Live Your Freedom TV, Ep. 07: My Interview with Danielle Watson of Purse Process + Pocket Muse
I had the privilege and honor to interview the amazing Danielle Watson, global provocateur, professional muse, choose your own adventurer, and the creator of The Purse Process® and The Pocket Muse.
Danielle has a very unique way of seeing the relationships between things and how they fit together to help someone create a personal brand or a tagline or to make themselves stand out.
Talk about an entrepreneur's SAVIOR!
I can't tell you how many times I've been STUCK on coming up with the right name or title for an upcoming program and now I know exactly who to call.
Learn more about the way Danielle uses her education in anthropology and archaeology to discover more about you and your brand and the ONE question that will help you gain the clarity you've been craving in which direction to go next...
Audio Recording
Full Transcript
AMBER: Welcome to Live Your Freedom TV. I am so, so, so excited to welcome today's guest, Danielle Watson. I am going to read this because I love your title. You are a global provocateur, professional muse, a choose-your-own adventurer, an anthropologist, and I would also say an amazing wordsmith. Welcome to the show, Danielle.
DANIELLE: Thank you Amber.
AMBER: I am so excited to talk to you today and talk about The Purse Process, The Pocket Muse, anthropology, branding, so many fun things today. I really want to dig into the Pocket Muse today but I want to know how all of these beautiful creations that you have made in your brand came to be. Can you give us a little bit of a background on you and how we got here today?
DANIELLE: Absolutely. So, I am a girlie girl from way back but when I was in college I decided I wanted to major in anthropology and archeology. If our listeners are not that familiar with what anthropology is, it is the study of human beings throughout space and time. We all know what archeology is right? It is big burley men out in the desert digging stuff up.
So, this was really incongruent, that I was this girlie girl but that I was so interested in archeology and anthropology but I just knew I needed to be there.
I knew there was something about understanding humans in that unique way that I needed to learn. I went ahead and I went through the process of becoming an anthropologist and archeologist. I got my shiny degree and then I quickly fell into a shame spiral of recognizing that I had spent 10s of thousands of dollars on something that I just thought was really fun and that I enjoyed but that I had no intention of actually using. Fast-forward about 10 years in my life. I had gone into that shame spiral, I had not used my degree. I had gone on and done other things, gone on into other businesses. I got to a point in my life where was I like, you know, I am not loving what I am doing anymore and I want to do something else.
In the process of that, I wasn't able to really figure it out on my own so I had hired somebody to help me. She was a copywriter. She was going to help me create my website for a business that actually never saw the light of day but it was so valuable to hire her to help me because in the course of our conversation, she asked me a question that changed the course of my life. That question was, who is your ideal client and how will you recognize them?
I don't know about you, Amber, but when somebody asks me a hard question or something I don't want to answer, I answer with sarcasm. I gave her this sarcastic answer and I said well, I could look through her purse which was true but I wasn’t saying it as some amazing insight into how I can be unique and different. And, she caught my answer and asked me more about that. So, in the process of talking about how I could look through someone's purse, we discovered that I had this amazing ability based on my background in anthropology and archeology to look through a collection of items or ideas and pull out how things were relevant to one another.
So, all the work I do whether it is The Purse Process, The Pocket Muse, coaching, helping people figure out their tagline, it is all based on these three principles of archeology and anthropology that we use to go through a collection of items that belong to someone who no longer exists and figure out what those things mean. We are able to pull out the relationships between things and that is really what I do. I have a very unique way of seeing the relationships between things and how they fit together to help someone create a personal brand or a tagline or to make themselves stand out.
AMBER: Wow. Oh my goodness I love this for so many reasons A) because I wish I had had you in my pocket, so brilliant that you came up with that name for it. It is so spot on. And B) also because you are a living example of what I teach around showing up in the world in your truth, using your gifts which are unique to you and creating a brand in business with that and doing it in a way that allows you to just fully show up as yourself.
DANIELLE: Yes.
AMBER: So powerful. I love it.
