🛁 Self-care for staying on social media — with Taylor Elyse Morrison of Inner Workout

[00:00:03] Off the Grid is a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing all their clients. I'm Amelia Hruby, a writer, speaker and founder of Softer Sounds podcast studio. On this show I share stories strategies and experiments for growing your business with radical generosity and energetic sovereignty.

Download your free leaving social media toolkit at softersounds.studio/byeig and join us as we do it all off the grid.

[00:00:32] Music.

Amelia [00:00:02] [Music overlapping with introduction to the episode] Welcome to Off the Grid, a podcast for small business owners who want to leave social media without losing all their clients.

Amelia [00:00:08] I'm Amelia Hruby, writer, speaker, and founder of Softer Sounds podcast studio. On this show, I share stories, strategies, and experiments for growing your business with radical generosity and energetic sovereignty.

Amelia [00:00:22] Download your free Leaving Social Media Toolkit at softersounds.studio/byeig and join us as we do it all off the grid [intro music fades out].

Amelia [00:00:36] Hello and welcome to Off the Grid, a podcast about leaving social media without losing all your clients. I'm your host, Amelia Hruby. I am a writer, speaker, and the founder of Softer Sounds podcast studio. I have been your guide and your, I like to say, intrepid traveler alongside you exploring how our businesses can thrive off of social media.

Amelia [00:01:01] And so far this season, we've discovered so many ways that they can do that. We've talked about creative marketing plans and projects.

Amelia [00:01:10] We've talked about how to— we talked about energetic sovereignty. We've talked about the process of leaving social media platforms.

Amelia [00:01:18] And today, we're going to talk to someone who really shares, I think, a somewhat different perspective than me because she is on social media as is her business [chuckles]. And I must say, this is a much-requested conversation.

Amelia [00:01:33] So many people say to me, "Amelia, you left social media, but I am not there yet, and can you please talk to somebody who, like, is also still on it and still figuring this out and trying to be on social media in a really intentional and aligned way or in a way that brings energetic sovereignty and radical generosity to the platform and to their business?"

Amelia [00:01:56] So, today I am super excited to have my friend Taylor Elyse Morrison on the podcast. I'm so thrilled and I'm going to read a little bit about Taylor for you, wonderful listener who may not know her as well as I do.

Amelia [00:02:09] So, Taylor Elyse Morrison is a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Inner Workout, a self-care company that builds practices, partnerships, and products that help you reclaim your role as the true expert on your well-being. She regularly facilitates for Fortune 500 organizations, including Google. And you may have seen her talking about self-care in publications such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Bon Appétit. Taylor is also the host of Inner Warmup podcast, which I'm a huge fan of, and she's currently writing her first book based on Inner Workout's popular “Take Care Assessment”.

Amelia [00:02:47] So, Taylor has done so many wonderful things. You might also have heard a little bit from her company in the ad breaks for this season with the Instead Deck. So, even if you don't know her, you already know her [chuckles]. And Taylor, I'm so excited to have you with us today. Thanks for being here.

Taylor [00:03:02] Thank you so much for having me. It's funny that this is also being recorded for video because normally I can, like, look away as someone is reading my bio, but I had to be present and look like, "Yeah, those things are true about me." Which they are, but this is not a podcast about imposter syndrome so I will— [Amelia laughs heartily] I will stop myself there.

Amelia [00:03:22] I mean, you know, sometimes every podcast is about imposter syndrome as we step into our voices and really own and empower our accomplishments. So, I hear you. Hell yeah.

Amelia [00:03:34] This podcast, if not about imposter syndrome, is about social media [chuckles] and the relationship we have with social media platforms as individuals and as business owners. And anyone who's listened to the season so far has heard me talk about my social media journey.

Amelia [00:03:52] And I'm wondering today if you can just take us right— like dive deep in and tell us about your social media journey, like what platforms that you joined first, which ones are you on now, and how has your relationship to social media changed over time?

Taylor [00:04:07] Yeah. It was fun to think about this and really dive back in the vault in my brain.

Taylor [00:04:12] So, my first social media platform, like a true social media platform, had to be Myspace, and I was definitely, like, aware of the top eight. I never got super, super into coding, and like— some people had like— the cursors were doing different things and there was like different graphics and things raining down from the sky of their profile. Mine was never that cool, but I definitely was mindful of it looking nice. I remember getting a point-and-shoot camera so that I could take pictures that would show up on my Myspace and I would say high school is when I was allowed to get Facebook.

