Mia Fileman 0:05
Hello friends! Welcome back to the Got Marketing? Podcast.
I’m your host, Mia Fileman.
Today, we have a very special episode. It is all about a one-day business retreat that I am co-hosting in Darwin in September called Mind Your Business.
Now, if you are not in Darwin and are not planning to be in Darwin in September, then you will still get a lot out of this episode because my co-hosts and I take you through the process of how we went about planning this event, important considerations when collaborating with other businesses on an event or on a collaboration.
Don’t go anywhere. Tune into this very special episode of the Got Marketing? Podcast.
Elsa Mitchell 0:58
Hi! I am Elsa Mitchell. I am so excited to be here!
Look, I’m not going to lie. This is my first three-way on a podcast. I am so excited to be chatting with you today, Mia and Cha. This is a little bit random, isn’t it?
I reached out to Mia – maybe a month or two ago. Totally random. Had never even spoken. I think you had popped up on my radar through doing something with Behind the Brands here in Perth. I was like, “This chick looks a bit cool!” And so, the stalking process begun.
I’ve been on this whole “you don’t ask, you don’t get” journey this year where I’m like, “I’m going to just ask people for stuff that I want.” I voice messaged Mia one day randomly.
I was like, “Hey girl! Do you live in Darwin? I’m thinking about coming to Darwin. I know someone cool that’s moving to Darwin. I feel like we should do something together.” I threw out a random message and Mia bounced right back at me with “I like your vibe! Let’s talk!” I was like, “Shut up. Get out of town. I can’t believe this is happening!”
Fast forward to today, Cha Higginson and Mia – I always don’t know how to say your last name – Fileman and I are here on a podcast talking about an event that we are planning for next month. We’re very excited!
Mia Fileman 2:25
Super excited! Thank you so much for that wonderful intro!
It is Fileman.
As soon as I got your message, I was like, “This is a match made in collaboration heaven! I’m all in!”
Elsa Mitchell 2:40
Someone once said to me, if it’s meant to be, it happens easily.
Cha and I have actually worked together a little bit in Perth. I had spoken to Cha one day. I think this all literally unfolded in one day. Cha was like, “I’ve got to tell you something, actually. It’s kind of big. I’m actually moving to the Northern Territory.”
I was like, “Shut up. Get out of town. I’m going to the Northern Territory. I have been dying to do an event in the Northern Territory.” I hung up from Cha and started my online stalking and went, “Oh, my gosh. I’m going to message Mia.”
Cha Higginson 3:13
Wasn’t it funny how our dates aligned? It was at the same time. It was too perfect.
Elsa Mitchell 3:22
Super spooky.
Cha and I have met. I was going to say none of us have met, but two of us have.
Mia Fileman 3:30
We should totally grab coffee now, Cha, that you’re in the NT.
Cha Higginson 3:33
Well, I am not technically in Darwin. I’m in Nhulunbuy. I still don’t even know how to say that properly. It’s only a one-hour flight, but I’m not sure I can justify the flight for coffee, but definitely will catch up with you when I’m there.
Mia Fileman 3:50
For sure.
We have something very exciting planned for Darwinians and anyone else who wants to fly into Darwin. We are hosting a one-day business retreat called Mind Your Business. We’re super excited about this.
Cha Higginson 4:05
So excited!
Elsa Mitchell 4:08
When you said fly in, I actually had someone from Broome the other day go, “Maybe I’ll come?” I was like, “Yes, do it!”
Cha Higginson 4:17
Why not? It’s like a tropical holiday that is also tax-deductible.
Elsa Mitchell 4:25
Exactly.
Mia Fileman 4:26
Let’s unpack this one-day event. Maybe we should do a little intro since this is a three-way podcast so that everyone gets a bit of an understanding of what we do?
Cha Higginson 4:39
That’s a great idea.
Elsa Mitchell 4:40
I am Elsa Mitchell. I live in Perth. Grew up on a farm outside of Perth. I have a little bit of a love in my heart for regional and rural businesses. Hence, I’m a business coach/mentor. I do one-to-one coaching and group coaching.