AMBER: Most of the people here that are watching this show are entrepreneurs, female entrepreneurs predominantly, and a lot of them are in that kind of like stuck phase. It happens to all of us, of course, but they are stuck and they are just trying to figure out how do they move forward, how do they utilize some of the principles of the work that you do using the archeology and the anthropology to implement into their lives, into their businesses? How do they start with that?
DANIELLE: One of the things I like to do, I sort of already gave a nod to it when I was telling you my story, is look for the things about yourself that you'd rather not have people know. I didn't really want people to know for many years that I had spent 10s of thousands of dollars and more than half a decade of time studying anthropology and archeology because I wasn't using it and it was embarrassing that I had just followed my own inner call and my own whim to such an extreme degree. I don't really know many people who will just do that because they want to, because they like to. So, look for those things about yourself that maybe you wouldn't want people to know about you. When you reintegrate those into yourself, when you take ownership of those things back, you become more whole. And, when you become more whole it becomes easier to move forward. It is like instead of dragging bunch of things behind you, you are now holding them all in your arms. So, there is not that same drag on your momentum. Does that make sense?
AMBER: Totally. It is like you are infusing love into the things that are truly you and I love that because one of the things that I really try to tell people is when they are doing their vision, their grand vision, of what it is they want in their lives, in their business and all of that, it should feel embarrassing to say that, especially to your loved ones, right? The ones that know you the best or to actually put it out on Facebook. If that feels completely terrifying and embarrassing to you, then you are on the money.
DANIELLE: Yes.
AMBER: I love that. Girl – I love what you are putting down here. This is some good stuff.
DANIELLE: The other tip I really like to give is when you are feeling stuck, ask people around you what they know for sure. But I would like to explain that because sometimes we go around asking people what they know for sure about us in an effort to see how others see us or to know who we are. When I am saying to ask other people to tell you what they know for sure about you, is for you to do an inner gut check. Not because they are going to inform you of who you are but because when they speak truth about who you already know you are, you are going to feel it, you are going to feel it in your gut. It is going to light you up. It is not about gathering information. It is more like gathering confirmation of what you already know.
AMBER: Right. I was just going to say it is like an affirmation. It is funny, when I was going through that exercise at the beginning before I left my corporate career and I reached out and asked some friends for some descriptive words if you will, to sort of help me. The words that came up over and over again were the things I was never willing to admit to be true about myself and they were really beautiful things that I was like, oh‼
DANIELLE: Yes. You didn't want to admit it yet it was squirting out of you so much all the time that everybody already knew it any way.
AMBER: Yes, yes. So, that emboldened me. And that emboldens all of us to then move forward on those big dreams and actually start making them come true. Goodness, I love that. So, tell me a little bit about your process and kind of what is setting your heart on fire these days? What are you super excited about?
DANIELLE: The thing I am most excited about is this crazy purse idea landed me at Ted Talk. So, I am giving a Ted Talk this fall. I am super excited about it. You know, in my personal life the thing that is really exciting me, it is kind of silly, but wild blackberries are growing everywhere right now so in my spare time… they are so good! Just last week I decided to take a little impromptu road trip to go see a friend. I live in Northern Virginia which is near DC and she was going to be down in North Carolina. I just got this feeling that I wanted to go and see her. When we were down there we visited the Biltmore Estate which is an amazing brand in itself. As part of that we got to go on this wine tasting outing. It was interesting because I am interested in wine and I was looking through the list of wines. I don't know, Amber, if you are old enough to remember when White Zinfandel was sort of a thing. It was what ladies drank and it was sort of 80s and it had a certain image because of the time and place in which it became popular. I like to look for branding everywhere and re-branding and those sorts of things. In the process of doing this wine tasting it was fascinating. They had re-branded White Zinfandel as Zinfandel Blanc de Noir which made it sound more like champagne and upscaled it. It gave it a new image. I am just really excited to see how people are reframing things all over the place, whether it is a wine or a woman.
AMBER: Oh, I love that. So, a couple of things just came to mind. Things I have to ask. Are you on Periscope? Do you do Periscope?
DANIELLE: I am so resisting Periscope. It is popping up everywhere and I am just like not one more thing, not one more thing! I know I need to do it.
AMBER: What are your thoughts on the psychology behind it and what it means to the whole world of what we do?
