they're 60 and 50 and it's like they get this, this pension and to me, it's What they deserve for the amount of work that they put in and I'm just like, no, like, I don't want that and a part of me thought like, well, am I lazy?
Like, is that why I don't want to go to work? But as I started, you know getting a little
Dustin: assure you, as we're going to get into the Lachey story, she is the opposite of lazy. So, yeah.
Lashay: that's a good point [00:06:00] and we'll come back. But at the time I'm like, am I lazy? Like do I just not have the work ethic? Do I not want to like, what is it? But I knew and I was very intentional about Not working for somebody else. So at the time, you know, I was, again, going through stuff,
trying to figure stuff out, building websites on my own and, after school and stuff like that.
But yeah, I think it's because my intention was very strong from the beginning that I did not want to work for anybody else. And it was almost too strong because sometimes You have to take one step to get to the other one to get to the other one. But me, I didn't see that.
I'm just like, I'm down here. I want to be up here, right? So, I don't know, it was ingrained in me from a very young age. I've been playing with computers since I was like four or five years old. And then, again, dabbling in the, coding and the website stuff when I was 15 and then got deep into content strategy at that time.
And it just Evolved a [00:07:00] funny way. But now that I think about it, everything that I did back then ties back to what I'm doing now. that's the reason for, digging a little deeper in and it's, it's always really insightful to hear the highlights of people's journey, but also like starting to. Just reflect on like, why, like, you know what, I don't never really thought about why I love to tinker with computers or why at age 15, I was starting businesses or why decided at such an early age that I was not going to work a nine to five because I had a completely opposite experience.
Dustin: Right. And it's just interesting because it has a lot to do with our family of origin and just, I think our unique God given gifts and abilities. but many times it's awareness, Turns out I love entrepreneurship. I'm really good at it, but I don't think I ever heard the word to like college.
It was not even a concept for me. Like, because of that, now I'm super passionate about helping younger entrepreneurs and getting involved in like my kid's schools and they have entrepreneurship programs and my kids all have had businesses. And so the corrective action for, something I lacked.
And so, just love to hear more about that. So something else I think is really. The, I love about you, Lachey, and [00:08:00] it speaks to your work ethic. Can you just give us a snapshot of your family? A lot of people don't really bring that up in the context of entrepreneurship, but I think it's important that people understand that you're not just like some single woman who works really hard.
you're actually supporting a bigger picture here.
Lashay: Yes. So, for anybody that doesn't know already, I do have four children and I have to build and grow a business and manage things around them. and I think it's interesting because, and I understand why, but a lot of Older adults kind of like look down on younger people for having kids young. And I'm not saying people should have kids young, I'm not saying. but it's like after I had my kids, it was even more of an incentive of me not wanting to go to work for anybody else. Right? Because I'm like, I got to spend time with my kids.
Like, I want to take them places. I want to I just can't put a price on going somewhere, on a Wednesday afternoon. You know what I mean? And it's not a lot of people. It's I'm introverted. Y'all. So [00:09:00] not a lot of people, you know, you get to kind of enjoy me. Your surroundings and it's just different.
You know what I mean? So it's like, honestly, kids were a huge incentive for me And I tell people all the time. I'm like, I don't even know if I would have made it this far if it wasn't for them. Because again, when I wanted to give up, I'm like, no, no, no. I remember how it was with me when I was little and too much work and not enough time with, you know what I mean?
So it's like, I want to change that narrative. Also, growing up in Baltimore City, lot of impoverished neighborhoods, a lot of things like that. So I'm like, I want different for my family. As far as I can remember, there have been no millionaires up until this point. I would love to be the first.
Dustin: You will be, I feel very strongly that you will be.
Lashay: yeah, and, you know, It shows your children as well, what work ethic looks like, but not just from a point of working for somebody else, but taking their lives into their own hands and saying like, Oh, you know, do [00:10:00] this cause the kids come in and they watch me do visuals and they want to learn.
