Megan Tobler (00:02.056)
Becky, I didn't tell you this before we hit record today, but as I was preparing for the interview last night, I turned to my husband and I was saying, you know what? I think I'm really going to like this girl. And right before we hit record, we had a really nice conversation and it's proving to be true already. So I'm so pleased to be able to introduce you to the self -starter audience today. So welcome to the podcast.

Becci (00:24.27)
Thank you very much for having me and hopefully by the end you say that you did get on well with me to your husband.

Megan Tobler (00:29.174)
I think it's already in the works here. But for those people that don't know you, Becky, tell us a little bit more about yourself and your business Be Heard Socials.

Becci (00:38.478)
Yeah, of course. So my name is Becky. I am based in Liverpool, which is in the UK. And I run a social media marketing business. So I am a content strategist and organic growth expert. So basically that means I focus on the non -paid side of social media. So it's how to grow on social media without paying for ads and how to get the right content out there to have sort of a holistic approach to your social media.

to get engagement, to get sales, to generate leads, all that kind of stuff. So I've had that business for about four years now, which has been wonderful.

Megan Tobler (01:17.142)
Wonderful. And for everyone that's listening, I think a lot of people are in similar situations as myself where we really don't want to or can't afford to invest in the advertising side. It is more organic. So I think that's where you come into play is really helping people like myself just get the word out organically. But you mentioned you've been doing this for the past four years. What were you doing prior to starting your own business?

Becci (01:41.934)
So prior to that, I had spent 13 years working in universities, so in higher education in the UK. And I supported students over here to run campaigns, to be fairly represented, to get the kind of education system that they wanted. And I absolutely loved it. I loved doing campaigns. I loved getting people excited about stuff.

I also did a lot of education policy. So it was about making sure things were fair and that the students were represented well, basically. And then, so what would it have been? It was in April 2019, so nearly five years ago now. I walked out of that without another job to go to. Basically because, which sounds very impulsive, it wasn't quite as impulsive as it sounds. It was a bit of a perfect storm of...

circumstances that just made life really hard. I had two small children, my husband was going through some really difficult mental health battles, my children have been quite poorly, we just had a lot happened and I was in quite a senior position, I was outwardly very successful, like I had a really senior job, I was on good money, I had a lovely family, I had like a lovely home, you know, all the things if you see it on Facebook it's like, oh aren't they doing well? But I was really miserable.

Like I barely saw my kids. I were like, when I did, I was really stressed because the job was really stressful. Took a lot of it home with me. Um, and yeah, I just got to the point where, I mean, there's obviously a lot behind this. Um, but especially with my husband's mental health battles, I was like, this surely this isn't what life's about. Um, like I loved my job, but yeah, I was just too busy and too stressed and without going into like lots and lots of detail because we don't have the time.

I had a bit of a breakdown and I was just like, you know what? I can't do this anymore. So I left and decided to just sort of have the maternity leave that I'd never really had before and take some time to suss out what I actually really wanted and what made me happy. I'd lost a lot of myself by becoming a mom and all that kind of stuff. And I'd never planned to start a business that was never on the agenda. It was like to kind of take a break and then go back into the world of work, sussing out what I wanted. And...

Becci (04:05.806)
Again, very long story short, one of my friends reached out to me. Well, she reached out on social media actually, and was like, I need a bit of help with my business. Can anyone help me? And we'd sort of got to a point where it was like, right, I need to earn a little bit of money. I need to earn some money from somewhere. So I was like, what help do you need? And it was admin with social media. So I was like, yeah, I can do that. And again, the very short version of the story, the more I worked with her, the more I realized how many transferable skills I had from the marketing role that I'd had in my previous job.

And people started to say to her like, your social media is amazing. Like what are you doing? What's happened to it? And she referred me out to a few people and all of a sudden I had some clients. It kind of, it was before, it was almost a bit backwards. But I was like, oh my God, I think this is going to have to be something. So for a couple of years I did the done for you social media management. And I still do lots of that now. But I also now have a membership because my real passion and joy comes from.

supporting small business owners who can't really afford to outsource, who don't have the teams to implement a lot of the advice that's given to them. And my real joy comes from helping them just navigate social media and make it a little bit more accessible. And I guess it's kind of the rest, as they say, is history. And I feel like I've got, I spent a long time redefining what having it all meant to me, like not feeling like a failure, because I struggled with that quite a lot from walking away from my job. And I feel like...

I mean, it's always a juggle, isn't it? I like having small children. But I've got much more balance now and I'm doing lots of what lights me up, which is really lovely.

Megan Tobler (05:39.766)
Well, first of all, congratulations for really just doing what you needed to do for yourself, because I think that it's really easy to get into the success trap where you think that you have it all. You have the great paycheck, you have the great home on paper. Everything looks amazing on social media. I mean, I know we're talking about social media today, but you see everyone's highlight reel and you're trying to keep up with the Joneses. But what we don't see is really the reality of the behind the scenes is that sometimes we're struggling internally and you listen to yourself.

Becci (06:08.118)
Yes.

Megan Tobler (06:10.134)
And you just did what was best not only for yourself, but for your family. And I think that is really admirable that you really listen to that because it could have been easy to continue going down that path and just really get burnt out. But there's something else that you said that you had a lot of transferable skills. And you were talking about in your prior role, the 13 years, that you were doing a lot of campaigns and you're working in the education space. And what's interesting,

is you were able to take that, those two things, and really apply them to social media. Is that kind of what I'm hearing as well?

