STP 11 | How Ann Taylor McNiece of Soul Grit Overcame Obstacles to Launch a Successful Podcast
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[00:00:00] Ann Taylor McNiece: But one of the quotes that he had in the book, it says, fundamental aspects of life such as art, sleep, sex, ritual, family roots, parenting, community health, and meaningful work are all in fact soul functions and they fail and fall apart to the degree that the soul diminish.
[00:00:31] Ann Taylor McNiece: And so when I read that quote, it spoke to me. I thought, that's what we're doing in therapy. We are helping people move away from a diminishing soul and into a full, abundant soul so that they can do all of those other aspects of their life. And to do that, they had to have grit for that. So grit is the part that makes us stick with it when it's hard.
[00:00:55] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. ,
[00:02:19] James Marland: Well, welcome back to the Scaling Therapy Practice. This is James
[00:02:26] James Marland: Marlin. Uh, today I have a very special guest, Ann Taylor McNeese. Uh, she is the host of the Soul Grit Podcast and she also has a therapy office called Soul Grit. And welcome
[00:02:39] Ann Taylor McNiece: to the show. Hi James. Thanks for having me.
[00:02:43] James Marland: So we're gonna, we're gonna do some introductions. So tell me, tell me a little bit about yourself and what's the, your show about and any details you wanna include for, for the audience to get to know you.
[00:02:55] Ann Taylor McNiece: Sure. I'm a California native. I'm kind of one of those people that's a little bit obsessed with, you know, the beach and in-N-out burgers and , , I'm, I'm that kind of person.
[00:03:07] Ann Taylor McNiece: Tacos, all of that. Um, and I have been running my practice called Soul Grit in the Southern California area, um, for about I five, six years. But, um, became a therapist in, uh, 2009. So I have been working in the mental health field for a while. Before that I went to Stanford University. I remember sitting outside the library and having this thought that we really need to talk more about how psychology integrates with theology.
[00:03:38] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. . And so back my 19 year old self. Fast forward a few years, I won't. Exactly how many, but . But now I'm actually doing a lot of that work of integrating faith with, uh, mental health. And so that's what I do on the Soul Grit Podcast. We talk about those issues, um, every week and I. I love it. I love podcasting and I love talking to people, um, in my practice.
[00:04:05] Ann Taylor McNiece: So it, it became just a really natural opportunity for me to take that beyond the therapy room walls, just to mm-hmm. , talk to people in a way that other people could overhear and enjoy those conversations as well.
[00:04:19] James Marland: Awesome. Thank you. So, I've never had an in and out burger. What am I missing?
[00:04:25] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. . You see the thing is, You won't know.
[00:04:30] Ann Taylor McNiece: You'll look at it and you'll say, that doesn't look like anything special. But when you've been born and bred on it, like you'll, like, what's something from Pennsylvania that I need to try?
[00:04:41] James Marland: Uh, I would have to think I've, I've been, I've been here 20 years, uh, shady. Maple Smorgasborg, I suppose would be something I would tell people to go to.
[00:04:50] James Marland: Ok. It's right next to, um, sight and Sound Theater. So Site and Sound does. , they did Noah and Moses and like, like, but it's a, it's like a big theatrical, theatrical production with like sound effects and robot lions and stuff. It's, it's pretty cool . Um, and so right next to there near, there is another tourist attractions, shady Maple Smorgasboard, where it's, it's like the best Pennsylvania Dutch cooking.
[00:05:20] James Marland: In quantities that should be illegal. .
[00:05:24] Ann Taylor McNiece: Okay. Well if I ever make it out there , I'll be sure to
[00:05:27] James Marland: try it. It's worth the trip. Uh, it, it's a good thing. So In and Out Burger, um, how far, I wonder how far east they come.
[00:05:36] Ann Taylor McNiece: You know, now that there's this mass exodus of Californians to like, Texas, Idaho, Tennessee, I did hear they're gonna put one in the Nashville area.
[00:05:46] Ann Taylor McNiece: So that's probably your closest, but the closest, that's still a drive, drive.
