Welcome to Mind Power Meets Mystic. The show where practical mind power and mystical wisdom collide with humor and wild curiosity. Yeah, we're not here to play it safe. I'm Cinthia Varkevisser, your resident spiritual shit disturber. I stir things up with mystic power and bold action. And I'm Michelle Walters, coach and Hypnotherapist. I bring strategy and transformative hypnosis to help you turn subconscious blocks into unstoppable momentum. Let's shake up your thinking, dive into your soul and make bold moves in your life. We'll take you on a journey of breakthrough and aha moments, exploring spirit, business, love relationships and self expansion. We're connecting you with your highest self and flipping fear into strength. So buckle up. We're doing this one wild, transformative conversation at a time. Let's go. Welcome to another episode of Mind Power Meets Mystic. I am Michelle Walters, the hypnotherapist the mind power, part of this wonderful podcast, I am joined this week, as per usual, by my lovely lady co host, Cinthia Varkevisser. She is our show mystic, and is the wise woman of the wilds of the cosmic existence. We are excited to be continuing on our journey of talking about different professions and how they relate to the chakras, and we are so excited because we get to talk to a friend of ours today named Stacia Crawford. Stacia Crawford is a two time Emmy award winning producer and the powerhouse behind stay ready media, a premier PR and media strategy firm that turns thought leaders, CEOs and industry experts into household names with more than three decades of experience as a top TV news producer, Stacia brings unmatched insider knowledge to the world of public relations. She has helped clients land high visibility features on Good Morning America, CBS, Evening News, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Oprah Magazine, and countless others, as the ultimate media matchmaker. Stacey knows exactly what journalists want and how to make her clients stand out. Thank you for being here. Stacia boy, thank you for having me. I'm excited. Dang, I'm so you're the one with all the media experience, not us. I know you were reading that. I'm like, Who is she talking about? You are a badass. So we have you here, very obvious for the ship fifth chakra, which is all about expression and voice and speaking, and you are. You are that person. You embody the fifth chakra. And I love talking to you about it, because everything you do comes from that space, or is very mindful of that space. So tell us about your work and how you got here, and you are very popular with everyone on our cruise, because they said media, and everybody's eyes got sparkly, because, right, we all want to be on camera. Yeah, yeah. Well, I got into this, believe it or not, when I lost my job. So I was laid off from my job. I was working as a TV news producer in Chicago. I had been there for 20 years. They actually recruited me from Baltimore, where I had produced the first weekend morning show. You may recall, we're women of a certain age. When Saturday mornings were all dedicated to the kids, it was all cartoons, and we got this brilliant idea to do a weekend morning news, and it went so well, I did that in Baltimore, Chicago. Was like, Hey, can you come do it here? And I worked at the station for 20 years and producing any number of shows there. And we got a new general manager, and, you know, politics and behind the scenes anyway, he got the bright idea to cancel my show. So at that time, I was producing the midday show, highest rated newscast in the city, you know, third largest market. But he had bought some other show and needed some place to put it, so he decided to bump the news. And that meant that I had the option of, you know, working somewhere else in the newsroom, or I decided to bet on myself. And so I left that newsroom, started my company, stay ready media, and looked at what, you know, I was like, There's got to be some way for me to be able to capitalize on the skills that I have brought to television. You know, at that time I've been at like, 2530 Years, and I was like, You know what, I do a lot of stuff preparing people to be on my show, because most people think they know what it's like when you're going to be on TV. And I'm like, you don't. And when you come on TV and you think you're going to wing it nine times out of 10, you're going to leave there so dissatisfied with, you know, how you look and how you sound because it's not what you think it is. And so that's really kind of been the foundation of my business, really not just getting people to those media opportunities, but preparing them for them, so that they look the part, they sound the part, and they make sure that they have a core message that they want to deliver, and everybody's happy that producer wins, the audience wins and the client wins. So that's how I that's how I started. That's pretty fascinating, because we're talking about TV, which everybody wants to be, you know, every five year old wants to be, you know, on TV or in the movies. But what we don't think about is exactly what you're saying, is what's your core message? Which means it's about digging really deep into who you are, and, you know, and what is it? How does it apply? So you're actually a life coach, and, you know, in a certain kind of way or so, how do you get people down to that core message? Or at least, you know, I like to be all over the place. Ask, just ask Michelle, right? I love to be all over the place. And Michelle's like, focus, focus. I'm really not a very good Virgo, but, you know, so how is it that you get people to dig down and go, Is that really your core value, or are you really relaying what it the message that you want to relay. Yeah, a lot of it, you know, basically means starting with the end in mind, like, like you said, everybody wants to be on TV. But the question you have to ask is, why is it, you know, you know, some people, like, I