Becci (06:44.526)
Yeah. Yeah. And so, I mean, I did a lot, like a lot of our campaigns had a social media element to them. So obviously, I, and we were quite a small team. So I do a lot of the marketing side of it as well. But I think it's really interesting. Like when I, I, like I said, I did struggle a lot with feeling like a failure and people were saying, why don't you do something for yourself? I was like, well, what would I do? And they were like, you're a senior manager in like a small charity. There's tons of stuff that you can do. I was like, no, no, no. And someone said to me, you're really good at social media. And I was like, yeah, well, how am I going to make money from that? But you,

When stuff starts happening, you do have so many transferable skills that you don't realize. And yeah, picking up just a lot of the way that I worked with people and got people to engage with the campaigns we were running, like a lot of that transfers over to social media. But also, I just think, like, thank you for saying what you said, because that's really kind. But I also think, like, it's an interesting one, isn't it? Because I think it even happens in business, and I have to check myself even now a lot with that.

where I look at other people's businesses and you know, they've got six or seven figures or they've got whatever. And you can feel like your business, like it's, I think a lot of what I learned from that and which is a big thing for social media, because like you said, you see people's highlight reels is that comparison thing. Success is for me, I'm very passionate about success being subjective. And it's a bit like I said, like I get a lot of joy working from the, with the small businesses, but every small business is different. So some people have really small kids and.

So the advice I will give them isn't the same as what I'd give to somebody else because it is about what you want your business to be. Some people just want to make enough money to lead like a nice lifestyle and be flexible and have the freedom around their kids. Some people want like the six, seven figures. And I think that's really important. Like not just, I think I learned it from leaving my job, but I have to check myself quite a lot with that now.

And also recognize, you know, from being business owners, we start out doing what we're good at. So I had these transferable skills into engagement and social media, but we pick up so many skills as business owners that we never even dreamt we'd pick up. That we don't give ourselves enough credit for the amount of, the amount of things we could now do and the amount of possibilities that are open to us because we run our own businesses and because we've done all of these different things.

Megan Tobler (09:03.144)
Definitely. And I know you said something about just kind of recognizing the stage of life that you're in. And that brings me to, I had a conversation, you know, we both know Teresa and she was a guest on the podcast. And as you know, I recently had my own child. And when I was interviewing her for the podcast, we were having this similar conversation about just recognizing the stage of life that you're in and giving yourself grace. Because as to your point,

Becci (09:09.228)
Yes.

Becci (09:14.4)
Yeah.

Becci (09:29.934)
Yes.

Megan Tobler (09:31.766)
The comparison game is real and it's really hard not to do that with social media, but recognizing that, you know what, my time is coming, but I really want to be present in this certain situation and I can't get this time back, but I can always do more in the future. And that was something that she really reminded me and something obviously you are in her circle. So you obviously have similar beliefs and values. And that just really is something that even today I still think about on a constant basis because...

as a new mom, I'm not where I want to be as far as a business owner at this point because I had to kind of put that on a back burner to do what I wanted to do as a mom. But it doesn't mean that I'm not going to get there. And it sounds like you were taking very similar approaches to things.

Becci (10:20.686)
Yeah, 100%. And I think Teresa, interestingly, the first podcast of Teresa's I ever listened to was the one about stages of life. And that's what made me love her so much because I don't think I'd ever really heard anyone. Like you just hear people talking about like time management and do this, do that, do whatever. And she was like, actually, well, exactly what you said about the stages of life. And when I started my business and when I left my job, I had, well, when I left my job, I had two children who weren't in school. So they were both under four.

By the time I started my business, one of them was in school, but one of them I still had at home with me. So my business now looks, they're now both in school and have been for a while. So my business now and what I'm able to do now, like with my membership and with various different things, I couldn't have done a few years ago, or I could have done, but I'd have spent no time with them. And I didn't want that because that's why I'd left my job. And in five years time, they're going to be in high school and it'll be completely different again. And I could take my business in all different directions. And so I've done a lot of work with Theresa.

around, Theresa's been amazing for my mindset, that's what I've done a lot of the work with Theresa on, and around values and around my personal mission statement, which is up on my website. And whenever I'm trying to make a decision, my personal mission statement talks about, I will be endlessly ambitious, but never at the expense of what really matters. And what really matters to me is my family and my kids. So I don't want to stop being ambitious. Like becoming a mum doesn't have to stop that.

I can notice red flags now or decide I don't want to work with clients. I'm like, no, actually that doesn't align like with various bits of my personal mission statement. It really helps me make decisions now. And I think I like to think I get that across in the advice I give with social media as well, because it is like, do you know what? I can tell you how to do an all singing or dancing strategy. I can tell you how to do incredible things on social media or...

I can listen to what you actually want from it and go, do you know what, right, here's what you want. You just want a bit of a consistent presence. So here's what you can do. The results might not come as fast, like you might not grow as quickly, but it will fit around your life and you'll grow steadily. And I think that's really, really important. And I get quite frustrated by a lot of the noise from social media experts on social media, telling people what they should do, because I try to never use the word should, because I think it's very unique to the person and what they actually want.

Becci (12:40.558)
And yes, there's things you can do that will help you grow much quicker. But actually, if that doesn't fit in with your stage of life or your lifestyle or whatever it is, then it's not gonna work and you're gonna get fed up with it and you're gonna resent it. And I think for me, it's about making social media, social media, you don't have to see it as a chore. It can be quite enjoyable, but it's about getting comfortable with sort of what's right for you. So.

I always laugh that when someone asks me a question, I ask 10 questions back before I answer it, because I want my answer to be quite bespoke to that person and that person's business. And yeah, so I'm quite big on that. And that is one of the reasons I love Theresa, because she is also very, very passionate about that. And that's what she preaches with it.

Megan Tobler (13:23.696)
Yeah.

And you said something really interesting. You said, you have to do what's right for you. And I know when you originally took a step back from your 13 year career in the higher education sector, you didn't have anything lined up, but something just kind of fell onto your lap here, where you had these transferable skills. But it was actually one of your friends that said, you should actually utilize these skills and really get into the social media space. So it clearly was what was right for you, but you had no idea at the time that that was something you were going to go into. So.

Becci (13:54.798)
Yeah.

Megan Tobler (13:57.27)
How did you go from not having a job lined up at all to really just taking the leap and saying yes to something that you really hadn't explored?