[00:05:50] James Marland: Well, when I drive past one, oh, I'll make it a, I'll make it a a point to stop. All right. Uh, so, uh, this week we're gonna talk about podcasting and why do you get into podcasting? And, uh, Anne has a show that's been running for how long
[00:06:06] Ann Taylor McNiece: now?
[00:06:07] Ann Taylor McNiece: Almost two years. Two years. So
[00:06:09] James Marland: you're, you're a
[00:06:09] Ann Taylor McNiece: veteran. . kind of, I made it past that four episode cutoff, right? .
[00:06:16] James Marland: And we're gonna just talk about her story and why, why it, it helps her and her business and help her scale. But it also sounds like it's more, there's a, a passion behind it that is driving her.
[00:06:27] James Marland: So we're gonna talk about that first, though. We're gonna get into our tool tip or tech of the week. Uh, Ann, do you have a, a tip of the.
[00:06:37] Ann Taylor McNiece: Yeah, as I, we were preparing for this, I said, I'm gonna have to go therapist on you and just remind people that they need to take care of foundational stuff first. I'd say this to all my clients when they come in.
[00:06:48] Ann Taylor McNiece: If you're not getting enough sleep, you're not gonna be able to fix your mental health. You're not gonna be able to achieve your physical, spiritual, intellectual goals if you are not sleeping. So my tip of the week is to put your phone away, turn the TV off. Just go to bed. Go to bed at the right time, wake up at the right time, and you will be achieving your goals.
[00:07:13] James Marland: Oh, oh, man. That is a great tip. Uh, I, I feel like you're talking to me, Anne.
[00:07:19] Ann Taylor McNiece: Uh, I feel like you. Yeah, that was a personal attack right there, James. , .
[00:07:25] James Marland: Uh, so great, great tip though. Great reminder. Uh, therapists and business owners often, you know, sacrifice for other people and do things for other people. and or, or work for the business.
[00:07:38] James Marland: And those, those reminders of taking care of yourself is, is key and timely. So thank you for that. The, my tip is not quite as deep. Uh, I have, I found this, uh, teleprompter software. So if you're reading like a marketing ad or a YouTube blog or a social media post, uh, sometimes it's difficult to like look away or look at your outline.
[00:08:01] James Marland: Uh, so a teleprompter. Helps you read things in a measured way, and the program is called Q prompter.com. It's very easy to use. It's free. I'll have a link for you in the show notes. I used it when I did some marketing things for a course I was releasing. Um, and it, it worked really, really well. So, and, and free, you know, free is free is good.
[00:08:28] James Marland: So that is my tip of the week. Uh, all right, so we're gonna get into our, the, the meat of the show, the main part of the show where we talked to Anne about her podcasting journey. So just to get us started, to get us warmed up, I love the name of your, your podcast. So could you give me an introduction, like, where did your name come from?
[00:08:51] James Marland: The sole soul. .
[00:08:52] Ann Taylor McNiece: Yeah. Um, and you can find this on my website too, sori counseling.com, but basically I was reading the Dallas Willard book, the Renovation of the Heart, which I think should be required reading for anybody that goes to seminary or goes. To school to become a therapist. But one of the quotes that he had in the book, it says, fundamental aspects of life such as art, sleep, sex, ritual, family roots, parenting, community health, and meaningful work are all in fact soul functions and they fail and fall apart to the degree that the soul diminish.
[00:09:33] Ann Taylor McNiece: And so when I read that quote, it spoke to me. I thought, that's what we're doing in therapy. We are helping people move away from a diminishing soul and into a full, abundant soul so that they can do all of those other aspects of their life. And to do that, they had to have grit for that. So grit is the part that makes us stick with it when it's hard.
[00:09:57] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. , that makes us be able to press through hard experiences. And in a counseling practice, that's what we're doing, right? We're taking the hard stuff of life and showing people that they have a path and helping them find it. And so that's, I just took those two words and mashed them up together and it seems to speak my meaning there.
