00;00;03;23 – 00;00;31;28

Lauren Brollier Newton

Welcome to the abundant coach. I’m your host, Lauren Brollier Newton. This is a weekly podcast about creating full spectrum success with a thriving coaching business, while making a profound difference in the world. Each week, you’ll discover insights, strategies, and inspiration to help you attract your ideal clients. Facilitate real transformation in their lives, and grow your coaching business while living your purpose with true freedom and fulfillment.

 

00;00;32;01 – 00;00;51;05

Lauren Brollier Newton

All right, well, welcome to the Abundant Coach. We have an interview episode today, and I’m really, really thrilled to bring you this because you’re going to get a behind the scenes look at Brave Thinking Institute events, past and present and future. So how do we produce such great events? What’s really behind that? But also, where did we start?

 

00;00;51;06 – 00;01;12;02

Lauren Brollier Newton

Because I know that many of you listening to this, you haven’t had an event before. Maybe you’re just thinking about doing a couple hour workshop and you’re getting caught up in all the details. And so this is this particular podcast is going to be really inspiring for you to start where you are. So I have the privilege today of interviewing Heidi Simon, the director of events here at Brave Thinking Institute.

 

00;01;12;05 – 00;01;38;26

Lauren Brollier Newton

Heidi has been doing this for more than 30 years, and her events and her design have contributed to tens of millions of dollars in revenue. But what Heidi loves the most is creating experiences that people wouldn’t have anywhere else, wouldn’t have in their normal day to day life. And no matter how big or small the budget, no matter how big or small the room, Heidi’s real passion is making it feel intimate and connected and special for every participant.

 

00;01;38;27 – 00;01;43;13

Lauren Brollier Newton

So welcome to the Abundance Coach Podcast. Heidi. Thank you for being here.

 

00;01;43;21 – 00;01;47;08

Hiedi Simon

Thank you. I’m really pleased to be able to connect with you today.

 

00;01;47;10 – 00;02;06;05

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yeah, it’s going to be so great. So I would love to go back. Even before you were doing events for the Institute or anywhere else, what were you doing when you got into the world of personal transformation and spiritual growth and all of the things that you’re so heavily invested in and involved in now?

 

00;02;06;07 – 00;02;32;05

Hiedi Simon

Certainly. Well, I started out, very young in the hotel industry, and I worked for, you know, sales and catering banquets, those kind of things. And I got to a point in my life where I worked, like 60 hours a week on a regular basis, 80 hours a week doing the holidays. My husband and I wanted to have a baby, and I was like, how I can do this?

 

00;02;32;05 – 00;02;55;06

Hiedi Simon

How am I supposed to do this? So I was one of those, serendipitous things. Went to a local retreat center that was, striving to, you know, network and connect to the local hotels, had a tour with them. And during it, one of the leaders, she said, we’re looking for someone to run our retreat center.

 

00;02;55;09 – 00;03;22;03

Hiedi Simon

And I went home, talk to my husband, call her the next day, and said, I think I’m the person you’re looking for. And it turned out that was correct. And it was for a church, a church I knew nothing about. But over time, I learned as I was working for the retreat center, running the retreats and all the conventions and so forth, I learned about the work, of Mary Morrissey, what she was teaching New thought.

 

00;03;22;05 – 00;03;28;15

Hiedi Simon

What that meant. And it just called to me. So I stepped into it more and more over time.

 

00;03;28;17 – 00;03;38;27

Lauren Brollier Newton

Did you find that as you were around it, that your life started to change in any way? Or did you get more interested in the content, like what was that like for you personally?

 

00;03;39;00 – 00;04;06;04

Hiedi Simon

Oh, completely. It was well, it was interesting because I worked for the retreat center for 2 or 3 years before I really understood what the heck was this all about? And I, I was not from my background at all. So it was a little at a time hearing, you know, this talk and that talk and we would bring speakers in is Wayne Dyer, Marianne Williamson, you know, Gary Zubkov, all these different people.

 

00;04;06;06 – 00;04;36;00

Hiedi Simon

And I got exposed to them. I didn’t know who they were until they showed up at the center, and I was the person who was guiding them on stage and doing all the details and making it happen. And so for me personally, it just, expanded my mind and my horizons. The other thing that was a super big benefit and really helped a lot was that when, my little boy was three, he started going to the, the preschool that was at the center.

 

00;04;36;02 – 00;04;56;13

Hiedi Simon

So he was influenced by that teaching because of the positive preschool experience. And then I got really involved in the preschool because I wanted to be part of that. And, from there grew. And later I ended up running the entire children’s ministry. Oh, wow. Yeah. So just step by step. Yeah.

 

00;04;56;13 – 00;05;20;00

Lauren Brollier Newton

Opening yourself to it, I love that. So there was a period of time where and Mary Mary Marcy has been on this podcast and talked about this period of time. So that’s a good reference episode for anyone that’s not familiar with Mary’s work. But there was a time when that big center that Mary was running the retreat center, everything collapses and there it all goes.

 

00;05;20;00 – 00;05;39;22

Lauren Brollier Newton

All that hard work, all the love that was poured into it, not just from Mary, but from all of you. And then there was a rebuilding phase. And I think that this is really important for coaches to hear, because sometimes when you look at a successful company like Brave Thinking Institute or Coach like Mary Morrissey, it’s easy to think like, oh, how easy, how it all just worked out.

 

00;05;39;23 – 00;06;03;12

Lauren Brollier Newton

You know, when you’re looking from the outside, it can seem like, you know, they’ve never shed a tear in their life or something because they’re successful. And yet we know that Mary sort of loses it all at age 55 and chooses to rebuild. So when you guys were coming back with a message after all that happened, I’m guessing that you didn’t have a big of event budget or anything that you could really do.

 

00;06;03;12 – 00;06;14;09

Lauren Brollier Newton

So I’d love to hear just a little bit about how you got creative during those rebuilding days when you didn’t have the big budget or the big center, and yet you still wanted to serve people?

 

00;06;14;11 – 00;06;38;14

Hiedi Simon

Certainly, yes. That was a rough time frame, for sure. And so as we were coming out of that, and Mary really was ready to get back in the world, there were a couple of ways we basically, first of all, we focus on the message. The message was first and foremost, there’s there was no reason to have fancy lights or big productions.

