Bring Your Weird Into Your Work with Nicole Riccardo | Ep.35

I believe in divine timing. I believe that the right people information, wisdom, guidance, heck things arrive when we're ready for them. I believe that owning our own truth unconditionally is the path to not only creative fulfillment, but more about success and abundance. This is not only a podcast to help you get strategic and mastered a position of success. It's a declaration to share the truth. It's a commitment to keep going to make it happen no matter what. It's an activation and invitation for me for you and for us to play a bigger game. So my question for you is this. Do you really want it? Do you really want to make your dreams come true? Do you really want to become a six figure coach? Welcome to the diaries of a six figure coach podcast, I am your host, Theresa Lambert, and I dare you to get ready to show up, boss up and make it happen.

Hello, Hello. And welcome back to another episode of diaries of a six figure coach podcast, I was so excited because I have another amazing guest here with me today, Nicole Riccardo, and she is like, there's just something about Nicole, that really draws me in like, it's like when you go to her Instagram alone, okay, at Nicole Ricardo, there'll be no show notes. And you see, Nicole, and then you find out that she's a digital marketer. And what she does, it's just like, she is one cool chick that what I found when I went to her Instagram when we were connecting, and she reached out to come on to the podcasts. And we really haven't spoken a lot, we sort of connected and I felt a vibe, I wanted to know more. If you're here on YouTube, you see that she's drinking her coffee, I'm assuming out of like a pumpkin cup. And I love it. And so I am like literally so curious. And I just feel like she's a really cool person to introduce you to on this podcast and to share a little bit around her story of building a multimillion dollar business, or working with multimillion dollar businesses and go from there. So Nicole, welcome.

Thank you. I'm so excited to be here.

I love it. So tell me like you're a digital marketer, you support entrepreneurs and but you're not like, you're not like the like you anything from cookie cutter Digital Marketer. And I just like, I'm totally like, just like, you know, judged you but like, I hope in a beautiful way.

Yes, no, I mean, that's that's totally me. And even like a my agency, one of the things that we like to say is, you know, we're not we're not just here to think outside the box, we're here to light the damn box on fire. So that's kind of us and what we do, but yeah, I'm very much an advocate for you know, novel idea, just being yourself and being a human. And bringing that into your work and you know, using your work to support the kind of life that you want to live and so obviously, I'm not just going to talk the talk I'm also going to walk the walk so I am very much just me and I've worked not into my work and I mean, you can even see behind me like I have my little like, skull pillow and I call this my creepy wall back here. Like I love spooky haunted things and paranormal things and you know, I'm like drinking out of my pumpkin mug. I my Halloween birthday said You know, so yeah, like I have, you know, maybe what some people say, weird and trust. But, I mean, I'd like to bring that into my work, you know, it's gonna make you so much more unique. And we all know, you know, of course with marketing, branding is a big part of that and really helps you to set yourself apart and all of us, no matter who you are, there are things about you intrinsically, that they're unique to you. Only and that's what makes you special. That's what sets you apart from all of the you know, 500 million other marketers out there social media managers or VA or coaches or whatever, right? There's like so many of us out there but like what, what makes you different people are going to connect with you because of who you are as a person. So yeah, big fan of showing those things about yourself.

100% I love that and I love that like you said like bring your weird into your work. But I love that I Totally agree. You know, I think that that is the one thing like people are always like, you know, how can I like stand out? How can I like, show people that I'm unique? And I'm like, by being you? Like, it's always like how do I do that and like then it's like, you just got to be you like, just show us who you are and what you're about and in all your fullness authenticity, quirkiness, witness range as like, just show us who you are, because you really are. What makes your business unique. It's you as a personal brand. It is you. Right, yeah. So So I love that. I love that. But I also know people struggle with that.