[00:10:18] Ann Taylor McNiece: Yeah, it's,
[00:10:19] James Marland: it's, that's, uh, there's a real deep meaning there. Um, and it kind of like explains some of your passion behind it, where it came from. Do you, do you have to explain to people what soul grit means, or do they just normally, , understand it?
[00:10:36] Ann Taylor McNiece: I would say primarily because I work with a lot of people of faith, when you put the word soul in there mm-hmm.
[00:10:43] Ann Taylor McNiece: you get people who are interested in spiritual things. And so that it's, it highlights for them, oh, I should dig a little bit deeper on this person as my potential therapist. And, and people will come to me and say, I came because, uh, your name caught my eye. Or I liked mm-hmm. , uh, I knew that I could trust your spiritual or faith values.
[00:11:04] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. because, , you started with that name and then I just dug a little bit deeper. Um, I, I like using something like that that's not like overtly like a Bible verse or something like that. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . But it's something that still speaks to people on a spiritual
[00:11:19] James Marland: level. Yeah. It's an indicator for people who are looking for that type of support.
[00:11:26] James Marland: and it's important to their life, that this is the place to go for that. And then grit is just a great descriptive word, like, but how did you, how did you get started into podcasting?
[00:11:36] James Marland: Like, did you just wake up one day and you're like, you know what, I think I wanna do a podcast. Or was it something, something?
[00:11:42] Ann Taylor McNiece: Well, I don't actually remember how or why I started listening to podcasts, but I think it was probably around in 2016 or so when, uh, things were starting to heat up on the podcast scene.
[00:11:55] Ann Taylor McNiece: Um, people were starting to become aware of them and I had a couple of different podcasts that I just listened to really consistently. I loved the format. I love interviews. Mm-hmm. especially, and I love that you. . I'm a busy mom of three kids. I own a practice. I volunteer with my church, like I do a lot of things and so podcasts were a way for me to get ideas and things to think about into my brain without having to block out a time to like sit down on the couch and read a book.
[00:12:27] Ann Taylor McNiece: You know, , and so whenever I'm walking or cooking or cleaning or driving, I, I always have a podcast on, so I now label myself a podcast junkie. Like I have to have something playing in my ears. and about, I think it was about in 2018, I just messaged the host of a podcast that I was really enjoying and I wanted to offer some mental health resources because it was a topic she mentioned on the show sometimes.
[00:12:56] Ann Taylor McNiece: And I was like, well, I'm a therapist and I love the show, so I'll just offered to help out with some, you know, a document or something that might be helpful for her. And then she turned it around and said, I'm gonna interview you next month, . And I went, oh, okay. I'd never done a podcast before, so I was incredibly nervous and I thought, this is, this is something that's only for like big time people, you know?
[00:13:18] Ann Taylor McNiece: Yeah. Yeah. And then after I did that one interview with her, I. Just fell in love and said, I have to do this. Then it took me another, mm-hmm. three years after that to finally like, get all the nuts and bolts together to actually have my own podcast. And now that I do, like, I don't feel like I'm big time or anything.
[00:13:39] Ann Taylor McNiece: I just feel like I like having these conversations. They're life giving, they're energizing, uh, you know, some people listen to them and, and tell me that they find a benefit from it. So it, it. The work that I wanna do
[00:13:55] James Marland: it. It sounds like from when, from your idea to when you started, there's a story there, maybe some struggles, like what was the difficulty in getting started?
[00:14:06] James Marland: Because, um, , it sounds like you took to it, you know, oh, this is very, this is really meaningful. But then when you got started, it was a couple years later, what were some of those obstacles or barriers
[00:14:17] Ann Taylor McNiece: for you? Yeah, well, I think now, this is 2023, I think now, like everybody and their neighbor has a podcast,
[00:14:25] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. . So it now, the idea of being on a podcast is not as daunting. back then, I really did feel like that was for somebody that's more important than me, or that was for somebody that already has a platform or already has a following, you know? And I didn't see myself as that person. And at the same time, like I said, I'm running a practice, raising three kids, all those things.