Taylor [00:04:50] I remember when it first launched and it was like the college students who were mentoring me were just getting Facebook and I was like, "Why can't I have it yet?" And then there was a while where I wasn't fully allowed to have it yet, and then once I could have Facebook, then it was like, "You're going to an event, you're posting like a whole album of photos from the event," which some of it is fun to look back on. My mom always tells me— she's like, "I miss the times when you used to take photos," because I had, like, my point-and-shoot camera and then I got into college and got a DSLR and really do enjoy taking photos, but I just kind of— now I have a phone and I just do a lot of that through my phone.

Taylor [00:05:27] So yeah, my early days of social media, I think of this idea of being perceived and, obviously when you're in middle school and high school and college people are perceiving you, your— your body is changing. You're going into different environments. There's different people around you. But something about social media made that process more apparent, I guess. And also, it made it, like, through the pictures or the statuses that I did, I could in some ways control or shape how people perceived me, which I'm an Enneagram three— that's such a three thing to say [Amelia chuckles].

Taylor [00:06:08] But yeah, it's— it's something that I was mindful of. Then once I got into college, I got an iPhone, I think maybe my sophomore or junior year, and that's when I got Instagram. And it was very much like the using the Instagram filters that were standard. And then I launched my first company in my second semester senior year of college, and that's when I was, like, thinking about how do I use Facebook and Instagram for my business and kind of trying out social media?

Taylor [00:06:38] And I guess even before that now I'm saying this, I also had a lifestyle blog that started in college, so I was doing a little bit of that on Instagram, would sometimes get like different partnerships on my blog that then would also necessitate an Instagram post.

Taylor [00:06:53] So, almost— not immediately, but pretty early on, my use of Instagram specifically wasn't just about sharing photos with people, it was also building a personal brand in relation to my blog and then later in relation to my business. That's a really winding story [laughs and Amelia joins in].

Taylor [00:07:15] But yeah, it leads me to where I am now, which is I own a self-care business called Inner Workout that Amelia said lovely things about. And then, I also have my personal brand where, like, I'm an author and I will want to sell books and I now am, like, doing more coaching and facilitation and things where I want people to know what I'm able to do and what my gifts are.

Taylor [00:07:41] So, I mostly show up on Instagram right now and I'm doing a little bit more LinkedIn, even though I'm on a pause right now, those are, like, where my personal brand lives. I occasionally pop onto Facebook because there are some valuable Facebook groups that I'm a part of. And then, I have, like, a couple of Reddit groups that I'm into that are really just purely for nerding out about TV shows—

Amelia [00:08:04] [Chuckles] Yesss.

Taylor [00:08:04] That I like to get involved in. And then I go on Twitter to see like, what's funny on the Internet. I guess now I'm saying all this, I'm like, "Uh, I go on a lot of social media," but they all kind of have their purpose and their role in my life and I'm— try to be really mindful about how much time I'm spending on each of them. Operative word being try.

Amelia [00:08:23] [Laughs] Yeah, I can relate to that so much. I feel like different social media platforms do have really different not only uses but just— well they obviously have different functionality. Some of them are text-based or photo-based or video-based, but they just have such different feelings to me. I guess you could call it the vibe— the vibe of each one is [laughs lightly] its own.

Amelia [00:08:44] And I do— I go to— I also like— Twitter is for jokes or Instagram is for, like, viewing people's lives or at this point in my life, buying things because Instagram spends a lot of time selling me stuff.

Amelia [00:08:57] I'm wondering as you reflect on these different social platforms like how— I focus on Instagram a lot on this podcast, so maybe I like to start there. Like, what does your Instagram experience feel like? And can you remember a time recently where you were like, "Oh, that felt really good," or, "That felt really bad," on Instagram?

Taylor [00:09:18] Yeah, I have a such a fraught relationship with Instagram, so part of that is why I launched that Instead Deck for scrolling less, and I had a period of time last year being 2021 where I was really firm in boundaries that I'd set around Instagram and I took a week off every month for several months, which normally around my luteal phase because that's when I found that I would get the most like, yeah, it was— Instagram was just doing a lot of poking in places that were already tender.

Taylor [00:09:51] I would delete the app and download it only about twice a day. I'd take every weekend off. Now I don't have those exact boundaries. I still delete the Instagram app, normally one— sometime at night and I don't normally download it for the day until the afternoon, but that depends. Part of me getting back into those boundaries is because I kind of— it's this push and pull.