I travel around a lot to places – like Broome, Kununurra, and all over – running different workshops. I am a huge fan of live in-person showing-up events. They feed my soul. I also have a huge love for – as I said – regional and rural businesses. Hence, what kind of birthed this whole “I’m coming to Darwin” idea.
I also have my own podcast – as we all do. It’s called Bossy Bitch. Onto you, Cha!
Cha Higginson 5:27
I’m Cha Higginson. I’m a little bit more nomadic. Born in South Africa. Grew up in France. I’ve been living in Australia – mostly in Perth – for the last 12 years until I moved to East Arnhem where I’m going to be for the next few years.
My background is in interior design, funnily enough, but I’m a transformation mentor, shamanic healer, and keynote speaker. My thing that I do is basically figure out who you truly are and why you’re here in this human experience but also why you’re getting in your own way – because we all get in our own way because of our conditioning, who we believe ourselves to be, all of our trauma and our fears.
I hope people excavate all of that so they can really show up for their mission with confidence and with ease because, in essence, I really want to change the world. I think it’s broken in so many ways, but I have so much hope, and I have hope because I can see into people’s soul and find what’s there, and it’s always phenomenal.
What I do is I focus all of my time on figuring out in a very holistic way and very grounded way. I’m not all fluffy and ethereal. It’s a very grounded way of coming back to your true self, showing up with everything that you’ve got, not hiding and not getting held back by imposter syndrome, and not being able to set correct boundaries so that you can have the business that you came here to have, have the impact that you came here to have, and be basically on my team of amazing people changing the world.
Mia Fileman 7:02
So beautifully said, Cha. That sounds amazing. We all need that in our lives.
I’m Mia Fileman. I’m a professional marketing strategist with 21 years of marketing experience. I’m the founder of Campaign Del Mar. I teach female entrepreneurs how to create sustainable marketing, and specifically marketing campaigns.
I am a defence spouse which means I move around every two to three years. I want for my customers what I want for myself which is to still have a career and to be able to share my gifts with the business community but do it so that it fits around my lifestyle.
I want to help people focus on what they love so that they can create a business with impact without their marketing getting in the way because it is a business necessity to market your business. I guess I’m just so done with a lot of the advice around marketing in 2022 and the overreliance on social media. I’m driven by a purpose to help women in marketing work smarter – not harder
Cha Higginson 8:12
Love that. I think I agree with some of your views on marketing in 2022 as well.
Elsa Mitchell 8:19
Totally.
Mia Fileman 8:20
I think that that’s the first thing, right? We’re working together because we align on values. That is the number one thing that we had to make sure because, otherwise, it was going to be a recipe for disaster.
I don’t want to share the stage with someone who’s all about the hustle culture and scaling your business to eight figures and making money in your sleep. I guess I was really open to this because I could see that there was a lot of alignment in how the three of us worked together.
Elsa Mitchell 8:56
Yes, it’s quite a little bit spooky, isn’t it? It fell into place.
But, yes, I have a bit of an aversion at the moment. I’m popping up on my socials and going, “Ugh. If I hear ‘launch strategy’ or ‘glass ceilings’ or ‘six figure’ or ‘five figure months’ one more time, I’m going to have a meltdown.”
Mia Fileman 9:18
Totally. Absolutely.
What can people expect at this one-day business retreat? Do you want to take us through this, Elsa? Because it’s pretty amazing.
Elsa Mitchell 9:30
Oh, my gosh. I am so excited.
I believe we have agreed to start the day with a bit of a yoga session. Is that still happening?
Mia Fileman 9:36
Yes!
Elsa Mitchell 9:40
I think the way we approached this was obviously we wanted to incorporate – I hate the word “mindset” – sorry, Cha! For a lack of a better word, we wanted it to be about getting the tangible and fundamental business strategies and learnings and education in front of business owners but then also incorporating the holistic and focusing on your own deep-seeded beliefs and removing or unblocking whatever it is Cha will pluck out of you.
