Ep #001 - Welcome to the show!

Welcome to The Rebecca Saunders Show - your place to discover how to build resilience, craft confidence and have a huge impact on the world.

This podcast is for female business owners wanting the skills and knowledge they need to show up and stand out in a noisy, digital world.

Enjoy!
Rebecca x

Highlights: 

At the age of 22, I booked a pretty much one way ticket to Sydney, with not much more than my laptop and just around 500 bucks in my pocket and I boarded the plane.

Because I knew I needed to get my permanent residency, I took it into my own hands and I started my own business, to sponsor myself. Now, it's not as sparkly and shiny as it sounds. I definitely went about it the hard way, I definitely went about it the most expensive way, but I've definitely learned some incredible lessons along the way, I've got an amazing network.

 I do remember heading to networking events and meeting new people and just suggesting and spreading and sharing the vision I had of a nationwide video production company.

Fast forward a decade, and it's now worldwide, we're operating across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US. I have had the pleasure of working with huge global organisations, LinkedIn, Microsoft objective.

This podcast isn't just around video and business and growing a business, you'll see that I wanted to talk very much around building resilience crafting confidence and having an impact on the world.

Because for me, 2020 wasn't just the biggest year for me professionally, it was also a huge one, personally, and it was the first time, just a few months ago, I made the decision that after 25 years of wearing a wig or the time that I was ready to reveal myself to the world and step out in my unique self as me, without hair in a really bold move for every use of that world.

Aside from those two things, when you are following me and I will talk about it a lot. My passion is cooking..

Links & Resources:

Website: rebeccasaunders.com

Instagram: @therebeccasaunders

LinkedIn: /therebeccasaunders

Thank you for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot and share your key takeaway on Instagram Stories and tag me @therebeccasaunders

Transcription:

Welcome, welcome, welcome to episode one of my brand new podcast, the Rebecca Saunders show. I wanted to take the opportunity for this first episode, to introduce myself, my story, my background, my experience, and the reason why I have started this new show. So, I was born and raised in a small village in Buckinghamshire in the UK. And I've really definitely knew from a very young age that Australia was always going to be home for me. And fortunately I was very lucky as a child to holiday here on a regular basis we're talking every few years, and swiftly fell in love with Sydney, and I knew that I had to make this place home for me.

At the age of 22, I practically booked a pretty much one way ticket to Sydney, with not much more than my laptop and just around 500 bucks in my pocket and I boarded the plane. Now, I don't say that lightly. I had worked for about a year coming out of uni for a publishing company in London, I learned a lot. I worked alongside that, a hospitality job waitressing in a local restaurant and I've done that on and off, full time, part time for about eight years. So, my love for customer service and hospitality was very deeply ingrained as was my love for being creative, and my background and career was very much in the Journalism, Media creative space. And I quit everything. I closed the door to my house in the UK. I didn't do the fridge, but I left everything in site for a good eight months. While I was finding my feet in Sydney. I didn't have a lot of cash I was very headstrong, I should say, in the way that I wanted to do things. I did deliberately leave my home and my savings in the UK so that if anything went wrong. There was something to go back for. And I guess in a way that for me meant I had no option but to succeed here. I did whatever I could to make ends meet, whilst finding my feet in Australia, I waited tables, I made coffee. I made Papa chinos, for those of you that don't know what a puppaccino is, it is a dog friendly cappuccino, shall we say, no coffee, no dairy, very puppy friendly, but it was very much a bowl of puppets you know with sprinkles on top, pilot of my hospitality career serving puppies. Now, but aside from that, for me, it was fun and games to try to find those things I dabbled in freelance writing work. Did everything I possibly could, just to keep cash coming through the door, and I was on a working holiday visa. And that really is tough for anyone that's tried to, to find a visa, or to get a visa when you're not haven't necessarily, got a job to walk into you haven't planned one, it's very difficult to find employment where people are comfortable in taking you on and sponsoring you for the long term.

