Nov 29, 2022 | Your Business
LinkedIn for the Empathic Entrepreneur with Jen Corcoran
About the episode:
I’m so excited to share the very first guest episode of The Prosperous Empath Podcast! Jen Corcoran, LinkedIn Consultant for Sensitive Female Entrepreneurs, is joining us today to share why she believes LinkedIn is THE network for empath and highly sensitive entrepreneurs. You’ll hear her story of leaving the banking industry to follow her passion of supporting entrepreneurs just like you, as well as tips that you can implement today to grow your connections on LinkedIn. Enjoy!
Topics discussed:
- How Jen went from a career in banking to coaching female entrepreneurs to find success on LinkedIn
- How LinkedIn supported Jen in finding her voice and the way she leveraged this
- The importance of gaining a level of education that gives you access to the group of people that you want to serve and being able to be an advocate for a cause you believe in
- Why LinkedIn is THE platform for relationship building and how to use it to nurture and grow your own relationships
- Having the confidence to be the one who takes the initiative on LinkedIn so you can grow your network and business
- Boundaries that Jen recommends for people who leverage LinkedIn as empaths
- How building out your profile will optimize your experience on LinkedIn
- Why the message of a prosperous empath is so important to Jen and her biggest advice for empaths and HSPs to find success as entrepreneurs
About Jen:
I help sensitive female business owners attract more and better clients on LinkedIn. Think of me as your LinkedIn Profile Polisher and Connection Queen.
I work with you to showcase your brilliance and achieve financial freedom with a consistent lead-generation method that feels easy, aligned and FUN.
You’ll have peace of mind knowing your LinkedIn profile and content is on point and attracting your ideal clients that leads to increased revenue. I help you get visible on LinkedIn in a BIG way!
Resources:
Connect with Jen:
Listen Now:
[expand title="Click here for a raw, unedited transcript of this episode"]
Catherine Wood (00:02):
Hello, hello and welcome back to the podcast. This is our second attempt, hopefully <laugh>. Hopefully we don't get booted again, I'm really excited today to have our first guest on the show. I'm excited to have Jen Corcoran. Jen is a LinkedIn trainer, uh, based in England and southern England, but from Ireland. And uh, what's cool about Jen is that we have only known each other for a year, but I think something that's really typical of empaths is that we connect deeply quickly. And so it feels like we've known each other much longer. And so, Jen, welcome to the podcast.
Jen Corcoran (00:40):
Thanks for having me, KA. I'm really excited to be your first guess and yeah, I do, I totally agree. I think me, anytime I connect with an impact, there's just that kind of affinity instantly if you kind of, you can kind of feel a like mind straight away, whether it is on Zoom or in reality. And yeah, I think it's that kind of piece of mind, like, oh, this is my person. We're on the same wavelength. So you don't need <laugh> as long to kind of get to know someone, to feel like you click with them or you trust them.
Catherine Wood (01:12):
Totally. It's such a refreshing part about, um, being empaths and highly sensitive in business and you know, that's who you are and what you do. You help highly sensitive female business owners attract more and better clients on LinkedIn, which I think is amazing. So I would love for you to share a little bit about who you are and how you got to be doing this. I feel like it's a real niche, um, a real niche business.
Jen Corcoran (01:38):
Yeah, and I wasn't always this like niche at the start. Like, um, I wasn't, you know, targeting my people and pats or highly sensitive. I was, you know, targeted everyone when I first launched and something was outta alignment for me. And it's literally been a journey the last like, I think one to two years I've connected the dots and I'm like, these are the people that I really wanna help get their voice on LinkedIn because most of my people are hiding or we're supporting other people and or energetically just feeling that LinkedIn's not the right place for them. And I wanna change that because I think we need to hear more like sensitive voices, more empathic voices or LinkedIn. And there's never been of a better time in history where we need to hear from our people. So I just wanna change their perception of LinkedIn and help them to create opportunities.
Jen Corcoran (02:32):
And I first started using it myself in my corporate career. I was in a very nonsensitive and non empathic, um, industry banking <laugh>. And I was very much my kind, the oddball in my team. I was supporting a whole lot of guys who were all in sales and quite, you know, aggressive and very like bonus driven, profit driven, I wouldn't say purpose driven. And I was like, I need to find my people. And that's where I found them was on LinkedIn, connecting with my peers initially and just learning that I didn't need to reinvent the wheel. I could lean into my peers and like minds and we could help each other because at the time I was a PA slash office manager and usually there's only one in a team, so you are on your own and you kind of have to figure things out and yeah, I just fell in love with the fact I could get my voice in the room on LinkedIn.