just want to be able to say I was on TV. Like, I've literally had, I know a woman who literally had an opportunity to meet Oprah. She, you know, had literally had tea with Oprah, and that's her claim to fame. I had tea with Oprah and me as a media strategist. I'm like, are you? I'm like, Would would you get from that? Like, what did that do for you? Did your business blow up? You know, you should be a household name. And she's like, No, I just had tea with Oprah. Like, that was her goal, to be able to say that. And I'm just like, Are you freaking kidding me? Like, you know what Oprah does for people, and most people do that with media. They go into media not really knowing or having a clear understanding of what they want to get out of it on the back end. So that's really key. You have to start there. What do you want? Are you trying to make money from it? Do you want clients? Are you trying to get speaking engagements? Are you trying to get brand awareness? Because every media opportunity is not going to be the same, and if you don't know what you're going into it to get out of it, what are we doing, right? So we always start with the end in mind. So you know from there, we do kind of narrow down, what is your core message? Because that depends on what you're trying to do, right? Are you trying to get a client? Are you trying to get a date? Your message is going to be different, right? Same channel, but different message. So that's really a key part of the work that I do. Hello, listeners. You have been listening to this fine episode of Mind Power Meets Mystic. And Cinthia and I have a few things we wanted to share. Cinthia Well, I've got a couple of crazy, cool things that come up every month, and one is called strategic intuition for greater business success. This is great for people who want to use their intuition for a better communication with their families, their companies and community, and that's on third Thursdays. These are all virtual. And the other one I have is called the prosperity flow. Shift your space, shift your life. And that's on First Fridays. Has everything to do with your home and any other space that you want to make more vibrant. So that's what I've got going on. What do you have going on? My friend, I have two different kinds of events I do every month. One I've been doing for years now. It's called nourish and flourish. Nourish and flourish is a online hypnosis experience, and it is always on a Friday and always at noon Pacific. Usually it's the second Friday, but it floats around. So the best way to find the date for it is to go to the classes page on my website. There's a link there, and you can either use it to just jump in, or you can go over to Eventbrite and sign up the second event that I've started hosting this year is some marketing events. I have two different talks that I give for small businesses who want to learn more about how to do great in their marketing. And those dates and the classes are also available on my classes page. So. Cool. All of these that we're talking about are free, good listener, and we would love to have a chance to meet you and welcome you to one of our events. So for me, check the classes page and Cinthia, where can people find the details about your events? That is also on my website and the classes page, but let's make sure that we'll have them in the show notes, so that it's even easier for our listeners. Love it, back to the show. I love it. I love it. It's like, it's like, mindset message training on steroids. Really, there's a huge part of mindset, and most people don't, they don't see that either. Like a lot of times people, when I really talk to folks, there's, I mean, there's mindset involved in everything that we do, right? And when it comes to media, it's the same way. So the things that you talk about, how you show up, everything from how you dress to, you know, the words that you use, the language, language is so important. And many times when people are not media trained, and we look at their interviews, and they're like, Oh, my God, did I say that? Like, where did that come? Right? You don't even know what you said because you weren't fully prepared. And a lot of that stems from what was your mindset going into it. And oftentimes, you know, they're like, Well, you know, this is my business. I've been doing this for 20 years. I'm just going to go in and I'm just going to wing it, and I just, I think a lot of people, and I'm curious if this, if this, if this is similar to your experience, but I think a lot of people don't listen to themselves. No, they don't. They don't listen to themselves. They're not they, they, they don't like to hear themselves. They don't like to see a video of them talking. They, they are not reflective about their past experience. And I imagine that that's a big part of what you try and point out to people is like, Hey, if you're sitting here scratching the side of your face, you're not going to come across as trustworthy as you don't even know you could keep your hands out of the out of the camera zone, right? Yeah, yeah. And most people don't. They don't like the sound of their voice, and, you know, it's like, those are things that you can control. Just, you know, the way you talk, you can actually control it. But we don't think that. We think, well, this is just what my voice sounds like. It's like, no, it's a it's because that's how you've been speaking. But you can absolutely change it, right? And that's a big part of the work that we do with our media training, you know? And we are very intentional about looking at the videos like this is what you looked like and what you sounded like, you know, a week ago. And here's how your voice is more commanding. Because, again, it all goes back to what is your goal. So how your voice sounds means, are people going to want to work with you? You know, if your voice is not sounding authoritative, you're not sounding clear, you're not sounding