 

00;06;38;14 – 00;07;05;00

Hiedi Simon

It was, let’s get Mary in front of people. So we found ways to do that. We found people who were interested in hearing her message, not just her ministerial message, but her personal message of what she had just been through and how she was growing from that experience and what she was learning from that experience. So putting the message first was the most important thing.

 

00;07;05;02 – 00;07;28;24

Hiedi Simon

We also, for a long time held weekly meetings at a local organization and association that had this room that you could you could rent it, but it was so inexpensive. It was it was a place that like, I don’t know, just random groups of people would would rent it out on a random night. Well, we got to rent it every Tuesday night for a very, very long time.

 

00;07;29;01 – 00;07;51;22

Hiedi Simon

And they loved it because it was regular, ongoing business. And we loved it because it fit the bill. We could put 50 people in there and chairs that already existed, and it was a decent, very clean hardwood floors, you know. But again, no bells or whistles, you know, just Mary sitting on the chair in the front of the room looking at whoever happened to.

 

00;07;51;22 – 00;08;26;27

Lauren Brollier Newton

Sure love that of that. Heidi. This is I mean, I think that’s so powerful, this idea of focus on the message, because ultimately, that’s what people come to hear. That’s for many people, especially, like when we train as certified coaches here at the institute, the message that those coaches are sharing about the Dream Better program or their vision workshops or the other things that we train and certify our coaches and most people on the planet have not heard those concepts and how easy it can be to get like so caught up in like the zoom and the this and the that when really I love this message of focus on the message that is the

 

00;08;26;27 – 00;08;45;02

Lauren Brollier Newton

thing. So speaking of our coaches. So for those of you listening that maybe this is your first time listening to the podcast, you’re not a brave thinking Institute certified coach. We give our, coaches a built in training called the Vision Workshop, and they can teach a 30 minute vision workshop. They can teach a 60 minute, they can teach a three hour workshop.

 

00;08;45;04 – 00;09;02;20

Lauren Brollier Newton

So, Heidi, if you were coaching a beginning coach on their events and they had a day, let’s say they were going to give a three hour vision workshop and they had a very small budget, let’s just say a couple hundred dollars, maybe they have 500 bucks. What would you think would be some of the elements that they could add into this three hour workshop?

 

00;09;02;20 – 00;09;12;07

Lauren Brollier Newton

Let’s do in-person first. That would bring the Heidi element to it, the connected intimate special. What would you suggest for that, coach?

 

00;09;12;09 – 00;09;37;07

Hiedi Simon

Sure. Well, first of all, for our location, I would really encourage people to look at libraries, local, community centers, even schools. There are definitely places around that you can check out, time. Sometimes you don’t even have to rent them. You can also look at community, you know, look at your community. And what is it missing?

 

00;09;37;09 – 00;09;56;29

Hiedi Simon

Like, my community has classes that are offered, every, you know, six weeks or eight weeks or so. And so getting hooked into that community where you can offer a class which could take place at, like the local community center. And then you get this, you build this whole rapport, and then you have a place to do it.

 

00;09;57;01 – 00;10;23;05

Hiedi Simon

And that doesn’t cost you anything or close to nothing. It’s really helpful. And then to make it personable, definitely. I would suggest having, you know, an exercise or two, something that makes people laugh, connect like icebreakers. Those are really awesome. And if you come up with one sort of signature item that mean something, it doesn’t have to be cost a lot of money.

 

00;10;23;10 – 00;10;47;10

Hiedi Simon

For example, one of the events that we did for a while, we had a Gumby, if you remember Gumby. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, Gumby is very flexible because he doesn’t have any bones. Right. And so, you know, there was a whole teaching around that. And so as a surprise and delight, we gave everyone a Gumby like a little guy about this big.

 

00;10;47;10 – 00;11;03;29

Hiedi Simon

And they loved Gumby like it was amazing how excited they were over Gumby. And it really was not much at all. But but what I want to really impart is that it’s not about the cost of something, or how fancy is, it’s about the meaning behind it.

 

00;11;04;01 – 00;11;04;15

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yes.

 

00;11;04;18 – 00;11;23;27

Hiedi Simon

So if you connect it to the teaching and you give it a meaning, and then the third element is you present it in a way that makes it special. So yeah, we put it in a little bag or put it at the front of the room on like an altar, make like an altar space and have them come up.

 

00;11;23;27 – 00;11;46;15

Hiedi Simon

Or, you know, if you have friends who are helping you volunteering, you know, have them carry it in and handed down the row. You know, it’s about like the presentation of it. So the meaning and the teaching and then the presentation can make like $1.50 item turn into something super important that they carry with them for even years.

 

00;11;46;17 – 00;12;10;24

Lauren Brollier Newton

That’s such a great point. No one knows how to do this as well as you guys have have created this. I mean, I’m looking around this office and there’s so many things like this hourglass, and other things that have been very meaningful. So when Heidi is saying, tie it to the teaching, there’s all sorts of low cost ways that you can tie it to whatever you’re teaching to really connect the people in.

 

00;12;10;24 – 00;12;25;13

Lauren Brollier Newton

Actually, this I don’t know why put on this necklace. I never wear this necklace. So for those of you who are listening and you’re not able to see the video, it’s a little silver heart and it says you can’t see it on the screen, but it says be with a B and inspired by Heidi and what the team does.

 

00;12;25;13 – 00;12;45;29

Lauren Brollier Newton

I was once hosting something for clients, and so I started to have them, these silver necklaces made with one word, and then the texture of the necklace matches whatever the word is. So the very first one we did, Heidi, you’ll love to hear this probably is. Mary has a quote that she shares from the Talmud which is over every blade of grass is an angel whispering grow.

 

00;12;46;02 – 00;13;05;28

Lauren Brollier Newton

So for my very first client gift, I created these silver necklaces which had a. It was shaped like a blade of grass and it said grow on it. And so it’s just like this really special like, oh my gosh. And and so people love them so much that over time I would do a different word on a different shaped necklace, you know, over the course of many, many events.