Jen Corcoran (03:28):
I couldn't physically get it in the room in my office with my space. There was a lot of extras and a lot of them non impacts. So firstly like finding a voice and kind of going, oh, I can actually have my say over here. And then making connections as an in and an empath. The fact that I didn't have to leave my house <laugh>, I didn't have to get dressed if I didn't want to, and I could still make great connections was amazing. And for me it was a great compliment to in, you know, in real life networking. Like any event I ever went to, you know, representing my boss or my company or any conference, LinkedIn was always the warm introduction for me. And then when I'd walk into any room, somebody, if not several people would recognize me. So it always made networking less awkward or icky.
Jen Corcoran (04:19):
Um, it kind of did, it kind of did that warm introduction for me. And then, yeah, just connecting with peers, partners, suppliers, colleagues. Um, I wasn't looking for a, a new job. I just really wanted to do my job well and it enabled me to get like pay rises, bonuses, uh, and just feel excited connecting with my peers around the world. And then fast forward several years, I fell out of love with what I was doing to be honest. I had got stuck. I had started on a maternity role and suddenly I was there 11 years going, how the hell did I end up in banking? <laugh>, this is not sparking joy. And what I was doing in a voluntary role, LinkedIn and social media, I realized was my joy connecting people. So that's why I do what I do today. But yeah, I fell in love probably I'd say about 12 years ago online when I was an employee. And now I feel the same like helping business owners to get their voice in the room.
Catherine Wood (05:16):
I didn't know that we shared that in common about, you said your background was in banking and my background was in economics and I have such a similar experience as you. Right. I used to work with the US National, uh, labor data with the national unemployment rate and the number of jobs added to the economy every month. And the people who most took advantage of our data was Wall Street. And I was helping mostly white men learn how to leverage our nation's public data for their own interests. And that was not the population that I wanted to help. So it's, so, it's so cool that we share that kind of, um, just realizing the misalignment of purpose with who we were serving and how we were contributing.
Jen Corcoran (06:01):
And I think for me it was a lot of like listening to family and friends who were not sensitive or not Pat saying to me, my God, that's a great job. You never gave that up. That's a great salary. And getting that in my head for so many years thinking, okay, I'm not really loving it, but I do get that it's a good bonus and yes, I'll hang around until next year and I'll get my bonus. But I just reached that stage when I actually had back surgery and it was because of the stress I think, of being somewhere that I was not aligned. These people were driving me mad and getting to that point where I realized, you know what? You can stick the bonus up your. Excuse me, I could. But it was like, you're not my people. Like the day of my operation be wheeled down, they were still on my Blackberry asking me, what about this trip? And it was like, hold on, this snow job is worth this. Like I you're not my people. So yeah, that was like my breaking point. It was literally a, sorry to be cheesy, but it was this straw that broke the CO's back or rather my back
Catherine Wood (07:01):
<laugh>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I think that that's such a key point. It's when there's that alignment of purpose and the people that you're supporting there, it's just so much easier to find that traction and uh, and path to success. I wanna, I wanna hit on something else you said because you, you mentioned that LinkedIn supported you in finding your voice and I was sharing with you before we hit record that recording this podcast has been a huge practice outside of my comfort zone in accessing my voice. And I think it's something that we as highly sensitive and empaths and introverts struggle with to some degree. So how did LinkedIn support you in finding your voice and how were you able to leverage that?
Jen Corcoran (07:47):
Yeah, I think the first thing was, um, accidentally going to a talk about it. I was networking and I was part of this PA association and they got somebody to do a talk and that kind of light bulb moment of oh, I need to be on there. Because initially I'd heard about it and you know, I was in Facebook but I wasn't in love with it. And you know, Twitter had just started and I was like, what the hell is this? And do I need to be on there? And just feeling a bit self-conscious, like do I have to do this? And then I went, uh, to that talk and it was like, oh, this sounds like a really good platform for me in terms of my personal brand. And then I went off and did a little online course and got qualified. So, and I know you relate cause you've done a lot of education and it's like that, that's how I get my confidence is going off, doing the research, learning about it, and then it's like, oh, okay, I'm comfortable on here.
Jen Corcoran (08:40):
So that was definitely step one, like getting a diploma in it, figuring out the functionality and the features. And once I knew how it technically worked, I was like, oh, I'm at home here with the, the front end of my profile and the back end. So that kind of gave me me initial confidence and then yeah, just connecting with people. Um, for me it was not about content, you know, to begin with on the home feed. I didn't show up on the home feed for at least five years, I would say it was like the power of my individual profile first optimizing that. And I learned pretty quick that when I was reaching out to people, I had the power of the bank on my shoulders. So that kind of emboldened me when I was reaching out to you this avoid the Ritz, all the kind of best restaurants and venues in London.