Becci (14:08.302)
So I don't know whether the interesting thing is when I left my job, I'm the kind of person that likes to know what's happening and likes to know what the idea of not knowing what I'm going to do. Like I've tried to embrace it more, but terrifies me. And also the anxiety around, you know, money. We had money to last us a little bit, but ultimately a few months down the line, I would need to do something because we needed to bring in the money. And it was actually my husband who said to me, I was like, I'm going to, you know, do this, this and this. And he was like, look,

please for the first time in your life just stop you don't have to do anything like like just take a bit of a break spend time with the kids and suss out what you want and I was sort of reluctantly did that and I remember a couple of months in I got a bit more comfortable and I was like this is alright actually and him turning around to me and going so are we just living month by month now or are you like and I sort of said to him I don't I don't know lightweight his name's Rick I was like I don't know Rick but I

but I will never let us get more than a couple of months, like I will never let us get into the mess of it. And like I said, it kind of like it fell into my lap. My friend said I should utilize it. And I think I just started to take a bit more of an approach of just try it and see what happens. Like if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. I did a lot of life coaching, therapy, all different things. Like I said, like work on my mindset, but just try it and see what happens. But I think, and with a little bit of a trigger warning talking, so I spoke about,

Megan Tobler (15:11.654)
Mm -hmm.

Becci (15:37.55)
my husband's mental health issues earlier, about a year and a half before I left my job, he tried to take his life. And I think that shifted quite a lot for me. Oh, it just changed my perspective on quite a lot because I think I'd got so caught up in the like hustle and the grind and the day to day of just trying to be it all and do it all and be there for everybody. He tried to take his life and thankfully the story I'm telling now, he's still here and he's much, much better.

I often think about that and think, if that night had ended differently, my life would have irreparably changed forever. And so now, not that I don't find anything scary because I do.

But it's like, what's the worst that's going to happen? And Theresa laughs. One of the things that she says is like, what are your worst fears? And hers are the same as mine. And I say this to you as a new mum, but either dying or getting pregnant again, because I have two children. And obviously, that's not everybody's worst fear. So now I quite often look at things and go, am I going to die or am I going to get pregnant? No.

Megan Tobler (16:40.438)
. .

Becci (16:41.006)
then nothing can go that badly wrong. So like that sounds a little bit flippant. It's gone from very deep to very flippant, but actually I think that's now what makes me just go for stuff because I, and I put a social media post out about this the other day actually, but I would rather regret the chances I took that didn't work out than the chances I never took at all. So when I started to go, oh, actually this could be something, just try it and see what happens. And obviously it's sort of developed from there.

So I don't know if that quite answers sort of your question, but I do think now as far as possible, and I don't always do this because, you know, we're all human, but it is like, what's the worst that's going to happen? Am I going to die or am I going to get pregnant? Which are my two worst case scenarios. If I'm not, give it a go and see what happens. Even to the point of like now, like it was last year, I started to reach out to be on podcasts, which terrified me, but it's like, I'll just go for it. What's the worst that's going to happen? Like it's, so yeah, I think that is kind of.

Megan Tobler (17:38.226)
Yeah, well, first of all, thank you so much for feeling comfortable to share that with us. That means a lot that you felt comfortable in this space. And secondly, too, I totally get just putting yourself out there and just thinking, you know what, what's the...

Becci (17:39.182)
how I try to live my life more now and it makes it a bit easier to just sort of go for things.

Megan Tobler (18:00.438)
the worst that can happen. I come from the sales background and I was faced with rejection all the time. And I figured, you know what, the worst thing that you can get is a no. Then I just check it off my list and move on because you know what, you're going to get so many nos, but eventually you're going to get that yes. And that yes is going to feel so good. And I will say you're a great podcast guest. So thankfully you said yes to me on podcasts, even though you were afraid to do it at first.

Becci (18:06.342)
it.

Yes, exactly.

Becci (18:18.158)
Yeah. Yes. Oh, thank you.

Becci (18:28.046)
Yeah, and exciting things come from pushing yourself out of the comfort zone, doesn't it? And a real game changing moment for me was I worked with a life coach and we just had this moment where I realized I wasn't actually scared of failing. I was scared of what other people would say about me failing or what other people would think about me failing. I was scared of the perception of me failing. And obviously we all care what other people think. But I think once I realized that, I was like, this isn't even about me, this is other people.

Megan Tobler (18:31.586)
Mm -hmm.

Megan Tobler (18:50.678)
Mm hmm.

Becci (18:57.518)
And if those people are pleased that I failed or take joy that I failed, at least I've tried it. And that's about them. And so I think that sort of mindset shift for me to go, actually, failure is a good thing. And failure is like a stepping stone to success because you learn something from every failure or rejection or whatever it might be. And like you said, it makes the wins and the yeses. Like that's why they feel so good because the opposite of it feels so bad, but you're not going to get them if you don't even ask.

Megan Tobler (19:21.89)
Definitely. And I almost personally think that the only way that I can fail is if I never try in the first place. And so you clearly have tried. You said yes to doing something new, to be able to put your family in a better situation moving forward and not having to be on that month to month. So how did your business originally start?

Becci (19:27.31)
or you don't even try, so yeah. Exactly, yes.

Megan Tobler (19:50.134)
start and how has it evolved? Because I wouldn't say that they've been failures along the way, but I'm sure you've had some learnings that have allowed your business to grow and develop.

Becci (19:57.038)
Yeah. Oh, 100 % there have been, whether you call them failures or not, there have been things along the way that haven't gone how they were meant to go. So my business, I actually started in October 2019. And like I said, I started doing what at the time I was calling admin for my friends, social media on our business, but actually rapidly realized what I was doing was social media management. And it was when she started to refer me to clients, I was like, oh God, I actually better make this.