Taylor [00:10:19] So, part of what I realized is that I was legitimately addicted to Instagram and would just check it all the time because it was there, and I wondered what interesting thing it would serve up to me.

Taylor [00:10:29] So, when I took that time to step back, I could see when I was starting to reach for Instagram, which was often when I was bored or when the task in front of me was difficult, or sometimes something really cool was happening and I wanted to show it to other people rather than experience it fully for myself. So, I'm aware of those patterns now.

Taylor [00:10:49] There was this other side of this conversation where I realized that me stepping back from Instagram wasn't just about being, like, quote unquote good for my mental health. It was also me, kind of, shying away from sharing my thoughts and my opinions and stepping into some of my gifts and the value that I think I can bring to the world.

Taylor [00:11:10] And so, I'm still walking this line of what does it mean to show up on Instagram in a way that feels good, which for me is often just— sometimes it's just sharing a story where, like, this candle actually, side note, a candle that Amelia bought me for my birthday is, like, really cute and I just love the vibe of my living room right now. So, I'm going to share that in a story. And that felt really good.

Taylor [00:11:34] Sometimes it's sharing an article or something that feels meaningful. The last time that it maybe didn't feel really good. Yeah. Sometimes when I post things and I, like, am waiting to engage because that's theoretically what you're supposed to do. But then I end up just checking it all the time and it just gives me all this nervous energy. That's one of the things I like about having someone run Inner Workout social media, and I don't know most of the time when something is getting posted. So, I'm just like, "Oh, that thing's there." I'll personally engage with it, and then I can move on and check later rather than when it's me posting. I'm like, "Did someone click this? Did someone comment on this?" And I just— I don't like getting caught up in that. But I still do.

Amelia [00:12:15] Yeah, definitely. I feel— so many things you just said I wanted to touch on or just elevate again because I thought they were really poignant and wonderful.

Amelia [00:12:26] One was these sorts of boundaries that you were creating that involve a lot of deleting the app, re-downloading the app, when you'll do that, you know how much time you want to be on there, and the sorts of things that you'll share or do while you're on the app. And I am sure that people listening can relate to this, to how one of the things that happens when your relationship to Instagram shifts or you start to feel like you're addicted to social media, you're spending so much time on it, is we start to put these boundaries in place to change our behavior and I've done it too.

Amelia [00:12:59] In the episode where I talk about my Instagram journey, I think it's Episode Two of the podcast, I talk about how actually me leaving started by me writing this really long post about my Instagram rules for 2021. I was putting, like, so many rules in place for myself.

Amelia [00:13:16] That was how I had this aha moment of like, "Oh, actually, I gotta get out of here [laughs]." Like, this is— if it requires all of this, like, I can't do that. That said, I also think it's really beautiful— I want to ask if you want to speak to this more about what you said about leaving Instagram as a way of hiding from visibility as to how I was thinking about it or like being afraid. I think many people never get on Instagram or they get off of Instagram because of that fear of visibility. And there are really great reasons [laughs] that society instills in us or that trolls instill in us on these platforms that would make people feel that way. But I know that your journey with visibility has been like really— and sharing your voice has been beautiful and personal and ongoing. And I'm sure it would inspire a lot of people to hear a little more about would you be open to speaking to it?

Taylor [00:14:05] There was some type of bird or alarm [Amelia laughs] going off outside. So, in terms of, like, the boundaries that I set, I do really well when I just cannot have something on my phone, and I can't do it.

Amelia [00:14:19] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:14:19] And now I'm at the point where, like, Instagram is on my phone. I downloaded it probably 3 hours ago to post something, like, I'm not constantly checking it, but sometimes it's just nice to not have it there, almost like energetically— that space is clear energetically. It's not filled with something else.

Amelia [00:14:38] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:14:38] So yeah, the deleting works really well for me, but it's also like then I can get on in a browser, then I can get on other things. Like if you really want to find a way to do it, you can.

Taylor [00:14:47] And Instagram is so nefarious— Meta is so nefarious just in the way that like sometimes I'm doing research about a potential partner for something, and I don't want to be logged in in the browser, but if I'm not logged in in the browser, then I can't actually look at their Instagram for more than like one post. Like they just really want you in there to have your data.