Jen Corcoran (09:27):
So I was like really excited to, to make these connections because I thought, you know, when I leave my job, I'm bringing them with me, <laugh>, I know these people. And, and likewise we connecting with like mines and peers, I thought, I'm gonna bring this network with me wherever I go. So, um, initially for five years, yeah, it was the profile and just dms connecting with people, how can we help each other? And then over time I got really fed up with the perception of what a PA is, um, in the UK because back in Ireland, I, I worked on magazines. I was an editor's assistant on Attack magazine and I was never a pa so I kind of reinvented myself when I moved to London because I couldn't break into publishing. And I realized there was a very different perception of the uk and as a graduate I took offense.
Jen Corcoran (10:16):
I was like, I'm a graduate, you know, I'm trilingual. I know lots of PAs who are on the C-suite helping to run companies and some of them have master degrees, some of them can speak five languages and you're same royalty in typing in. So it was actually that purpose of, I've had an offer you kind of looking down on me and it was, it was a few people in my team as well, even though we were all graduates because I was an arts graduate, I wasn't a finance graduate, I, they still put me in a box of tea and type in. So my kind of purpose boiled, erupt into the surface and I started writing long form articles on, you know, how to network as a pa how to create a PA network within your company, how to like get a, a pay rise, you know, how to basically show your work.
Jen Corcoran (11:03):
And of course all my peers love me <laugh>. Cause I was saying we are good enough, stop like discounting us. We are running companies. So all of a sudden I was the most like the number one ranked PA around the world on social media. And it was because I was just on a mission to kind of, you know, I initially probably being fed up with people on my team, but it kinda, I got kind boiled over. And I think now as a business owner, I'm on that same mission for HSPs and impacts because I just really feel like people aren't giving us the, our Jews or just, you know, thinking of that sensitivity as a weakness or the fact that we're quiet, that we've got, you know, quieter that or processing that we don't have anything to say. So I'm really on that same mission to kinda get HSPs and impacts to get their voice in the room because for me, well on purely selfish know, I would enjoy LinkedIn so much more if my feed was, you know, all impacts all, you know, um, sensitive, like what a lovely feed that would be. And I'm trying to curate it like that at the moment. And I am following a lot of people that I'm connected to that are impacts, but there's still not enough. I'm like, I need to see more people out there.
Catherine Wood (12:19):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I love that I, I hear a couple things that I think are really valuable. I hear this reminder that we all need to gain the level of education that gives us access to our confidence as empaths and highly sensitives, which I think is really important and certainly something that's been part of my journey. And then the second piece, uh, this piece around, uh, what you can no longer tolerate around who you work with and who you collaborate and then shifting that mindset to be an advocate for a cause that you believe in. And I think that that that transition, that transformation, um, Dr. Michael Beckwith, who I really love, he, he speaks about it as like this, he says, the pain pushes until the vision pulls.
Jen Corcoran (13:11):
Oh, I love that.
Catherine Wood (13:12):
And for empaths and highly sensitives that reminder that when we can be pulled by a vision in our businesses, then we find more access points to, to carry people forward with us, to link arms with people and to be propelled forward by that shared vision. And I think that this is something that you do exceedingly well because you are everywhere on LinkedIn. I, I always see you showing up in my feed and I'm sure that has so much more to do with just you knowing how to leverage the platform. You know, you really are propelled forward by your vision and it creates, uh, an open door for people to join you.
Jen Corcoran (13:55):
Yeah. And I think you need to be, especially for me as an impact and even as an introvert, I think when you're just thinking about yourself, it's like you, even with this podcast, you can get blocked in your head and you're like, ah, this is not my comfort zone. But when you are driven by that purpose, then you get over yourself and then you're just gonna have more fun online. And you, you know, that there's a goal, there's it's purpose led, it feels bigger than you, so you get over yourself. You know, it's, and those days where I go back into my head and it's like, back to Jen, it's like, no, no, no, you have to get out of that and think to the bigger vision because, um, it's way easier when you, well, for me it's way easier if you are purpose led because otherwise I have that tendency to overthink and get, you know, procrastinate and whatever. But if it's not about me, I won't do that because I'll wanna get out and spread the word word.
Catherine Wood (14:51):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative> a hundred percent. So let's talk about relationship building, because you have really sold me on this idea that LinkedIn is the platform to build relationships. And I think us as empaths, that's how we grow our businesses through nurturing relationships. And I think you do this exceedingly well. So what has been your experience and what would you share with our audience around how to leverage LinkedIn to nurture and grow relationships?