[00:14:50] Ann Taylor McNiece: And it just seemed like, oh, there's gonna be too much of a learning curve for me. There's gonna be, uh, I can't set that si that time aside. Um, and then it just came down to really like 2020 pandemic. I had two ideas. I wanted to write an e-course and I wanted to start a podcast, and I just had to pray about it and say, God, which one?
[00:15:14] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. , which one should I do first? . And so I went with the e-course. That was my 2020 when, you know, remember when it was like two weeks to slow the curve, you know, ,
[00:15:23] James Marland: oh yeah, I , this will be done in a weekend, or, you know, oh yeah, I worked it. I, I remember. . I remember thinking tho those very, those very same
[00:15:33] Ann Taylor McNiece: thoughts.
[00:15:34] Ann Taylor McNiece: Yeah. Yeah. So that was my 2020 summer project was, uh, writing the e-course. And then after that was written, I then I felt like, okay, well I have this course, but nobody knows about it. Mm-hmm. , I have a lot of things I wanna be able to say and people I wanna be able to talk to. And so the way I'm gonna do that is by starting the podcast.
[00:15:54] Ann Taylor McNiece: So that came in the spring of 2021.
[00:15:58] James Marland: Great. So let's go, let's talk about some of those, the challenges with the, the negative thoughts. Like, isn't it, isn't it, um, ironic, we think things like I, we, we like caught ourselves right out of the discussion with like, I can't do it, it's for somebody else. Uh, I'm not that person. I don't see my, you said I don't see myself as that person.
[00:16:22] James Marland: And then besides the time, the, the technical issues and the time, but why do you think it's common? Like I had those thoughts. Mm-hmm. , well, like why, what is, what is common about that experience and how do you. , what would your advice be for breaking away from some of those
[00:16:39] Ann Taylor McNiece: negative thoughts? Mm-hmm. , I think we have mixed messages culturally about Yeah, you need to be humble.
[00:16:46] Ann Taylor McNiece: You need to mm-hmm. , um, not think too highly of yourself, but also you need to promote yourself and look like a badass and all that stuff, you know, , so there's a lot of mixed messaging in there, and so, and. I don't, I don't know if this is, um, more of a female thing or if men have this too, but, um, this idea of like, I have to measure how much of myself I'm gonna put out there in the world.
[00:17:12] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. and knowing that podcasting for me had to start as a hobby. There was no sponsors. There was no mm-hmm. seed money for it. Mm-hmm. , it was just something I had to learn to do because I enjoyed it and, and so. weighing that hobby business. Hobby business. Do you know that term? ? Yeah. Versus, um, but I could be spending that time with my kids or I could be, um, seeing more clients, so then I make an income on that or mm-hmm.
[00:17:43] Ann Taylor McNiece: those are, are the things that we have to weigh. And so when all of those pressures come in, It's easy just to say, well, somebody else will do it. There's other people talking about mental health. There's other people talking about Christian faith, like I don't need to worry about that as much. Yeah,
[00:18:01] James Marland: yeah.
[00:18:02] James Marland: Um, I often find like I have to, uh, write down the negative thought and then write down like either the reframe or the. , like, oh, nobody, you know, I'm gonna start out and there's gonna be no followers. Mm-hmm. . Well, guess what, James? That's how everybody starts when you're doing something new. Oh, I won't know how to edit my show.
[00:18:28] James Marland: Yeah, right. It's true. But you, you learn through practice the, like, it's, it's just the reframing and the, um, putting some truth into some of those. Crushing negative thoughts that keep us just tied to where we are now. Mm-hmm. exactly.
[00:18:49] Ann Taylor McNiece: So I, one reframe that really helped me was, uh, and I can't remember who said it at this point, but yeah, you may only have a hundred listeners on your podcast during that first year, and that's not like the, the big ones that have 10,000 downloads.
[00:19:05] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. per episode or things like that, you know? Mm-hmm. . Um, but, , if you were to set up a microphone once a week and a hundred people showed up to hear you speak mm-hmm. like that would mean something. Right, . Yeah. Like that's a, that's a lot of people giving you an hour or a half hour of their week. And so don't diminish that those people are showing up and that it eventually it grows.