I better have some kind of packages and, you know, like all of these different things. So it sort of grew like that, but it was in October 2019. So in the March, 2020, we went in the UK, don't know whether it was the same in America, but we went into our first lockdown and lots of my businesses shut down their business. Basically they were like baby classes and they were restaurants. So they couldn't, they...

couldn't function. So my business had really taken off because she'd recommended me to lots of people. I had like five or six clients. And then all of a sudden I had, well, I had one again. I had her again, basically, no two maybe I had on really limited like resources. Like I was doing the bare minimum for them. And we were then in lockdown on and off for about, what was it? It had been about a year, just over a year. And at the time I saw that as a bit of a blessing because I was homeschooling.

But that's actually when I came into Teresa's world. Like I started to explore, you know, like different master classes by people and just start to invest in my business again, because it gave me a bit of headspace. I came into Teresa's world. She did a talk somewhere that I saw her do, fell in love with her, thought she was brilliant, loved everything she sort of stood for and ended up joining her dream business club.

And that was really, again, game changing for me because A, I got to meet lots of other business owners and feel a little bit less lonely, but also she does a lot of work on mindset and obviously does coaching calls, so pushes you to do certain things. And I sort of threw myself into that a little bit. And for a long time, I still did social media management, so done for you stuff. But I started to branch out my services to offer things like power hours and coaching sessions or training sessions.

Becci (22:12.376)
And like I said, and Theresa, so I deliver the content hour in Theresa's membership. She asked me to do that because she, you know, realized I knew what I was talking about. I was quite good at what I did and asked me to do it in her membership. And as I started doing that, I was like, oh my God, I love this. This really lights me up. Like I love answering people's questions. I love not knowing what someone's going to ask me and flitting my brain from, I feel like that's sort of my zone of genius to go from business to business.

and completely like to come up with content ideas or to come up with ways that they can do things. And I did a lot of work last year with Theresa on, right, how can I do more of that, but still make the money that I was making? Because obviously the done for you stuff paid more than some of that stuff does. And I started to just, and I was moaning to Theresa a lot about how annoyed I was getting by the online space and people saying you should do this and you should do that. And,

all this advice, which is just so inaccessible to small businesses. So Theresa, as my coach, basically turned around and went, well, do something about it then. I said, what do you mean? She was like, well, do something about it. I was like, again, what do you mean? So basically, I came up with, that was my task between coaching sessions. And I came up with my own framework for how to approach your socials as a small business owner. It's called the Boss Framework. And each letter stands for something different.

Megan Tobler (23:33.174)
Okay.

Becci (23:39.726)
And then as I started to come up with that framework, I was like, I feel like I could help people more. And anyway, again, very long story short, the membership was kind of born. And actually, I've been on a coaching call with Theresa today where I've nearly had my membership for a year now. And I was like, we're coming up for a year. And these are some of the changes I want to make because I've worked with these people for a year, but I can see gaps in what they need that I'm not offering at the moment. So I think in terms of how it's developed,

And I mean, you'll know this as a business owner, but in terms of how it's developed, I think the A, you work with a lot of clients who show you the kind of clients you don't want to work with. So you, and you don't want the kind of work you don't want to do, but also you start to see the more business owners you talk to, you start to see what they actually need. And then you can suss out like maybe how you can provide that for them, whether that be through, like I have a lot of free resources as well, or whether it's for a membership. And the more I, and I think Theresa echoing in my ears of,

Megan Tobler (24:33.43)
Okay.

Becci (24:37.102)
do something about it then was like, yeah, okay, I need to practice what I preach a little bit. And yeah, and so today I actually only have one done for you client, which is Theresa. And the rest of my stuff is like the membership stuff and like one off stuff, which I enjoy a lot more. And it's, yeah, it's kind of developed again into, I guess, probably as I've moved to a new stage of life, which is exciting.

So yeah, I think it's about always looking out for those opportunities, always look and taking the opportunities like we chatted about earlier, knowing they might fail. But like when I launched my membership, it was like, right, I'm going to give it a year. I'm going to commit to it for a year. And if it doesn't work at the end of that, that's been a nice chapter. But actually I'm coming up to a year and gone, yeah, I love this and I want to do a bit more with it. And so taking the opportunities that come your way and also just spotting gaps of what, listening to what people are saying and sussing out how you can.

Help them with that.

Megan Tobler (25:36.47)
Definitely. There's so much that you said in that amount of time that I really want to dive into. One of them was you said that you are able to figure out what business you want to work with and what you don't. And I think that goes back to the mission statement that you were talking about earlier, that you got really clear on your values to be able to determine what it is you want to do and what it is you don't want to do. And I think...

Becci (25:46.658)
Yes. Yes.

Becci (25:56.086)
Yeah.

Megan Tobler (26:02.006)
Sometimes as you're starting a new business, it's really easy to just say, oh, I want it all. I'm going to take anything that comes my way. But there is such a thing as good business and bad business. And if you make those rash decisions right away out of potentially fear, that's where you can get yourself in trouble and you could have bad business. So I like that you've gotten really clear on that mission statement and you've recognized from a very early stage that you know what? Not all business is going to be for me. And

Becci (26:11.632)
Yes.

Megan Tobler (26:31.446)
You've been able to pivot your business as the years go based on what you realized you not only enjoy, but also it makes sense for your stage of life. So that's a really big lesson right there.

Becci (26:39.758)
Yes.

Yeah, yeah. And I would say, like, I do think there's an element that I had to work with some of those people to know, because you're absolutely right. I think when you start out in business, you want to say yes to everything. You don't want to turn business down, all that kind of stuff. And if I hadn't done some of that, I wouldn't have known that I didn't want to do that, if that makes sense. So I think like, this goes back to what we were saying earlier about failure or learning curves, like everything's a lesson. So even if you don't enjoy it at the time, you sort of learn from it.

Megan Tobler (26:51.542)
Mm hmm.