Jen Corcoran (15:22):
Yeah, I think, um, just knowing why you're on LinkedIn, cause a lot of people join it, but they're not really clear. And there's, there's a few things really. I say the two main ones. The first one is know yourself, <laugh>, really know who you are, know what your values are, know why you are on LinkedIn and be clear on that and be ready to bring that a hundred percent to LinkedIn and not 50% or 70%. Don't dilute yourself down. And then number two is know your customer. <laugh> know why you're on LinkedIn. Is it to build your personal brand or your business brand? Is it to get guests on your podcast? Is it to get leads? Is it to become a talk leader? So the more you know why you're on there, then it makes it so much easier in terms of like content connection or dms.
Jen Corcoran (16:14):
I think a lot of people are on LinkedIn and they don't know who they're <laugh> or they do know who they're, and then they're afraid to bring it. And then the second thing is they haven't done their customer research, so they really, they have something in their head about, oh, I think my client customer needs X, Y, Z, but they've not actually done the right, you know, the research. So that's why their content isn't quite and true or they're, they're, they're not putting the right energy into dms when they're connecting. So it feels a bit off. So I think the more you understand yeah, where you are coming from and what your goal is, that will really propel you forward. And I think as impacts, you know, we are feelers and we, you know, we have to protect our energy and time. So being strategic when you're on LinkedIn and limiting your time, like for me, I've always treated my LinkedIn, like my email, like my Outlook, I'm not going to spend all day in it because I'm just gonna be putting out fires and like reactive the whole day and getting nothing done.
Jen Corcoran (17:16):
So it's, for me, it's a case of dipping in in the morning, dipping in in the afternoon, and that's it. And not, you know, if I am scrolling in the evening, that's for pleasure, you know, and I know that might not be other people's active pleasure, but, you know, so I think, yeah, just being really strict with your time. I don't advocate any longer than a half an hour a day, like whatever days you wanna be on LinkedIn. It could be just Monday to Friday or three days a week. Don't be on there all day and don't feel bad. And I know I, I used to feel really guilty when people would send me a connection request and I, I, my gut was telling me to ignore because I couldn't see any synergy whatsoever. But I, I accepted them initially, but now I've gotta the stage in business that I'm like, uh, if you're not for me or if I get a bad feeling or that you're gonna spam me or insult me or whatever, I just ignore.
Jen Corcoran (18:07):
And I just think if you are not going to kind of add value to my network, and it might sound a bit mean and you know, quite, you know, guarded, it's like this should be a win-win. LinkedIn should always be a, a win-win. So I think my advice is get strategic and think who do you want to connect to it? And don't be passive and just sit there waiting for people to come to you because that's how people get, you know, um, they kind of, you know, they get stressed and they're like, should I ignore? Should I accept? And I'm like, well that's not the question. Who do you wanna connect to it? You know, don't be passive. Like I, I'm not sitting back waiting for a stranger to shape my network. I'm thinking, who do I wanna connect to it? And even at the end of um, last year I decided I want to connect with more pats, more introverts and more highly sensitive people.
Jen Corcoran (18:55):
And it's thanks to meeting, you know, people like amazing cat, you know, you're a good staff. So I started to look up the hashtag highly sensitive person, HS PPA introvert and put it in the search bar on LinkedIn. And I've had hundreds of amazing people and I was like, I want you in my network. So I did that. And um, yeah, I think the more you find your people then you're gonna have a much nicer time in the dms. You're gonna have a much nicer feed that resonates with you. So yeah, just knowing why you're on LinkedIn, because a lot of people just say, oh, LinkedIn's good for sales. And they're like treating it like Amazon <laugh>, but it's like any social network you have to put in a little bit of time and you can't really fast track relationship building unless you've been referred and somebody's kind of given you that gold stamp, you know, of approval. But, um, yeah, be willing to put in the time and that it's not always a quick win. You're not gonna always get your ideal clients straight away or your collab partner straight away, but you can get them quicker if you, if you are strategic with your time.
Catherine Wood (20:02):
I love that reminder that we can both generate, uh, a marketing approach to allow us to attract our ideal clients and we also have to advocate for ourself and take brave actions forward in the direction of what we want. <laugh> we can just sit back on our haunches and wait.
Jen Corcoran (20:22):
Yeah. Cause it's much, you'll really, you'll just be failing LinkedIn so much more when you've chosen people in your network, you'll get excited. And that's the thing, you can connect with anyone around the world and there might be people that you think that are out of reach. And I would say, don't, you know, don't be shy. Just get out there and connect because I've created so much more opportunities online than I ever would've had the confidence to do in real life. You know, I would never have asked these people, but you'll get in the swing. It's like riding a bike and once you start connecting with people, it starts to feel a bit more natural. And then what's the worst? You send a connection request and somebody ignores. It's not the end of the world. You can't take a personally, it could be, you know, life's happened, they're sick, they're away and maybe they, they just over the time or they're not interested.