 

00;13;05;28 – 00;13;32;05

Lauren Brollier Newton

So the clients who are with me forever, they have a necklace and there’s like ten, you know, charms or whatever with all the different words on it. And so, just to add on to what Heidi is saying, it’s the thought, the message, the specialness. Yes. But going back to my earliest workshops, I remember Heidi at my very first event I did with you guys, something called Dream Builder Life, and when we walked in, this is 2018, so just presence of your mind around it.

 

00;13;32;06 – 00;13;36;26

Lauren Brollier Newton

Heidi, this is January 2018, Los Angeles airport. Marriott.

 

00;13;36;29 – 00;13;37;21

Hiedi Simon

Got it. Okay.

 

00;13;37;21 – 00;14;02;03

Lauren Brollier Newton

And when we went into the room, there was a workbook and a pen and it was like branded and beautiful. And there were page numbers and quotes and all sorts of things. So when I had my first workshop, I’m like, okay, I might not be able to at the levels of fact with my budget brand notebook, but I went to the dollar store and I got little $1 notebooks that were pretty and $1 pens, and I put it on everyone’s chair.

 

00;14;02;05 – 00;14;06;25

Lauren Brollier Newton

And I had people years later be like, I still have that notebook from the workshop that you.

 

00;14;06;25 – 00;14;09;15

Hiedi Simon

Go, yeah, exactly.

 

00;14;09;17 – 00;14;25;26

Lauren Brollier Newton

Doesn’t matter the cost. Totally great advice, Heidi. Now let’s move to virtual. If coaches are doing webinars, is there anything that they can do to still make the participant feel special in a webinar setting or that intimate, connected feeling like you’re talking about?

 

00;14;25;28 – 00;14;59;22

Hiedi Simon

Sure. So I think like, for example, one thing that the presenter can do is really call people by their name that makes a big connection, helps them to feel that they are seen. Another idea is if you’re going to have breakouts, one thing you can do inside of like a zoom setting or something and you have breakouts would be that you have, we call them a room leader, but you have somebody who’s in that space, who comes on camera, who supports them in the case that they have any challenges getting into the breakout rooms, they don’t know where to go.

 

00;14;59;29 – 00;15;22;20

Hiedi Simon

And if for some reason they can, they just can’t technologically get into that space. The room leader goes through the experience with them. So it’s somebody again to see them, to connect with them, talk with them and assure them that it everything’s A-okay. And even if they can’t figure out the technology, it’s all going to, you know, let’s focus on the teaching again, the training.

 

00;15;22;20 – 00;15;24;10

Hiedi Simon

That’s the most important thing.

 

00;15;24;12 – 00;15;25;08

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yes.

 

00;15;25;10 – 00;15;31;26

Hiedi Simon

That’s another thing you can do. So yeah, I would say those are kind of the two things that are coming to my mind at the moment.

 

00;15;32;02 – 00;15;53;06

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yeah, definitely. So, a room leader is basically someone that just helps the participants to feel like it’s all going to work out. And they’ve got tips and things and all sorts of things. That’s really helpful. Let’s go back to the way back. I don’t know when this would have been, but our sig, one of our most signature events here at Brave Thinking Institute is Dream Builder Live.

 

00;15;53;06 – 00;16;02;18

Lauren Brollier Newton

It’s how I got first involved in the Institute. I’m so grateful for my first dream builder live. So do you remember when the very first Dream Builder Live was?

 

00;16;02;21 – 00;16;14;10

Hiedi Simon

That’s a good call. Put you on the spot now. So let me think. Let me think so. Dreamer live evolved out of another, three day training that we were doing was.

 

00;16;14;10 – 00;16;15;27

Lauren Brollier Newton

A day full of dollars.

 

00;16;15;29 – 00;16;17;25

Hiedi Simon

Not was called miracle mastery.

 

00;16;18;01 – 00;16;19;21

Lauren Brollier Newton

Oh miracle mastery okay.

 

00;16;19;22 – 00;16;38;08

Hiedi Simon

Your goal mastery was a three day, training that we did. And so it it then shifted to dream Builder Live, and we revamped the whole thing. And so I’m going to guess that it was about 2013 ish. That that happened.

 

00;16;38;11 – 00;16;39;27

Lauren Brollier Newton

When it shifted to Dream Builder Live.

 

00;16;40;05 – 00;16;41;17

Hiedi Simon

Yes, yes.

 

00;16;41;20 – 00;17;04;11

Lauren Brollier Newton

And so let’s go back earlier. Let’s go back to Miracle Mastery. And when you were running some of those first events, because we have a lot of coaches, a lot of coaches right now who are just having their first full day event or their first hotel status event or those kind of things. So what were some of the things in those early days when probably there wasn’t as huge a budget and all those things that you guys did to make it fun, exciting.

 

00;17;04;11 – 00;17;08;27

Lauren Brollier Newton

How did you look for venues like Take Us, Take Us Back if you would be willing?

 

00;17;08;29 – 00;17;30;01

Hiedi Simon

Oh, sure. Definitely. Well, I think the first. So the first step was really to find locations for us. It was hotels. They had nice meeting space. And we’re talking about, like, we could have like 50 people or 80 people. And even one miracle mastery was happening, which was a larger event when it turned into Dream Miller Live.

 

00;17;30;01 – 00;17;54;29

Hiedi Simon

We had about 200 people. However, at the same time we were doing other events a day about dollars and others that were much smaller. Like often it was like 60 people. And so in those cases, it was, finding a location that was willing to provide us with the meeting space at a reasonable cost. And the key was for one day to offer a meal.

 

00;17;55;02 – 00;18;19;07

Hiedi Simon

We included the meal in with the price because the hotels and still to this day, if you purchase a certain amount and food and beverage, they give you the meeting room for free. So then you have the value of the meal and meals create community. They create connection because you have the opportunity for all of your attendees to take their training, to have a break, to spend time together there.

 

00;18;19;07 – 00;18;41;23

Hiedi Simon

Then they’re sitting there together. They’re, they’re eating. But they’re also like talking about what they learned and where they’re from. And they’re and they’re meeting up and they’re like exploring ideas. And so that that meal time becomes very valuable for multiple reasons for your budget, but also for that community connection. And so that that’s how we started. And I still to this day encourage people.