Taylor [00:15:05] In terms of the visibility piece, I'm still figuring it out. Like, I am realizing that I'm here to communicate and to bring people back to themselves, especially women who have achieved a lot of markers of success and are not necessarily feeling like it's fulfilling for them. And a lot of those women hang out on Instagram.

Taylor [00:15:30] So, it doesn't mean that I'm going to be on Instagram forever, but right now I'm connecting with people who I don't want to see that they need me, but they are resonating with what I have to share and I'm meeting them where they're at.

Taylor [00:15:43] So, I'm trying to figure out how can I be true to myself and what it looks like to care for myself with regards to Instagram specifically and also meet these people. That's a little bit of what I experienced when I felt like I was being so restrictive is that I like building relationships with people.

Taylor [00:16:04] This year I'm doing so much more coaching. I love having those coaching conversations. I love facilitating conversations, and people aren't going to want to have those conversations unless they know me.

Amelia [00:16:15] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:16:15] And right now, where people know me is on Instagram. So, that's kind of the thought process of what's going on in my head. And I'm— so I don't post a million posts. I mostly hang out in stories but there is these relationships that I think are still worth fostering on this platform for now at least. But there's also ways that I'm actively building community off of Instagram, so I'm not at the mercy of this corporation.

Amelia [00:16:44] [Laughs heartily] Yeah, and I think that that's definitely like a takeaway or whatnot, that this podcast is always trying to communicate or drive home or whatnot, which is that I am certainly not here to tell anyone that being on Instagram is bad. I'm not really interested in saying things are good or bad at all, but I don't think it serves anyone's business, no matter who you are, if the only place you're marketing is Instagram.

Amelia [00:17:07] I think that all businesses should be marketing in multiple channels. And so often Instagram can take up so much of our energy, even more like our time and our energy, but especially our energy. And I just— so many of my friends and colleagues ends up being the only place they're marketing.

Amelia [00:17:25] And then when Meta makes a change that none of us have any input over [chuckles], it can really impact your business. And that's so hard. And that's definitely been one of the things that has felt bad on Instagram for me in the past is just that fluctuation with what they're valuing or boosting or showing to people and creating content that feels really valuable and important to me but because it's a post and not a reel or something, you know, it not getting any visibility or whatnot. And that's obviously not a strict rule and it works differently every time and for every creator, which is also why it's so hard to continue to put yourself out there in that way.

Amelia [00:18:01] But I really loved what you shared about Instagram still being a place where you go to build relationships. That's definitely true to my experience as well of like— I met so many of my best friends [laughs] on Instagram and even ones I didn't meet on Instagram, I would even say like our friendship was furthered just by being in each other's worlds through Instagram and Instagram brought us some like really great opportunities, like International Women's Day last year we got to like do a wonderful live on the Ban.do Instagram and, like, that was such a gift and a joy.

Amelia [00:18:34] And even as I'm here to talk about leaving Instagram, I never want— I always say I don't want to discount any of that joy like it's still there and I think you can still find so much of it on the platform.

Amelia [00:18:47] Now that I've said all of that [laughs], I want to ask you about Instagram for Inner Workout. So, you've alluded to the fact that someone else posts for Inner Workout, and so you get to relate to it differently, but can you tell us what's the difference between at @taylorelysemorrison and at @innerworkout like behind the scenes? Like how do those happen differently? And yeah, let's just start there. Like, what's the difference for you on your end of posting between your personal presence and your business presence?

Taylor [00:19:12] This is the million-dollar question that I'm still figuring out. Because I'm like, "Should I just stop having Inner Workout and only talk as me." Like, these are all of these questions that I— I've been thinking about, but really, I guess behind the scenes— so I have a wonderful teammate, Paris, who has really grown into— for a while she was doing more just community management, doing DMs, and responding to comments. And then she took over stories and then over time and really through a course that we took that helped us figure out how to— how we approach Instagram and social media content in general and what we wanted to say. I was able to delegate because with Inner Workout I felt, like, this really strong point of view and philosophy and practices around self-care, and I wasn't sure how to give that over to someone else, but I also realized that it wasn't sustainable for me as I am doing more facilitation, as I was in the process of writing my book, as I'm coaching more to dedicate so much time to running Inner Workout's Instagram that I couldn't serve the people that I was connecting with or that the company was connecting with through Instagram.