[00:19:31] James Marland: Great. Good advice. Uh, and good reframe. So were there be, besides like some of those thoughts and like figuring out the time, what, what might be some other obstacles for your, your podcast to
[00:19:46] Ann Taylor McNiece: getting started? , well, I didn't use Instagram, so. Mm-hmm. , that was a big scary thing for me too, cuz I was Oh
[00:19:54] James Marland: really?
[00:19:54] James Marland: You had to learn it.
[00:19:56] Ann Taylor McNiece: Yeah, I'm, I'm trying to practice what I preach, you know, like stay off social media, like don't, don't get sucked in to all these different platforms and, you know, every other week there's a new platform that everybody's gonna be on, you know, and so I had really resisted Instagram.
[00:20:11] Ann Taylor McNiece: Stayed with the old people's platform, you know Facebook. Mm-hmm. And so , I stayed with that. And then when I decided to have this other business that wasn't just my therapy, I had to learn a new platform. Mm-hmm. Of how do you engage with people? How do you post there? How do you get some traction there? So that was another thing that was an obstacle for me, is just the marketing of that.
[00:20:35] Ann Taylor McNiece: Yeah. .
[00:20:36] James Marland: Yeah. So your solutions to some of these obstacles, um, you, you came up with some solutions. Is there anything you wish you knew back then that, that you know now?
[00:20:51] Ann Taylor McNiece: I wish that I had done a little bit more market research, um, to figure out, um, like who wants the e-course that I created mm-hmm. so that I would know I had somebody ready to purchase it when it was created.
[00:21:07] Ann Taylor McNiece: I also, I wish that I knew a little bit more about, um, how to be like engaged and engaging on social media, because I think that's one of the ways that we primarily market these days for this, this type of endeavor. So, My, my mom always says, well, why don't you push publish an ad in this therapist magazine, or, why don't you?
[00:21:31] Ann Taylor McNiece: And like, she's constantly coming up with ideas for how I can get my name out there. And I, yeah. I'm always thinking, I don't think people look at those, or I don't think . Yeah. You know, so it's very hard to figure out how to get your message out there or get people to recognize your, your name and your face when mm-hmm.
[00:21:49] Ann Taylor McNiece: you're starting from scratch.
[00:21:51] James Marland: Yeah. I think. Persistence is a pretty good , uh, grit, I guess. . Yeah. It's a pretty good character trait to have when you're starting this endeavor. Yeah. Uh, it, it, it takes time. Like people, some, I think some people maybe, I thought I just say, I thought you start a podcast, you release a course.
[00:22:12] James Marland: and you know, the world comes to your door, but that is not
[00:22:16] Ann Taylor McNiece: necessarily the, and I even hired people to do like Facebook ads for me and things like that. Mm-hmm. and just, just couldn't, even with professionals that I had hired were just didn't seem to like crack the code of Yeah. Like how do we get this in front of the right people, you know?
[00:22:31] Ann Taylor McNiece: Yeah. So that was challenging. .
[00:22:35] James Marland: Um, and, and so I've been focusing on, in my early, you know, I'm, I'm less than a year old, is content marketing, releasing blogs, releasing the podcast, talking to other people on podcasts, you know, getting, getting the word out, uh, in that way. And that has helped. But it, it also, uh, The, the, you gotta be persistent.
[00:22:58] James Marland: Like you, um, comparison is a big trap. I've talked about this in the show before, but I, you can't compare your, your beginning to somebody else's middle or, you know, they're three-fourths of the way through. It's, it's, you're on your journey and, um, that, that comparison trap can be deadly. Exactly. s So here, let's talk about maybe way, like, uh, how do you u so you have your story and your podcast and your course.
[00:23:27] James Marland: So how do you use your story or the things you've learned over the last couple years to to help other people scale it or just grow, maybe not scale. Mm-hmm. , um, but grow, there're either personally or profess. .
[00:23:42] Ann Taylor McNiece: Well, I think my whole job is based on that, right? Like I mm-hmm. , uh, even the tip that I shared at the beginning of the episode, like, I just want people to be healthy, you know?