 

00;18;41;23 – 00;18;52;09

Hiedi Simon

That’s that’s one way you can get started at a hotel, at a nicer venue. And then you pass that cost of the meal itself onto your client as part of the ticket cost.

 

00;18;52;12 – 00;19;03;11

Lauren Brollier Newton

To love that. And that’s really I think, in a lot of ways, like easier than we make it. And in those days, did you have a production company with like audiovisual stuff coming or. No, don’t look like.

 

00;19;03;14 – 00;19;29;03

Hiedi Simon

So at that time we would have used the hotel AV. We would have simply had a microphone, maybe two microphones, like one for the audience chairs and one for the presenter. There were no special lights, you know, the ballroom or meeting room lights would dim if we wanted to dim them. Yeah, we really didn’t even have PowerPoints we didn’t use on a projector.

 

00;19;29;05 – 00;19;47;02

Hiedi Simon

The presenter would be on stage, would just do the teaching and maybe have some notes for some reminder pieces. But we had. Yeah. No, I’ve, over time when the room got big enough that it required more than that, then we started having some AV people come in and and so forth.

 

00;19;47;05 – 00;20;09;20

Lauren Brollier Newton

That is so going to be so refreshing for so many coaches to hear, because I think what tends to happen is you look at Tony Robbins or Mary Morrissey or Bob Proctor, John Lazaroff or whoever you’re whoever you’re following and you somehow think that you have to do what they’re doing 20 or 30 years into their business. And, it’s so important for coaches to remember that.

 

00;20;09;23 – 00;20;22;03

Lauren Brollier Newton

Going back to Heidi’s first point, it’s really the message. And the other stuff can come over time, but it doesn’t even have to, right? I agree, yeah, it’s so great. So and probably simpler.

 

00;20;22;06 – 00;20;52;21

Hiedi Simon

And it’s definitely it’s definitely more simple. Yes, it can be a lot easier doing it that way. And it also goes back to the personal, you know, really being personable with people. Creating an environment where you can’t the presenter can be seen, can be heard, whatever that looks like with the number of people you’ve got. You can even do things like change the set up of the room instead of having like straight rows of theater seats, you can make it, you know, curved rows serve the rows.

 

00;20;52;21 – 00;21;13;26

Hiedi Simon

So there it just suddenly feels more like they’re connecting with each other and the presenter just by curving the theater seating. Or if it’s a small group, you could do like a, a whole circle and have the presenter at the front with just a little table, some water, their pen and paper, their notes, and then they just talk to the group that’s there.

 

00;21;13;29 – 00;21;33;07

Hiedi Simon

Another thing that really helps connect people to the training and the message and also each other is to do, you know, exercises where they break up and talk to each other throughout. So that’s a great experience because then they’re leaning on each other for support and they’re you learn in a different way and it makes it interactive.

 

00;21;33;07 – 00;21;47;14

Hiedi Simon

You definitely want to make sure you have interactive activities so that they’re not just sitting there listening to you, because then that’s just entering their brain in one way. You want it to enter their brain in many ways.

 

00;21;47;17 – 00;21;56;14

Lauren Brollier Newton

That’s a great, great point. Okay, I didn’t plan to ask you this question, but out of curiosity, what is probably the biggest challenge.

 

00;21;56;14 – 00;21;57;24

Hiedi Simon

Or.

 

00;21;57;26 – 00;22;03;29

Lauren Brollier Newton

Wild thing that’s happened at an event that you face that you had to problem solved to correct?

 

00;22;04;01 – 00;22;29;11

Hiedi Simon

Oh, fire alarms. Okay, that’s the first thing one of I like. Okay. There’s nothing you can do to control that. However, you can be in very good communication with your have be connected to your hotel rep. So that you can respond very quickly to them. You can find out what’s going on. You can find out if it was a false alarm or not, that kind of thing.

 

00;22;29;14 – 00;22;54;27

Hiedi Simon

Another issue, as we have as we grew, there were times when maybe we got really creative. At the last minute. We decided we wanted to add something into the training, so that required a special gift or a training material that we wanted to have out. And there have been times when those things have arrived to the hotel space very shortly before they were supposed to be on stage or present.

 

00;22;55;00 – 00;23;20;21

Hiedi Simon

So having a really great team is important, a very great support team. And again, those that can be volunteers, many, many times it’s volunteers from there to help you out. They want you to succeed. You know you, the people around you want you to succeed. So they’re going to do whatever it takes to make that happen. I’m sure I could go into others, but those are the first two that came to my mind.

 

00;23;20;23 – 00;23;38;10

Lauren Brollier Newton

I will say that, you know, my very first workshop I ever held in person was in a very small meeting space. So it was like max 26 people, and it was like folding tables and folding chairs. Nothing fancy at all. But, my very first one, I, my four best friends and my sister came because I’m like, I’m not telling this to an empty room.

 

00;23;38;10 – 00;23;54;28

Lauren Brollier Newton

So you guys are coming whether you want to come or not, whether you’re interested in it or not. And then they helped me set up, like little finger foods and things to make the room look a little bit nicer. And they helped me and they helped me clean up. And like people in your life, I find like, want you to be happy and thrive.

 

00;23;54;28 – 00;23;57;03

Lauren Brollier Newton

And so if they can lend a helping hand, they for sure.

 

00;23;57;03 – 00;24;16;03

Hiedi Simon

Well, yes. Well, your comment about the number of chairs reminded me of one of our biggest challenges, which was at a larger event, not a smaller event. There had been a glitch in our ticketing system, and we found out after we were on site preparing for the event that we had oversold the event.

 

00;24;16;05 – 00;24;22;14

Lauren Brollier Newton

I think the first dreamboat or life. Was it because there was a gold room? Yes, yes. Actual room?

 

00;24;22;21 – 00;24;57;25

Hiedi Simon

Yes. So we could only fit so many people. 866 people. I still remember the number could fit, you know, due to fire codes into the main ballroom, but we had over a thousand tickets sold. So as an entire group, we came together, identified the problem, and then plan, you know, brainstormed everything we could possibly do. We had designated who would be there to tell the people that they could, you know, that they could not yet go into the main room because of the number of seats that were in there.