Jen Corcoran (21:10):
But you could always find a way to get to that person, I believe. You know, whether it's tapping into your second degree connections, asking for an introduction or, you know, reaching out to someone in their team. You, you can always get to that person. There's always, you know, I don't think anyone is with outreach, you know, and just being brave and knowing that is amazing that you can do this for free on your own time. You can connect with, you know, trainers, talk leaders, people that you've admired for years, you know, who's to say you can't get in there and and have a connection with them and, and see where it leads. And you know, it's about being brave. And I think I realized that pretty early on when I was an employee. You know, reading out, reaching out to the head of the sevo, the Ritz and all that, I'd literally go into these places as a PA and they would welcome me at the door and go, hi Jennifer.
Jen Corcoran (21:59):
And it led to lots of Braves as well, which was amazing. But it was just that bravery of asking. So I'm a massive believer in, if you don't ask, you don't get mm-hmm <affirmative>. But it comes with practice. And I think if you have fun and always position it as a win-win, how can you help the other person? And, and definitely in your connection request, I think a lot of impacts like to put in that, you know, the, the, the, the writing as to why they wanna connect because they want it to be meaningful. So if you can make somebody feel special, you're always gonna be in there rather than sending connection requests with no, um, text. And I know some trainers would, would advocate that and I wouldn't, I would always say, tell people why you wanna connect with them and make them feel special. You know, reference their content, reference something about them rather than the me, me, me buy from me approach, which just is gross and does not work. <laugh>,
Catherine Wood (22:55):
I am taking with you, taking with me from what you just said, permission to reject people who are just selling to coaches. Cause I get those called requests all the time and it's, so, it just feels, um, I think that's what pushes me away from LinkedIn is just the idea that most of the people who are reaching out to me at this point are not values aligned. You know, they're mostly looking for the hard sell.
Jen Corcoran (23:20):
Yeah. They're doing cold outreach, they're doing a search, they're putting in coach or whatever into the search bar and they're doing cold outreach and a lot of the time it's bots. It's not even human beings or it's automation and there's no personalization at all. So you kind of, you know, when it's coming really. And, and I would say never feel bad to ignore them or block them if they really annoy you, block them because they need to learn <laugh>. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, they need to learn. This is gross. I've started saying if people start selling to me, I've started saying, you know, this approach is gross and very 2020, let me know if I can help you with your dms cuz you need it <laugh>. So I've started to do that for fun, which is quite, that's just me having a joke. <laugh>.
Catherine Wood (24:06):
No, I love that. I mean it's both, uh, an example of you asserting your boundaries as a purpose driven entrepreneur and making offers, extending offers where you can clearly contribute in a very meaningful way. And so Id actually love to talk about this piece about boundaries because this is the second example of your business boundaries that you've shared. The first one was the reminder to not be on LinkedIn all the time to have your half an hour maximum per day. So what other, what other boundaries do you recommend for people to leverage LinkedIn as a, as empaths?
Jen Corcoran (24:46):
I think the more you connect with your people, you're not gonna have um, as many issues about boundaries because there will be that respect. And I've definitely found it like in the last year or so connected with fellow empaths, the messages are so lovely compared to the other messages I get from like Nonsensitive. Um, so I think yeah, just finding your tribe and connecting with them will make your experience so much more joyful. Like, I've had so many lovely messages, so maybe, you know, you're, you're in a voluntary role. I'm currently in one as part of a campaign with Google and it's all about empowering women. So I started to connect with those women and again, lovely conversations because we're all purpose driven and you know, so I definitely think to yourself, who are your people? Because you won't really need to put the boundaries in place with your people.
Jen Corcoran (25:37):
It's the other people. Uh, I think one thing I'm currently doing a little bit, I'm a big fan of the free platform, I think get the free platform working for you before you bother, like upgrade into premium. But I am on it at the moment cuz LinkedIn has gifted me a few months. So I'm like, okay, well I look a gift or send them out so I'm up on premium. So if you, once you've got the free version working for you and you decide you wanna go up to premium, there is a really nice out of office feature. So I'm leveraging that a lot and it can be like, you know, I'm just recharging this week or I'm away and straight to the point. I'm saying if you need LinkedIn training to, you know, propel your business, you can book in here if you're 10 outta 10 committed.