[00:23:53] Ann Taylor McNiece: Yeah. I tell people like, , we're gonna go five pillars. Like you have to move your body, you have to sleep, you have to eat good food and drink water. You have to have social support. You have to have a spiritual connection. Mm-hmm. . So if you don't have those five things going, like there's no foundation for you to build on.
[00:24:10] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. . And so that's, I guess what I w would say, whether you're. Just a person trying to live your life, or you're a podcaster or an e-course creator, or you're trying to do some, some of this content manufacturing , or you are running a therapy practice, whatever it is, like you have to be able to take care of those foundational things.
[00:24:33] Ann Taylor McNiece: And when those are in place, then you have the ability to scale and grow on top of those things. But if you let one of those. Fall through because you're too stressed or you're too busy, or you're too annoyed, or you haven't worked out your past trauma issues or whatever the reason is, like, you're not gonna be able to scale.
[00:24:53] James Marland: That's a, that's a great, it's getting me, the wheels are turning. Like, that is a great tip. Like I, I a, a lot of times in this podcast we'll talk about a new product, you know, or a new service or hiring people. A, a new degree or a niche to go into, but you're , you're bringing us all the way down to the, the, the foundation of taking care of yourself.
[00:25:17] James Marland: Because if you're not taking care of these things mm-hmm. , you're, you're building on a shaky foundation that is just a phenomenal tip. ,
[00:25:25] Ann Taylor McNiece: right? Just back to basics. I'm sorry. It's not new and flashy, but . But if you go and you look at what are, what are we all talking about? What are we all writing books about?
[00:25:36] Ann Taylor McNiece: You know, it's these things like, how can you sleep better? How can you have a better marriage? How can you have a better sex life? How can you grow your business? How can you, you know, we're trying to do all of these things and really it comes down to. Not, not going crazy. Like I'm not gonna set a rigid schedule that I have to be in bed at 10 and wake up at six every night.
[00:25:57] Ann Taylor McNiece: Or, you know, I'm not going to say like, I have to exercise for this many minutes a day, every day. Mm-hmm. , I have to count all my calories. I have to like mark off how many bottles of water I drink. Like it's not. Having a rigid system like that, but it is about having like general sense of care for yourself and your, the most important people in your life first, and then out of the overflow of that, that's where we give our content to the rest of the world.
[00:26:31] James Marland: Great. It, it's kind of, this is like a, a comparison to, uh, a tip that stuck with me. Um. . Andy Stanley. Mm-hmm. . He has, he has a podcast. I forget. It's either his podcast or his, uh, a sermon or something. But, uh, he, he was, I think the, I think the episode was on, uh, dating. It was like, love, sex and dating. And he talked about people who, who were like, I can't find.
[00:27:01] James Marland: A partner or a date or something. And here I'll get to the, I'll get to the tip cuz I'm messing up the story completely. But it, it's ba the, basically the tip was be the type of person that will attract the type of person that you want. Exactly. Mm-hmm. , uh, that Oh, good. I said it right. . Yeah. But like, and that goes for, and I, and I apply that to business as well.
[00:27:23] James Marland: Exactly. What is the type of business owner I want to be? Mm-hmm. , I need to, you know, what do I want for my family in this? What do I want for a career? How do I wanna be a, a good neighbor in the community? How do I attract and create that for myself? People just don't give it to you. You have to be the type of person that would attract the right partners.
[00:27:44] James Marland: uh, um, attract the right employee. You know, be the company that will attract the people that you actually wanna hire. You have to be that first, and then it's attract. You don't, you don't get them and then become that. You become it first.
[00:27:59] Ann Taylor McNiece: Well, it's the same in a therapy practice where I think a lot of therapists, especially like my generation or earlier, they will, they were taught like this blank slate kind of therapist approach.
[00:28:11] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. where you have to not bring anything of yourself into the room because it's all about the client and you want the transference in the counter transference and all of that to happen. Really, I think the tides are shifting on that where it's more understood now that we are relational and what the greatest tool and asset that we bring into the therapy room is ourselves.