 

00;24;57;26 – 00;25;16;00

Hiedi Simon

We developed we had another meeting space that was supposed to be used for something totally different. We turned it into the Gold Room and we set it up as an overflow space, and we took all of our volunteers. We had 40 volunteers. They gave up their seats in the main ballroom. They went to sit in that room. We told them the issue that was going on.

 

00;25;16;00 – 00;25;37;09

Hiedi Simon

They were so thrilled to help out. They turned into like this cheerleading squad leading people to the Gold Room. We had a different MC in that space, someone who just stepped in and, you know, he and his buddies that were there to watch the event, they turned into, like, our dancers in the room, like it turned into its own, like it became the party room.

 

00;25;37;12 – 00;25;56;25

Hiedi Simon

Yeah. And there were even people who were in the main room, but then turned out there was there was a smaller room, and they were thrilled because they weren’t people that really liked the big room environment. So they chose to go in the smaller room. And then we had a few people in the smaller room that really wanted to be in the other room, and they ended up in there eventually.

 

00;25;56;29 – 00;26;00;07

Hiedi Simon

So, you know, I mean, like it all worked out.

 

00;26;00;10 – 00;26;16;01

Lauren Brollier Newton

I think it goes into holding the vision. I think this idea that it’s about the message first and foremost, and secondly, that there’s people that want to help you, like keeping that in mind, that you don’t have to be perfect all the time, like people do want to help and support and lend a helping hand if they can.

 

00;26;16;01 – 00;26;20;15

Lauren Brollier Newton

And there’s a lot of people that would just love to support something.

 

00;26;20;15 – 00;26;21;23

Hiedi Simon

So yes.

 

00;26;21;23 – 00;26;50;10

Lauren Brollier Newton

It’s great news. Yeah. That’s great. So speaking of Dream Builder Live, it’s you know, obviously a very life changing event completely changed the course of my life. And I believe that, just those three days alone were so earth shattering for me that I couldn’t not be on a different trajectory. So over the years, what has been your greatest satisfaction or joy in watching participants come to Dream Builder live like?

 

00;26;50;10 – 00;26;57;03

Lauren Brollier Newton

Can you notice it during the three days? Do you see people change? Like what are some of your takeaways being behind the scenes?

 

00;26;57;05 – 00;27;24;28

Hiedi Simon

Definitely. So some of the takeaways are really you can just experience the energy in the room. Dream of the alive in person. Got to the point where we were taking it around the country three times a year in LA, Dallas and the DC area. And naturally, based on where we were, there was different environment inside of the space because the locals who were there were different and some of them were like, what are they doing?

 

00;27;25;00 – 00;27;56;17

Hiedi Simon

Why are they dancing? We have to hug each other. What is this all about? And so at times it was like really like pulled back energy, like wait and see kind of energy. And sometimes after only like one day they were then they were totally in totally. And so it’s like freeing people to be their true selves, to lean into fun, to loosen up, to like, expand the horizons, to energize themself and explore new ideas.

 

00;27;56;19 – 00;28;17;20

Hiedi Simon

The energy in the room completely changes. And then sometimes, just for fun, I would, if I encountered a grumpy person. There’s sometimes a grumpy person who may be dragged there by someone else, and they didn’t know what it was all about. I would always put like lots of loving energy on them, and I would pay attention to them throughout the event.

 

00;28;17;27 – 00;28;48;25

Hiedi Simon

And I tell you what, every time they were not grumpy by the end, in fact, they were. They were doing everything. They were all in. They were smiling. Those people who some of them are super grumpy at the beginning, they were enrolling for the biggest, the biggest courses we had to offer, you know, so sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s the people who are the most reserved, the most held back that with this three days, it just gives them the opportunity to realize there’s so much more.

 

00;28;48;28 – 00;29;07;27

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yes, for sure. For sure. I was one of those people at my first stream builder live. It’s like I really knew that I needed it. Like a friend invited me and I was like, this seems like would be good for me. And that was before I knew that my husband was living a double life. It was before all that, like two days before.

 

00;29;07;27 – 00;29;18;00

Lauren Brollier Newton

She’s like, hey, I got tickets to this thing. And I looked at the website and full transparency. I was like, this looks kind of corny, but like, maybe it’ll be good for me, you know?

 

00;29;18;00 – 00;29;18;24

Hiedi Simon

Yeah.

 

00;29;18;27 – 00;29;40;01

Lauren Brollier Newton

She really wanted me to go. So I’m like, okay, I’ll go. And then two days later, that’s when my husband came home and was like, I don’t think you’re my dream girl. So Dream Builder Live became this sort of bridge for me. Like I knew something was coming to support me. I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know if I could fully trust it, but I knew there was this date on the calendar in January where I was going to get to focus on my life.

 

00;29;40;03 – 00;29;45;07

Lauren Brollier Newton

And so it became like this countdown. All right. If I can just get myself to Dream Builder live, like.

 

00;29;45;07 – 00;29;47;02

Hiedi Simon

Maybe I going.

 

00;29;47;05 – 00;29;52;09

Lauren Brollier Newton

And then I got there and then when I saw the Energizer, I was like, maybe I’ve made a terrible mistake.

 

00;29;52;11 – 00;29;53;19

Hiedi Simon

You know.

 

00;29;53;22 – 00;30;15;29

Lauren Brollier Newton

It’s like, I do not want to dance. Why is everybody so happy? I was one of those super skeptical people. And then by the end, I was like, dancing, you know, raising up my arms and, you know, everything. But, I think if people can just find that little bit of trust, like, maybe there’s something more for me and I’m willing to put up with whatever seems weird at first, whether it’s dancing or hugging or people seeming too happy.

 

00;30;15;29 – 00;30;25;28

Lauren Brollier Newton

If I can just open my mind and get through that beginning part and be brave enough to show up, I think that the transformation that’s available is you will never be the same again.

 

00;30;26;01 – 00;30;45;25

Hiedi Simon

Yes, totally. And and even for the people who come back over and over again, they’re never the same again as well. That’s right. Because they come as a different person and then they leave is a different person. And your dreams are continually evolving and growing and changing. So even when you have had success, you have stepped into it.

 

00;30;45;28 – 00;30;52;06

Hiedi Simon

When you come back over and over again, you’re providing yourself with the opportunity to then grow more.