Jen Corcoran (26:22):
So I'm basically saying this is the main reason that I'm on LinkedIn in my out of office message and that seems to be cutting out a lot of the, the BS <laugh>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, so I'm actually finding that outta office nearly worth the upgrade to premium. Just that that one feature of it is like, I'm really liking this, I'm actually getting positive feedback of people going, oh I love your automatic automated office. But it's like, when do you usually hear that? So yeah, that for me is a kind of a boundary. Like don't, you know, just get in touch to sell me or you know, tell me about your webinar or whatever, you know. So that would be one. Um, what else? It's just, yeah, the main, I think the main place you need the boundaries is in the dms. It's, it's just, yeah. Um, not being afraid to ignore people.
Jen Corcoran (27:15):
Like I said, not being afraid to archive their messages and if somebody emails you as well, not feeling compelled to respond. Cause I know I did the start, I was like trying to be nice to everyone and now I'm like, no, swipe, delete. You know, so just realizing that a lot of the people will be targeting you. They will be putting you in a search, you'll pop up. So don't yeah. Don't feel mean if you're not accepting everyone or if you're ignoring them. Cause I know I did feel mean at the start and now I'm like so over it. <laugh>. Mm-hmm <affirmative> swipe, swipe, swipe. So don't worry they, these people won't be offended. Like I said, some of them will be bought, some of it'll be automation, some of them are looking at you, you're just a dollar sign, you're not a person to them. So these people will even know because they will have shot these invites at to whatever, you know, hundreds.
Jen Corcoran (28:08):
So they won't know. So don't ever like feel bad. And also another thing you can do, it's not so much boundaries but but it's more like headspace. If you are connected to people from, you know, maybe your previous role, previous industry or even peers and you're like, I really find this content boring, <laugh> it, this is not like spark joy for me and I'm sick of whoever going on about blah blah blah all the time. Just unfollow people if you don't wanna disconnect from them and don't feel bad, you know? And to do that, there's two ways you can either click on your home feed and, and when one of their posts appears, you go into the top right hand corner and there's tree ellipses on the top right. And then there's a little dropdown menu and you, you have the option to unfollow or you can go up to your network tab and look for your connections and you can unfollow there and you're still connected.
Jen Corcoran (29:03):
You just won't see their stuff in your feed. And I've done that, you know, like I've got 12 and a half thousand connections and I follow less than a thousand people. That's amazing. Yeah. Only following the people I'm interested in because that's why I have the joy. And that's why you were saying you see me everywhere Cause when I go on, it's interesting to me, but it wasn't always interesting. Like I used to be in shipping finance and a lot of stuff about, you know, containers, oil and gas. And especially with the economy, I don't wanna see all that of my feet. I'm like, no thank you. Totally. So, but it doesn't mean that those people are bad. A lot of people ask me, me, oh should I disconnect? I'm doing something different. And I'm like, well if they're good people, if you think you never know how they can help you down the line.
Jen Corcoran (29:47):
I wouldn't be like brutal and disconnect from everyone. But if there are people that annoy you, disconnect for them as well. They won't notice if they're an annoying person, they won't notice. So just don't feel bad to tailor your feed and your connections to suit you. Because I'm a big believer that your network is your net worth and you don't need 12 and a half thousand connections. If you're listening to me going, oh my god, that's too much. You don't need it. I'm a LinkedIn trainer. So it's a totally different thing. You can leverage LinkedIn with I would say 500 connections, you know, quality over quantity. So that will be good news for the MPAs. You don't need a massive network to get traction. Cause things that we do that non sensitives will do will be probably referrals in the dms. You know, kind of saying, you know, Mary meet Mark, I think, you know, you have something in common because we are connectors and we're more kind of helpful I suppose than kinda non sensitives.
Jen Corcoran (30:48):
But um, yeah, you don't need a massive network and you don't need to follow everyone and don't feel bad if somebody mentions their post or did you see my post the other day? Just say, look what the algorithm, you only ever see 10% of the content anyway and you can always bring up someone's profile and see their post by clicking on their activity. So there's always a way, you know, if you didn't see it and you're like, oh, I didn't see it, I'll have a quick look first, then you can say, oh I've just seen it now, it's amazing, whatever. So yeah. Kind of make LinkedIn work for you because it's a tool. Don't let it control you
Catherine Wood (31:22):
<laugh>. Totally. I love I hear you talking about this theme of protecting your energy.
Jen Corcoran (31:28):
Yeah.
Catherine Wood (31:28):
As and bats and highly sensitives. It's so important that we protect our energy both in the ways in which we limit people's access to us who aren't aligned. Uh, and I love the thing that you said in the beginning around, um, if you're like 10 outta 10 committed, I'm for you. Yeah. Because that is, it's so true. You know, like I, if I'm not a hell yes to a potential client, then I trust that I'm a no because the the, the energy drain of working with a client who is not, uh, a value soul alignment fit it, it's more costing to me than the potential gain from that experience. And it, it is so important for us to really honor that energy. So where, and I love, I love everything you're saying. I'm just taking as a permission slip for empaths and highly sensitive. So really like, uh, engage with LinkedIn, but also I can hear this advice applicable for any social platform to engage with it in a way that feels good to your nervous system. <laugh>.