Becci (27:12.238)
But yeah, getting really clear on your values. It's why I started work. So when I first started out, I now only work with women owned businesses. I didn't when I first started out, but now I want to. And it is getting really clear on those values to say this aligns with me and this doesn't. And also I just wanted to say, as you were saying that, that's sort of a mindset that I take into my socials as well. So we all hate people unfollowing us. But actually a bit like you were just saying, I don't see unfollows necessarily as a bad thing.

I think it means I'm not right for that person and they're not right. It's not about either of us. We're just not a right fit. And I think if you've got your brand right on social media and you've got your messaging right on social media and you've got your social media right, basically, you should be repelling some people. And that might mean people have unfollowed me because I've taken a different direction with my business and it's not for them anymore. Or they just don't like what I stand for and that's okay. That's not about me or them. That's just about us being different people.

Megan Tobler (27:55.606)
Okay.

Becci (28:06.542)
Um, so I think in all areas of your business, actually people not liking it or people not wanting to work with you or people I'm following you is actually quite a positive sign for your business to show that you've got your messaging right. And well, not in all cases, but for me now, I feel like I'm at the stage where actually that's a good thing because that means I know what I want and I've got my brand, right. I've got my message, right. Um, and it's a nice mindset to approach sort of business and social media with because that rejection can.

when people unfollow it does feel horrible or when people unsubscribe to your email list, you're like, what did I do? What did I say? But actually it can be a good thing, I think.

Megan Tobler (28:43.09)
Definitely. And I think it's because you operate from an abundance mindset rather than a state of lack. You've talked a lot today about mindset work and clearly it's, I don't know if that was something that you've always just had an abundance mindset or something you've had to work on, but it's clear as can be in today's conversation that that is something that is just organically you at this point and something that you're also transferring to your clients. But you mentioned the word a little bit ago that,

people are telling you what you should do. And I really want to emphasize the word should, because I think that some things work for some people and some things don't work for some people. So can we talk a little bit more of like what this should is being communicated in the social media universe and really how you've taken a different approach to this with your boss framework?

Becci (29:34.67)
Yeah, so for example, so my boss framework and I can send you the link to my blog on this, which goes into a bit more detail about each one. But basically the B, which is quite unusual again for social media stands for boundaries. So I start with boundaries in place and it's about having strong boundaries in place on social media to sort of know what you want from it. And I remember when I was doing that, quite a few people said to me, I think you should start with like a marketing message. I was like, no.

Megan Tobler (29:41.622)
Mm -hmm.

Becci (30:02.958)
because the most important thing to me is that people have boundaries in place because that's what reduces the overwhelm. And not many social media marketers that I've seen talk about that. And if they do, it's an add -on to their message or it's as part of an awareness day. So B stands for boundaries in place. O stands for optimize for engagement. S stands for show off because lots of women really struggle with that. And the second S stands for sell often. Because I think often, again, especially as women,

Megan Tobler (30:21.846)
you

Becci (30:30.926)
we don't want to sell because it makes us feel icky or whatever it might be. So that, like I said, I can send you the link to the blog on it without going into a lot of detail, but that goes into the kind of like, here's the things that are really helpful for you to do on social media. But I think the should comes in when people go, you should post seven times a week. You should post this amount of times a week. You should do this with engagement. You should do this. And so for example, like,

it would be me turning around and going, right, well, you need to sell often. So you should be selling at least X times a week. And I just don't think that works without finding out lots of other questions from people, or you should be going on social media for an hour every day and engaging with 20 accounts and doing X, Y, Z, which are all arbitrary numbers. So I have, like I know, so I go on social media five times a week. I do proactive engagement five times a week. I block out 15 minutes for it.

And that gets me really good results. Like I grow organically by quite a decent number of followers each month, and that's nice, it works for me. However, if you came to me and said, how much time should I block out for engagement? I'd be saying to you, right, so how is your baby now? Are they at home with you all? Are they in nursery? How much time do you actually have for social media? Do you have like a virtual assistant or anything like that who helps you with stuff? And how much time can you realistically dedicate to this?

Because if I turn around straight away and said, well, you should be doing it. And 15 minutes isn't a lot compared to what a lot of people say. You should be doing it at least 15 minutes a day, five days a week. And that straight away overwhelms you. You're instantly getting off to like a bad start and you'll give up before you've even started. Whereas if I turn around and go to you, just try it for 10, 15 minutes every Monday, like block it in your diary on a Monday. Now you need to be realistic with how much you're going to grow in that time. Cause it's like 15 minutes a week. That's an hour a month. But.

it gets you into a habit. And then when you start to see results from that, you might up that to two times a week. Or when your child starts nursery or has childcare, whatever you can, like, for example, my children start in school, that meant I could up how much I showed up. I could do podcast interviews. I could do different things like that. So in terms of the should, I think it's when people, it's basically that. You should post this amount of times. You should do this with engagement. You should use these fonts and these colors and these whatever. And it's like, well, no, actually,

Becci (32:57.838)
I don't think any of that advice can work without talking to somebody about their business. So just a really good example of this is I had my hairdresser, I went and had my hair done a few months ago and she said to me, I just haven't got time to show up on social media and I know I should be, I know I should be showing up like three or four times a week. And I was like, look, if you're, are you fully booked at the moment? Are you looking for customers? And she was like, yeah, I'm absolutely rammed. Like it constantly comes from referrals. I was like, well then.

you know, what works for you? And she was like, well, I reckon I could post maybe once a week or once every couple of weeks. I was like, well, do that then and make that post to say, and like, and this people might look at this and go, that's terrible advice because you're never going to grow. She didn't actually want to grow. She just wanted to look like she was open. So I was like, when you do that post, just put in there and say, um, I'm fully booked at the moment, but if you need to get in touch, basically let people know that you're there and you're active and you're whatever, you're not going to grow like that because you're only posting twice a month, but it will fulfill the need.

of showing that you're open, of showing this, that and the other. Whereas if she'd have come to me and said, I should be posting this, I've got no customers, I'm desperate for customers, we'd have had a slightly different conversation, say, right, well, then you do need to show up. So what's realistic? Like you can't just post a couple of times a month. Like, what can we do with that? So that's what really irritates me with the should is like, A, you need to understand about their business and where they're at with it and what their goals actually are for social media.