DANIELLE: You know, I think it is a really great tool and I think that I am just not ready to do it. But yes, it is a great tool. It is a great way to let people in on your world and where you are at and what you are doing. It is quick. It is not complicated which is lovely. It is just a matter of integrating. Letting people into your world that way, because it is a wonderful tool for letting people know who you really are and what you are about without all the polish.
AMBER: Right and I think that it also sort of revolutionizes in a lot of ways like the webinar and the trainings and the way that people can get information and content. It is a beautiful thing but I agree with you that it is like, okay, how are we going to make that work in such a way? It's like do I really need to wear make-up every day?
DANIELLE: Yes. And for our viewers, you really have to, as you move through your business, decide what are you going to do and what are you going to pass on? Because there is always going to be one more thing that somebody is doing or some expert saying you are supposed to do you or you should do or you are missing out and the truth is, is that whatever is meant for you, is meant for you and is reserved for you. So, you can't miss out on it. And, if you miss this boat there is another boat. It will come. So, don’t let the need to do it all keep you from moving forward and doing something. When we get stuck, a lot of times that's what happens. We are spinning in a circle going there are 15 things I need to do and we are not doing any of them, rather than just say well, you know what? This is the only one I can handle right now because I have something going on in my family life or whatever it is. Just doing something is better than doing nothing because it is overwhelming.
AMBER: Agreed 100%. You choose the two or three platforms you can handle and if this is the platform, then do that. But start. I think that is the message so thank you for solidifying that. That's beautiful. What are some of your favorite brands?
DANIELLE: Oh my gosh! I am a huge Kate Spade fan. I love Kate Spade stuff. I love her phone covers. I love her handbags. I love the colors that she uses even if they aren't a match to me always, I just like looking at them. I like being around them. I really like the Nordstrom brand even though they carry a lot of the same things as other stores, the way that the layout is in their stores, you just feel so much more relaxed. I don’t know about you but I used to really like to shop when I was younger and as I have gotten older I don't really enjoy shopping so much. You go into a mall and if you are an empath at all, it is so overwhelming, all the energy in there. Not only is it designed to overwhelm you so that you just start buying things, sort of like you just eat too much, it is the same idea but all the energy in there. You go into a Nordstrom store and they have the piano playing and it is very spacious and it's no pressure. I love that. Another brand that I really enjoy following is actually T.J. Maxx because they have this cool idea of the Maxxinista. They are not trying to say we are going to give you the cheapest thing. They are saying maximize and I think that is really cool. I grew up shopping at store like that and for me that is not where I want to have to shop but boy do I like to go on a treasure hunt there when I have some free time because you just never know what you are going to find.
AMBER: Yes, totally. We did a whole re-staging of our house with HomeGoods and it was awesome. That is really where I get a lot of my stuff. They have some really beautiful things. Maxxinista is really brilliant branding. I love that.
DANIELLE: Yes.
AMBER: It is so funny when I was looking through your site and watching a bunch of your interviews about The Purse Process. I just got a new Kate Spade handbag at my one year for my business and I was so excited about it, I was like oh man, what is Danielle going to say about this? So, I have this brand new pristine bag that I resisted even using. Now I have it and there is nothing in it because I usually use my daughter's backpack for all of our stuff when we go and so I have like three things in this bag. I just thought I think Danielle would completely rip me apart on this one and I am not sure.
DANIELLE: Well, I am not in the habit of ripping anybody apart. I am definitely in the habit of helping people bring awareness.
AMBER: It's the mirror, right?
DANIELLE: Yes. It is absolutely the mirror but when I hear you talking about that, what I see is that you are the kind of woman who when you want to grow into something, you sort of set a marker for it and I think that bag is somebody that you are becoming. You are just not ready to fill it out yet and that's fine.
AMBER: Yes. I don't want to stuff it up. I have a 2-year-old so that's the other thing, I don't want to damage this thing because it's cool.
DANIELLE: Yes. You are like someday I am going to be a woman who has a child that is old enough that I don't have to worry about that but I love this bag so much I am going to take it now. I won't use it a lot but I am going to enjoy it eventually.