Like Cha said before – and I see it so often in business – women are slugging their guts out, doing all the right things, laying all the foundations, the social media, the SEO, the website, but something else is standing in their way. I see it time and time again, and that’s some internal work.
That’s not my zone of genius, so I like to call in the big guns – like Cha Higginson – to come in because to me that is equally as important as anything else you are doing in your business – working on yourself.
So pumped for this day because we have Mia sharing her amazing skill set which I’m sure she will debrief us on, and Cha diving deep into our own personal blockages, and then me coming up with the foundations. I’m a big foundations person.
As much as I believe in everything else as well, I am huge on it’s a puzzle that you’re trying to solve in business, and you need all the pieces of the puzzle. There’s no such thing as putting all your eggs in one basket. Even if you were to come across someone that’s become a bit of a YouTube celeb or Insta-famous, you will find they still have all the other avenues. They still have an email marketing campaign. They still have SEO, websites, and various different platforms.
I’m a huge fan in working with businesses to make sure they’ve got that solid foundation because I truly believe – as someone that has owned a hair salon and a building company that built multi-million-dollar homes – it doesn’t matter what business you have. They all need the same foundations in which to grow.
Mia Fileman 11:51
I so agree with all of that. It’s so true.
Cha Higginson 11:54
Yes, and I feel like it’s really interesting to come together as a group and really set those foundations but also – like you say, Elsa – it doesn’t matter what kind of business you have. It’s always the same stuff.
When it comes to us as human beings, my particular area of expertise is finding how we’re standing in our own way. There are so many general aspects to why we stand in our own way – the fears that we have and the blocks that we have. There is so much talk about those in a general sense. There are so many people who talk about that mindset stuff, but they don’t get to the story behind it on an individual level. I feel like that’s absolutely crucial for people in the entrepreneurial world.
You are the core of your business. Whatever you believe to be true, whatever you believe to be available to you is what you are going to be able to tap into, but what stops you individually is such a complex enmeshment of so many other things.
What I find really interesting is that when we come together as a group and in-person, we all have somewhat of the same patterns because that is how energy works Like attracts like. People that we know and that we connect with have some degree of a mirroring of our own experience.
Working through that as a group, knowing that you are not alone in whatever it is that is holding you back can be incredibly powerful because we are creating really deep, meaningful connections with other human beings. We are not just online listening to a podcast or an online course or a meditation. We are going deep. But as a community, as a collective, I feel like – as women in business – this is an absolute gamechanger – to do this work together and to rise together – because it makes us so much stronger.
Mia Fileman 13:52
So true!
We’ve been missing that for the last two years. We haven’t had that. I’m really excited that we’re able to bring this to Darwin. You’re going to get a yoga class. You’re going to hear from Cha, Elsa, and myself. We’re each going to deliver a workshop on our areas of expertise. There’s going to be meaningful connection. There’s going to be great nourishing food. It’s going to be an awesome day to fuel your business but also fuel your mind.
Elsa Mitchell 14:27
Absolutely.
I’m really glad you pointed out the food there, Mia. It’s a little bit of a joke with me at my events. I’m like, “It’s all about the food.” But also, I can’t emphasize enough about there’s not a doubt in my mind that there is so much to gain from everything you’ve said but probably even more so are the connections that people will make in the room on the day – the people you will meet, the person sitting next to you, the conversations you will have with us and the other attendees.
One of the reasons I love these live events so much is literally because of the connections that are made. Nothing lights me up more than the connections I make for myself personally, but the ones I see that come out of it amongst people that just show up and be brave.
Cha Higginson 15:15
Absolutely.
I think that’s a massive aspect of it – being brave enough to show up in person and to be seen, to ask for help, to put your stuff down on the table, to go brainstorming with people who really know their stuff, and go, “This is where I’m at. This is what I’m doing,” and have another set of eyes or perspective on that and be able to ask those questions in a room of people who are on a similar journey.