My sponsorship visa was a four to five year commitment for myself, and also for an organisation and I really struggled to find someone that would take that on, because I knew I needed to get my permanent residency. So I took it into my own hands. And I started my own business, to sponsor myself. Now, it's not as sparkly and shiny as it sounds. I definitely went about it the hard way, I definitely went about it the most expensive way, but I've definitely learned some incredible lessons along the way, I've got an amazing network. I have definitely cemented a life in a brand new country and have to say was, probably if not the best decision I think I've made. I do think I'm gonna say it's the second decision. Second best decision I've ever made. The first one was probably getting a degree in the first place, the fact that I went to university and got a degree, albeit in my local university in something very creative, meant that I could tick the boxes for the visa because I needed to have a tertiary qualification.

So, smart decision number one was getting that degree, smart decision number two was definitely sponsoring myself. And with the little help of a friend who was a cameraman at the time, my back against the wall because time was ticking on getting that residency and that would be that happening. It was my only option, and we put it together. I do remember heading to networking events and meeting new people and just suggesting and spreading and sharing their vision I had of a nationwide video production company. And that's really what I had nothing to lose, add, you know, went out with the intention that you'll either, you know, I'll be like, come on, like, you either love me or you don't. And that was it, there was there was no fear, there was no niggly noise or niggly voice on the, on my shoulder, say I couldn't do things, the world was literally my oyster and I could make the plan, however I wanted to make the plan and make the moves when I walked felt like I wanted to make them. And very quickly, I found that there was a huge gap in the market for what I refer to as almost the middlemen, a huge gap between production crews and the technical expertise, and what the clients were actually wanting.

So the way I can probably describe this to people that are not in the video industry, think about, when you've perhaps had a website built, and the technical language spoken by the developer is almost double dutch something that you kind of wish you knew what they were saying, why it was important, but at the end of the day what you want is a really bright shiny sparkly website to do the job for you from a marketing perspective. And so you need something in the middle there to bridge that gap. And that's where I built my now global production company, daily agency, that's where it was born in that gap between production crews and clients and merging that understanding so that the crews could create something and lean into their passion and do what they do so well which is create incredible video content, and the clients knew that they were getting something that they wanted that would hit their marketing messages that would get a huge return on investment for them. And the first company that actually signed on as a client who we still work with to this day, in an ad hoc fashion was an is global networking behemoth, LinkedIn, I still to this day I can't tell you exactly how I managed to pull that one off there's no secret sauce to that but I can say that the more people you talk to you, the more conversations you have the way you nurture and build the networks and communities around you, the opportunities do come flooding, and that was the start of it. Fast forward a decade, and it's now worldwide, we're operating across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US. I have had the pleasure of working with huge global organisations, LinkedIn, Microsoft objective. A lot hit heaps and heaps of heaps of large nationwide clients, government organisations educational establishment.

All right down to not for profits or small business owners and keynote speakers, and in fact I shouldn't probably say right down to I say that from the sides of the company because every single client that I work with is uniquely different. And every piece of content that we create for them is uniquely different. One of my sayings that I've got on my wall and the team follow and that I'm known for it's about stepping into the uniqueness of you. I never wanted my company to be a cookie cutter company. So you'll see a lot, we don't make cookie cutter content. And it's something that I'm really proud of that although we work with many different sizes and types of organisations that all the content that we create for them is unique to them, their style, their brand, their message and it hasn't got a twist of the Rebecca Saunders brand on it. So, you know, there is essentially why I've got the nickname of video ninja. My clients know they can trust me to deliver on a global scale, in a very fast, very fast, very very fast turnaround. And, yeah, they my clients know that I can deliver on a global scale. I don't do cookie cutter content, and I work in a very fast format. Everything we do is in packages from a production perspective, not from a content creation perspective, but everything's packaged everything can be delivered in a really fast timeframe to the highest of quality, so that's Anthony Affleck is the nickname of video ninja, and you will see that across a lot of my content. I do love the fact that my clients have given me that nickname and it's something that I've run with. And I guess, you know, that's the history of the video side of the business and have running a business is hard, running a business when you're keeping having to keep going, as things change around you, the world changes around you. Smaller organ, you know, for us, I say smaller organisations for us in the video industry. The ability for anybody to get their hands on video equipment to get their hands on, tutorials, who had had a DIY content, the gig economy where you've got a lot of freelancers coming through. That was definitely something that hit us hard as a business. Something that has almost caused me to close the doors. At the beginning of 2020. I was ready to throw in the towel. I was ready to start something different. Everything was getting a little bit too difficult, I was constantly feeling that I was chasing work that was readily being given to people doing it at a fraction of the cost. And whilst I know that in, you know that is business and you've got to be looking at the bottom line and how much things cost from a delivery perspective. I know from experience that the clients who were or were cutting colonies that were going down the lower budget option would come across problems. And that has happened in the past I'd come across problems and asked me to fix videos, whether or not something could be changed or solved or, you know essentially fixed. And more often than not, it's starting. Starting the whole process again it's the easiest thing to do. But for this time, I just didn't feel as though I had the energy to keep going to reinvent and to hold on. And that's actually when COVID hit.