confident, then you're not going to get clients out of it, or they're not going to buy your book, they're not going to come to your event. None of that, right? People in America want to work with people who are confident, well spoken and approachable. If that doesn't shine through, I imagine that that perfect match you're talking about between your client and the show and the audience is something less than a win, absolutely right? And it goes down even those tiny things. It could be a facial expression, it could be a hand gesture, it could be, you know, the way you hold your head. All those things matter, even though you don't realize it. So I'm curious, when people come see you, what's the percentage of people who go, Holy shit, I got to do way more work than I thought. So most, most, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Because most, most of the ones who come to me have not had media training, and definitely not in the way that we do media training, right? So yeah, when we point those things out, they're like, Oh, I didn't even realize that I did that. Like, they're the obvious things. People who say like, like, I was going to, like, you know, go to the store and like, this guy walks up to me, and like most people who do that, don't notice it, but when you point it out, they'll be a little bit more cognizant of it. But there's so many other things. There are ticks and idiosyncrasies and little things that people do that they don't even realize it and not even recognizing that when you're on camera, those things are amplified Absolutely it's one of the interesting things that I have learned so much about myself from my work recording hypnotherapy, and it's not so much about the camera. Cinthia will tell you it took me forever to agree to be on camera for our podcast, but I learned after a while. That as I was recording hypnotherapy scripts, people don't want ums and ahhs and likes and you have to be able to I don't have to speak quickly. I can speak slowly in those recordings, but I need to speak in a way that is confident, calming, quiet has all of those techniques in it so that it sounds it sounds good, and it sounds like something people want to listen to, and it's practice. Oh yeah, it's not impossible, but it is practice, sure, and not everybody wants to put in the time to practice and develop that skill set. Yeah, because a lot of people, you know, when they come especially when they come to me, they'll think that, you know, they're an expert in their field, which absolutely you are, 100% but I'm an expert in my field, and I'm telling you that we need to do some work here. Or sometimes they'll even come in and say, Well, you know, I've done, you know, I've done TV before, I've done radio or other media before, so I don't need media training. And then I go and we look at those interviews, and I'm like, did you notice this? Did you see this? Oh, I didn't even know that. Like, yeah, there's something so valuable about another set of eyes. Oh, absolutely, and ears and and all the all the pieces, because we can be so self judgmental that that's the fear. I think why people don't watch their own recordings. Is there. They're terrified of what they look like, and so the only thing you can kind of do is say, I accept myself no matter what happens exactly. That's not necessarily the right answer. You know, there's, there's something in between there about being able to accept yourself but also improve yourself absolutely. And I always say, let's fix it beforehand, because after it's too late, because if you go in and you blow a media interview, you're not getting invited back, right? So let's fix it before, right? Let's fix up all those things with it. You know, if it's your gestures, your your voice, your tone, your inflections, all those things. Let's work on that. I was surprised talking with you just how much time I mean, first of all, you have, what, three minutes in in a in a typical TV interview, how much time prep time you need, how much time, ahead of time you need to be at the studio, how much time you know all these things happen for this. It's a hard way to look at it, but I'm like, it's like the head of a pimple, right? So there's like, so much build up. I know it's not the great it's not what I really want, but you know what I'm talking about. There's, like, so much build up and so much work for just, you know, for that tip of, right? Yeah, really incredible, how much work you have to condense it down to, you know, pretty much a pinpoint, yeah? And that's why, another reason why the training is so important, because when we do interviews, if you've got three minutes, that doesn't mean you have two minutes to ramble on. You got to get your point right. You've got to be on it. You've got to be laser focused and know exactly what you want to go into the interview saying. And that even means, regardless of what they ask you, I always say, don't answer the question that they ask, you answer the question that you wish they had asked. And that is a very it's a skill. It's definitely a skill. Yeah, right. That's like, politics, yeah. Well, that's the first thing that crossed my mind. Was like, Oh, you're talking about people running for office and how they never answer the question, yeah. And you can tell the ones who are media trained and the ones who aren't, because when they aren't, you just sit there and go, Well, he never answered the question. That's right, when you do it correctly, nobody ever recognizes you didn't answer the question because you did answer the question. It might just might not have been that question, but yeah, it's a skill. Okay, that's a great how did you, how did you get good at this? Stacey, I mean, I get it that you've been practicing and doing it for decades. But not everybody, not everybody sort of grows up in such a way or or observes the world in such a way as to be really good at this, yeah. Well, I mean, I think it just came from my, my time