Jen Corcoran (32:38):
Definitely. And do what feels good. Like don't worry about doing all the things. You just need to figure out what works for you. Like I'm a big fan of written posts, you know, and it's probably because I studied English at uni, I just like expressed myself in written forum, whereas somebody else might like videos, somebody might like podcasts. So just think what works for you because you don't have to do all the things on LinkedIn. You can just use one type of content and just rinse and repeat because the main, you wanna feel comfortable and that way you will be consistent. You'll show up again and again. But if you try something that feels a bit icky or gross, you're not code to do it again. And then you'd be like, oh, I hate LinkedIn. And I'm like, well you just haven't find the right way to, to work it for you and maybe content mightn't be your bag and, and that's fine.
Jen Corcoran (33:28):
Maybe just commenting will be good for you. Commenting on your peers post you show up, they're gonna see your headshot and your headline. That's still giving you visibility and that's a nice thing to do. So that could be like your home feed strategy. It doesn't have to be original content. So it's just about figuring out, I love a good comment. I could comment on anything <laugh>. So it's like figuring out what works for you and your energy, you know, like it's so easy for me to comment but I I, it will take longer for me to do my own content, you know? So yeah, just don't be afraid to have fun either. Because a lot of people, 99.9% of people on LinkedIn are not having fun <laugh> because they've put on this mask and they're all like, it's the professional one, but it's like, well we can still be human beings.
Jen Corcoran (34:14):
And I think what I've learned over the years, like LinkedIn has changed and now it's the number one personal branding platform. So that's how I see it. Like it's not just a online jobs ward, it's so much more. And the great thing for impact is the control is in your hands. You can position yourself however you want in your profile. You have a hundred percent control over that. Likewise with your content, you have a hundred percent control on what you were saying, whether it's content or comments. And when you do outreach, you have a hundred percent control of what you say. So I think once you realize that the power is in your hands, it's more exciting. And I think it's, it's kind of when you don't optimize your profile, you lack in confidence on LinkedIn. So that would be my main tip for anywhere listening today.
Jen Corcoran (35:02):
Build your profile because then your profile will do the talking for you. And I know I felt more like of an imposter when I hadn't fully optimized my profile, when I didn't have a good headshot. And when I did that, instantly my mindset shifted. Especially I always say the headshot, professional headshot changed everything for me. And I could see like within a few days everyone was connecting with me that I reached out to and it was like, oh wow, you know, I look good now <laugh>. And it was like, oh, I'm excited. Whereas before that I probably had that bit of imposter syndrome cuz I knew my profile wasn't fully optimized and I knew it wasn't cell in the best way. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So then I had that energy on LinkedIn, oh, I'm not quite good enough. And it was literally from that. So that would be my tip to everyone is, you know, whether you're a job seeker or a female entrepreneur, you, you have to optimize your profile and that will, that will lead to the connection at the line.
Catherine Wood (36:01):
I feel the same way as you about the new head shots. I just got new head shots as well and I feel more me online than I ever have before and it just, it feels so great. It feels so authentic.
Jen Corcoran (36:14):
Yeah, I saw your shots and they look great. Exactly. Cause I know in your previous one you've got your hair straightened and it's shorter, it's more corporate, isn't it? So now I saw them, they're like long hair curly, they're lovely and they look really amazing brand wise. So yeah, you have to change your LinkedIn
Catherine Wood (36:33):
<laugh>. I did. I did. I in, yes, in service of this podcast I finally updated my picture and my banner.
Jen Corcoran (36:43):
Oh
Catherine Wood (36:43):
Wow. Following your advice <laugh>. So we're, we're wrapping up, but there's a couple, there's two more questions I wanna ask you. So the first one is, um, ever since I launched this podcast, you have been a champion for this topic and you've been fiery about it and I've seen some of your posts and comments and I've so appreciated it and I wanna know why this topic matters so much to you. Yeah,
Jen Corcoran (37:11):
I think, yeah, prosperity, like, I even like the way you've positioned it. I think asat, we are natural givers and I like to the point of burning ourselves out, whether it's back surgery or mental health. And I think we need this message out there that it's okay for Pats to charge their work and you know, just because things come natural to us or that we love supporting others doesn't mean that we don't deserve to be well paid. And it's a hard lesson I've had to learn over the years. So I really love this message because I don't really see it a lot in terms of impacts and yeah, why can't we be prosperous? So the way you're even positioning it as opposed to get rich have six figures, seven figures. It's like the whole, you know, team of like, what does prosperity mean? Um, and I think it's such an important message because I know there's so many impacts out there who are amazing at what they do and they're like failing in business and I've been there and they're not like, they're not truly selling themselves.
