IAM1675 – Event Planning Expert and Podcast Host Advocates For Self-care and Living a Life Full of Grace

Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”: I loved Allie's podcast and the power and new definition (similar to what it means to be a CEO) of being “selfish.” We talked about how we define ourselves and how powerful it is to “try” and “go for it.” We spoke about hard work, Kobe Bryant, and the impact of leadership.

Check out premium content in the CBNation Library at http://cbnation.co/library and pick up our eBook to hear some of the best lessons at http://cbnation.co/shop.

Previous Episode: https://iamceo.co/2019/02/10/iam181-event-planning-expert-and-podcast-host-advocates-for-self-care-and-living-a-life-full-of-grace/

Transcription:

Allie Hembree Martin Teaser 00:00

Your job and your career can be easily taken from you. That's one lesson that, you know, I feel like a lot of us fall into that trap of our identity being wrapped up in our job title and solely finding our purpose on this earth in what we are doing from nine to five every day. But that can easily be taken away from you.

Intro 00:21

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships generate. And grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you are in search of. This is the I am CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:46

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. And if you've been listening this year, we're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes under certain categories or topics that we think are gonna be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners.

This month is going to be about not forgetting about the human part of business. Often we forget about the human part of life. We often forget about the human part of business. So look forward to self-care tips, fitness, burnout, purpose, biz and personal, personal branding, motivation, drive, success, understanding your why, and of course, how important customer service is. But at the heart of it, it's all about, remembering the human part of business. So sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I am CEO podcast.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I am CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today at Allie Martin of the Selfish podcast. Allie, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Allie Hembree Martin 01:43

Thanks so much for having me.

Gresham Harkless 1:45

No problem. Super excited to have you on, and what I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Allie so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. And Allie Hembree Martin is a public relations and event planning expert with more than a decade of experience. She currently serves as the Community Relations and Event Manager for Kendra Scott, formerly working in public relations for Amazon, Alltech, and International SPA Association

Allie completed her Master's in Business Administration at Midway College and received her bachelor's degree from Western Kentucky University in Broadcast Journalism, Political Science, and Theater. Now, in its third season, Allie enjoys serving as the host of the Podcast Selfish, a show that advocates for self-care and living a life full of grace. Allie, are you ready to speak to the I am CEO community?

Allie Hembree Martin 02:31

Yes. You've got it.

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Gresham Harkless 02:33

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business and your podcast.

Allie Hembree Martin 02:40

Yeah. As you mentioned, I came from the world of the International SPA association and as you can imagine, that is a world full of zen and keeping your cool and advocating for wellness. And I was talking to so many experts when I was in that field, and so many people had such good advice for the world, and I felt like I needed to tell their stories and get that information out to the masses.

So that really led me to want to dive into the world of wellness and self-care. But then having that background in broadcast journalism from Western Kentucky University, I did have that knowledge of podcasting. And you know, how to create a show. So, I joined those two worlds together and put together a podcast that really brings experts from around the world, whether they are specializing in self-care or wellness, or if they just have a story of somebody that went after their goal.

You know, either to me is somebody that really is taking time for themselves and considering what they want to do in the world. Not just living by the daily grind every day just because they have to. So to me, being selfish is different for everyone, and I want to tell that story and share it with the world.

Gresham Harkless 3:59

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I know you touched a little bit upon it, but could you tell us, a little bit more about your podcast and everything that you're doing from that standpoint and how you're serving your listeners?

Allie Hembree Martin 04:07

Yes, yes. So, I have a little bit different format with my podcast. I do seasons, so they are seasons of 10 episodes and they're a mixture of men and women and either experts in the wellness world or individuals that have taken risks and put themselves out there and just kind of listening to their stories and finding what inspiration we can take from their stories to inspire us to live out our own dreams.

The format is about 30 minutes long, so bite-size stories that you can easily listen to on your drive to work. And really, I integrate my own story into each season. So where I am in different seasons of life. I lost my job during one of the seasons. Telling the story of, you know, what lesson that taught me and how I really do have to be my own advocate because your job, your career can be easily taken from you.

That's one lesson that, you know, I feel like a lot of us fall into that trap of our identity being wrapped up in our job title and solely finding our purpose on this earth. In what we are doing from nine to five every day, but that can easily be taken away from you. So what can we find in ourselves that goes beyond that job title?

