EP # 189 - Beyond the Comfort Zone: My Journey to Legacy Makers TV & What It Taught Me

🎬 In this episode, Maggie shares her exciting journey and behind-the-scenes experience of being featured in the upcoming documentary "Legacy Makers" by Inside Success Studios.

Key Highlights:

• How an Instagram casting call led to a TV documentary opportunity
• The show's nominations including Cannes Short Film Festival and New York Orion Film Awards
• Behind-the-scenes insights from the Miami filming experience

Key Business & Leadership Lessons:

1. Authenticity in Business
   • What true authenticity means vs. common misconceptions
   • How to adapt while staying true to yourself
   • The power of being yourself as a competitive advantage
2. The Power of Planning & Preparation
   • Why preparation is crucial for confidence
   • How planning reduces anxiety and improves performance
   • The parallel between production planning and business strategy
3. Developing On-Camera Confidence
   • The journey from shaky first videos to professional filming
   • Why practice and persistence matter more than natural talent
   • The importance of starting despite imperfection
4. Creating Positive Experiences
   • How leaders influence others' experiences
   • The importance of having fun while being professional
   • Building relationships and creating memorable moments

🎥 About Legacy Makers:

• Documentary series featuring inspiring entrepreneur stories
• Nominated for multiple film awards
• Airing Spring/Summer 2024 on Apple TV, Roku, and other platforms

💡 Key Takeaway:
Success in business and leadership comes from authentic self-expression, thorough preparation, consistent practice, and creating positive experiences for yourself and others.

Follow Maggie on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maggie.perotin.s2l/

and/or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggie-perotin-business-and-leadership-coach/ 

for more behind-the-scenes content, and her episode air date announcement.

🔗 Watch for the Legacy Makers documentary release in Spring/Summer 2024!

Transcript

Audio Only - All Participants: [00:00:00] Hello, Diamond Effect listeners. Welcome to the next Diamond Effect podcast episode. And today I have a very different episode because today I want to share something more personal from behind the scenes. Maggie Perotin, not only business and leadership coach, but as an entrepreneur.

Some of you who follow me on social media might know that I've recently embarked on a brand new project. And that recent project is actually being featured in a documentary called Legacy Makers and it's done by Inside Success Studios and Legacy Makers TV.

Today I want to talk a little bit about it, share some behind the scenes, but also some experiences and lessons I've had so far in my journey, to the TV screen, eventually, and especially the filming part.

But before I [00:01:00] share the lessons, I wanted to share a background story of how I got there. 

I'm present on Instagram, so I'm very active on Instagram as a creator, but also as a user. I like the platform, there's some great people I follow, so I definitely spend some time there.

And one of those days when I was more of a user than a creator, an ad came up, a casting call for Legacy Makers. I got interested by their ad, I started reading about it, and I thought Why not? They're looking for entrepreneurs and share their stories and feature it in a documentary.

We all have a story. Our stories can be inspiring to others. And I definitely have been shy to share mine for majority of my time as an entrepreneur. And since I like to challenge myself and put myself in a situation that will require me to level up and be more courageous, I thought that is my opportunity.

[00:02:00] I knew that I haven't been brave enough in sharing my story, so why not go big and just share it on the TV screen? At least that was my thought process. So I applied to the casting call and I got a call back to do next step, which was casting. Okay, so clearly my story resonated with the producers and organizers.

I went through the casting call. The casting director really liked me and I got on to the show.

So right now the show is in the production stages, it hasn't aired yet, it will air spring summer this year, first on Apple, Roku TV and other streaming platforms, at some point it might air on larger streaming platforms, but I can't share anything yet with that, but we are in the production stages.

Because the show is documentary and it's [00:03:00] really innovative, it actually has been nominated to a bunch of awards for documentary. It's a finalist for Best Short Documentary 2025 in Orion Film Awards in New York. It's Nominated to, Toronto actually Short Film Festival, this is where I'm from.

London Independent Film Festival, even in Cannes Film Awards. Cannes Short Film Festival, so there's a lot of nominations, a lot of buzz going on, and some press media coverage that has been out there about this show really calls this show Revolutionary in a sense where the Inside Success studios and network are really committed to create some positive and impactful content. And also entertaining. 

Because let's be real, all of us who watch streaming platforms or scroll on TikTok or [00:04:00] Instagram, we do it because we like to be entertained, but sometimes we watch things and they're not even Inspiring. We don't learn anything. They might be entertaining, but really there's not much depth into it.

Whereas this show aspires to be so much more. It aspires to be entertaining, but also inspiring, motivating, helping people go after whatever they want, whatever they dream. And I'm proud to be part of it. 

So now let's talk about my lessons or reminders so far, as I've been going through the process.

The first lesson here I want to talk about is authenticity. And I'm sure you've heard a lot about you have to be authentic as a leader, as a creator, as an entrepreneur. But what does that mean? And sometimes it can be confusing, right? 