Because I don't think social media should never be the main priority of a business unless you're a social media marketer. It needs to be something that helps your business grow in the way that you need it to grow. So yeah, I don't know if that answers it, but that's why I ask lots of questions about A, your lifestyle and B, what you want from it and C, what your business actually does to then come up with an answer that fits around that rather than just making people feel bad because they can't post seven times a week and engage.

for three hours a day. That's what really grates on me because I just think that comes from such a position of privilege to tell people. And it makes people feel terrible because they can't do it and then they feel like they're failing.

Megan Tobler (35:04.566)
It goes back to the comparison game. They see what other people are doing. They think I should be doing that when they're in a different life stage and they potentially are in a different business stage, like your hairdresser. She didn't need to get more clients. She already had a full book of business, so she didn't need to build awareness and to bring on more clients. She just needed to kind of stay where she was at to let people know, like you said, hey, I'm still here. If you need a book, like contact me type of deal.

Becci (35:10.444)
Yeah.

Becci (35:29.838)
Yeah.

Megan Tobler (35:32.758)
What she's doing is going to be looking very different than someone who's just starting their hairdressing business in their career. The hustle is going to be a little bit different than for someone just starting out rather than someone that's a little bit more established. And that's just kind of the name of the game.

Becci (35:38.414)
Yes. Yeah.

Becci (35:47.694)
Yeah. And I think for me, what I often say is as long as, so when somebody recommends someone to me, for example, when I was recommended your podcast, the first thing I do is go and check out their social media or their website or whatever. And I think for me, as long as you go over there and you say, for example, if I had gone over there and your last post was, um, you know, I'm taking some leave to have, have some proper maternity time, have this, that, and the other, I wouldn't have looked at that and gone, Oh my God, she doesn't even post on social media. I'd have gone, how lovely she's on maternity leave. I'll drop her a message.

And you know, and I'll be back by this date. So, or in your bio to say currently on maternity leave or currently not whatever. I think as long as when someone gets there, they know that you're open because my first thing is if someone hasn't posted for ages, I do think the business is shut. So I think as long as on the bio or in the latest posts or pin posts, you can tell where that person's at and how and when you can get hold of them. Then that's all that matters. And I do this quite a lot with my, when I go out of office, I share a post that says,

I'm out of office and I'm not going to respond to messages for the next seven days. And lots of people would shudder at that, going, oh my God, I can't possibly like not respond on social media for seven days. But for me, if they've gone to my profile, seen that I'm out of office, in that it's a carousel post, which again, I can send you the link for it says, here's what you can expect. You can expect some scheduled posts and some sporadic stories on Instagram, because I like to jump on stories. Here's how, here's a link to my blogs. Here's a link to my email list. Here's a load of ways I can help you whilst I'm off.

And for me, if someone goes to my profile, sees the last post is that I'm out of office and gets cross that I haven't replied, that's a huge red flag for me to go, do you know what, you don't respect boundaries. So, and I like to practice what I preach about having boundaries. So actually for me, it's like, if you're going to get cross for me again, that's not about, and you do have to develop quite a tough skin for that. And, and nine times out of 10, I don't, I think I've very rarely ever had that, but I've made it very clear I'm out of office and I'm not going to be replying.

for however many days, I will reply to you when I get back. And that's it for me is having it in your bio or in a post or wherever, so that people know how to contact you. Like if you're not going to be looking at DMs, but you will answer your email, say that, like drop me an email because I won't answer my DMs. And it's about managing those expectations. It doesn't have to be, I have to be available 24 seven. And I'm really big on a teaching people to do that. And by teaching people to do that, I also need to practice what I preach.

Megan Tobler (37:45.654)
Mm -hmm.

Megan Tobler (37:58.198)
Exactly.

Becci (38:14.766)
with it as well. And I know how scary that is as a business owner. So I think practicing what I preach is really important.

Megan Tobler (38:21.238)
Definitely, and you're truly embracing the beef in your boss framework. It's setting those boundaries and really making sure that when you are setting these boundaries, you're also attracting a certain type of person to you and you're repelling the ones that you don't wanna work with. So it's just organically happening that way. Now, I know we've talked a lot about mindset and boundary setting today and also social posting. I know you're taking an organic approach, which I'm definitely here for to all of your social.

Becci (38:26.23)
Yeah.

Becci (38:33.262)
Yes.

Becci (38:38.028)
Yeah.

Megan Tobler (38:50.838)
work or social media work that you do with your clients. So if someone was to contact you and to really want to get started and you ask a lot of questions, but what would it look like initially if someone wanted to reach out and potentially work with you?

Becci (39:05.262)
So generally we have a discovery call where I ask a series of questions. And a lot of those questions are kind of what we've talked about today, like what are your goals for social media? What are you trying to achieve? How can I help you? And in that, someone might say to me, I don't want to do my social media. I want to give it to someone else, in which case it goes to my done for you services and I can talk through those. In a lot of instances, so I've had conversations, I've actually had conversations recently where people have come to me and said,

this is what I want, I want to invest in sort of like your one -to -one coaching side of things. And I've turned around to them and said, do you know what? I think you can get that from joining my membership and it would be cheaper for you in the long run, which possibly isn't great business. But because I asked them questions based on they're like, this is what I want. And it's like, actually the membership can do that for you. Or someone can come to me and go, I want to join the membership because this is what I want to achieve. And I will turn around and go, that's not what the membership is going to do for you.

and you need to invest in more like one -to -one support and more like more of my time basically. So like it's a bit of a simple answer to say it starts with discovery call but it's asking again asking a lot of questions to make sure that I'm really clear on what they want to achieve because I don't want someone to spend money with me if they're not actually going to get what they need out of it. And I've also had conversations before where someone has said I want to outsource my social media to you. I want you to do it for me and I will ask questions like.