 

00;30;52;08 – 00;31;11;05

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yes, that’s so true. That’s so true. Can you tell us what you think is the value for coaches or people who are aspiring coaches? Why would they want to attend Dream Builder Life? It’s not necessarily training for coaches, but why do you need your eyes? How is it so valuable for coaches to attend?

 

00;31;11;07 – 00;31;38;03

Hiedi Simon

Yeah, totally. This is a great question. So it’s twofold. The first is the more you improve your own self, enhance your own personal transformation, the better coach you’ll become. And the second is what you’re watching. Are master coaches in action? You have the opportunity to look at Dream Blue life and experience it from two different standpoints.

 

00;31;38;03 – 00;32;08;11

Hiedi Simon

So the those your own heart and your own dreams and your own mind and how you, oh, you’re growing and evolving, but you also have the opportunity to look at it from the perspective of, okay, these are master coaches and they’re on stage and they’re coaching people in the audience. And if I watch what they’re doing and I watch how they’re answering the questions and I watch how they’re how they’re, you know, maybe taking a certain kind of energy and changing it or they’re and, you know, sometimes they’re flat out saying, why are you thinking that way?

 

00;32;08;14 – 00;32;24;00

Hiedi Simon

Let’s stop this. Let’s change it like, that’s your paradigm or that’s what you learn as a child or whatever it is. And so it’s it’s really awesome because from my perspective, it’s twofold. You’re getting both sides at the same time.

 

00;32;24;03 – 00;32;44;16

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yeah, you’re getting your own personal transformation. But then also it’s like, we say sometimes at the institute, if you were a painter, would you want to sit at Picasso’s feet and watch him paint? Oh, and so it’s like if you’re we’re going to watch Mary Morrissey in the faculty on stage at Dream Builder live like you’re watching master coaches coach and just the tidbits you can get even, like the way that they tell stories.

 

00;32;44;16 – 00;33;07;21

Lauren Brollier Newton

That’s the other thing that I’m like, so impressed by the Institute is I had never really been to a personal development event. I had seen keynote speakers at other events, but I’d never been to like an immersive event before. I went to Dream Builder Life. So I’m very spoiled because the main speakers that I’ve seen are rethinking institute and faculty, and it’s a different level of storytelling and inspiration and things like that.

 

00;33;07;21 – 00;33;24;03

Lauren Brollier Newton

So I’ve gone to other events after that and it sort of falls flat because there isn’t all the yeah, there’s just not as much transformation. So I think even just being able to watch the way the whole event takes place together can really help a beginning coach go, oh, this is how you help people transform, right?

 

00;33;24;03 – 00;33;43;13

Hiedi Simon

I was just thinking of like the actual one on one coaching piece of it. But but like you said, it’s about the storytelling. It’s about also the event itself. And how do they, you know, how do they weave it all together. You know, the we do what we call energizers, you know, why do they do energizers and what could I do if I’m not really that kind of a person?

 

00;33;43;17 – 00;34;08;24

Hiedi Simon

Maybe I could do something similar, but that fits me better, that fits my clients better, that would get them engaged, engage their mind, engage their body. You know, it’s watching that side of it, too. I mean, there’s okay, so basically every coach just has to come because no, there’s no better way to to experience and learn on all these different levels at one time.

 

00;34;08;26 – 00;34;24;14

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yes. I mean, even going back to what I said earlier about, oh, I noticed you guys gave out a notebook and here’s my advice for coaches is you don’t want to look at Dream Builder live. Now, whether you attend virtually or in person and go, oh, I have to do that tomorrow. But there’s little bits and pieces that anybody can do.

 

00;34;24;14 – 00;34;42;24

Lauren Brollier Newton

So going back to the example of I walk in my first dream builder life and there’s a notebook on this chair and a pen. Okay, well, I might not be able to brand it or do whatever, but I could go to the dollar store. So like there’s, there’s a, there’s a version of it that anyone can do. So keeping our eyes open to like what’s my version of, of this.

 

00;34;42;26 – 00;35;02;08

Hiedi Simon

Right. And also like, you know, a little step at a time, you know, I one thing and be willing to if it if it fails, it fails, you know, or if it’s not quite how you wanted it to be, that’s okay. To that’s how our, our events have grown to where they are today because we’re highly invested in improving.

 

00;35;02;11 – 00;35;21;22

Hiedi Simon

So we have what we call a debrief document and all of the staff who are working the event have access to the document, and we all put ideas down for things that we would love to be better or different, what things that went really well, new things we tried. Did they work or not work? And so we literally do that at every single event.

 

00;35;21;22 – 00;35;33;11

Hiedi Simon

And then we go back and we review those notes and we make changes. We decide all these different ideas. What would we love to do this time. And so it’s an it’s a 100% commitment to interesting growth.

 

00;35;33;13 – 00;35;35;16

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yes, absolutely.

 

00;35;35;16 – 00;35;55;21

Hiedi Simon

And that’s how we’ve gotten to where we are. Like like you said, there was the beginning. There was there were no fancy lights. Yeah. No, there was no pipe. And right there was no there was no LCD. The no projector. No, it was just a presenter and a mic in a small room with, you know, maybe 40 to 60 people.

 

00;35;55;24 – 00;36;02;15

Hiedi Simon

And then over time it just grew and grew and grew a little bit little by little. So take the step. Yes. Take.

 

00;36;02;17 – 00;36;18;22

Lauren Brollier Newton

And that is so comforting. Like, that’s just so comforting to know, like, you guys didn’t even have a, like, a projector. Like you just started. And I think a lot of coaches, like, build themselves up to thinking it has to be so fancy when it really does. And I’m curious, Heidi, if.

 

00;36;18;25 – 00;36;20;03

Hiedi Simon

You.

 

00;36;20;06 – 00;36;22;08

Lauren Brollier Newton

Remember a time.

 

00;36;22;08 – 00;36;23;29

Hiedi Simon

When.

 

00;36;24;02 – 00;36;42;29

Lauren Brollier Newton

Something didn’t go so well or you had an event and it didn’t produce the result, you wanted, that, how do you, as the event director, the person in charge of the look, the feel that it didn’t go as well, or you got some feedback you didn’t love? How do you hold that spiritually within yourself and not let it get you down?