Yes, it's true. And one of the things that I always tell my clients, you know, I know there's a lot of like, afraid to like, there's, you know, the whole spectrum from like, oh, I don't really want to show my face online and blah, blah, blah to you know, I know like you were saying, I how do I do that? I don't really know what to do blah, blah. It's like, okay, like, what? What's the stuff that makes you feel almost like uncomfortable that you're like, oh, I don't know if I should talk about that. Like, people are gonna think that's unprofessional or whatever, like, Cool. Great. You're probably going in the right direction. Talk about it. Right? Like, who freakin talks about like, Oh my God. Yeah, I love Go shows. And like I was just in California and went to Alcatraz and you know, did an overnight investigation on the USS Hornet. And I like walking around in the dark and chillin in morgues. Like, that's fucking weird, objective. But like, Yeah, I'm going to talk about it. Because like, I love doing it. And when I first started talking about it, I did censor myself a lot. Because it did make me feel a little like, ooh, like, Is this even like, should I be talking about this? This isn't business related at all, blah, blah, blah, right? But, I mean, we all know how branding works at this point. And it really is. It's one of those things that like, it allows people to build personal associations with you and keep you top of mind. So now, I'll have people sending me like, you know, oh, I found this like haunted house listing. Here you go. We're like, Oh, my God, somebody's selling their haunted doll. Here you go. We're like, Oh, my God, did you see the new adventure? You know, the new episode of Ghost Adventures, right? Like, people will send me stuff like that all the time now? Because like, yeah, it is weird, fine, whatever. But like, also, it's very unique. And you know, so it's a lot easier for people to remember it. So yeah, it's just stop questioning yourself and doubting yourself. And the weirder, the better. Great talk about it, let's hear about it.

With other Fetta I love that. I love that. And you know, it's so what I find, like really interesting about this and having this conversation is that so often what we find weird, or what we might even like senza showing people, actually, is what draws people in, that are kind of like us, you know, like, I always feel like I love like, I mean, I'm a believer. And I am so curious about what your perspective is on this. But I believe that we like when we see qualities or traits of somebody that we admire, it's because we innately possess them. So we're really just walking, they're a reflection of a possibility for somebody else, because they're really just seeing parts of themselves in us. So the more we share our uniqueness and witness even sometimes the more we're calling in the people that are actually really aligned with who we are that appreciate the quirkiness that appreciate right that I mean, I wouldn't be honest. I mean, I'm like, I used to watch a lot of scary movies. Like when I was little, like, like, I shouldn't have watched him and it like caused me like severe like, trauma, like I don't I've never like told the story like okay, I'm just gonna say that might be like a little bit of a trigger warning and like, I'm totally like, fine. I do not need like mental health support. Okay, but like I watched was it like Jackie the model puppet, you know, where like, the puppet like comes in like, anyways, I was like, I think I was like, might have been like six or something like that. And like, it's like a long time ago. It was like, the original version. Okay, anyways, I was still in kindergarten. I love puppets. I had all sorts of them, like not creepy looking ones like that one. But after that, I was terrified. So I actually took them away because I was terrified. And I remember like my mom being like, oh, what's going on? And like she put it back together and put it out and I was so freaked out. I was like, Oh my god. It's so needlessly to say that like, Halloween kind of creeps me out. But I'm gonna just say like, if I was into like the Halloween thing and that, like, if that was my thing I would totally, like, I that would totally draw me in, in terms of looking for somebody to help me with my marketing because I would feel like there was a relatability piece or something that we have in common something that we share. And I just appreciate like, I looked at your Instagram, and I looked at what you saw, and I was like, wow, like, I want to know more about this person. And also, it's kind of cool, because you stand out by being you. Yeah,