Um, you know, have you got a brand pack? Have you got all of this stuff and have very honest conversations about outsourcing it to me costs quite a lot of money. And if you don't have certain things in place first, you're not going to get the best results out of me. I'm not saying don't work with me. I'm saying make an informed choice to where you spend your money first. So I think again, for me, I think it's probably just an approach I live by, which is why I drive my husband up the wall. I ask a lot of questions.

Because I want to understand and genuinely I don't want someone to spend money with me if they're not going to get what they actually want out of it. Because I might have someone say I want to join your membership. I'm just going to go and I need to say you're just not going to get the amount of my time that I think you're going to need. But like through doing the membership. However, you get discounted power hours through the membership. So maybe join but book a few like one to one sessions with me so we can do that.

Becci (41:32.334)
And I like to know like a little bit about their business because like I don't have a specific business I like to work with, but generally I seem to attract the people who want to make a difference in the world and whether that's their world and fitting around their family. I like, I like to know that they align with my values as well because I have a bit of a saying where I say I didn't leave my job to become my own worst boss. Um, and I certainly didn't leave my employed life to work with people that I don't really like.

or don't align with me or don't have the same values as me. So there's an element of that in there as well. But yeah, it's a bit of a cop out to say, I just ask a lot of questions that that will put a lot of people off. But I like I said, I like to find out what they want. And sometimes say, I'm listening to what you want. But I think this is what you need. Here's the information and you can sort of make an informed, informed choice on that.

Megan Tobler (42:26.966)
I actually think that that's a really good business tactic. I know you said earlier that maybe it wasn't a good business, like a long -term business plan when you're sending them to a potentially lesser value that you're actually going to collect in your wallet. But I think from a long -term strategy, that's a better way to go about the business because you're really keeping someone in your community and your tribe for the long run. You're nurturing them and you're helping them. And one of the S's in your boss framework was about selling.

Becci (42:50.22)
Yeah.

Megan Tobler (42:56.79)
I think women in particular have a little bit of more of a hangup around selling than men do. And I come from the sales world and it's so interesting that women immediately are, they put their hands up, oh, I can't sell anything. And it's interesting because selling to me is helping. And everything that you just talked about is you are truly helping them. You're asking questions to be able to guide them in the right direction. And if you don't believe that they need your most expensive ticketed item, then you're not going to sell them that. And, and.

Instead, you're going to put them where you think is going to be a more value in the long run for them. And I think that is a huge testament to why your membership has been so successful for the last year and why you're also looking like realizing that there are some gaps and how you can really make those even better for your members moving forward because you're continuing to ask these questions. Again, you're not selling your members, you're helping them. And I think, again, that is a huge thing about what you're doing is that you're really helping women.

Becci (43:48.014)
Yeah. Yeah.

Megan Tobler (43:55.382)
get to a better place for their business and also just with their mind.

Becci (43:58.926)
Yeah, definitely. And I 100 % agree with you, selling is a service. Like if you think you can help someone, you are helping them by telling them what you offer. So you should sell that. But I wouldn't want someone to spend a lot of like equally. Yeah.

It's a sleazy, that is when you use sleazy tactics that selling becomes sleazy. And it's a sleazy tactic to say, yeah, buy my, you know, I'll do it all for you and you can pay me X amount of money. Whereas it is very genuinely like, can I help you? Am I right for you? Cause I might not be right for you. Yeah. And a hundred percent. And that's what I talk about. And the selling often. So the reason I didn't make the final S set just sell, but to sell often, because we should be selling often with businesses. We should always be talking about.

what we offer and all that kind of stuff. Otherwise, we just have very expensive hobbies. But that doesn't have to be sleazy. Like you said, it is a service. So yeah.

Megan Tobler (44:55.158)
definitely and not being afraid to show off a little bit the other S. Yes. Now I have to.

Becci (44:58.478)
Yes, yeah, yeah, and I am huge on that. I have so many of my members say, I've got nothing to show off about and I can have a 10 minute conversation with them and give them like 50 things that make them amazing. And I just think we're as again, as women, especially, which is one of the reasons I did sort of niche down into women. We're like taught by society not to brag and not to be arrogant and not to be all of this kind of stuff. It's not arrogant. Like if you're, if you're stating something, so for me to say,

I'm an award winning social media marketer, that's a fact. Like that's not showing off. That is just a fact. I've won an award. For me to say, I speak internationally, that's a fact. Like I'm not showing off. So yeah, it's a hundred percent embracing that, but I also struggle with that. So I know I have to check myself sometimes with it. But yeah, the showing off is a big one because you're not, there's a quote that I really like. I actually think it's from a wrestler. So it might've come from my husband, but it basically says, if what you're saying is true, you're not showing off.

you're just like basically telling a fact, I can't remember the exact quote, but it's not showing off if it's true. Like you're just telling someone something about yourself. And I think that's really important. And I think we should do it unapologetically as women because too many of us don't. So.

Megan Tobler (46:14.166)
I completely agree and I know that I personally don't show off enough either. So that's something that I have to work on. So if someone's listening to this and they're thinking, you know what, but I'm not an award winning XYZ or I'm not a renowned public speaker. Like what do I have to show off about? What would you tell them?

Becci (46:33.934)
Well, this and this is sort of what I meant about my members when they say like, I have nothing to show off about. And I'm like, well, firstly, the fact you've got a business is something to show off about. Like you're amazing. The fact that you've been brave enough to start a business. Like what was your story? So for me, and you're absolutely right to say, you know, like it's easy to go, oh, well, of course I want to talk about being award winning, or I want to talk about like this out of the other, but it could be things like, um, I just got a really nice message from a client.

saying, oh my God, you've made my life so much easier. And I share a screenshot of that. That could be showing off as like social proof, or it could be, you know, something like, it doesn't have to be the big things. Like it could be talking about my previous experience in my old career and what I did in that career, because I've got all of this experience from it. Or it might be things like, I'm trying to think of a simple example, my mind's gone blank on it, but it might be things like, you know,

I've just won a new client or I've pivoted what I'm doing in my business. Or for example, I was talking to a product -based business the other day and she just casually said, so I've just shipped this parcel out to China and I was like, oh my God, that's amazing. Do you have customers in China? She was like, yeah. I was like, how many other countries, because she's based in the UK and she listed all these countries. I was like, oh my God. That's a...