Some of us might have imposter syndrome. I definitely occasionally struggle with it. So what does it mean to be [00:05:00] authentic? And when I think about it, there is two ways you can get away from being authentic. One way is to pretending to be somebody else thinking that you need to show up a certain way. If you're an entrepreneur, you might be thinking, okay, the only way I can find the clients or can attract clients I want is by being like the people who already have those clients, right?

Or another way not to be authentic is to shrink and dim your light. And not really be yourself because you might be worried about outshining others or you might be worried what other people will think and so on. And that second way of dimming your authenticity happens very often to people who are very gifted, very highly intelligent. I found out about it not that long ago because I'm one of them. So if anything, my [00:06:00] authenticity gets hidden because I shrink myself, I hide. And I don't want to do that. 

Because the more you are yourself, the more fulfilling life you live, the more of authentic people you attract to yourself, and people who really will resonate with you, who you can build strong relationship with. And especially in entrepreneurship, that's the way to stand out. That's the way to attract your best clients.

Being you is the strongest competitive advantage you can create for yourself as a business owner. And it's the same for me.

What I found is that being me in that process, it's what the casting directors and the producers resonated with, not only in the beginning stages, but also during the filming of the episode when I went to Miami in January, to do it. 

To [00:07:00] me, what authenticity means doesn't mean you're always the same, no matter the situation in terms of how you dress, how you show up, and so on. It doesn't have to be that way. If you're creating a personal brand and you always want to wear black. So be it's fine, but we can adjust, I call it situational leadership, to different situations and still be yourself.

So for example, your interaction with your loved ones, your kids, your, romantic partner will be different than let's say your interactions with your clients. It's the same with me, right? The way I talk to my kids or my partner often are very different is the way I interact with my clients because our relationship is different, right?

I love my clients, but at a professional level, whereas with my kids, I love them as a mother, and that's a very different love. With my husband, I love him romantically as my partner, [00:08:00] also a different love, right? So sometimes the way we communicate will be different. 

Another way, you can be authentic and still, let's say, wear different clothes dressed for the occasion. So me going to a gym or for a run or a stroll, a walk in nature. I'm not going to wear a ballroom gown to do that. I'm going to wear something that I feel good and comfortable. However, if I'm showing up in front of my clients, or I'm going to a gala and so on, I'm going to wear clothes appropriate to the occasion, but still be me. Clothes that show up my personality that I feel good at, but they're not going to be the exact same clothes.

And why I'm talking about it because I do see people get into their heads into what authentic means and sometimes even I think what does that mean? Do I have to be somebody else or do I have to behave the exact same way or dress the same way no matter what I do [00:09:00] or where I go and that's not true.

Staying true to your values, to your inner self, to who you are, to your stories, and then showing up the way you feel is the right way to show up, depending on the occasion, who you're talking to and so on. So going back to Legacy Makers, when I was in Miami and we were filming, I was me by being prepared and being prepared to film and talk about whatever we needed to talk about.

But also the way I interacted with the cast, the way we had fun. And I joked because that's me. Even with my clients, I like to have fun. I like to joke. So showcasing that personality. Also, I hope will show up in the episode once it's actually produced, edited, and all that.

The second lesson I want to talk about is planning [00:10:00] and preparation. 

For the episodes, I didn't have a script because it's not a feature movie when I'm an actor and I'm pretending to be somebody else, right? And there's a script, there's a storyline. It's a documentary about entrepreneurial stories, meaning my story.

Therefore, it's more natural, it feels Flows, the producers wouldn't be able to script me because they they're not me. But what the crew had is a production plan and day of the filming plan that they shared with me. So the structure of the episode, the highlights of my story and the topics that we want to cover.

All of it was pre planned, which then helped me to prepare. What I did is I, spent some time before going to Miami to think through, okay, what is it that I want to talk about in those parts? What is it that I definitely don't want to forget to talk about and to [00:11:00] mention? Because I believe that when you are not prepared for any public speaking occasions where you're talking about, whether it's your story and expertise, the nerves could get the best out of you and you will forget to say important things.

Now, when you prepare and at least you have talking points, you don't need to memorize anything and so on, but at least have talking points, it will allow you to showcase yourself, your expertise, at the highest level. In the best possible way. Preparation also, calms down the nerves. That's, when I coach my clients in public speaking, and especially some clients that are really scared and never done this before.

Part of our coaching plan is preparing and planning because it does calm the nerves. I believe that plan plus preparation [00:12:00] really boosts confidence, instills more calm and focus. And then the natural nerves that we feel before maybe a bigger event or public speaking engagement just help us to create focus. It just becomes good stress rather than stress that paralyzes. 

Now, another thing that I want to mention, it's like I was thinking about it, is that if you think about, any area of life, we do a lot of planning, like this show, right? Every, episode of the show has a production plan that the crew when they film sticks with it and of course they adjust to the person in front of them. 

We plan our vacations. We plan our events. In construction, there is no building that's constructed without a plan. Majority of areas of our lives, there's always a plan, and then execution follows. 

And yet, I see So many [00:13:00] business owners run their businesses on like a whim. They never plan, they don't have a strategic plan. At best, they have a to do list and maybe think about what am I going to do today and somehow they think that you can grow successfully a business long term and sustainably without proper planning. 