in television, you know, being the person behind the scenes and the person who was booking those guests, it's like, I know what I want a good interview to sound like. And when a guest comes on and it's like, well, gee, that's not what I wanted. Or, you know, it. Really deliver anything, any value to my audience. You know, they came in it and they spewed whatever they wanted to say. And so I had to get really clear and spend a lot of time preparing people to be on my show. And that's, that's why I started my business, because I was like, hmm, it's not just about getting them there, but it's training them to deliver an impactful and memorable message when they do get there, and that's the part that a lot of tell us a success story, of somebody who you helped, who was maybe a sloppy communicator, and you showed them what they needed to know and what happened as a result. Gosh, okay, so many, and I wouldn't even necessarily, a lot of people, they aren't even necessarily sloppy communicators. It's just which sometimes is a worse problem, because if, if you're a sloppy communicator, you usually know it. Sometimes they're good communicators. They're just not communicating what they need to because most people, it's just like when we're pitching, most people in a pitch, they're pitching themselves. Think you have to think of pitching almost like sales, in a sense that you're not just trying to sell them something, right? You're not just trying to get on their show, you want to be clear and highlighting what is the value that you bring to their audience. And it's the same thing with an interview. So that means, if you have three minutes, you know, like a podcast, a podcast is very different, right? I came in here, you asked me how I got started, and I could tell you that, you know, in a minute and a half, if I've got three minutes. I don't have a minute and a half to tell you how I got started. So it's really all about, you know, oftentimes starting in the in the middle of the story, storytelling is key, right? Because you also have to connect with the audience on an emotional level. It's not about statistics and dates and facts and figures. It's really about the story, because that's where the heart is, that's where the emotion is. And so that's really that, you know, when I'm producing a show and I have an idea of what I want this segment or this interview to look like and sound like, and what I want my audience to get out of it, that's really what we start with when we do the training. Wow, that's amazing. Let me ask you, for all of us who have a book out or getting ready to have a book out, or we believe we have something that we want to share with the world, and of course, we still want to have our, you know, mug up on the TV. What are some suggestions to get them ready for you so you can take them so I remember us talking, and I said, Oh, I'm so not ready for you. I'm I'm a baby, you know? And you were very kind, but, you know, we agreed. I mean, I think it's really all, it's all about the message, like, ultimately, knowing what it is that you want media to do for you, right? Not just being able to say I had tea with Oprah, but being able to say I had tea with Oprah, and at the end of the day, I can track $60,000 in my bank account that came from that encounter, right? That's, I mean, if you're a business owner, that's what it is. If you don't have money in your bank account, you don't have a business a business, right? So a lot of people will group PR, marketing, advertising, all in the same basket, and that's even though they are different. But that's really why, because at the end of the day, you want to be able to monetize it. So I think that if you have a book, clearly you wrote that book because you had a message that you wanted to share. But it's all about knowing, like, there may be a particular chapter or a particular point in that book that you get to share with an audience. You can't tell them about the whole book, and you know, and the easiest way to do that is to tie into like, what are the conversations that are already happening in the world, what is it that people can actually use? Because, you know, people want takeaways and what? What's the information that they'll be able to take away and actually use immediately? So I wouldn't say you are not ready for me, Cinthia. Well, our Cinthia is working on a book, so maybe she will have a big message to share when the book is ready for prime time. Yes, absolutely. And you don't have to wait until the book is published to get media for your book, just to put it out there for you, Cinthia, we'll be talking, yeah, talking. But I really, yeah, I really love that. Well, if it's okay to tell a story, I did an empowerment piece that you got to be a part of, and it was just supposed to be a bunch of women getting together, stretching, la, la, la. And I saw. Who was in front of me, and just these amazing, you know, impactful human beings. And I thought, I'm not going to waste your time. Let's work on something that's, you know, empowering. And so I did a quick self defense down to the bones, and you took that into a media piece. That's the part I found really interesting because you said, Here's, you know, here's what you meant to do. This is what it's about. You can really take this into media, which I love your I love your brain for that in the way that you move forward, you know, so. So thank you for that. And I also want to know not what's coming up, but just some building. You know, I think this is the question I asked before, but I'm going to ask it again. Besides the besides the message, are there any things like, I'll ask Michelle, if Michelle wants to get Michelle's doing podcasts, but when she's ready to get on TV with her two books and her app, what can you what advice can you give her so that we can also give it to our audience, so they know that they're ready for you? Yeah, absolutely, I would say probably three things. The first