Gresham Harkless 05:27

Yeah, and I absolutely love that. I think I remember exactly what episode that was and how sometimes as you mentioned, you're so wrapped up in your work is who you are as a person that if that is taken away from you, I've been laid off myself. When that happens, sometimes it could be a devastating thing. But the thing that I love the most is that you're bringing light to like you said, you're telling your story, but you're bringing on people as well that are going through similar things or maybe can shine light on certain things.

And it makes us feel closer because sometimes when we go through difficult things, especially we feel alone, but having the opportunity, like on your podcast to hear a lot more about, you know, hey, this person might be going through the exact same thing that I went through and this is how they fought through it or got through it and everything helps bring us all closer.

Allie Hembree Martin 06:06

It's amazing how those conversations come up at the right time and they're just what you need to hear when you're going through something. So it was amazing for me to have that path and, you know, be interviewing people right alongside what I was going through and saying, okay, if they got through this, so can I.

So really just being that inspiration, but that encourager to people that are struggling to find that identity. You know, what is their identity beyond their job title, but really at the end of the day, at the end of our lives even, what are we going to be known for? So, you know, it is not that job title, even though, you know, being a CEO is fantastic. There is more to life than that. So finding out what that is.

Gresham Harkless 06:50

Exactly, exactly. That makes perfect sense. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce. And what do you feel sets you or your podcast apart?

Allie Hembree Martin 6:57

I think my motto in life is I fall back on the Bible verse to who much is given, much is expected. And being able to share these stories, these people are coming to me, willing to talk to me about what's happened in their lives. Sometimes very vulnerable stories and a lot of pain surrounding those stories and you know, I feel like I've been given so much opportunity for these people being willing to talk to me that there's a much expected of me to be able to share these stories and get that word out to people.

But even within myself, you know, I've been given a platform and an audience and to make sure that I'm telling very encouraging and uplifting stories because that's what we need. So I feel like that has really helped guide me and kept me going because I'm sure, there are those days where you don't want to edit one more thing, or it really gets tiring. And you think no one listens, why does this matter?

But when you think about it from that perspective of, you know, this is a job you've been given and whether you took it on yourself or not, there's much expected of you. So I think that's kept me going, but also allowed me to look at this as a very big privilege I get to do. And not just a hobby.

Gresham Harkless 08:22

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And as far as right in line with your podcast or maybe you're afraid and they bury the silence, they don't actually fulfill them and they are not doing actually what was ordained for them to do. So it's great that you remind yourself of that and reminded us of that as well.

Allie Hembree Martin 08:36

I think we're so afraid of failure. So to hear stories of people that have said, I am gonna quit my nine-to-five job and start this business in the middle of a recession. I am going to sell my house and move across the country so that I can pursue this stream. Those are stories we all need to hear because we can say, wow, that's similar to what I wanted to do. And they did it and they didn't fail.

Gresham Harkless 09:00

Right.

Allie Hembree Martin 09:01

So, that sometimes is the only thing holding us back. And really, if you look at it years later, I think I would be very upset if I didn't pursue those dreams just because I was afraid of failure. But then you see other people around you succeeding. So it's worth a shot.

Gresham Harkless 09:17

Absolutely. It's a good reminder to make sure to go for it. And now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient.

Allie Hembree Martin 09:29

I love that. Something that I loved and has done in the last couple of years is a product called Power Sheets. It's a program put on by Laura Casey of Cultivate What Matters, and she has put together a yearly binder that is a monthly guide to achieving your goals, and essentially at the beginning of the program, you determine what your goals are for the year, and you know, very much like a New Year's resolution type of style. However, you then break it down into month, week, so that can look like I want to start a podcast. All right, in the first month of the year, I need to do research, and then in the second month of the year, I need to interview an individual weekly, and then maybe in March every day you need to be working on editing those podcasts.

So it takes it into bite-size chunks that can achieve something over a day, week, or month. And then at the end of the year, you've accomplished it. And I'll give you one example. I only have a week left as we're recording this now of reading the entire Bible from start to finish. And that is a goal that I never thought I would ever be able to achieve because who can consistently remember to sit down and read every single day. But by having this on every month's power sheets I have listed out, read my Bible verse for the day, and there's an app on your phone that breaks it down into a yearly plan, and I am just a week away from finishing that. That was one area of my life that I wanted to achieve, and I needed something to keep me accountable.