[00:28:33] Ann Taylor McNiece: Hmm. And so if you are. Wanting to do good work in your practice, whether that's as a therapist or as a content creator, like you have to do the self work. Like I wanna attract the kind of clients that I enjoy working with, and they're gonna be people that I can relate to, you know? And so some of us have this feeling.
[00:28:58] Ann Taylor McNiece: If I just get real narrow and I am like projecting this one kind of image into the world, then I'm gonna miss out on all of these other clients that could potentially come to see me, where we're actually proving the opposite to be true. When you do get a little bit more narrow in your niche and you project a little bit more of your true auth, authentic self in the room or on the microphone or on the screen or whatever it is, like you get the people.
[00:29:27] Ann Taylor McNiece: Who you're happy to work with? .
[00:29:31] James Marland: I, I a hundred percent agree. Agree. I also think that therapists are, or pe business people in general are scared to niche like that, to like identify themselves that way. Did you, did you, did somebody tell you this is what you should do and, and you went with it and discovered that it worked?
[00:29:51] James Marland: Or were you. , you know, did you try to be authentic? And then we was like, wow, this is working really well. , like, what was your process of discovering that being authentic to who you are is a key part of attracting the people you want. To see and help. Yeah,
[00:30:08] Ann Taylor McNiece: no, it really came from personal experience because I started dealing with depression when I was a senior in high school.
[00:30:15] Ann Taylor McNiece: The first year of marriage, I was only just barely turned 22 and I was in the deepest depression of my life. And I went to see a therapist who really was very personable. Like she wasn't afraid to tell me about her kids and, and to make jokes with me and to. Make me feel like I was a person in a room with a real person.
[00:30:35] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. , you know? Mm-hmm. . And that relational style just really defined my future career so that now I know what works for me is a relational kind of therapist. Mm-hmm. . And so I'm not afraid to bring that into my own. Uh, counseling room because I think the people that I work with deserve to know me as a real person.
[00:30:57] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. . And so that's how I work. And if they need somebody who has, you know, a white coat or, you know, elbow patches and a pipe and a clipboard or something like that, like the, the, I'm not gonna be the right therapist for them, and I'm okay with that. .
[00:31:12] James Marland: Great. And, and you've really leaned into that with your branding.
[00:31:15] James Marland: You know your name, I'm sure your marketing does not shy away from who you are. Right. As, as a therapist and as a person. And that has been very beneficial. You attract the people that you can help the most. Yep. And you wanna spend time with. Wonderful. It's so, so good. So, so, uh, a rich, uh, discussion here. So, Uh, starting to wrap up, what are, what's the one thing you want people to take away from this episode?
[00:31:47] James Marland: Do you want me to go first?
[00:31:48] Ann Taylor McNiece: What do you think? Why don't you go first? Well, you,
[00:31:51] James Marland: you can, let me think. Oh, now I gotta think. , I mean, here's the thing. I'm gonna go all the way back to the foundation thing. It's still sticking with me because it's a little, it's a little. different than what we normally talk about on the show, uh, is like creating a, a, a product or something, but you gotta take care of yourself.
[00:32:11] James Marland: Like it really, you can't scale and you can't grow your business if the, the most important person, the owner of the business is crumbling. Mm-hmm. either through stress or not eating right or not sleeping right, or those types of things. So my, my one thing that I want people to take away from this episode is just take care of your.
[00:32:30] James Marland: and uh, then you'll be able to. .
[00:32:34] Ann Taylor McNiece: All right. Well, I wasn't exactly sure where this interview was gonna go either, so I didn't prepare an answer to this question in advance, but based on where we've talked, like yeah, like taking care of yourself, but also being your authentic self. Mm-hmm. , and the, the stuff you put out there, I think shouldn't just be what's going to attract the most, um, listeners or viewers or clicks or whatever.
[00:33:00] Ann Taylor McNiece: Mm-hmm. it. Not about creating something that will appeal to other people. It's about bringing yourself and, and what feels authentic to yourself into it. And when I say that, even if I have to explain to you what soul grit means, like it, it's gonna stick with you. You're never gonna f forget the name of my business.
