Brand Your Abundance with Isabelle Mercier

TAJ Intro/Outro: 00:00:10

The Abundance Journey explores all the ways abundance shows up to help you expand the abundance you embody Express and experience as your journey unfolds.

Elaine Starling: 00:00:28

Welcome, I'm Elaine Starling, the abundance ambassador and the host of the abundance Journey podcast and video show. The abundance Journey podcast brings you insightful tips about how you can enjoy abundance now from people who've been there and done that. I love connecting with like minded people. These are people who are very receptive to new ideas that foster abundance and they have a track record of experiencing abundance in all different ways. Frankly, that's why I'm really excited to introduce you to one of my personal mentors, Isabelle Mercier. Let me tell you a little bit about Isabel and why I absolutely love working with her. Isabelle is the co founder and CEO of LEAP zone strategies. She's one of the most inspirational branding, marketing and customer experience keynote speakers. She's a no nonsense dynamo, you're absolutely going to love her energy and her whole approach to things. She was born to catapult passionate entrepreneurs and thought leaders to build businesses and brands that are designed to make life better as one of North America's top business influencers. a best selling author, two time TEDx speaker with over 3 million views. And just like it's a powerhouse, let me tell you, and then she's a slouch because she also has a TV show, you know, in her spare time, Isabel brings over 30 years of branding, marketing and customer experience expertise. She has literally helped 1000s of business owners thought leaders and some very influential and iconic brands like a and w Robbie's footwear for rules, restaurants, IMAX Corporation, and HSBC investments just to name a few. It's about teaches how to grow businesses and brands, they're designed to make life better and thrive in any economy by becoming and remaining. The first the best or the only. Welcome, Isabel. I'm so happy you could join us today.

Isabelle Mercier: 00:02:33

I mean, I'm, I'm honored to be here with you today.

Elaine Starling: 00:02:36

Oh, this is gonna be so fun. But you know, I always like to start the conversation by understanding how you personally define abundance. What does abundance mean to you?

Isabelle Mercier: 00:02:46

You know, it's, it's a really good question and my partner and I Margarita and I, we focus and talk about and elevate ourselves, to have more about abundance and to create abundance for others as well in theirs in their lives, right. You know, for me, abundance is I have a touch of many, many tattoos one of them here is it says happiness, but we I replace that word for abundance all the time. Abundance is when what I think what I say in what I do are in harmony. So when those things are in harmony, abundance, has no choice but to actually join you. But the join you and you know, much like success success is in the eye of the beholder. Same thing like abundance, right? Abundance is in the eye of the beholder, and we all have different definition of abundance. And for me, abundance is units of happiness. Why is that? Yeah, it's units of happiness, because nothing is nothing is the same everything changes in life. And if we collect moment of abundance, moment of unit of happiness, and we of course get i This is an all Isabel good language, get my head out of my ass. It helps in creating abundance, and mainly what I want the abundance to be for me, right?

Elaine Starling: 00:02:51

I love that I love that you're just so authentically real. And you because that's that's a big part of your charm. And that's a big part of what we love about you. And you also give us permission to be ourselves too. So thank you for that. So, obviously, life is made up of a series of challenges and you're not excluded from that. What's a challenge that you've had in the past about abundance? Could you describe a challenge or a problem that you had to deal with?