Taylor [00:20:21] In terms of, like, content strategy, we have our podcast that comes out every week. Amelia mentioned it in her warm-up. It's like an audio journaling prompt, really short and sweet, and every week I send out a self-care Sunday newsletter to our thousands of subscribers. Our newsletter is actually, like, our biggest driver of traffic week-to-week to our website, and it has an above-average open rate. So, through— and it's funny, sometimes people may not have seen a post on Instagram, but they're linked in the bottom of the newsletter. So, you'll see on Sundays people will come through and be like, "Oh, I missed that one," and they'll come to our Instagram and like it.

Taylor [00:21:00] And then we also have, like, a little stories crew, depending on how many people the algorithm decides to show our stories to but there are some, like tried and true, who are like always voting on stuff and messaging and being like, "Yes, I feel that."

Taylor [00:21:13] So, that's what it looks like in the way that we think about it is sometimes I get on there and kind of teach or share a perspective, and then the other stuff is really content that supports our perspective and our worldview.

Taylor [00:21:28] When you get to the at @taylorelysemorrison Instagram, that's more like— I just before this posted a story that I just did a podcast interview where I was interviewing someone and then I hopped on this where Amelia's interviewing me and I just took a picture of me and my mic and was like, "Hey, this is where we're at."

Taylor [00:21:45] So, it's kind of behind the scenes, sometimes it's business-y stuff. I share, like, some more personal things here and there, but I find that a lot of people are just curious— what does it look like to run a business in a way that supports your well-being rather than detracts from it? And sometimes I then tell Paris to do this, she'll be like, "Oh, that would have been really good on Inner Workout."

Taylor [00:22:07] Because I just assume that the Inner Workout people don't want to, like, see me as much. But that's not true. They've actually told us that that's not true [laughs and Amelia joins in]. So, Paris will kind of poke me and say, "Oh, that would have been good on Inner Workout."

Taylor [00:22:20] So, I still show up there, but there's something for me about like speaking as me and my voice that feels just really easy. I don't have to overthink it. And with Inner Workout, it's really nice to have Paris to say, "Okay, this is the part of what you said on the podcast that really resonated," or, "This is the thing that I think it would be really nice for you to go deeper within a reel," that I'm just like, "I talk all the time. I don't know what's valuable and what's not." That— some of the less valuable stuff and the more valuable stuff maybe gets on at @taylorelysemorrison and then at @innerworkout is a little bit more finessed, maybe. I don't know if that's the word I want to use, but that's the one that I did use.

Amelia [00:22:59] Yeah, it feels a little more— I like fines—

Taylor [00:23:02] Polished.

Amelia [00:23:03] Polished. That's a good word [chuckles]. It's definitely polished. And they're both beautiful in their own way, like, as a consumer of your Instagram presences, on occasion. I like the unpolished nature of, like, the realness, quote unquote, of at @taylorelysemorrison. It— actually the process you described is how it feels to receive those things too of like, "Oh, here was the idea. And then here it is like polished up and turned into more of like a teaching tool or really like a thoughtful prompt or something like that. [Music begins to play overlapping with the conversation] From that part of your lived experience."

Amelia [00:23:39] [Music continues to play] Hey there, Off the Grid listener. Amelia here, interrupting this conversation with my dear friend Taylor Elyse Morrison with an exciting announcement. Or if you've been listening to this season, something you might have already figured out.

Amelia [00:23:53] If you're listening as this releases in July of 2022, we currently have a Season One giveaway going on where you can enter to win your very own copy of the Instead Deck by Inner Workout. You're hearing or are going to hear a lot more about that deck in this episode so I'm going to keep this short and sweet and tell you that by the time you finish this episode, you're definitely going to want an Instead Deck.

Amelia [00:24:18] So, you might as well enter to win one for free. You can enter to win it by leaving the podcast a voice message. Just head to the link in the show notes and then leave us a voice message with a question about anything we've talked about on Season One.

Amelia [00:24:32] I'd love to hear your questions about marketing without social media, any of the creative marketing practices that I've shared, or about doing business differently. Anything you want to ask, I'm excited to answer, and I'm calling this giveaway a win-win situation because I'm going to answer your questions on the last episode of the season when I announce the giveaway winner.

Amelia [00:24:53] And if you don't want to wait that long, if you're like, "I need an Instead Deck now." You can use the code OFFTHEGRID when you purchase a deck from Inner Workout and you will get a very special discount just for Off the Grid listeners. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode. I'm going to let us get back to Taylor Elyse Morrison. Don't forget to enter that giveaway, babes [music fades out as announcement ends].