 

00;36;43;02 – 00;37;26;02

Hiedi Simon

Well, I guess the great news is with great planning, you don’t have many of those experience. So you you want to remember that when it does happen, the that this is not the end of the world and that it’s not going to happen again if you take the time to learn from it. So there were times when we thought we had all the product there, and then we handed it out and we were short, or there were times when anyway, there’s times when things happen and they happen and after the fact, you, you know, you’re just you’re bummed, right?

 

00;37;26;02 – 00;37;49;22

Hiedi Simon

Because you wanted it to be great. And then it wasn’t as great as you wanted it to be for whatever reason. So for me, it’s about, just taking the opportunity to acknowledge, like the feelings of, oh, I didn’t turn out wonderfully in the way that I wanted it to. It’s working with your teammates as well, because they also will have energy and feelings around it.

 

00;37;49;24 – 00;38;14;13

Hiedi Simon

But then also shifting it to, well, what can we learn from this experience? So it’s always there’s always an opportunity to learn, and sometimes you’ll learn and grow in ways that don’t feel that great. And as coaches, you know that, you know, that’s part of your coaching. And you just take that information and then you think, well, what can we do that would make this better or not happen again?

 

00;38;14;15 – 00;38;17;26

Hiedi Simon

And you, I guess, focus more on the learning than on the problem.

 

00;38;17;29 – 00;38;37;20

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yeah, that’s great advice. And there’s always going to be learning. There’s always, always going to be learning in every event. I mean, the amazing thing is like we just finished our 33rd coach certification training. And when Heidi’s talking about this debrief document, there’s still new ideas. And it’s like, how does after 33 times of a similar event, there still be new ideas?

 

00;38;37;20 – 00;38;48;04

Lauren Brollier Newton

It’s like it’s infinite, that level of possibilities and growth and learning and what you can create. So you’re never going to be like, Dun dun, planning your events.

 

00;38;48;06 – 00;39;11;14

Hiedi Simon

Well, unless you’re stagnant, right? So we don’t want to be stagnant. We want to be always evolving and growing. And at the same time, when you have a really great event and you have it really dialed in, then the things that you’re changing are up levels. Yeah. You know, they’re like creative ideas of levels, things that make it even better.

 

00;39;11;17 – 00;39;14;04

Hiedi Simon

But if they didn’t happen, it would still be a wonderful event.

 

00;39;14;07 – 00;39;40;03

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yes, yes, I think that’s the great news is once you do like once, you’re for those great thinking institute certified coaches, you have our vision workshop. Or for those of you who aren’t certified at the institute, but you’ve got something dialed in, you do a webinar or some sort of thing. Once you do it enough times, the the rehearsing and the planning and all of that, it’s just goes down and down and down till it’s not as big of a lift as it was the first or second time.

 

00;39;40;03 – 00;40;04;25

Lauren Brollier Newton

And so that feels really good when you’ve just can ride on the the waves of what you’ve already done a little bit. That feels really good. So in your opinion, Heidi, why should a coach, even if they’re beginning and they are going to rent the library room or whatever it’s going to be for their first events, why should they consider having an event not just for their own growth, but just a good business move?

 

00;40;04;25 – 00;40;09;18

Lauren Brollier Newton

Like what is important about events for a coaching business?

 

00;40;09;20 – 00;40;38;19

Hiedi Simon

Well, many things. First thing that comes to my mind is networking and connecting with the community that you’re in. So as you network, you don’t know who’s going to come to your event, but it might be somebody who becomes your next client, but it might be somebody who, because they came, then they might know somebody who says, you know, we would love to have a presenter like you come to our, our business.

 

00;40;38;21 – 00;41;12;02

Hiedi Simon

Could you come and do this training or a similar one at our business? And then from there it can lead to something else. So a big part of it is, is not just getting the message out, but also the networking piece of it. And then, you know, there’s just things can happen in person that can’t happen virtually. As much as we strive to make virtual as wonderful and it is wonderful, there’s so much good in it, but there’s that connectedness that happens in person that’s just really special.

 

00;41;12;04 – 00;41;33;25

Hiedi Simon

And when you meet people face to face, you often create deeper relationships. So it’s about creating those relationships and it’s about practice. To the more you do it, the more you’re practicing, the more you’re you are practicing your workshop. Your nuances it. You’re getting better and better. So I think that’s really valuable for coaches as well.

 

00;41;33;28 – 00;41;59;00

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yeah, definitely. And what a well, what a great world we live in as coaches that you can do in-person workshops, you can do online workshops, you can do everything in person. You can do everything online. You can do a mix of both. Like it’s such an easier world. I mean, I think I know a lot of times coaches will think like, well, there’s more competition because there’s more coaches online and unfortunately there’s not a lot of competition for a heart centered professional coach.

 

00;41;59;02 – 00;42;00;06

Hiedi Simon

Right?

 

00;42;00;08 – 00;42;25;07

Lauren Brollier Newton

I have found in my in my time networking and building business, like if you’re really showing up like Mary Morrissey shows up or like you’ve got heart and you care about people like that actually still is a rarity, unfortunately. And so when you show up, that really stands out. If you’re a heart centered coach, if you really care about people, but it is easier to get the word out than ever before, you can create great videos on your phone.

 

00;42;25;07 – 00;42;33;16

Lauren Brollier Newton

You can have a free zoom account and record things like there’s just the world is sort of your oyster as a coach nowadays. It really makes it easier in a lot of ways.

 

00;42;33;19 – 00;42;58;17

Hiedi Simon

Yeah, there’s a lot of technology, a lot of technology that really supports anyone who’s working virtually, or bringing people together. That’s really awesome. And I will say, though, one thing about virtual events that is so awesome is, is the fact that there are people who, for whatever physical limitation or any monetary limitation at the time, can’t come to an in-person event.

 

00;42;58;17 – 00;43;24;12

Hiedi Simon

So the virtual element allows us to reach those people who are in their homes who aren’t as able to move around this world in the same way, or who are farther, much farther away. So your reach can be as broad as you want it to be? Yes, virtually. So while you’re building your local business, you know, in person, you can also be doing online elements that expand your reach way beyond your local community as well.