And, think it's just so valuable. And it's not that I'm like crapping on nine to fives or anything like that. Like I had to, and I think this is something good too. Like I had to take a step back to take a step forward. So. Maybe three years ago, I wanted to work for this really prominent content marketing agency, and I didn't get a job.
Wound up making the cut and I was so heartbroken about that. Honestly, that's how everything blossomed to what it is right now. Like that single moment Like sent me into a spiral a good one though. but
Dustin: That's great. Actually, great. of what I've been digging after. It's like, so, you got this story growing up the Baltimore city environment. this idea that there's never been a millionaire in your family. Then you start having kids at a young age, which is something I did as well.
I think people underestimate who haven't done that. both the, it's like the positive pressure, right? It's pressure. Uh, it's definitely stressful, but it's like super motivating as [00:11:00] well. And I think When you're in the lowest of lows and you got a little one looking over your shoulder, it's like, okay, I gotta do this.
You know? It's like,
Lashay: have
Dustin: don't have a choice anymore. , you know?
Lashay: Great way to put it like when you're at the lowest of lows because again when I didn't get that job at that agency that was like a low low and I was like, uh, The only good thing about hitting rock bottom is that you can only go up from there. Right. So, you know, sat and cried on the side of my bed cause I didn't get the position or whatever.
And, my husband was like, okay, let's just take a step back, go back to a nine to five type of job. Luckily I was so blessed to get such an amazing job, where I had an amazing manager and it was very autonomous. It allowed me time to work on the thing that I wanted to work on and it took maybe like a year and a half for me to like get in the groove of working on my own thing outside of the nine to five.
But I was like, you know what? The skills that I'm trying to take to the open market is what I was doing at the nine to five. Not exactly. It was SEO related, but it wasn't B to [00:12:00] B sass related. But I was able to take that step back to take that step forward. And again, going back to what I was telling you before, you've got to like take one step at a time.
When I was 15, I wanted to start here and jump up here. So when I had to go back to that nine to five, I felt like, It was veering me off track. I'm like, ah, I want to be an entrepreneur. Like that path is this way. But like I said, on a pod the other day, I'm like, the destination remains the same.
The path is fluid, right? So you don't know exactly what's going to happen, how it's going to happen. And that's okay. That's something I really, really struggled with. I struggled with the how and obsessing over the how, okay, how am I going to do this? How am I going to do that? and then the moment I let go of the how, and then just took.
One foot in front of the other one, things started, it's crazy. It's almost like things start aligning in your favor when you speak it. And when you write it down, those are like the two biggest things for sure.
Dustin: perfect segue because I, [00:13:00] honestly never had this conversation with Lash, so it's fun for me personally to hear the journey, because where we're gonna go now is. When I first discovered Lachey and where she first discovered me was last year, basically, or maybe the end of the prior year.
But in 2023, our paths cross. And I usually start these episodes by talking about how we met. I purposely didn't do that because I wanted to save it and let you share it. Cause I think you have a little deeper perspective on it than, my experience with it. So let's say, do you mind just kind of like jumping forward to how our paths crossed and then we'll kind of dig into our time working together and what happened when we met.
From there, that's really catapulted you to where you are today. So yeah. Can you take us back to when you met this Dustin guy?
Lashay: yeah, so I met this Dustin guy, whoever he is. I met him maybe, well, then here's the thing I knew about you years before I reached out. and I was so fascinated with your story, with fire Creek snacks.
Dustin: Okay.
Lashay: About how you grew that and you were saying like, oh, you know, I, did guest [00:14:00] podcasting and this and this and that.
And from that point, I was obsessed you know, again, I followed you around a little bit, but it was like you, weren't out there, out there alone, standalone yet. fast forward two to four years later possibly, and I'm scrolling on Linked. Yeah. It was a minute, and I'm scrolling on LinkedIn and I'm like, wait a minute, this guy looks familiar and I know his name, Dustin Reichman, who's, wait a minute, and then I click on your profile and you're like.