Isabelle Mercier: 00:04:51

Yeah, oh my god. I mean, there's been a million right in my life. There's been many problems with abundance mainly the price Well, I'm going to talk about my mindset, which of course, brought on a bunch of things that were not in alignment with my mindset. So, um, first of all, as a Brand Builder, as a positioning expert, I help people, and I'm sure you're gonna we're gonna mention that a little bit later. But I help people be crystal clear about what they want, and about what they don't want, but mainly about what they want. And so that they're able to really communicate so that they can resonate. And so when I say had to out of ask earlier, is, I spent, like most human beings, I spend a lot of time focusing on what I don't want, right? It's like, oh, well, here's what I don't want. And sometimes I start talking about what I want. But then it's very easy to get to what I don't want. Here's what I don't want, I don't want this to happen, I don't want that to happen. I don't. So when we actually moved here from the city with the I had a 700 square foot condo, that moved to this six, five acre six, six acres, 6000 square foot retreat center, let me tell you, there was a lot of challenges there financial challenges, finding the right property, finding the right property for what we wanted. I mean, there was chat. Now, some, some listeners might say champagne problems, we'll tell you what, I it wasn't a champagne problem to me, I wanted to create a new experience for my clients. And it wasn't I wasn't finding what I wanted, until I got really, really crystal clear, and got my head to think about what I wanted versus what I did not want. So Margaret and I wrote an entire vision very clearly down to the amount of bedrooms, the amount of space, the type of space, the type of energy. And we were so clear about it, that it's precisely what we've attracted. But we spent, we invested 100% of our time and energy and head to towards what we wanted versus what we did not want. And you know what the universe are always the universe gave me really big challenges in the past, for me to be aware, like it had to say, hey, a two by four to the face, I realize I didn't do subtle before. And now that I'm I'm more aware I'm more I meditate an hour a day I there's things that I have that I'm doing consistently, that are opening up my mind, my mindset, and everything around it, so that I focus on what it is that I want passionately but unattached. And for me the challenge of focusing on what I want and being passionate about it, but not tied, not attached to him. That's a big challenge that I see for me in a variety of different forms itself in many different ways in my life.

Elaine Starling: 00:08:10

Absolutely. And you know, it's one of the things that we work on with people in the abundance journey is to understand how you engage with the divine, embody the divine, express the divine, and then experience the divine. And it's so easy to get into that. But I'm doing it, I'm doing it, I'm doing it, where is it. And it's so easy to forget that we're not in charge. The Divine has a vision for us. It's much bigger than anything we could ever imagine. We have to show in the divine where we're going, this is the idea, this or something better, and leave ourselves open to being guided to the something better. And you certainly managed to do that with your retreat center. Congratulations. That's a huge accomplishment.

Isabelle Mercier: 00:08:50

Yeah, as soon as we were clear, I mean, everything kind of fell into place. We were clear about what we wanted, but we didn't It's not like we had a perfect idea. In our mind. We didn't know where it was, I didn't even know in a new space existed. It's not like I said, I was I wasn't too precise. Yes, make it to make it be in my way, you know.

Elaine Starling: 00:09:15

And that's the other secret is to be a little more open. And a lot of it is how you want to feel in the space. Correct how you want to feel with that relationship, how you want to feel with those clients, it really makes a big difference. So I want to move on just a little bit because as you said, you love helping your clients experience more abundance. Yeah. So what kinds of things do you do with your clients to get them into that space?

Isabelle Mercier: 00:09:39

Oh, my God would so many things. I mean, we have a very clear process at least zone two first we look under the hood of what exists and what their previous thoughts and their previous goals and and and your visions have amalgamated to be right. And then Of course we have, we have processes to look under the hood to really help our clients get clear, clear clarity, we promise three things that leaves on clarity, Pivotal shifts and momentum. So one thing that we do in our coaching is as we, as we get clearer on what they want, then we look at who they need to become, in order to reach what they want. And of course, we do it on a business on a strategy and on a branding and marketing level. Because you and I both know, Elaine that you can be, you can be clear, but positioning, positioning that clarity is as important as the clarity. Because if you're the only one understanding and being clear, literally your clients won't be able to find you resonate with you, or actually decide to hire you. So we help people become the first the best or the only. And it starts by being clear about where they're going, why, and then really looking at how do we that's the outcome, then we look at what is what needs to be overcome. In order to get to this outcome. Sometimes the overcome is mindset. And sometimes the overcome is positioning. Sometimes the overcome is branding or marketing. And most of the time, it's all of the above in levels, right?

Elaine Starling: 00:11:26

Yeah, I really loved how you were coaching us to understand that branding is about how you make people feel, and your coaching your program really helped me get clear that what I want people to feel is that yeah, baby energy, that feeling of possibility of opportunity of curiosity, of enthusiasm, like you're just have this buffet of presents, and you can open them in whatever order you want. And it's all good. And you're gonna have a great time. So don't worry about it. Just have fun. And I just really love that you gave me that level of clarity that yeah, baby. Leaning energy was the key to everything for me. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So I have to ask you another question, of course, because the next step is those baby steps. So I start working with you, what are the baby steps that I look at? That I know that I'm making progress? I'm going in the right direction?