exactly. It's like novel idea, just by being yourself. It is gonna make you stand out. And I mean, also, well, first, thank you for sharing that. And I'm sorry, that happen. That's totally understandable. I also would have been scared shitless. And I watched that when I was six. But, yeah, I think it's also you know, just to give another example, for anybody that's over there late, or I don't know, Nicole, like, I don't have anything weird. Like I love, you know, horror things are scary things or Halloween or whatever. Like, I just, you know, I live in a small town, and it's very boring. And there's nothing here and blah, blah, blah, you know, you can also look at things about your personality, right, like your personality traits. And the the thing that I'll always ask my clients here is, you know, is there anything when you're writing posts, when you're talking to people that you're kind of censoring about yourself? Or that you're like, toning down? are, you know, you're kind of like, Oh, I feel like if I like am that way, it's gonna rub people the wrong way. Great. Do it. Let's let's do that. You know, yeah, the reality is, you're not going to be everybody's cup of tea. And so I think the sooner that we not only like understand that, because we all know that, but accepting that is something very different. And I say this as somebody who has had many therapy sessions about this, okay, like, truly accepting that, like, not everybody is going to like you. Just like, there are people who don't like Dolly Parton. Okay, you know, like, let's just, we'll just throw that out there. So like, there's always going to be something that you do, you could be like, the most perfect person you know, like Princess Diana, everything's, you know, so neat and polished and blah, blah, blah and classic. There are still going to be people who don't like you. So you might as well just freakin Be yourself. Right? And so like an example for me, one of the things I always say is maybe you can tell by no and the interviewer I always say that my mouth has been getting me in trouble my entire life. Because I'm very opinionated. I you know, I'll drop an F bomb, which Oh, my God clutch your pearls. It's not lady like, right? All I'm sassy. I'm direct. I'm that person that like, if you come to me, and you're like, oh, I need help on. Like, I can't even tell you how many clients I've turned away because I'm like, Yeah, you should have come to me like, you know, maybe before you started this, like, I can't help you fix it once you launched it and heard crickets like, you need it. You needed my help before you started this, you know, I'm very, like, direct blunt, like, no BS in that, yeah, it rubs some people the wrong way. And for years, I really, really tampered that about myself, I was very afraid to be that outspoken to share a lot of my actual thoughts. Because I knew that it would rub a lot of people the wrong way. But the flip side exactly like you were just saying, Teresa, as soon as I stopped doing that, and was just kind of like, you know what, fuck it like, this is me, this is who I am. I'm sick of like, I don't want to get on these calls with you know, clients who are so like, they're so buttoned up and polished and they want everything to be professional and blah, blah, blah. Like that's not who I am. So I just kind of took the wall down and started being my you know, direct no BS, whatever. Like, I'm just gonna say whatever the fuck I want self. And now Wow, amazing. All of my clients are also very sassy and opinionated and they have ideas they want to get out there and there's stuff about their industries that they hate and they're like, You know what, I want to change this because this is stupid and they're literally out there like changing their industries simply because I let my wall down and started being more myself right and so now that's who I'm attracting. Obviously, we're gonna work a lot better together, and they're gonna get a lot better was because we're much more similar, so it really is like, yes, it's scary at first just to like, validate that I understand I get it, I was there as well. It's freakin scary. But I promise you, every time I've done this, every time I watched a client do this, you're just going to further call in your people. And then you're literally gonna have this roster of like dreamboat clients who you're like, yeah, like, I want to go have a beer with them at the bar, you know, like, I want to hang out with that, like, great. That's how we know we're doing it. Right.

I love that. I love that. And I feel like that is where so many people get stuck, right? They get stuck in the fear that it's not working in the fear that if they're like, you know, putting it all out there and being themselves and talking like themselves, that somehow it's going to throw people off and that they're failing. And it's like, well, but like, like, really, by holding yourself back and censoring yourself, you're really stopping yourself from calling in and attracting the kind of clients and the types of clients that a like you the fuck up. But that will have better results, because they appreciate the way that you work there appreciate the way that you are and, and like, that's what you want. Right? Like, I I totally appreciate that. I feel like that that is these layers that we have to peel off. Right? Because like the professionalism or some of the things. I mean, listen, like if anybody listening, like we're not saying like, you don't have to be professional, right, like I think you can yourself and still be professional. I think it's defining what does that even mean? Yeah,

important differentiation. Professional does not have to be the same thing as formal.