I teach people how to become profitable podcast guests. And I'm like, Whoa, immediately. Yes. Like this is what I need. So at that point, I honestly, I didn't need to be sold. and again, I knew podcasting was the strategy I wanted to do, which is insane because I didn't like being on camera.
at a certain time, I didn't even like the sound of my own voice. so I'm like, how am I gonna get on podcast? How am I gonna? how am I gonna do this? But something was calling me to not just reach out to you, but for this specific strategy, like the podcast [00:15:00] guesting thing. So I'm like, let me reach out to him.
Let me talk to him. from my perspective, it was really wild. So I just finished the first cohort of the podcast profits accelerator, which is our flagship program. And this was January, 2023. the thing's full, the next one is full, right? When we start on Thursday morning and it's Wednesday, as I recall this, right?
Dustin: And so like, it's this direct message from Lachey and she's like, I had this, question for you, about like actually a different coaching program, one that I had been in that she had seen my name. And I'm like, well, do you have time at like five 30? Like I've got calls all day. And so we just hopped on a call and she's like, This is so weird.
Like I've known of you for a while and I've been working a second job. I've been saving money because I've been looking for the right, like coaching investment. is there any way I could work with you? And I'm like, well, sure. I guess if we can handle 12, we can handle 13.
Right. So I was like, we start tomorrow though. And she's like, that's cool. so, yeah, was like, wow, this is the easiest sale ever, but it turned out to be like, Just this incredible blessing in my life because of what Lachey brought to me and what she meant to the group and the relationships that [00:16:00] formed in that group.
one of the most powerful groups of people I've ever been around, including Lachey. So, did I kind of recap moment? that's how I recalled it.
Lashay: you did. And you talked about something I didn't mention either, which was when I did reach out to you. I did have two jobs because at the time I couldn't get past a 75 K a year ceiling. It was like that was my cap. Mind you, I had already 10 plus years of experience doing the thing, So I'm like, okay, I don't know if it's me or am I not asking enough.
But even when I asked, it was like, oh, the economy, this inflation, that was always a reason not to give me what I deserved. But I got that second job in January of 2023 was that like a small digital marketing agency and I hated it so bad. the work was so boring and repetitive and I'm like, I am not fulfilled from this.
But again, I had something telling me like, you know what? Don't even spend this money. All [00:17:00] this money that you're making from the second job, like just save it and put it away. And when I tell you, it was almost down to the exact dollar that I saved. you can't make this up.
It's so funny. the thing is. The sale was, I know you said from your end, the sale was easy, but it was easy because I was already, there was no selling involved, right? I already knew who I wanted to work with and I knew what my intention
was. There was a gap between my knowledge where I wanted to be, and where I was at.
And I knew you could help me fill that gap because you had done it for yourself. You had did it for Firecreek Snacks and was very successful with that. And I had been following your story there. So I'm like, yeah, this is what this money was. Saved for the stuff I went through with that job. It was all for this moment right here.
So when you were
Dustin: on me, but
Lashay: well,
I try.
Dustin: good news is it actually worked out. so you want to give us I know we have a whole episode just about like the experience and the accelerator and some of the changes that happened for you and some of the relationships that form, but [00:18:00] can you try to get like the two minute summary of just what happened for you when you joined that group and you're in there for those three months and
Lashay: Uh, so much. So first of all, I thought the biggest value, so I got so much value, but the biggest value I thought I was going to get was the tactical strategy stuff. Cause you know me, I love tactical and I'm just like, Ooh, I can't
wait to see the templates and the frameworks. And you know, this, this and that come to find out again, destination is the same.
Path is different, the destination was me learning how to do podcast guesting The value I got from the accelerator was so unmatched. The value came from the people that were in there with me. Right. And I always got to take it back to this time where I got super emotional on one of the calls because I felt.
It was so crazy. I still get chills thinking about it. I felt the breakthrough about to happen. It was literally like right here and I was stepping into it and I had people to help me and hold my [00:19:00] hand to walk me into this journey. You know what I mean? Because it was 10 plus years of falling in my face, failing, failing, failing, failing.