In March 2020 within 24 hours of government announcements that, You know COVID was a state of global pandemic. 100% of our productions have been cancelled. Revenue had hit zero for us, and it made that decision for me. I had to tell the team that the business was going to close for good. But you know what it didn't feel right. I've worked so hard and for so long, that after a week of sleepless nights tossing and turning and trying to work with the team to understand how we could if we could keep things afloat, keep us all financially safe within such an unknown global environment. I knew deep down that failure just wasn't an option. I called upon my team members, we completely reinvented the business from the ground up. And we pivoted, we pivoted, we changed, Or we upskilled, and I knew that we were a decade ahead, a decade ahead in the video space. Then, 99.9% of the population, and of our clients. So we're in a really good place to educate, to help to guide to provide production assistance.

So we upskilled in live streaming, we pushed hard on pre recorded educational content for educational establishments, as well as keynote speakers and thought leaders that were frantically trying to pivot and move their own in person facilitation and teachings and learnings to online programmes, so almost overnight we transformed into having crews still nationally and globally, to having our film studio in Sydney, as a live virtual event space, and with a lot of our content being pre recorded. And that really is the three pillars that most of our work sits in now. And, you know, I open my calendar I open my calendar to 15 minute video Clarity Calls with anyone that just needed a helping hand, that just needed someone to talk to someone to send to check the tech with anything and everything possible around video live streaming, Zoom calls, Microsoft team calls, how do I navigate this when my, not with my team, what kind of tech do I need to buy all that kind of stuff was something that was just running through my veins and something I could definitely help with, and that's really for us how we've been able to keep afloat and grow in the last 12 to 18 months and ironically, given that I started 2020 Not so sure that I'd keep the doors open, it actually turned out to be our biggest year yet, and we hit the seven figure mark in that financial year for the first time ever, so some huge milestones, some incredible journeys some incredible stories, all of which I'm gonna start to unpack as I grow and deep dive into conversations with my team with my clients with my network, as we build out this podcast, you know, in a truly just in a truly grateful give back fashion is why I have created this podcast.

But you know what this podcast isn't just around video and business and growing a business, you'll see that I wanted to talk very much around building resilience crafting confidence and having an impact on the world. And whilst I know that my business story much like very many entrepreneurs, resilience, does run through our veins, and we do bounce back. Very often, despite the roller coaster ride that we put ourselves on confidence is something that is really close to my heart, and it's something that I've personally struggled with in front of the camera and my clients have. It's something that we help a lot of people with overcoming fears when it comes to being in front of the camera, but I also wanted to take it into a personal perspective. Because for me, 2020 wasn't just the biggest year for me professionally, it was also a huge one, personally, and it was the first time. Just a few months ago, I made the decision that after 25 years of wearing a wig or the time that I was ready to reveal myself to the world and step out in my unique self as me, without hair in a really bold move for every use of that word. Now, I've lived since the age of seven, with a condition called an autoimmune condition called alopecia universalis so I have no hair anywhere. And I can hear all you ladies out there being like, oh my gosh that upkeep that I don't have to do. Yeah, I know, I know all about that. The hairdressing appointments, Everyone's holding out for to get out of lockdown. Yep, don't have any of those issues either. But um, yeah, I wanted to step out and share that story, and step into being a pillar of strength for younger women, younger girls, younger children of any gender I suppose - be that pillar of strength. So for me it wasn't just about stepping into the comfort for myself. It was definitely. So you may think that stepping out of my comfort zone is something that just had to happen and varying things push me to that and I've got a very strong as I've mentioned, network of people and then over time, I will have a few people.