Business is not for the faint of heart. If I could go back in time to when I started my business, I would have connected so much sooner and earlier with the right mentors and people around me because, I think, when we try and figure out everything alone, we can do it because we’re smart and we’re resilient.
Entrepreneurs are a very special breed of people. We find a way. But there is no wisdom in burning out in the process. That’s the old masculine way of doing things. As women, we are smarter than that. We know that we get so much power from our own sense of pleasure and joy.
What’s more pleasurable and joyful than connecting with people, getting some really good food, some movement, and heart-to-heart soulful connections? I think that will bring us so much energy into our businesses and that different perspective. It’s like we energise each other and then all go off and create our own little magic in our corners and then come back together and re-energise each other. The more we do that, the better we get.
Mia Fileman 16:50
So true.
It’s like peer coaching. Because we want to get to those deep moments, we’re keeping the numbers really small for this particular event. I think there are only going to be 30 to 35 tickets. I definitely recommend that if this is sounding like it’s for you to jump onto the link that I’ll put in the show notes and book your ticket.
Elsa Mitchell 17:18
Amazing.
Do you know what I’ve loved about this process with you guys as well? It’s our planning. I think that we’ve got some really valuable tips to share around that today because, quite often, you collaborate on events and one person ends up doing all the work. It needs to be an equal or mutual exchange when you come together like this.
Mia, I feel like you’ve been an excellent driver in the organisational side of things with your Asana board.
Mia Fileman 17:49
Yes. Well, this is not our first rodeo, is it, Elsa? We do these in-person events quite frequently. A lot of learnings from experience. Let’s unpack this for the listeners who may be thinking to host an in-person event in 2022 or beyond because there are definitely some top tips that we want to share.
The first thing is to make sure that your collaboration partners align with you on your values so that there’s a real synergy there in terms of who you choose to collaborate with.
Definitely use a project management tool like Asana or Trello or Monday or Notion – whatever you use. Literally put every single task in that board. We’re talking about micro tasks – anything that pops into your head needs to go because, if it’s not on the board, it won’t happen.
It’s really good to have a kick-off meeting so that you can make sure that this event is going to meet everyone’s objectives. I feel that in our first kick-off meeting, I was a little bit of the “look, I’m only going to do this if it’s like this, and if it’s like this!” because, honestly, time is really valuable.
There’s no point in getting too far down this process and then going, “Actually, this event is not going to meet any of my business objectives, and I didn’t say anything earlier.” It was really great to put your cards down on the table and go, “I work almost exclusively with women in marketing. How does that feel for you guys?” and it works! Sometimes, it doesn’t, and you just have to go your separate ways. Be upfront about what you are hoping to achieve out of this so that everyone is on the same page.
Then, we went through the process of assigning roles. We played to each person’s strengths.
Cha having an interior design background, such a beautiful visually led brand, it made so much sense for Cha to drive the visual identity for this campaign. Me being local in Darwin on the ground means that obviously I’m the best person to source the venue, the catering, also local PR. Elsa is doing a whole bunch of other stuff that all needs to be done to pull this event together.
It’s really dividing and conquering and having a look through that task list and making sure that it’s equal and that everyone agrees to promote the event. While we’ve divided the tasks to create the event, each one of us is going to be sharing this across our social media channels and our owned channels. We’re going to do some paid media around this. We’ve agreed to split all of those costs three ways. These are the things that you really need to discuss to make sure that no one is left feeling like they got burnt.
Elsa Mitchell 20:47
I think it absolutely 100 percent has to be an equal exchange of effort and willingness for it to succeed.
Cha Higginson 20:56
Yes, and I think there’s so much value in having those conversations when we first start out rather than waiting until that point where someone starts to feel like, “Actually, I’m not sure this is working for me.” It’s about being really upfront and also being okay if we reach out and we create a connection but then whatever we plan to do doesn’t actually go ahead, that’s okay, too.