Isabelle Mercier: 00:12:23

Yeah, you know, it depends. Of course, it depends on how what the level that we're working on together. You've experienced our built a rock program. And so I mean, first we need to get clear, then we need to establish what is pivotal versus trivial. Yeah. Right. So we look at what's Pivotal, what actually matters versus what is what is so vital versus trivial. And then from there, you know, we look at what are the next few steps we work in trimesters or in quarters. And then we establish what the main objectives are for each of those legs of the journey. And then we figure out what is most important because it's not the the point isn't to win the race of busyness. The point is to win the race of working on what matters both for you, but also for the impact that you want to create in the world. And so positioning is usually key number one, because as I said earlier, you most people I was gonna say you can be the best kept secret closet, right? Most people are amazing at what they do. They're great pie, bakers, website, designers, whatever, whatever you do, and the service that you deliver, I bet you're frickin amazing at it. That's one part of it. If people don't know who you are, they don't resonate with what you communicate. You know, I learned when I was a kid, my mom hadn't had me position. I was gonna say pitch, but I prefer the word position. He helped me position everything that I wanted, and what I didn't want. And she it couldn't just be Mom, can I do this? She was like, You know what? Give me the good, the bad, the ugly of this. Give me what you want. Why you want that? How will this affect the rest of the things that you may or may not? Because you need to get rid of some things in order to add some things right. And she would and this was I was very young, like five years old, I had to pitch with a little flip chart. What are the trade offs? Isabel? That's huge. Because it had me thinking, if I spend more time here, even if a decision is good, like for me to move from yield towns that are not just square foot to here. It's amazing and life was changed. And it was all at all in what I wanted to do and then some and there was trade offs. There was freedom trade offs. There was there was a lot of trade off. You're able to look at what you want and what you don't want And you're able to look at the pros and cons. This is normally like pros and cons. Yeah. If you're able to look at what are the risks of saying, yes. What are the costs of saying Nope. So I learned to say to my mom, the risk of you saying yes, is this, the cost of me not doing this, this, this, this, this, this, this and that, she was able to see that I put thought into this, that I have thought about, I had discernment around how this was going to affect the other pieces. And most importantly, I was able to find the right positioning to get a hell yes. And this is what we help our clients do. We help our clients position themselves. So their ideal clients say, What the hell have you been all my life?

Elaine Starling: 00:15:47

Beautiful, that is so fun, and so wonderful. And I love your energy. And it's no wonder you're so good at what you do. And this is your five.

Isabelle Mercier: 00:15:57

And it's still challenging, and I still work at it. Because a lot of people say to me, yeah, but it's a bit like speaking you know, it, there's challenge for me and speaking the lead up. I love speaking the lead up to speaking on a big stage is detrimental to my health. And, and but and people go Yeah, but for you. It's easy. No, no, I work at it. Everything I teach, I work at I fail at and I succeed at regularly. Yeah, it's

Elaine Starling: 00:16:27

a process. It's a process and that persistent approach that consistent evaluation, and what's working, what's not working? And what do I really commit to? Yeah, what's the outcome I'm really committed to? And then what are all the different ways that I can get there? I think that's absolutely brilliant. And I really appreciate the difference that you're making. We were talking a little bit earlier, and you very generously offered a really helpful gift to all of our viewers and listeners. Could you tell us a little bit about it?