AMBER: Right. Exactly, thank you for that. I appreciate it.
DANIELLE: You're welcome.
AMBER: So, I guess we covered the blackberries, we covered what's happening for you, what your favorite brands are. I love that. What is your favorite song of the moment, Danielle?
DANIELLE: Oh my gosh. So, I have been listening to sort of the throwback songs, but the Jamiroquai song Canned Heat.
AMBER: oh, I love that!
DANIELLE: There is a line in there that says "I was born to run and built to last, you will never see my feet because I move so fast." And that is a perfect tagline for me because I am always innovating. I did this Purse Process thing, the capstone of that experience is my TED Talk and mentally I have already moved onto other things. It is just a matter of helping people keep up with me as my brand evolves. My Purse Process is a proof of concept. It is a proof of this is how I help people but there are more things coming. I am not going to be The Purse Process lady forever. I would die of boredom and that is the great thing about a brand that is really based on who you are, is that is grows with you.
AMBER: Yes. Thank you for that too because I think a lot folks feel insecure and feel like they need to just do this one thing.
DANIELLE: Right.
AMBER: …evolve but if you build a really solid personal brand you can carry on and go and do things as you evolve in your business and in your life and then continue to innovate and innovate and innovate and give, give, give, give, give. Beautiful example of that. Thank you so much.
DANIELLE: You're welcome.
AMBER: This has been so great. Can you tell our viewers more about you? Where they can find you. I highly recommend you guys working with Danielle with The Pocket Muse specifically. Those of you that are so, so stuck on the tagline, the business name, whatever it is, I have a feeling that in less than a few minutes you are going to really zero in on that for people. Tell us about how we can work with you.
DANIELLE: Absolutely! With The Pocket Muse, it is great because I can give you in usually less than an hour what some programs take six months for you to map out. I just look at what have you created, what are your questions, what is it you want to provide and I understand how to communicate back to other human beings so you can just get going. My main website is PurseProcess.com and if you go on there, there is a way to contact me. There is also a tab for The Pocket Muse if that is the thing you want to do, you can book it right there. It is super fast. It is amazing how quickly you can get what you need and just keep going. There is really no reason to be spinning around in a circle, going I don't understand how these things work together. Get someone to help you.
AMBER: Yes. Reach for help and get assistance and move forward. Because when you have that idea, when you have that brand, you know sort of situated with that name, the whole world opens up. You can just fly and so much more happens.
DANIELLE: It is amazing how when you have the right name, the energy with which you bring what it is you bring changes too. Because you have that confidence of I know what I am doing. When you talk to somebody and you are like well I sort of do this or I call it this but I hate it so don't really listen to the name but then when you go oh yeah, I do this and I call it this. You just interviewed Michelle and I came up with the name for her program, The Prosperity Prescription, and you put that out there and people automatically know what it that she offers. You don't have to explain it to them.
AMBER: That's right. That's a beautiful testimony. I am glad you mentioned that. Michelle Lowbridge, that we just interviewed, and The Prosperity Prescription is spot on. Her brand name is spot on and I sense that a lot of that is really built around having the name of that ?couldn't hear due to Danielle talking? because it really then emboldens you outward. You can connect without having to explain in a lot of words too. That's one of the reasons that copywriting at times is so long because you feel like you have to explain it but if you just get that name, right?
DANIELLE: Right.
AMBER: I love it. So, PurseProcess.com.
DANIELLE: PurseProcess.com and also on Facebook at The Purse Process. I really like to connect with people individually so if you search for Danielle Watson and find me, I will be your friend. I love to see your pets, I love to get to know which area of the world you live in. It is a lot of fun. I am also on Twitter at Purse Process but the main way to reach me is really through my website, PurseProcess.com
AMBER: And you have a great booking tool over there too.
DANIELLE: Yes.
AMBER: So that's how people can reach out to you. So, wonderful, wonderful. Thank you so much for your time today and your wisdom and your brilliance, Danielle. Just beautiful. Thank you
DANIELLE: You're welcome.
AMBER: We will talk to you soon! PurseProcess.com. Danielle Watson, thank you. Bye!
DANIELLE: Bye!.