Maybe the point was having that connection, and something will happen further down the track, but not forcing yourselves to do something that doesn’t feel aligned. Sometimes, we get stuck in our heads in business. If an opportunity comes our way, we think we’ve got to take every single opportunity because of whatever story we’re telling ourselves.
We end up burning out or being really frustrated or having way too much on our plates so that, when the opportunity that is actually aligned comes around, we don’t have the time for it, or we can’t fit it into our calendar. It’s really important to have those really straight, honest conversations to start with and set not only boundaries but also expectations so that we’re all pulling our weight and we’re all as motivated and excited as each other.
Ultimately, the end product or the end event experience for the people who are there are going to be a reflection of how excited we are and how much we’re actually put in of our energy and our commitment
Mia Fileman 22:22
Yes!
I think, in business, it’s less about how much you work and more about where you put that time. I say this all the time, but strategy is about choices. It’s as much about what you don’t do as what you do do. If you look at the most successful entrepreneurs, it’s that they chose to focus their energy and their time in the right places.
By saying yes to everything and letting our ego go, “But she asked me. She wanted me to take over!” then – exactly as you said, Cha – we actually run out of capacity to do the things that will really move the needle on our business.
Elsa Mitchell 23:02
Absolutely. I think we got really – not lucky, but like I said earlier – if you don’t ask, you don’t get. I think I’m quite strategic in a lot of things and across all my businesses. I’m not on social media fluffing about. I actually pay attention to who I connect with and who I’m speaking to.
I’m very conscious in my conversations that I have in that they are people that light me up, people that align with my values, people that make me go, “Yes, I want to work with her!” I think that’s a school that gets greater and greater the longer you’re in business because you’re in marketing – right, Mia? – so you know you need to be attracting those right people to you at all times.
I loved that, at the very beginning, one of the first things we all said was, “Well, what are you hoping to get out of this day? What’s our objective?” We were all very much on the same page with that. That was amazing.
Cha Higginson 23:53
Yes, and I think we don’t talk enough about how our interactions need to be really intentional because we feel like we need to answer every question and be everything for everybody. I think that’s where we get so often caught up in diluting what we have and what we can offer.
When we can be really strategic about who we interact with, it feels like it’s being the opposite of generous, but the way I see it is like your energy and your message and your connections are therefore more potent. They are very intentional. If you surround yourself in business with people who align with your values and align with your message but also can complement your work, it builds a really strong foundation.
Often, we have this idea that we have to be everything for everybody. I found that, as a business owner, it’s been quite difficult for me at times to pull back from different social interactions that I had – whether that’s online or in person, by the way – on socials and all of that, but connections that were absolutely not serving me, that were draining my energy, that were draining my capacity.
Also, you know how when you are with people who inspire you, it drives you to think differently. You have more interesting conversations. You have that person who will recommend a book or a particular podcast or someone that will actually move your business forward. I feel like, if we really committed to our business, we need to really fully understand that we are our business and that everything that we do and every interaction we have, we need to keep our values in mind and our focus in mind.
I know that sounds a little bit like, “Well, what do you do for fun?” but you know what? We need to bring the fun into everything that we do. I feel like business is an aspect where we forget that. We want to bring fun into other areas of our lives, but we feel like we have to be so serious about our business because it matters so much to us.
But when we can actually get really super intentional about how we do business and bringing that fun into it but also being really smart about it, that doesn’t make us bad people, and it doesn’t make us hard-ass business-minded. It just makes us really smart and effective at what we do. I think that’s something to bear in mind when we consider interacting with others but also taking a day out to focus on our business.
Mia Fileman 26:30
I could hear you talk all day. This is amazing. This is filling my cup. Honestly, I’m so grateful for this conversation because, yes, it feels very, very aligned with everything that I feel.
I have my husband who is not in business. He’s a helicopter pilot. He’s like, “You’re always working. Don’t you ever want a break? What are you working for?” It’s like, “I fucking love it! I love it. It’s fun. It’s creative. I’m meeting these interesting people. I’m doing these interesting things. I’m charting my own path here.”