Amelia [00:25:13] I know a lot of people have asked me this question and would love to hear from you, if you're open to sharing, how you hired Paris or went about hiring someone to help you with social media content and management.

Taylor [00:25:27] I failed before I got it right. So, the first time when I hired someone to do social media, it was just because I was like, "All this stuff is coming in. I'm super busy. I should hire someone. What do I spend the most time on? Social media." I'm speaking fast because that's how it felt— was like, "AHH, [Amelia chuckles] everything's going on." So hopefully— hopefully you picked that up. So, I hired someone to do social media who had worked with wellness brands, but it was just like, I have really strong thoughts and opinions about, like, the wellness world and where Inner Workout and I fit in it.

Taylor [00:26:03] And it wasn't that this person was doing anything wrong, but it was like they weren't really saying anything that any other wellness brand— it wasn't differentiating us—

Amelia [00:26:13] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:26:13] And it wasn't her fault. It was just that I had all this stuff in my brain, and I didn't know how to get it out.

Taylor [00:26:19] So, Paris actually started— I had a different podcast before Inner Warmup and she started, like, helping do show notes and things for that. And then when I started Inner Warmup, she switched to helping me with that. And then I was like, "Hey, you're interested in social stuff, would you be interested in, like, starting with this more community management stuff?" And so, she was just around it and she was listening to me speak on the podcast, and there's still stuff where we have to go back and forth [chuckles]. Where I'm like, "Oh, this— this didn't feel like the Inner Workout voice, and here's why."

Amelia [00:26:52] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:26:52] Or sometimes I'll just tell her, "I actually wouldn't have posted that, and I almost said something about it, but I realized that could totally be a part of the Inner Workout voice, even if it wasn't necessarily me." So, there's this uncomfortable—

Amelia [00:27:06] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:27:06] This discomfort that can come up in it and I think it's really important that you hire someone where you feel like you can have conversations about it, and it's not like we're accusing each other. I'm just, like, asking questions or I'll tell her, "Hey, I'm just thinking out loud.” Like, “This wasn't wrong, but it felt weird or different than I would do it. And I'm just sorting through why that might be."

Taylor [00:27:26] I will say— so we took this course through “Holisticism: Digital Alters, Systems, and Spells” or something like that.

Amelia [00:27:34] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:27:34] I always forget what the title of it is [laughs], but that was really helpful because it gave us templates in Notion where basically I had to say like, "These are our content pillars, these are our strong opinions that we have. These are some— some supporting beliefs that map up to this." And so, Paris could have a really clear idea of— this is where different things fit in, this is, from Taylor's perspective, how this could show up.

Amelia [00:28:05] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:28:06] And it just made it tangible in a way that I hadn't been able to do on my own. But yeah, it's a lot of work. But then I tell Matt— I'm like, "Oh my gosh, Inner Workout posted!" And it's like, I'm a consumer of [Amelia laughs] Inner Workout because I just— I don't always— like some things I know are getting posted, but a lot she just curates and does herself based on the content that we've already created.

Amelia [00:28:27] Yeah, oh, I love that— I love so many pieces of that. First of all, I love that you were like, "I failed before I succeeded." And I did a little cheer over here for failing and acknowledging failure and just being like, "Yeah, this happens." It's so important to just, like, share and recognize and thank you for telling us [chuckles].

Amelia [00:28:44] And I also think there's something I have sat in as well that you're describing of sort of the discomfort of letting your businesses voice grow beyond your individual voice. And it's uncomfortable but so, so necessary if you ever want to have a business that can run, you know, without you doing everything in it, like, you want a business that's bigger than you.

Amelia [00:29:09] And I think for both of us, like, a shared value that we have is collaboration and community and working with other people in and on our businesses. And how can we do that if we're not— like you can't do that if you can't let go of any single piece of it. So, I loved hearing you— you say that as well and thinking about— I guess the other piece that you said that I think is really important for people listening, just to flag it, is that delegating requires knowing yourself and your business really well. And I think that a trend that I see [laughs lightly], particularly on Instagram, is people who will create beautiful, like, content calendars and Instagram profiles for their business before they have offerings or core values or brand content pillars even.