And I had little tiny successes in between. But it was like this was gonna be the biggest success I had ever This is going to be huge. And I had so much love and support surrounding me. And it was overwhelming to the point where I couldn't even, I just couldn't hold it in. but biggest value I got out of that accelerator was the people.
The second biggest value piece was the templates and the frameworks and everything that you offered. It was like, it was amazing. It's an experience I'll never forget. That's for sure.
Dustin: if I'm a given observation, I actually think the biggest value that I observed was your mindset shift and the self belief. And I remember that It's like, I'll never forget the moment, when you express that we were just like having a hot open kind of hot seat time. you said something to the effect of like, y'all, I feel like I belong for the first time.
And, you were crying and I was crying and it's not the only time tears have been shed in the, program, but it was definitely one of the more memorable [00:20:00] ones. And what was really remarkable to me was in practice, nothing had actually happened yet. Right. It's not like you had
Lashay: No, I didn't even reach out to my first pod yet. Like it was crazy. Yes.
Dustin: there was an internal change that happened and you believed it for the first time, I think that like fully believed it and felt this community support around you and you knew you had a proven system you could follow. So, I
mean, it's not like it's just one thing, but like when I recap your story for people, I'm like, there's like a lightning bolt moment where there was this like self belief and it was like.
Determination and clarity. There you go. Yeah. She got the lightning bolt on if watching the video version.
Lashay: you go.
Dustin: All right. So we'll keep moving back. love that part of the story. So yeah. So then you hadn't actually pitched a podcast yet. And then tell us a little bit more on the practical side of what happened when you pitched a few podcasts and then like the big moment that really changed everything.
I'll let you share that with the audience.
Lashay: So, after all that stuff, after the amazing crew of people I was with, you know, I said, okay, [00:21:00] let me start actually reaching out to some of these podcasts and let's see what happens. So I started reaching out. I reached out to maybe like 3, 4, 5 different pods.
Everybody said, Oh, come back later. Not right now. Because again, I had maybe 1, 500 followers on LinkedIn. nobody knew who I was or anything like that. So naturally, they're gonna be like, gosh, you but it was like that sixth podcast I reached out to, and I was just feeling good one day.
I was just like, you know what? I feel really good. Let me reach out to this guy. I engage with him a little bit on LinkedIn. I don't know if he really knows who I am, but I reached out to him. I had had a post go a little bit viral on LinkedIn, maybe like 260 likes of a dashboard I had put together.
Again, learning from you, I referenced that in the pitch email and I listed things that I wanted to talk about. On the pod. And I was like, you know what? I'm gonna hit send on this. And I said something a little bit corny at the end or something like if you shoot for the moon, your land on a star or something like [00:22:00] that.
it was really genuine. And I kid you not less than 30 minutes later, I got a response. And he was like, I would love to have you. And we booked it from there. But I think the most amazing part about all this is that it was Dave Gearhart at Exit 5, and that is the biggest B2B podcast in the space.
and then from that point, my life changed drastically from there. And the cool thing is that, The podcast recording was a week after the last accelerator session. So and again, I have calendar screenshot that I share with people and I'm just like, it's amazing how all of this was so orchestrated.
Dustin: I love that. of course, I say that screenshot, but you can imagine like your Google calendar. And at the top is the last sessions, like it says, podcasts, properties, accelerator, and at the bottom of the same screenshot is recording exit
Lashay: that's literally the value of, [00:23:00] well, I can't even say summed up cause again, the people were the biggest value, but That one screenshot sums up how powerful. Not just the people are in the accelerator, but how powerful you are and how you're able to articulate how to do this properly. And it's like the hilarious thing.
And I loved stories like this. The podcast I had reached out to before his that told me no. Two, three months later, circle back around like, Oh, we would love to have you. We would love to get you on. And I'm just like, Oh, sweet redemption. But
Dustin: You're like, maybe I'll think about it. I'll, consider coming Lashay: about it. I gotta let you sit on that a little bit.
But no,
Dustin: with me later.