Honestly, I spend Sunday afternoons writing articles because I want to – not because I have to.
Elsa Mitchell 27:25
It’s like, “I don’t have any hobbies. I never really have.” Some people are really passionate about a sport. I’ve never really had that. I say it to my friends, “I feel like a bit of a loser because I don’t really love anything, but I love my work.” That is my idea of a good time – getting work done.
Even going back to work after having kids which is a whole other conversation. We so often feel like we have to say, “We need the money.” But I was like, “Actually, I really love working. I wanted to go back to work because, as much as l love being a mother, working was something else that filled my cup.” It enabled me to be a better mother. I’m totally vibing with you too there, Mia.
Mia Fileman 28:17
Well, really, one of my only hobbies outside of running a business is yoga. We will be going to my yoga studio for this event. I think it is the best yoga studio in the world, and I’ve travelled quite a bit of Australia. I’ve moved six times in 11 years. I’ve tried all the different yoga studios, but Darwin Yoga Space is incredible. I’m really excited for you – the both of you – but for all of our participants to come and try this Iyengar yoga studio.
Cha Higginson 28:53
I’m so excited.
Elsa Mitchell 28:53
It sounds amazing.
I remember when you started talking about this yoga studio and you gave us a very brief description of it. I was like, “I want to move in. I’m in! Yes!”
Mia Fileman 29:06
Totally.
Well, why don’t we wrap this up by sharing what are some of the key takeaways that attendees are going to get from each of our workshops.
Elsa Mitchell 29:15
For me, I am going to be focusing on – as I said earlier – the foundations.
It’s a little bit of dabbling and a little bit of everything in your face – not to overwhelm you, but to inspire you to maybe look at aspects of your business that perhaps you haven’t fully immersed in yet that could be some potential growth for you.
Mia Fileman 29:36
So good. So important. I can’t wait for this. I will be there with bells on.
I am going to pick up from where Elsa leaves off and talk about my favourite thing in the whole world which is marketing campaigns. I specifically want to focus on social media campaigns for this particular workshop because we don’t have the whole day. We only have an hour.
I really want to talk about how to market your business on social media sustainably because right now social media is exhausting. It’s incredibly fickle with all the changes that are happening with Instagram and their every video needing to now be in a vertical format which, of course, doesn’t work for any channel other than Instagram. I really want the attendees to leave with some really actionable tips on how to get off the social media grind and create sustainable marketing campaigns.
Cha Higginson 30:35
That sounds amazing.
For me, what I really want to help people do is always and forever connect deep within their hearts and souls, and figure out, going so much deeper than just your why, but really finding and igniting that aspect of you that will never give up and that is so connected to who you are and why you do what you do that you will always be able to find within yourself the courage to keep on going. I want to say motivation, but it’s not motivation. It’s this deep knowing that you’re here for a reason and that you owe it not just to yourself but to everyone to show up and to keep on showing up.
How I’ll do that? I don’t know. I’m going to read the room. I’m going to connect with everyone who’s there, do what I do best, and bring to you whatever deepest wisdom and insights you need to hear on the day. That’s not dependent on what I think you need but really what we’re all going to need on that particular day at that time.
Mia Fileman 31:38
So good!
All right. It’s going to be in September. What date did we decide?
Elsa Mitchell 31:46
September 22nd, I think.
Mia Fileman 31:48
Thursday, the 22nd – 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
We have an early-bird price. When those early-bird tickets are gone, we go to a general pricing. You can get all the details from our event page which I’m linking below in the show notes. I really hope that, if you’re a business owner in Darwin, looking to make meaningful connections, walk away with actionable business tips and advice, that you join us.
Cha Higginson 32:21
Amazing. I can’t wait to meet all these beautiful new faces.
Elsa Mitchell 32:24
Can’t wait to meet you!
Mia Fileman 32:27
Thank you!
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