Amelia [00:30:01] But I think something that's come out over the course of this podcast and that has come up in every leaving social insight session I've done so far is that actually the foundation of all of this is like the systems and intention in your business. And most often when I talk to people who want to leave social media, when we peel that back, it's actually not social media that's the root cause of their anxiety or bad feelings. It's something else in their business. That's not always true. For me, it was social media. I left social media because that itself was where the values misalignment was.

Amelia [00:30:37] But sometimes I talk to people and it's actually just like if they had an inquiry form, they could stay on social media because they wouldn't be doing business in their DMs [laughs lightly] because they just had an inquiry form or actually social media is not the problem, they just need a new business name and brand or something like that.

Amelia [00:30:53] So, hearing you talk about, you know, taking this course and I will link to it in the show notes— “Notion for Magical Baddies™️” on [laughs] Holisticism—taking this course and getting really clear on, okay, content pillars, thinking through all the different aspects of your Instagram systems, like made it possible for you to delegate and share that.

Amelia [00:31:15] And it sounds like— and I'd love to hear if this is the case because it sounds like it— it has only, like, improved and bettered and made your Instagram presence more successful, whatever that means to you. Is that the case?

Taylor [00:31:27] Yeah. And I just feel like our community is so much better taken care of because there's someone there who, like, has the bandwidth and the creativity and the genius to do that. And then I can show up and care for our communities in the ways that I'm best at—

Amelia [00:31:42] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:31:43] Like writing a newsletter that's useful or, like, leading an event that is hopefully transformational. So, it just puts us in our zones of genius.

Amelia [00:31:52] [Laughs] Zones of geniuses, zones of genii— whatever. Is there anything else that you would want to say to Off the Grid listeners about social media or advice that you would want to give us on having an intentional social media presence for yourself or your business?

Taylor [00:32:10] Just get really clear on the role that it plays. Like we put out a survey every year and the majority of people either found us on Instagram or through press and podcasts that we appeared on. So, that was really helpful knowledge for us. And those people are taking our survey— like our most engaged people are who take our survey. So, how can you get people from Instagram into the places that you own—

Amelia [00:32:38] Mm.

Taylor [00:32:38] Instead of just thinking of Instagram as this end all be all because it's not sustainable for anyone to just— for even— for the end user to only have relationships on Instagram. So you're doing everyone a favor, including yourself, including your customers, if you can find a way to lovingly get them into deeper relationship with you.

Amelia [00:33:00] Yes, 100%. And I know that you just launched or are in the process or about to launch an online community where people can be in closer relationship with Inner Workout. Do you want to tell people a little bit about that? Because I am a member and I already love it.

Taylor [00:33:18] Yeah, it's called the Inner Working Group Chat or The Group Chat for a short. And it's just an online community for people who are interested in talking about self-care and inner work the way that we are. It's intersectional, it's inclusive, it's accessible. I loved it— like I just did my intro post earlier today and I just said I was from Chicago and I didn't do a land acknowledgment and the next person who did an intro did a land acknowledgment without having to be prompted and I'm— the people who are watching the video can see, but I'm just so excited because Inner Workout has brought together so many cool people that I get to engage with in passing or the team gets to engage with in passing but to have a space that isn't dictated by algorithms where we can hang out asynchronously through chat but also through monthly events so that we can build relationship, which is what so many people are looking for through Instagram. But it's parasocial and I'm just— parasocial relationships have their place, but I'm interested in building something beyond that.

Amelia [00:34:22] Yes. So, if that's exciting to you, there are [chuckles]— there will be a link in the show notes or in the YouTube description where you can learn more and come hang in the group chat with us. You also— the thing that initially inspired this whole conversation was another Inner Workout product, the Instead Deck that I've been talking about on the podcast already this season. Can you tell people, as kind of our final thing for today, like, how did you get this idea and how did this deck come to life? Because that's also a really beautiful story.

Taylor [00:34:55] Yeah, it was really because when I first started Inner Workout, I interviewed like 20-30 women. And the most common thing was that people didn't have time for self-care. I was like, "Oh, cool, I can't do anything about that."

Taylor [00:35:08] And then, COVID happened. Everyone was scrolling even more, and I saw so many people complaining about being on social media.

Taylor [00:35:16] So, I saw that if people feel like they don't have time for self-care and they're spending too much time on social media, what if they could just reinvest some of that social media time into their self-care? And that's how Instead was born. It's a card deck for scrolling less. We launched it on Kickstarter. It was just like— yeah, it's still crazy that this thing came into the world and that people get to use it.