Lashay: I'm famous now. No, it was amazing. And it just really just, uh, it just really all came together how it was supposed to. And I tell people like all the time, like, just because somebody tells, you know, doesn't mean, The answer is no. The only no that matters is the one you tell yourself.
So I think that's really important. But that's it. [00:24:00] It just came together so beautifully. that was last year. again, I want to make sure I'm really clear about this. I am not taking credit for Lachey's hard work and all the reps you put in and all the knowledge and all the experience. However, I feel like it was like, The perfect healthy storm that we met at the moment, right?
Dustin: So she had said she hadn't broke through 75 K a year. She took it on a second job to invest in herself then we meet and then she has some of these,
mindset breakthroughs and she gets clarity. And then she has the courage again, given her full credit to take the proven template, but personalize it and send it to one of the biggest influencers in her space, lands the interview.
you can imagine from there, the interview goes amazing. She gets lots of clients. She's become a repeat guest. She's like, there's a lot more to this story that we won't get into all those details, but what I would love to the before and after, like a year ago to today, let's share whatever numbers you feel comfortable with.
can give us order of magnitude, but from not 75 K a year and having to take multiple jobs, what's Lachey's work life and business looking like today.
Lashay: So I went from [00:25:00] being stuck at a 75 K a year ceiling to making fluctuates a little bit, but anywhere between 400 a year. And that started with one pod and not to say that that's going to be the case for everybody. Honestly, I wasn't expecting that to be the case for me. I was willing to put in the work and I thought I was going to start on some small pods and work my way up.
And that was the plan. But it just goes to show that. Again, just because somebody tells, you know, or multiple people tell, you know, it really, and again, I don't want to misconstrue, but it really only takes that one to really change your whole life. and like you said, I've been asked to come on multiple times.
My episode is in the top five for most listened. And, It's just an amazing thing. And also this has been amazing exposure therapy. Right? So again, I didn't want to be on video. I didn't want to be on camera. I didn't want to talk. But when you force yourself to take that step out there and then you hear all the so much love from people.
In my circumstance, I know [00:26:00] people say, Oh, you have to believe in yourself before other people believe in you. It was actually the opposite for me. well, you helped me at least get that foundation where the point, like can do this so much love and support from other people. It's like.
Other people support me so much. I really almost don't have a choice to support myself like because at this point I'm letting other people down if I don't. Right. So, It has changed my life in more ways than one. Again, insecurities, all types of things. it's not just the money aspect, it's the community.
So many amazing people that I've met, I've even met my best friend from being on Dave's pod, you know what I mean? So it's like so much added benefit, but, it's been. An amazing experience. And Dustin, I know you're gonna love this one. I tell everybody I talked to. I've made a lot of investments over the past year.
I've aggressively reinvested in my business. I'm gonna slow down a little bit in 2024. Enjoy, you know, have some fun. But your accelerator investment was single handedly the [00:27:00] biggest ROI I've gotten on any thing. And I've made some big investments, but yours, the ROI is I can't even put a price on it.
Um, I've gotten so many clients from podcasting, guest podcasting. They come in from everywhere. They said, Oh, I heard you when I was on a walk and then I Googled you and then this, this and that. And I'm just like, Whoa, at a certain point, I was like, I can't keep track all this. I'm just like, okay, if you heard me
from a pod, awesome.
I'm going to attribute it Justin, whatever, but yes, it's been, it's been amazing.
Dustin: mean, that's so cool. and I didn't invite Lashay here just to brag on her experience, but really to highlight, happens when you invest in yourself and you find yourself with people that can give you connection and clarity and self belief, and then you take that bold action, It's amazing.
she's literally in this moment, a 10 X leap, right? We talked a lot about the seven figure leap and making quantum leaps through relationships. And a lot of times that can sound a little theoretical. this is like a real amazing person with four kids, doing the thing. And in [00:28:00] a year's time made a 10 X leap.