Thank you. Yes, professional is not formal. I agree. I agree. You know, after I left my corporate job, I was a GM of a hotel, beautiful boutique hotel. And I would always work places. And I had like, I had so many places now I traveled with like two suitcases and like, I have hardly any clothes. And I don't really need them. But I remember getting rid of a lot of my places because I said to me, I don't need Blazers to feel powerful, and I love your place, but nothing against places I still loving blazers, it was a thing for me that I was like I even was like, I was watching like a recording of something like from a couple of years ago and like just like dress different and buttoned down and like kind of like not showing skin and like, and it was like, part of me has been this undressing, you know, like not that I show up naked on my stories. But like now I'm like, I am sitting in my little plunge pool doing a live talking about business strategy. You know, I am sitting at the beach and sharing about like reviewing your offers before you're going into to manage money for you. Like, I get to show up in my frickin bikini if I want to and talk about business strategy. And that is me. But for me, that was one of those things where it was like, I struggled for a long time with this idea that if I would not look professional meaning if I wouldn't be like in like sort of like a suited kind of outfit that people wouldn't take me seriously. And that's all gone overboard now. And I've also been challenged. Actually, by like a coach I had around like if the freedom lifestyle that I showed people, it's so far that people believe it's not unattainable. And then I was kind of like that, put something in my head to be honest. And I was sitting with it for a long time. And then I got to the point, like you, I was like, fuck it, because quite honestly, like I am here for entrepreneurs who want to have a very successful business and want to implement strategies that allowed them to have freedom to play, to travel to have a good time to sit in the freaking pool and do your work because I don't believe you need to sit at a desk to do it. And yet, there's gonna be people that feel for them. It's unattainable. But I can tell you as somebody who's traveling and building her business, and like I've made a lot of really tough decisions, and anyone listening to this podcast for a long time knows that I got divorced and like it's not been easy and like I it's been different. But I made some hard choices to be where I am. And you can have that too. If you're in a business and it's not working. You can make different decisions. If you're buttoned up or hiding your weird. You can choose not to do that and actually show up and express yourself fully. And guess what the people that are calling in are the people that say hey, I actually really appreciate that you showing up like this. You know, it's like they appreciate that you show your quirkiness that you own that you'll like it Do Halloween stuff. I mean, it makes me want to like Halloween stuff more, you know? And like, even though

yes, no, I mean, I think that, like, there's so much to unpack and what you just said honestly, like, there's so many different layers of that. But the first thing just because it was one of the last things that you talked about, you said, I chose to blah, blah, blah, right. And that's been something that has been really impactful for me personally, this year, is the word choice, right? And not to like, over simplify things. But really, at the end of the day, that's what a lot of this comes down to, we can choose to be afraid and you know, oh, I don't know if I should do this. And okay, well, guess what, you don't need anybody else's validation. You don't need approval, or the green light or a permission slip from your coach or from your best friend or from your mom or from your partner. You don't need that from anybody. You give that to yourself, right? It is your choice. On if you're going to show up that way. It is your choice on Yeah, I want to build a business that allows me to travel and work from wherever I want, right? If that's what you want, that's what you want, and go fucking do it. Right. Like, literally the only thing stopping you is you and I think that this kind of comes back to it's one of those other things where like, yeah, sure, we can logically know that and understand that, but actually, like accepting that and really like, oh, yeah, like I actually get it. Those are two very different things. Because really a lot of this, that's literally all it comes down to is choice and we keep ourselves stuck. So much of the time, right? I'm like, Oh, well, I don't know if I should you know, saying fuck isn't very lady like, that's not very professional, whatever says who? Says you because you're, you know, freaking Karen down the street, who's you know, 75 years old thinks that, right? Like, says who you were, these are stories that we are telling ourselves. And sure, it might be influenced by, you know, societal norms and blah, blah, blah. But like, guess what, we are in a unique position that we are the ones shaping how things are going to be going and I think a lot of us forget how much power we have, right? Because the more of us, and especially women like oh, this is the other thing how you're talking about, you know, oh, showing up in a bikini and right, like, oh my god, there are so many people that will get so offended by that. And oh, your business person. I can't take you seriously, you're doing this on the beach or show. Oh my God, you have boobs? How dare you? Oh, yes, I know. So offensive, right? I have boobs. Oh my god. You know, it's like no, fuck off. Like, especially as women like, we have so much more power than we think we do. And the more of us that can start showing up and not giving a fuck and being like, Yeah, I'm laying on the freakin beach and I'm gonna do a live and talk about XYZ and that doesn't mean that I'm any you know that the information I'm giving you is any less valuable than a man who's sitting in a boardroom with their blazer and you know, they're tied up shiny shoes and their tie right? Like, it literally doesn't matter. And like when you were talking about that, if you actually click on one it won't be my last post when this airs but my my post that I put up yesterday, it's a carousel on you if you swipe through the last picture is a picture of me bent over smacking my ass at the end I realized like