thing is, you really need to have a story or a message that is going to position you as an undeniable, indisputable expert, right? So if you're writing a book, clearly you're doing that because you have some expertise, or if you own a business, so really hone in on what is your expertise and what it is that you want to be known for. Because, I mean, of course, yeah, we're all multifaceted, we're all talented and all this. But when it comes to media, they are looking for experts. So it's not something where it's like, oh, well, I know a little bit about this. I can talk about that. What are you an expert in period? So get clear on that. The second thing is, really think about the story that you want to tell. And when I think, when you think about the story, most people think that the story is them, and in most cases, the story is not you. And, you know, a lot of times I have conversations with people and I'm like, Oh my gosh, that's the story, right? It just kind of pops out for me. Know what that story is, and what is it tying in? And a lot of times think, even think in terms of, like, current trends, like, what's happening in the world if you are, you know, if you have a business, what are your clients dealing with right now? Because whatever that is, is a very good chance that the people in that television audience are going to be dealing with that same thing. So make sure that you have some takeaways. And then the third thing that I would say is really getting a clear strategy for media. Because sometimes people will say, Oh, well, I pitched the media, but they didn't respond. Oh, well, I guess it's not for me. You got to have a framework and a strategy, because not every pitch is going to, you know, every everyone is going to be picked up. And so you have to have a strategy. Okay, maybe not that one. Just like you do. You know, a lot of people doing social social media, and that's wonderful. Just like you have a content calendar for social media, you can have a content calendar for traditional media as well. Like, what am I going to be pitching in January? What am I going to be pitching in February? You know? And getting clear on those types of things, and it all ultimately goes back to you planning out your year. Like, do you have a book launch. Do you have an event coming up? Is there some big month, right? You know, you're a health professional, is it National Cancer Awareness Month or, you know, Autism Awareness Month? Or there's a month for everything, trust me, for everything. So as that expert, you need to know what that is, so that now you can go to the media and say, Hey, did you know that it was national blah, blah, blah week or national, you know, XYZ month, and then you can kind of plug your story into there, but that's all a part of that strategy that you really need to develop. So that way you're not stuck saying, Oh, well, I was on TV that one time. Because a lot of people think you know being on TV and now you know money's going to fall from the sky and clients are going to beat down your door, probably not. So you need to be consistent about it, and the way that you do that is building out a strategy. Great answer. Stacia, I find this all so interesting because I worked for 20 something years in marketing, but I worked in these big agencies where there were other people who did PR and that kind of a thing. I didn't know anything about it. And so as I've now evolved and solopreneur and my hypnosis business and that kind of a thing, I am seeing the importance of media and how it plays a role, and what happens if you don't do anything about it. Yeah, there's a lot of people who don't do anything about it, and what it can get you, because it can get a lot, actually. Absolutely, absolutely, yeah, and the opportunities are everywhere. There's so many. I mean, the way that the business is shifting, right, but the way that it's shifting is leaving a lot of opportunities for people to get featured. Folks often think, well, that's not accessible to me because I'm not famous or, you know, I don't have any insider connections. You don't need that. You know, you need to have a message, you need to have a plan, and you need to build a way, a time and your schedule to work the plan. Yeah, it's like anything. You got to dedicate consistency, absolutely. And when you do it right, you're pitching the media. But then the tables turn, and they're coming to you, right? You know, that sounds like the sexy part. Everybody wants a little So, absolutely, yeah, yeah. Stacia, thank you so much for being on Mind Power Meets Mystic and being one of our representatives of the fifth chakra, I'm happy. What would you like to share with our listeners? How can they connect with you? What you got coming up? Yeah, well, you can connect with me on social media, my company, stay ready media, so you can find me on LinkedIn at stay ready media, Instagram, stay ready, media and Facebook. Stacey Crawford, I share lots of tips, tricks, stat, strategies, lot of powerful information there for absolutely free. And I do a master class every now and then where I kind of pull back the curtain, give up the goods. And, you know, folks come to this masterclass and they email me back, and they're like, oh my god, I used a strategy. I just booked myself on Fox, so I'm going to be on NBC. And they're always shocked that it works. I'm like, of course it works. That's why I teach it. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. And this wraps up our episode of Mind Power Meets Mystic with me. Michelle Walters and our show, Mystic Cinthia Varkevisser, we have had Stacia Crawford on today's show. If you liked today's show, please rate us and review us. Know somebody who needs to know about Stacia forward the episode. We love it when we get feedback from people and when we get those little ding ding dings that tell us somebody liked our show. So thank you so much. Bye, bye. You've been listening to Mind Power Meets Mystic