And. We'll continue to. I'm sure. So, let's say this has been awesome. We have about five minutes. and you have so much to share. have to have you back on. We'll just do a whole
strategy session, talk about social media, but we kind of talked a little bit before we started recording. You've got to follow Lachey Lewis on LinkedIn.
She's got amazing content, great visuals. She's just wonderful strategist. And, and we have, it looks like we have 169 mutual connections. So she runs with good people. However, would like for you just to touch on what you've done to grow your LinkedIn, but then talk about what's next for your social media strategy, because I think it's really important, context for people who are maybe fully invested in one platform only.
Lashay: Yeah. So I would say start with one platform and really dial it in. obviously I'm a little bit biased, but I think LinkedIn is the best platform to start on the organic reaches. Still, it's not as good as it used to be, but it's still not as bad as Twitter or some other social platforms. Your target audience is probably all over LinkedIn.
It's a way for you to connect with [00:29:00] founders and peers and things like that. And I think One of the keys to my growth has been community, right? So when I say community, I don't necessarily mean like, Oh, create a circle account and throw everybody in it. It's like community is wherever you and your crew hang at, right?
So it's like I make people feel a part of something and again, goes back to The in house market is not having that voice. It's just making people feel like you're a part of something, building a real brand, being relatable with people, not being a perfectionist, you know, understanding that all of this is a part of the process.
Inflection periods, is really a good key. So it's like I'm going through things. I don't tell people two or three or four years later, like, Oh, this thing worked. I do something this week and I'm gonna tell you next week. This is how it worked. Here's how you need to do it. So I think Just being relatable and just, periods of inflection and just understanding that you're here to build community, is going to be extremely important.
And once you start really focusing on that, the leads, the [00:30:00] sales, the notoriety, the influence, all of that stuff follows behind good intention. Yeah,
Dustin: Love that. Yeah. We had a mastermind session last week and Sean Anthony who, I think Asha knows well, another star on LinkedIn. so Sean was a, a guest expert in our mastermind. He was talking about, he's like, all I do, cause he seems so prolific, like daily emails, daily LinkedIn, daily, you know, Instagram.
He's like, all I do is do stuff and then tell people what I did or show them what I'm doing in real time. He's like, I don't have like. A plan or like a strategy. And then I love that you kind of shared the same thing. It's like when I do something and it works, I just recap it for people and people love that.
So think a, just in time teaching a strategy behind social media, especially LinkedIn is super powerful. and so you're doing so well on LinkedIn. Why not just camp out on LinkedIn forever? what's next for you on social media and why
Lashay: Well, the reason I don't want to camp on linked in forever because it's somebody else's platform. It's not mine. So in the process of being on pods and talking to people and [00:31:00] building community, I've built an email list of 2000 plus people and maybe like a little under a year. so a part of that again is
to get people off of another social platform because you don't know how the algorithm is going to go.
It's very unpredictable. but I think another reason is LinkedIn or any social network can also be a little bit of a hamster wheel where you have to continue to publish in order to get a result. Although I will say, it's very helpful and it teaches you a lot of skills. It teaches you how to be concise, how to get your point across, how to sell, how to communicate, but I'm moving to YouTube and the reason I'm going to move over to YouTube first is because Well, it's owned by Google, obviously, but it has that sticky effect right where it's like you create one piece of content. It ranks for a certain keyword or a certain term, and you continue to get traffic from that months, years down the line. So I think it's important to once you find Either your service market fit or if you're building a product, a product market fit, [00:32:00] then distribution comes into play.
The problem is people try to go for distribution before they found their fit and then they get overwhelmed and then they start stressing out. But the thing is, you need to focus on one core platform until you figure out your positioning and your messaging. And once you have those things dialed in and you're selling pretty good, Then you take it to another platform and repurpose what you put on the first platform that worked and you put it on the second platform.
So my YouTube is just really going to be repurposed content of my visuals and good things that have worked on LinkedIn. I'm going to take it on video because apparently people like to see me on video and pods and stuff like that. So, yeah, that's, uh, that's the plan. And then from there it'll go to blog.