And I always say you can't. And even if you're somehow successful in this ad hoc running of the business it takes so much of your time energy and creates so much unnecessary work, that's why so many business owners overwork.

So if a small 20 minute documentary episode has a production plan that's pages long, if you're running a business and you're not planning strategically for your year, for your quarter, for your month; There is something wrong. I just want to say [00:14:00] that.

The next experience that I want to talk about is being in front of cameras. So the way the studio was set up is, they had this like high kind of casting director chair when I was sitting, and then the background. And then in front, there was, I think, three or four cameras set up to capture different angles, front, sideways, close up, further out, and so on, just for them, for editor to have choices.

And, after five minutes, I really relaxed and I was just being me. Talking about my story, teaching, whatever the plan had, right? And the crew at the end was mentioning, Maggie, you were so good, really natural in front of camera. And I was thinking about it, and really, I'm not a natural.

It's just, years of practice of being an entrepreneur and utilizing online marketing. Because being online and [00:15:00] having, a coaching business where really I'm the brand, I'm the face of my business, right? I have a personal brand requires me to do videos, to do trainings, to do webinars and all those things.

That then, all that practice over the past five plus years doing it day in, day out led me to the point where I'm comfortable in front of camera, even big cameras in the professional studio. If I haven't done this, I would have never been ready. I remember my first video that I made. Live in a Facebook group I used to have where I had a phone in my hands. I didn't have a stand at that point where my voice was shaking, my hand was shaking . I wasn't sure what to say, and I was grateful for the one or two members from the groups who came in life to support me. But putting myself out there and doing [00:16:00] it despite crazy fear allowed me to do the next video, and then the next video, and then my first webinar, and then the next webinar, and so on and so forth.

And as they say, practice makes a master. I haven't really counted the amount of hours I spent in front of camera, but if I think over the past five years, It probably it's in thousands at this point. So at some point, things just become natural, right? It feels natural, but I wasn't born with it.

I developed that skill set with practice overcoming fear, getting some coaching and feedback of how I show up, where I can improve, how to present myself. And otherwise I don't think I would have even been casted to the documentary. Or I wouldn't have even applied because I wouldn't have had confidence that I can sit in front of camera and talk about [00:17:00] myself.

So in this case, I want to give you a message to all my entrepreneurs who sometimes are, looking at me and saying, Oh my God, she's showing up like this. I could never do it. I say you can do it. You just need to start. And when you start, don't try to be like somebody who's already had years of practice behind them.

Just start where you are and know that it's enough and you'll be, okay with it and you can attract people who will resonate with it. 

Another thing I want to say because I coach my clients on it is Oh, what's the point of going on the camera or doing this webinar or doing this first training if nobody will show up or if there's one person that will show up or two, is it worth it?

Because they think that unless I get grand success from my first try, then it's not worth doing. And I say, it's worth it. Okay. Doing a video, doing a [00:18:00] training, doing any public speaking engagement, even if one person shows up, or preparing for something that then let's say nobody shows up, it's still worth it because it gives you reps.

It gives you practice. It takes you to the next tiny level. If you think about Stairway to Leadership, to the next step, where next time you'll be more comfortable, you'll be more natural, more people will come, more people will resonate. Okay, so it's always worth it. Building new skill set, it's always worth it, even if in the moment when you're doing it, you don't get big response, big accolades and so on.

And rarely anybody does.

And then the last reflection I want to share with you is: I went to Miami and I had a lot of fun. I think that life is too short not to have fun. And, if those of you who are my clients, we have [00:19:00] a lot of fun on the coaching goals. We're serious about growing our business. We're serious and ambitious business owners and yet we have fun. Especially in challenging times because I truly believe you know laughing off certain challenges and so on just makes them easier for us to overcome.

Having fun is my personal value. So being able to a, stay a little bit longer in Miami beach. So the studios are in Miami Beach. I've never been in Miami Beach before. Allowing myself to spend a couple of afternoons, before the filming and after the filming, just to. Being a tourist and walk long hours on the beach, and along the beach in the sun, enjoy the water. Enjoy the city was wonderful.

Having fun on the set, interacting with the crew, building relationship with the crew was also part of the experience. And the thing is, you get to [00:20:00] create that experience when you're part of something like this.

I always think as a leader, you also get to influence other people's experience. Because if you think about it, the crew, they were filming a lot of episodes, it can get tiring for them as well. But if they have a great relationship, let's say with each participant and they have fun, their work is much more pleasurable, and ultimately you get a better result if they have more fun and enjoy, so we can be the creators of that experience.

Not only for ourselves, but for others as well. And I want to challenge you to think about that also in your business. How the way I feel in my business day to day, translates into how my clients experience my business. So if I can have fun and if I can elevate that experience for myself, it will inadvertently show [00:21:00] in how my clients experience interacting with me.

Okay, so that's all I had to share today. I'm going to leave links to my social media. And then when the episode is ready and airs, I'm going to leave links for you to watch it as well.

It's going to be sometime in the spring or summer this year. Definitely I will be sharing more of behind the scenes. So follow me on social media and talk to you soon.