Oh, Michel, you like going up right? Because yeah,

like I love that. I do burlesque you know, and like I do pole dancing. And yeah, I started it because it was like, Oh, this makes me feel very uncomfortable. Right? Like, oh, that probably means I should like do it. But like yeah, I've posted pictures like that before I posted pictures from like, Yes, I love it. Yeah, and it's like, that doesn't mean that I am any less like professional right? Sure. That's not formal. It's maybe not traditional but like, Guess what, like it's again like that's me. That's who I am. You know, I'm not like, who cares? Like I still know what the fuck I'm talking about. My clients still get results like I still have the money in my bank account right like men do this shit all the time. They want like the big dick energy right? Like I literally have a mug that says big dick energy because I feel like especially as women like it's so we have such an aversion to that because, oh god, I could like rant about this all day, as you can probably tell, but you know, like, so many of us grow up and we're like, oh, be a good girl, right? That's what we get hurt. Okay, but what does that mean, though? That means, like, do what you're told, right? fit into other people's mold of what you're supposed to be. Oh, be quiet. Be good, right? Don't Don't make waves. Like that's literally like as women that's what we're, we're grown. Like, we grow up being told that but like, No, fuck that. We can choose that to choice, right? We can choose to be like, that's no longer serving us. Like, I run my own freakin business. Like, I want to change this industry. I want to show other women what's possible that you can like, be successful and have a business, doing whatever the fuck you want wearing whatever the fuck you want, working from wherever you want. And like you can you can do that. You don't have to be a good girl, you know, do whatever you want.

And how fucking amazing is it that we actually can? Like, yeah, we can do it. Yes. Okay, that was a time when that was a lot different. But yeah, now we can.

We can. Yeah, so big shout out to all of the women that came before us that, you know, gave us the privilege now that we have to be able to do this and talk like this and, you know, show our assets on the internet. Right? But, you know, like, we have this amazing opportunity. Like, yeah, let's choose to freakin use it, you know? Oh, I

totally agree. And I say fuck all the time. So I'm like, cry. Like I always say like, I definitely have a sailor mouth. And like, there's been like times where I'm like, Okay, I feel like I can probably like, I don't need to, like emphasis every sentence with fuck. But then there's other times where I'm like, fuck it, like today is one of those days where I'm gonna use it five times in a row and two sentences and like, you know, like, just deal with it, you know, like, but I don't even think about those things anymore. You know, I think that that is the interesting thing about what you just said, too. And you're right, like the decision, the choice, like every time now I'm in a place and like, I'm saying fuck again. But like, things aren't always looking or going the way they did. 2020 was a very 2022 was a very different year than I intended it to be. We're now in 2023, what the hell, but but I get to the point. And I'm like, You know what, I chose this and it came with consequences. I chose it. And yeah, that sometimes means, you know, I'm sure you sometimes hear people basically giving you that verbal diarrhea around their opinion in your face, because we share our opinion too. And I'm like, that is fine. I don't need to judge that. You got to have your perspective, I got to have my perspective. And the thing is to do something so empowering by realizing that you don't want to be everyone's cup of tea. Yeah, like, I don't want to walk with everyone. I really don't. And I've said no to a lot of people, especially in the last like four months. And it's been scary, really, really scary for me because I made such a big pivot in my life and my business and there was a part of me that just wanted to say yes, but it just wasn't the right clients. So I'm like, no, no, no. I was saying no, but that's the thing, right? I feel like we get to model what success gets to look like we got to change the narrative, we got to pull the veil off the nine to five, you need to be sitting at a desk, you got to be you know, like, I mean, even the whole like thing I've been like thinking about pillows of stability as in having a stable home and, and being in a relationship and like you know, all these things. And now I'm like, I don't own a home currently anymore. I so I don't have a permanent address at this point in time. I single at the end of my fatties. And I was in a 16 year long relationship. So I didn't think I was going to be here. Single I always wanted to travel and build my business from anywhere. And for me, that's a complete vibe like for me to be able to like walk along the beach to go to a breathwork class responding to clients and supporting them. And being able to do that to me is a dream for other people would be a frickin nightmare. They would be like, Oh my God, you're not present. And I'm like, No, I am present but I chose to create this life and I could say Oh, I'm present to work when I sit at a desk. And then I'm not present when I'm don't sit at a desk. That's another BS story, right? But it's like it's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea, but you choose what you choose. But also it breaks paradigms and it breaks perspectives and viewpoints of what success and business needs to look like and what's possible for us, right. And we get to also fueled this economy by continuing to say, Hey, I'm investing in, in mentorship that looks different. I'm investing in my personal development, because I fucking want to, not because of anything else, or anyone else, right? Because, I mean, you know, I feel like, if you're listening to this, and you're like, Oh, I wish I could, you know, express myself more show up more authentically, right, like, choose it. Use it. Yeah, maybe reach out to someone like Nicole here to help you do it. So you can express you in your marketing fully. So they call how can people get more of you? Like, how can we find? How can we find you dropping F bombs and showing us how we can like, build our businesses online, throughout digital marketing in a way that means we show all our weds like