Isabelle Mercier: 00:16:58

Yeah, you bet. I've created this masterfully. It's a 90 minute masterclass, that is entitled to get paid well, for your genius. And I share what needs to happen in order to be positioned to win in today's economy. So I shared three warning signs that your small business might not be set up to thrive in today's economy. And then of course, I share how to fix that, because how cruel of me would it be? I'll fix that. It's full of energy, you're gonna learn T strategies that are actually easy to implement. If you implement at least one thing, just even one thing out of this masterclass, you will see a difference in in your business. And mainly I teach a lot in there around what are the key ingredients that are absolutely needed for you to be clear about and not just be clear about for you to own this one thing to be clear about something then you got to own it right for you to own in order for people to be gravitating towards you, and absolutely would invest more in working with you than they would with anybody else. And that's that's a start in this masterclass, I share that. And of course, I share a tool afterwards, which you've gone through you've gone from, I share this tool of Bill to rock this program is built to really help implement and it has changed the lives and the businesses of 1000s of people and putting

Elaine Starling: 00:18:27

mine yeah, I really loved the program. I really did. And that's part of the reason why I wanted you on the show because I found it to be really an important foundation for my business. Now I want to be able to communicate really clearly what the abundance journey is all about and how it can transform lives. So thank you so much for that. I really appreciate your generosity, one of the things that's a little unique about the abundance journey show is we always find a way to support our guests because it's not just about receiving a wonderful gift from you it's about us being of service to you in return. So what's something that we could do to support you is about

Isabelle Mercier: 00:19:06

well, you know what, I'll keep it very simple literally anybody you know that is thinking of being in business or in business already have them go through this 90 minute masterclass it is a is a game changer. And it's absolutely free. And you know what, I've put quite a bit of time and energy creating this. And only just that can actually make a big difference in people's lives. And of course, you know, I have a TED talk. So I'll give you the link to to the TED talks as well. One on reducing worry and, and the other one on increasing units of happiness. Both go very well together.

Elaine Starling: 00:19:51

That's fabulous. Isabel, I cannot thank you enough for being here with us today. I so appreciate everything that you've shared with us. You're brilliant As usual, and I want everyone to make sure you take time to watch this 90 minute masterclass about how to get paid for your genius and even get paid well for your genius because you deserve it. Yes, you deserve every abundance in the world and you have to be willing to receive it in order to experience it. So when someone makes it available to you step up and welcome it in.

Isabelle Mercier: 00:20:22

And not only that, but when when the when the teacher shows up, it's usually because the student is ready.

Elaine Starling: 00:20:29

So very true. That's absolutely true. Excellent. Well, thank you so much for joining us, and I will see you in the next episode.

Isabelle Mercier: 00:20:37

Rock on.

Elaine Starling: 00:20:38

Okay, it's that time, you've got to activate abundance. It all starts with a celebration. It all starts with getting into that, yeah, baby energy. And you should be feeling that pretty strongly after our conversation with Isabel. Isn't she amazing? She's one of these can do high energy people no nonsense she tells it like it is and just cuts to the chase. And I love that about her. I love that kind of energy. It's very invigorating and inspiring and empowering, which is a great place to start. Okay, we got our energy. Second step, let's acknowledge something that we really appreciate about what Isabel just had to say. Because I loved her level of clarity, she was very, very clear that the biggest barrier she had was focusing on all the things she didn't want all the things that were not working all the things that were a problem. Because obviously, that's a place where you can start, you can identify, it's really easy to see the problems, right. But where she had a transformation was when she stopped focusing on what she didn't want, and instead focused on what she did want. That is a huge shift. And it's what I talk about in my TED talk, the abundant that abundance is a choice, big concept, focus on what is working and what you do want. Loved that when she mentioned that, and I super appreciate it. Because I've experienced that in my own life. And I still do, there are still times when I need your go to that space. And all that is for me now is it's like the divine with one of those bells that you would see at a counter when you entered and there was nobody there and you bang on the bell and then somebody comes in from the back room to help you. To me, whenever I get that sensation, that's just a reminder from the Divine going, hello, hello, time to connect. It's not all about you, honey, you got a partner here. So let's get on board. And I so appreciate her providing that perspective, that focusing on what you want, makes all the difference in the world. So when we're ready to activate, we're ready to take a step and do something different. I have not seen Isabella's free gift yet. I did her program, but I haven't seen her 90 minute training about how to get paid for your genius. So I am definitely going to watch that. I'm going to share it on social media. And I'm going to encourage everybody I know to take the time to watch it because she is truly insightful and brilliant. And I know I'm going to learn something really, really useful from that 90 minute training. So that's how we celebrate, acknowledge, appreciate and activate abundance. I'm so glad you joined me today. I'll see you next time.