 

00;43;24;12 – 00;43;28;02

Hiedi Simon

So. So it’s really an awesome blending of both worlds.

 

00;43;28;02 – 00;43;49;07

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yes, I would actually recommend that for coaches, because what I find is when you get in person to start, you can just build such faster trust. It’s easier. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to get out there and meet people. And when Covid happened for my coaching business, which was primarily an in-person business, the first time I did a webinar online, everybody that came was local.

 

00;43;49;07 – 00;44;05;02

Lauren Brollier Newton

Like they all lived within probably two hours of me, but it was Covid and we couldn’t meet together, right. And so the first group was local people coming on zoom with me, and then people would hear about it and then it would grow from there. So they can serve each other. Like they can really circle and serve each other.

 

00;44;05;04 – 00;44;28;10

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yeah. So let me ask, what do you think has caused Rethinking Institute to start sort of like a phoenix rising from the ashes of something that was so hard and so difficult to go through in terms of the loss of one business organization to the creation of Brave Thinking Institute to go from these small events to now, these giant global events of Dream Builder live.

 

00;44;28;13 – 00;44;32;14

Lauren Brollier Newton

What do you think is the the backbone behind that success?

 

00;44;32;17 – 00;44;56;14

Hiedi Simon

I think it’s the calling to do the work. I think that when you have the calling to do the work, you will do whatever it takes to make that happen. And that would be my encouragement for coaches that if they have the calling to do the work, whatever area that it’s in, I would encourage each of each of you coaches to go out and do that.

 

00;44;56;16 – 00;45;12;11

Hiedi Simon

Just take a step, take action, do what you would coach your your client to do, which is go out and take the action because you can’t tell. You’ll never know how much could you bring to the world, but you know that you did bring good to the world.

 

00;45;12;14 – 00;45;28;17

Lauren Brollier Newton

That’s so true. I think if you keep the calling at the center of it, it gets way. It. Actually, I don’t think you can actually do this work if you don’t keep the calling at the center of it, because otherwise you get too caught up in the details and the zoom links and the, you know, whatever else it is.

 

00;45;28;21 – 00;45;49;08

Lauren Brollier Newton

But if you know why you’re doing it, because I have this calling. This calling is not going to go away, then it just makes everything easier. So we’ve talked a lot, Haiti about this event called Dream Builder Live. And we have a virtual Dream Builder Live coming up soon that anybody listening can come to. So what advice would you give to someone who’s maybe on the fence about attending Dream Builder Live?

 

00;45;49;11 – 00;45;56;17

Hiedi Simon

Jump over the fence, open the gate, lock it down.

 

00;45;56;20 – 00;45;58;20

Lauren Brollier Newton

Get over yourself.

 

00;45;58;23 – 00;46;01;26

Hiedi Simon

Just sign up and come back. But yeah.

 

00;46;01;26 – 00;46;11;24

Lauren Brollier Newton

I mean, and also like, we’re not going to pressure you. Like we’re not going to tie you to your computer and say you must stay, you know, like come check it out. Do you see what’s here for sure.

 

00;46;11;27 – 00;46;30;17

Hiedi Simon

Yeah. I think again, what would you tell your client? I would say every coach, if you had a client came to you and said, well, I’m considering doing this or that. And you felt it was something that they could really learn from and grow from, what would you tell them? And then turn around and tell yourself that same thing and do it.

 

00;46;30;20 – 00;46;47;09

Lauren Brollier Newton

I love that, I love that we we are ready. And if you’re a little bit skeptical like I was when I first showed up, it’s okay. If you get scared of the dancing. It’s okay. You it’s going to all work out and it’ll absolutely change your life. Okay, so Heidi, I’m going to ask you a question that I ask every single guest that comes on this podcast.

 

00;46;47;11 – 00;47;01;02

Lauren Brollier Newton

If you were someone who was building a coaching business from the ground up, and when I say the ground up, I mean, maybe you have your certification already, but you don’t have a big email list or a big budget and you’re just starting. What would be the first step that you would take?

 

00;47;01;04 – 00;47;27;27

Hiedi Simon

First step that I would take would be to each morning. Take time to be connected to whatever source you have and to brainstorm. What could I do today to bring my business to the next level, to actually set aside the time and to do that? So no matter what, you will come up with ideas and then pick one and do it.

 

00;47;28;00 – 00;47;37;14

Hiedi Simon

That’s my suggestion, because just from that you will naturally grow and those ideas will get bigger and bolder and increase.

 

00;47;37;17 – 00;47;51;29

Lauren Brollier Newton

That’s such a good answer there, Heidi, because I think for most of us, it’s not that we don’t know what to do. If you really, truly take the time to connect, like Heidi is saying and write down some ideas, there’s plenty to do. There’s plenty of ideas. And then actually having a willingness to take the action on just one.

 

00;47;51;29 – 00;48;12;18

Lauren Brollier Newton

Mary Morrissey would say, baby steps will take you all the way up mount Everest. You just have to keep taking them exactly. So yes. Beautiful. Heidi, thank you so much for taking the time to come and just share your 30 years of wisdom on all the coaches that listen to this. It’s such a blessing to have you and, just know that the work that you’ve done has had a huge impact on my life.

 

00;48;12;18 – 00;48;14;09

Lauren Brollier Newton

And many people that will be listening to this.

 

00;48;14;09 – 00;48;17;20

Hiedi Simon

Oh, thank you so much. Yeah. It’s my pleasure. Happy to be here.

 

00;48;17;23 – 00;48;21;11

Lauren Brollier Newton

Yeah. Thanks, Heidi.

 

00;48;21;13 – 00;48;58;05

Lauren Brollier Newton

Thanks for joining me this week on The Abundant Coach. Visit our website at Brave Thinking institute.com/coach certification where you can dive even deeper with additional resources and exciting opportunities. Be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcast so you’ll never miss an episode. And while you’re at it, if you loved the show, please rate and review to find out how to jump start your abundant coaching career and more about my journey to seven figure coach, check out our free Meant to Be a Life Coach quiz available at bti.com/coach quiz.

 

00;48;58;07 – 00;49;00;06

Lauren Brollier Newton

I’ll see you in the next episode.