Amelia [00:35:39] Yeah, it's such a special deck and I really love the kind of breadth of prompts that it provides.

Amelia [00:35:46] There are questions, there are things— activities, there are just affirmations, and it really is always— something will always hit when you pull it. Even if the first thing doesn't, I'm like, "I'll just get another card."

Amelia [00:35:58] So, I wanted us to pull a card or two or three or four as— on the podcast together. So, let's see, what's the best way to do this? Maybe I will— I'm gonna pull like a few, and I'm going to let you pick [laughs] which one is for you. So, three cards. Do you want left, right, or middle, Taylor?

Taylor [00:36:21] I'll take a right.

Amelia [00:36:22] Okay. We're going to do my right, which is, "You choose the narrative." I love that. What— what does you choose the narrative mean to you in this moment?

Taylor [00:36:35] It's funny because I was journaling about this earlier today and even part of my story of finding my voice, like, I get to define what I talk about and how I show up and where I show up.

Amelia [00:36:48] Mmhm.

Taylor [00:36:48] And instead of creating these arbitrary formulas, an author has to be on Instagram, or a coach has to do this. Like I get to choose what the narrative is—

Amelia [00:36:59] Mm.

Taylor [00:36:59] Even some stuff around, like, what it looks like to grow a business. There's a lot where I'm just like, "Oh, that's— that's the old narrative. But that's not the Taylor narrative."

Amelia [00:37:08] Yes, I love that. Oh, my gosh. That is way back in Episode One of Off the Grid, I always said, like, the truth about social media for small businesses is that you get to choose if you're on it and you get to choose the narrative around it, whether you're on it or not, like, what it means to you, what role it plays in your business, as you like, prompted us to think about earlier, which is so special.

Amelia [00:37:32] I also love that, like, "Mm. It's not the Taylor way of doing business [laughs]." We— we all love the Taylor way of doing business.

Amelia [00:37:39] Okay, let me pull a card for myself before we get off. I'm going to go with this. Aww. Okay, here we go. The card I pulled is, "Document the moment just for you," which you can't read on my webcam. But that seems like a really good opportunity to take a selfie of this happening. Selfie? A picture of my screen of this happening. So, we'll do that. Say hi, YouTube.

Amelia [00:38:06] Yay. Okay. We documented the moment just for us. I'll probably also share that with listeners for funsies [laughs]. So, just for me slash all of us.

Amelia [00:38:16] Well, beautiful. So, that's the Instead Card Deck. Off the Grid listeners can get 10% off the deck using the code OFFTHEGRID. One word, all caps— or no spaces, all caps on the Inner Workout shop, which I will also link to in the show notes where you can find Taylor's Inner Warmup podcast, the other Inner Workout products to support your self-care in addition to The Group Chat if you want to join the online community. Anything else I'm forgetting that you want to share as we sign off, Taylor?

Taylor [00:38:49] No, this was so lovely.

Amelia [00:38:52] I agree. Well, thank you so much for being here. I never sign off with socials because I don't have them for myself. But people can follow you at [chuckles] @taylorelysemorrison or at @innerworkout. And if you're listening, please do subscribe to the podcast [outro music begins to play, overlapping with the conversation] anywhere you get your podcasts or subscribe to our YouTube channel if you are one of our watchers. And otherwise, I will see you all off the grid. Bye for now [outro music continues].

Amelia [00:39:24] Thanks for listening to Off the Grid. Find links and resources in the show notes and don't forget to grab your free Leaving Social Media Toolkit at softersounds.studio/byeig. That's softersounds dot studio slash b-y-e-i-g. This podcast is a Softer Sounds production. Our music is by Purple Planet and our logo is by n'atelier Studio.

Amelia [00:39:47] If you'd like to make a podcast of your own, we'd love to help find more about our services at softersounds.studio. Until next time, we'll see you off the grid [outro music fades out].

[00:51:43] Thanks for listening to Off the Grid. Find links and resources in the show notes. And don't forget to grab your free Leaving Social Media Toolkit at softersounds.studio/byeig that's softer sounds dot studio slash b-y-e-i-g.

[00:51:59] This podcast is a Softer Sounds production. Our music is by Purple Planet and our logo is by n'Atelier Studio. If you'd like to make a podcast of your own, we'd love to help.

[00:52:10] Find more about our services at softersounds.studio. Until next time, we'll see you off the grid [music fades out].