So 2020 wasn't just a big year for me professionally, it was also a big year for me, personally, and it's something that you'll know, looking at the cover image of my podcast, looking at any of my social media posts looking online at my website that I am out there, bold and proud. Now since this tender age of seven. I've lived with an autoimmune disorder called alopecia universalis, so I don't have any hair, anywhere. And after 25 years of wearing a wig, I decided that I was ready to reveal myself to the world. Now this wasn't an overnight decision. This is something that I have been working on for a very, very long time. And you know what, I think the pandemic, almost gave me that safety net, particularly with the second lockdowns, in early 2021 I had the opportunity to go to a number of conferences before the 2021 New South Wales lockdowns, I went and spent time at an inner circle retreat with one of my mentors Janine Garner, and it's a small group of phenomenal women who have been my cheer squad in this space for a very long time and I love them to pieces or it. They've always been saying to me is your superpower, let it you know, be you, when you're ready, you'll feel the energy and it will happen. And you know what it did, and from there I went from that particular retreat to a second retreat with another mentor of mine, this time in the online core space, the wonderful Tina tower, and I spent almost a week up in Noosa surrounded by another, you know, slightly larger group of incredible humans. And no one batted an eyelid, that I wasn't wearing hair. And the same thing happened when I went to the business chicks conference in the Barossa Valley. And I just remember the them, I remember the MC the wonderful Karen James, at the very beginning of the conference go, you know, you do you. And I just thought you know what, I just might. And that those three conferences combined with a number of years of hard work and getting myself ready and comfortable to take that leap combined into, I was ready, and I was ready to do it more and more in a private setting in a personal setting, and the lockdowns gave me that safety net to do it in a professional setting. Because you know what, wearing a wig and a mask and glasses, and so much fun. And so I decided I was just going to get to one of them. And that has happened to be the wig, and I haven't looked back. I posted online about the journey. You can jump over to my LinkedIn profile and see the the launch and the I suppose the announcement of the new look. And the 45,000 views of that post and the hundreds of comments, and the beautiful words of support, and admiration for the courage and just just gentle love and care and support from the people around me has made the entire has actually blown my mind completely blown my mind. And I don't think I've had anything negative at all, which, again, what was I scared off with hindsight it's a wonderful thing, right. So, you know, that's just really a snapshot of who I am.

Aside from those two things, when you are following me and I will talk about it a lot. My passion outside of work is cooking, this food. It's something that I think of every waking moment when I'm not thinking about work, not gonna lie. It's something I get creative on dinner parties to me are aware of winding down, and cooking in the kitchen is a way of me, forcing myself to switch off from the technology and get creative and get into my own head. So you'll hear me talk about, you'll hear me talk a lot about food the process the way for me that both video and food are both connections and ways of communicating. And so combined, you know, all of me, and the, the arms that make up the pillars that make up who I am, will run, run deep. In this podcast, and it's why I put my name on the show. The Rebecca Saunders show, as you heard in the trailer, and you heard in the introduction is all about building resilience crafting confidence and having an impact on the world, and I hope through the conversations that I have, both with you directly one on one like this. And with the conversations that I have with my phenomenal guests that you take away some form of of nugget, an aha moment, something that gives you the confidence to step out of your comfort zone and do something you've never done before. So that's why I've started the show. I am launching it very intentionally, the day after, Freedom Day in New South Wales, and I am so excited by the lineup of people I've got for conversations, this side of Christmas. I might also note that Christmas is my favourite holiday, and that will be a big thing for me, as we gear up towards, towards the end of the series. So, thank you. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for picking my podcast.

Thank you for coming along on the journey with me. I would very much appreciate it if you jumped on and subscribe to the show if you're the first time listening to me for the first time that you found me. After all, this is the first episode, and I would love any comments or feedback, regardless of what platform you're listening on. You can reach out to me on most social platforms. I am not a Twitter go most social platforms, you'll find me at the Rebecca Saunders, and you'll find me Rebecca Saunders calm. Now, I love I love the feedback. I love the questions, I would love to hear your thoughts. And I would love to make be making content, and having conversations with people, just for you. So that's it, that's that's the end of the introduction for myself. Thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you again soon.