Jen Corcoran (38:16):
They're not charging their work, they're blurring their boundaries to accommodate others. And yeah, so I just think it's a message that needs to be out there for any business owner that's an empath. Because if we don't charge our worth, you know, you we're gonna burn out either mentally or physically and there's a risk that you, you're not gonna succeed in business. And like what a shame that would be if you can't bring your brilliance to the world because I think we all have a lot to give. So just learning that, you know, we can do what we do and be paid well <laugh> and it's a no brainer when you think about it logically. It's like of course like everybody else gets paid well, so why can't we? But it's just because we're the givers and the feelers and we like to give that bit extra and it's like, no, like we, we deserve to be paid fairly. So yeah, I think it's such an important message and it's not one I've heard that often, so that's why I was like, we need this. That's why I'm happy to share your message and tag in any, um, parts because any of my clients as well, I'd say most of my clients on Pats, I will share your podcast cuz I think this message needs to be out there in the world.
Catherine Wood (39:26):
I, I feel the same way. I believe that if more people who cared so deeply about others and the world had more disposable income, that they would be more conscious and mindful with the choices with which they invested those dollars, it would just spread. Good. So I, I really agree with you and to, to close, I'm excited to ask you this question, which I'll be asking all of our guests moving forward, but what, um, what advice, what wisdom would you leave our audience with on how, what supported you most in becoming a prosperous empath?
Jen Corcoran (40:08):
Ooh, coaching, like having a good coach like Ka because sometimes you are so
Catherine Wood (40:15):
I did not ask you to say that <laugh>. I
Jen Corcoran (40:17):
Know, but it's true though. It's true because I think, you know, sometimes we can get so stuck in our head and we've got all this brain spaghetti and especially as HSPs, like my mind is constantly wearing and anyone who's the HSP be listening and going, yeah, from the minute we wake up to the minute we go to sleep, it's like all these thoughts. And I think having that advice from a trusted coach advisor who can be, you know, impartial, step back and see the bigger picture because we're stuck in the frame. So I think coaching is so good consulting as well, like just talking to someone who can get a different overview and help you to take the next step because sometimes we will have a limiting belief or block and it, it's, it's not valid. It's like a lie tell nurse has where, and a coach will kind of go, oh well yeah, what about this?
Jen Corcoran (41:11):
And it's like, oh, so you, you really, you need people to help you to get the next step. So I would say yeah, a coach, um, and a consultant myself, a shout out as well, will get you to the next step because it's not failing if you ask for help. It's the smart move to have a coach, isn't it? It's like, it, it will give you time, it will give you money and it might seem like an investment at the time, but it, it, it'll pay for itself tenfold a hundred fold. So yeah, I think getting somebody who can help you, who is similar to you as well, you know, like there's no, you obviously we can learn from non empaths and non sensitive, but the way I look at it, I'm a learner for them for all my life. I kinda know the way they think and it's like, I think if you are someone listening and if you're an impact female entrepreneur who's struggled, you need to talk to someone like Ka because she will have that perspective as an, you know, stop kind of being surprised if you're going to people who are different to you and it's not fully and alive and that would be the reason.
Jen Corcoran (42:16):
So yeah, seek out experts, but um, who are similar to you, who are where you wanna be. You know, I if they, if there are a few steps down the, the road from you go to them, you know, don't, don't always be pulled in to other, you know, programs and people and if they've got a completely different human design or personality makeup to you or a different purpose to you or different values to you. So again, it kind of goes back to, I'm a bit of a research nerd, but it's just basically do your research and find the best person for you. Mm-hmm.
Catherine Wood (42:49):
<affirmative>, I mean, I couldn't agree more. The learning never ends. I've had a coach for as long as I've been a coach. I think I've worked with my most recent coach for the past five years and the learning never stops. We're continually uncovering more of our own limiting beliefs and our own mindset blocks. So I really appreciate that and uh, thank you so much for this. I really enjoyed having you on the podcast. I, I love how values aligned we are in our approach to business and how we, um, build and nurture relationships. And we'll be linking to all of your socials in the show notes. Uh, and for anyone listening today, definitely follow Jen on LinkedIn. She's really just a gem and it's a joy following her feed <laugh>. So thank you so much.
Jen Corcoran (43:41):
Thanks for having me. So, so to on and yeah, I'm far and your out there in the.
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