yeah, so all the this the place that I spend most of my internet time is Instagram. Seeing come find me on Instagram, it's just my name, and Nicole Ricardo, our ICC AR do also have a website, Nicole ricardo.com. And if you are curious, on my website, I have a quiz that I worked very hard to create is called what is your badass business persona. So you can go take that and it it is based around kind of where you're at in business right now. And it does go into higher levels because that's something that always drove me nuts with quizzes, I feel like they're for like, you know, more beginning phases, but it goes into even higher levels. And then it gives you you know, these are kind of what your next steps will be giving you different resources, stuff like that talking about, you know, your super power, what makes you really unique, really awesome at what you do. So, yeah, you can find that on my website as well. It's just on the homepage No. coworker.com So yeah, comm send me send me a DM send me a message say hi, I don't buy I love that. girl doesn't

bite. And I'm like, I love this conversation so much. And it just shows you that when two people who are themselves show up to have a conversation, it always turns out into something magical, right? Like, like literally Nick Cole and I have communicated through a few messages. And here we are having this conversation that I feel like talking to you felt like I was talking to a friend, someone I've known a long time. You know, not someone would just showed up in a Zoom Room and be like, let's do that. So I love I love I love that I can't wait. I'm gonna take your quiz. I'm also gonna make sure that we putting that in the show notes. So, so fun. I love quizzes. That is one thing that I'm actually like maybe bringing back fun fact about me, I learned how to build quiz funnels, I spent two weeks learning from someone incredible on how to create and build quiz funnels just to then not use it. Anyway, story. But I know a lot about questions. It's all good. Nicole, before we wrap up, what is a piece of advice that you maybe would give somebody who is like ready to express outward more to show up and to stop the censorship?

I would just say I mean, I know it's like very cliche, but feel the fair and do it anyway. Um, I'm a big, a big Brene Brown fan. And one of the things that she talks about one of her books that I just really love, and that I always find myself coming back to with clients is how she talks about, you know, just accepting and acknowledging that your your fear, your anxiety, all of those things, it's always going to be there. Because all of us have that intrinsic part of ourselves that just wants to keep us safe. Right? And so that is literally always going to be there. But we can make the choice to not let it be in the driver's seat, right? We get to be the driver's seat and the fear can be in you know, the passenger seat next to us and like Hey, I acknowledge you like thanks so much. I understand. You're trying to protect me you're trying to keep me safe but like great we live in this amazing generation now this amazing time where we do have the opportunity to make these choices and to show up fully as ourselves and say fuck on the internet and show my ass on the internet if I want to you know like I'm nobody's gonna come like shoot mean are we just gonna come take me to jail? You know, so I'm going to choose to yes. Great fear. There you are cool that Gil. Um, but I'm gonna go do it anyway.

I fucking love it. So do it anyways. Well with that being said, Nicole, thank you so so so, so much for coming on this show. I'm so pumped people are gonna love this. I know it. This was such a needed conversation. I really appreciate your time. And everyone I will see you back next week on the diaries of a six figure coach Podcast Take care.