So I'm gonna keep rocking the power sheets as long as it can keep helping me achieve these goals.

Gresham Harkless 11:20

Yeah, I think that's a phenomenal CEO hack. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Allie Hembree Martin 11:31

Luckily I did hear this nugget early in my career, but I think it will live with me until the day I die. It was hard work prevails. And the individual that told me this, explained, she was a president of a company, but she started out as an intern, moved into the assistant role and worked her way up to the president role. And it is so simple, but yet so powerful because she explained it as, I may not be the smartest person in the room, but I'm guaranteed to work harder than anyone else. And at the end of the day, that's what matters, and that's what comes out on top. So you know, that really takes all the fear away from going into any situation.

If you think about it from that perspective, if you're willing to work hard, which anybody can work hard, you go into a new job, you go into a new career, you become selfish and decide you want to chase your dreams, you can achieve all of those things if you just work hard. So you don't need the knowledge or the expertise that others may have as long as you're willing to put in more hours than any other.

And I just read a story the other day about two NBA players that decided they were going to practice before the game, and they both went into the gym. Three hours before the game and were practicing and one decided to call it quits and focus on getting ready for the game instead of continuing to practice. And the other player continued to practice all the way up until he was no longer able to. That player that practiced the longest ended up winning the game. And so the other one came over to him later and said, you know, why did you practice for so long? Like, you're so good, you don't need to practice that long.

And he said I wanted you to know that I was willing to work harder than you were. So I wanted to stay out there just to show you that I'm here ready to work harder. So that, again, it just really takes all the fear and all the anxiety out of doing something for yourself or doing something that is a little scary because you are going to prevail if you work hard.

Gresham Harkless 13:52

Awesome. Yeah, that's an incredible reminder. I'm not sure if that was Kobe Bryant if that was that same story, but I heard a similar story. It was?

Allie Hembree Martin 13:58

Yeah.

Gresham Harkless 13:58

Kobe Bryant nuts, so I definitely know that story.

Allie Hembree Martin 14:00

I didn't know who the other one was

Gresham Harkless 14:02

It was Jay Williams.

Allie Hembree Martin 14:04

Okay. There you go.

Gresham Harkless 14:05

Yeah, Jason Williams. I remember he said that he was a rookie. And yeah that's one of the reasons I read a lot about Kobe Bryant and listen so much to him because he talks so much about hard work. So I definitely echo that and it's a kind of great reminder that you can control, what you can control. You can't control outside circumstances, but you can control how much effort and work you put in.

So that's a great reminder. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of being a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote and quote CEOs on the show. So, What does being a CEO mean to you?

Allie Hembree Martin 14:36

I fall back on the Simon Sinek quote of Leaders Eat Last, and to me, being a CEO is putting others first and taking the backseat, and it's not all about fame and fortune and the title. It goes back to that Bible verse to who much is given much is expected.

You know, once you've reached this point and you are in control of your own company and you're leading that team, you are expected to put others first and take that backseat. And ultimately I find that to be the most successful type of leadership out there as far as keeping people motivated, keeping people satisfied, and allowing them to do what you've hired them to do.

Gresham Harkless 5:22

Allie, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and then how best they can get ahold of you. And of course, subscribe to your podcast.

Allie Hembree Martin 15:34

Thanks, Gresham. You can visit selfishthepodcast.com, and I'm also on Instagram at the allie martin, and Allie is spelled a l l i e. So please send me a message. I would love to hear from you and if you have a suggestion of someone that needs to be interviewed on the selfish podcast, I would love to hear it.

Gresham Harkless 15:55

Awesome, awesome, awesome. We'll make sure to have those links in the show notes and that information. But Allie, thank you so much for all the awesome things that you're doing and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Allie Hembree Martin 16:03

Thank you so much.

Outro 16:04

Thank you for listening to the I am CEO Podcast, powered by Blue 16. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co. I am CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and everywhere you listen to podcasts.

Subscribe and leave us a five-star rating. Grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I am CEO podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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