[00:33:19] Ann Taylor McNiece: Are you James? No. Because there's a, a story that's personal to me, and if you have value in this as the creator of the thing that you're creating, and so that's the one thing I want you to come away with. Wonderful.
[00:33:34] James Marland: Great. So, so good to talk to you. So as we wrap up, where can people find you? Where's your show?
[00:33:40] James Marland: What product? You said you had a course. Can you talk a little bit about in social media, it sounds like you're on Instagram, so tell, give us all the
[00:33:47] Ann Taylor McNiece: things. Yeah. . Well, if you're in California and you're looking for a therapist, my uh, therapy website is soul grit counseling.com. Um, but my everything else [email protected] and that's where you'll find the course, the blog, the um, podcast.
[00:34:04] Ann Taylor McNiece: Um, anything else that I decide to offer. Um, and my Instagram is also Soul Grit Resources, the podcast you can find at, um, Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. It's everywhere. And um, the course that I have that you can find on the website is specifically for therapists. And this is a course for people who are people of faith, Christian faith specifically, that maybe went to a secular university.
[00:34:35] Ann Taylor McNiece: Uh, maybe learned the practice of therapy in, in a more clinical setting, but would like to learn to integrate their personal faith into what they're doing in the counseling room. So I had the advantage of going to seminary to get my degree. So integration of. Faith in psychology has always been a part of what I do, but as I was interacting with other therapists in my community mm-hmm.
[00:34:59] Ann Taylor McNiece: I realized that there are people who have that like personal part, but they didn't know how to integrate it with their clients who wanted a faith-based approach. So I decided you're not gonna go back and get another master's degree for that. Let me just help you out with this five module course .
[00:35:17] James Marland: Oh, that's, that's wonderful.
[00:35:18] James Marland: I think it's a great, greatly needed course, a greatly needed topic. and also just something you know to, if that's your authentic self and you're struggling to know how to do it because you've been taught, you know, a certain way to do it, sounds like a great, uh, alternative to, to take care of that issue and get it, get it kind of straightened out.
[00:35:41] James Marland: Okay. So that is the show, uh, and thanks so much for joining.
[00:35:47] Ann Taylor McNiece: Thanks James. This was fun.
[00:35:48] James Marland: This is James Marlon with Anne Taylor McNeese. Thanks for joining the , scaling Therapy Practice. We will see you next time,
Thanks for listening to the show. As part of my dedication and commitment to you, I found the webpage where you can locate the closest in and out burger to your state. I also have a at a webpage for the shady maple Smorgasborg, so you can.
Check out what those are, if you're interested. These links are in the show notes. Uh, but I do have the resources for Soul Grit. Sh it's just Soul Grit resources that's in the show notes and Ann's course on integration. You can also find her on Facebook and on Instagram. I have the link for the Q prompter.
It's the free teleprompter resource that you can use for your. Uh, needs for your courses or podcasts or whatever you have to record. And I did find the, episode of Andy Stanley, where he talked about the secret of contentment. And that's where you, you're, you get, you get caught in the trap of comparing yourself to other people, which is a huge part of starting anything new, especially with podcasting or where you're putting yourself out.
Make sure you click the builder type assessment where you can find some awesome tools to help your practice grow. And finally, I'm kind of burying the lead here. One of the main reasons I was talking to other podcasters is Gordon Brewer is having a podcasting for mental health professional course, and I am helping him with that.
And that is going to be at the end of March. So there is a link for the podcasting. For mental health professionals and uh, right now it's $200 off, so please check that out. Thank you for tuning into the Scaling Therapy Practice. We hope that you found it informative and enjoyable. Please note that the information provided in this podcast is for general information purposes only and should not be taken as legal or therapy advice. If you need legal or therapeutic advice, we strongly encourage you to seek out the advice of a licensed professional.
No podcast, website or other media should be considered a substitute for professional advice. Thank you for listening, and I look forward to sharing more content with you in the future.