You've literally got customers all over." And she's like, oh yeah. And I was like, you should be talking about that. Like that's content. The fact that you shipped to like 17 different countries or whatever the number was. So it's things like that, that as business owners, we just go, well, yeah, that's what I do. Like that's a, like, and another really silly example for me might be talking about the organizational systems that I use because I'm showing off that actually.

I've got these systems in place that massively reduce time involved to do something. And it's my skill that's put that together. So quite often when I'm talking, and our members will say something to me and I'm like, you need to show off about that. Never know. Seriously, that's amazing. Another member was like, and I don't know. So basically she said her product had been listed on Kate Middleton. So Prince, well not, yeah, no, Prince William's Kate Middleton.

Becci (48:57.23)
Her parents own like a party business or something. Anyway, this member's product had been shown on Kate Middleton's parents. They put it on the front page. They bought a load of them and put it on the front page of our website. And again, we were like, oh my God, that's amazing. And she was like, oh yeah. I was like, you should be telling everyone about that. And I think there's a lot of things. And again, they are quite big examples, but there's a lot of things that we go, oh yeah, well, you know, it's nothing. And it's not nothing. Like it's, they're really.

big things. Like even for example, like being on a podcast or whatever it might be, put it out there and talk about it all the time. Be really proud of yourself that you're doing all this stuff. It might be showing off about investing in a course or go into a conference to show that you're investing in your development and you're out there meeting people and you know, all that kind of stuff. So it can go from like, I'm award -winning and winning and I do this amazing stuff right down to, do you know what? My business has survived a pandemic.

Like, and I think that's pretty incredible or down to like the really little things as well. Because I think all of that on social media builds, it makes you relatable in business as well, like a lot of the smaller things. But it also builds a lot of trust in you as a person that you can be trusted. So that's really helpful on social media. And...

Megan Tobler (50:18.07)
And I have to say too that I think that's why one of the benefits of joining a membership or being a part of a community of like -minded individuals, especially women, is because we hype each other up. Because sometimes you're not really aware of your biggest strengths or your biggest accomplishments just because they're your normal. But when you talk about them with other people and they go, whoa, what? That little life -long moment that you're going, oh, I guess that is a really big idea.

Becci (50:30.062)
Yes.

Becci (50:35.852)
Yeah. Yeah.

Becci (50:41.452)
Yeah.

Megan Tobler (50:47.126)
a big deal here. So thank you for pointing that out. It's a good reminder.

Becci (50:47.214)
Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And one of the things I really love to do when I'm struggling for that is scroll back through my photos on my phone, because often I'll have screenshotted something or I've taken a photo of it. And I'll remember lots of things that I'd completely forgotten, like really little moments. So for example, one of the showing off things for me is that I get to go to my little boy's assembly because I've been brave enough to start my own business. And that, or I get to say every Monday morning, I volunteer at his school and help out with swimming lessons.

And I'm not posting that on social media to show off, but actually, that's quite a nice thing, because it's like I've created a life for myself where I can do that, and that's amazing. And at the same time, you sort of inspire other people that they can do that as well. But what you just said about that is, and again, one of the reasons I sort of niche down into women, I genuinely believe incredible things happen when women come together. And there is no hype like a community of women that want each other to succeed.

and just push each other along. And I love it when we have in like our Facebook group, we had in there last week, someone posted, oh my goodness, I've just posted a reel and I'm so excited. And the comments on it were like, oh my God, you're amazing. And I say to them quite a lot, like you might not post that on your social media, but come and put it in the group. Because like that might seem like a really little thing. Like I've just posted a story, but actually that took quite, like it takes a lot of courage to show up and show yourself on social media. And I love it when it comes into the group and everyone's like, yeah.

Megan Tobler (52:15.542)
That must be so rewarding for you.

Becci (52:17.582)
Yeah, it is. It really, really lights me up.

Megan Tobler (52:21.334)
Well, and I have to say something that lights me up is to be able to connect with women like you that are just putting out so much good into the world and connecting and just uplifting other women. So I have to say thank you so much for taking the time to be a part of my journey and my story and just sharing your own story with the self -starter listeners because this one has been one that I will for sure remember. And I will have to go back to my husband and tell him that my little hunch was correct, that I really...

Becci (52:48.608)
I'm

Megan Tobler (52:49.59)
I really liked this girl and I could talk to you all night, but I do know that we are many time zones difference here. So you're probably ready to go to bed at this point, go tuck in your little kiddos into bed here. So Becky, if someone's really resonating with everything that you've said today and wants to learn a little bit more about you, where could they go to find out more about Be Heard Socials?

Becci (52:55.95)
Yes!

Becci (53:11.342)
So I mostly hang out on Instagram, that's my favorite platform, and you can find me at Be Heard Socials. I'm also on LinkedIn, but I'm trying to love LinkedIn a little bit more. I'm not a big fan of it, but I am trying to like it a bit more. So yeah, Instagram and LinkedIn are my main platforms. And then there's my website, beheardsocials .com, where you can read things like my personal mission statement, my blogs on there, all that kind of stuff, and find out a bit more. So I'd love it if you headed over there.

Megan Tobler (53:38.71)
Yeah, your website was gold. That's where I was thinking, you know what, I'm really going to like this girl because I resonated with everything that was on your website. And it just felt like you did a really good job encapsulating everything that you are as a person and everything that you stand for. So thank you so much for just being authentically yourself and being raw and vulnerable today. I really appreciate this conversation.

Becci (54:00.11)
Thank you for having me.