Again, repurpose what's worked on LinkedIn and YouTube, take it over to the blog and, you know, everything ties together. Yeah.
Dustin: I love it. I'm basically doing the same thing. So I've kind of had this. Three legged stool, a podcast guesting, my email list and LinkedIn, not nearly the LinkedIn star that Lachey is, but I do get a lot of [00:33:00] value out of it and building relationships. I've just got onto YouTube in part because I launched this podcast a few months ago and I'm like, well, I got all this amazing content and it can be repurposed in so many ways.
So I literally just met with my VA team yesterday about starting to repurpose and having some blog content for the website. And so this is all part of something I teach and anyone that was maybe saw me presented traffic and conversion summit or podfest. I talked about a profitable podcast, guesting flywheel effect.
And what's really awesome. I think about podcasting in particular and YouTube is basically, an effective solo or sometimes, interview base, but it's basically a video podcast, right? They're very similar in the fact that they're long tail, they're searchable. they're just consumed in different ways for different reasons.
The point is when you're producing that sort of long form educational content, You can make direct sales from it. You can build relationships from it. You can grow your email list from it. There's a lot of great like immediate build your SEO. A lot of great immediate benefits. But a lot of people don't think about is then if you think about like you go around the flywheel and right before you get to where you started, you have a [00:34:00] All this amazing content to repurpose, which makes the flywheel more powerful.
It makes it accelerate. It gives you bigger opportunities to be on bigger platforms with bigger shows. And it's just like, becomes a virtuous cycle. So
Lashay: just to play on that point that you said about the flywheel. It's totally true. every podcast that I have been on since Exit 5, Exit 5 was the last email that I sent to be on anybody's podcast.
Dustin: everything else has been inbound,
Lashay: Everything has been inbound. Yes.
Dustin: Yes. And I'm at the same point that we teach people in the accelerator. It's like, Hey, the flywheel, you got to get it moving, right? And then it's hard to actually get moving initially. And so you got to take some efforts. You got to get clear on your story and your value proposition.
And then you got to be able to write compelling emails. A few, you know, you got to be able to get on a few podcasts or maybe one really impressive one, like cliche, but you usually get on three to five podcasts. This thing's cranking. And then you use that literally just to leverage and spin opportunity up.
And it eventually is going so well that it all becomes inbound. And of course, that's. Kind of where I'm living now too. so it's, beautiful. Let's say that just to
recap your journey today, it's super [00:35:00] inspiring to me. I I'm sure it will be to the audience. so thank you for being you, for being transparent, for just coming on and being vulnerable here, as well as in our time together in the accelerator, cause I love what you're about and, uh, love to call you a friend and a, client.
And, it means a ton to me. some of the things you shared about. ROI and some of the transformations that you've encountered since we were fortunate enough to, uh, not by chance, but by her intention, to make our paths cross a little over a year ago. So we'll say, as we're closing up here, where should people go to find you?
So if they want to hire you or they want to learn from you, what's the next best step for people?
Lashay: Follow me on LinkedIn. everything will be, growing from there. the plan is to start a huge content marketing education company. So I provide a lot of free content. If you want to know about content strategy, just give me a follow on LinkedIn. You won't be disappointed.
Dustin: You will not be disappointed. And, you'll see her name here in the, show title, but it's really simple with Shea Lewis L a S H a Y. Louis, like you would expect, go follow her on LinkedIn. And she's, what you see [00:36:00] here. It's like every day, it's just like an explosion of great ideas, strategy, content, and behind the scenes look at what's really working with content marketing.
So let's say again, grateful for you. Thanks so much for your time today. Lashay: Thank you.
Dustin: All right. And if you're looking for a transformation in your business and your life, I'm not going to promise the same, uh, crazy outcomes that Lachey has enjoyed, but I can promise you a positive ROI and a great experience. So if that's something you want to do and you want to use podcast guesting as the fuel for your flywheel, please come over to sevenfigureleap.
com. Tap on a call with us and let us see how the strategy could work for your business. So until next time, have a great day and we will see you back here on the seven figure leap podcast.