Peter:
[0:00] Well, today I am joined by none other than a fantastic, beautiful solver who
Peter:
[0:06] happens to be an awesome leader in the online business coaching, a meta ads specialist. And I can tell you right now, like she's not a specialist, she's a superstar in that department. And the whole thing is she's got over 14 years of helping online creators and entrepreneurs building their business, and really getting them to live their passion and their life. And of course, when my beautiful friend here, Liz Melville, is not doing that, I can attest she is chilling by supping and paddleboarding on the lock, chomping on some chocolate, and chilling with her fam bam and her beautiful Labrador whenever she gets the chance if she's not out there conquering the world in some shape or form. And I'll tell you what, that is the absolute testament. I could not shorten that. I loved introducing you. Liz, welcome.
Liz:
[0:59] Wow, what an introduction, Peter. I'm not sure how I follow that, but thank you so much. Honestly, I'm so excited and honored and privileged to be here, so thank you for inviting me on.
Peter:
[1:09] That's right. Now, you've been hovering around and it's almost like for a while now. I'm relatively new to you and your world, but of course, we've just kind of connected which has been lovely but the whole part about it is is like you know you do all these wonderful things in business you're helping other people's in their own business as it says you know through your introduction like you're a meta ad specialist you're helping like massive you know seven and up you know figure entrepreneurs and influencers like james webmore like really manage some of their you know spending and ads and whatever else like so just out of curiosity, because this is going to be a magical episode. I cannot wait. But how did you end up in this myriad and minefield of a world called meta ads?
Liz:
[2:04] That's a question I ask myself a lot. How did I end up in there?
Peter:
[2:08] Is this when you turn around and say, couldn't you be telling me that, Pete?
Liz:
[2:12] I was like, why Liz? Why do you do this? So it was a bit of an evolution, to be honest, So I'm a bit of a late starter to everything in life. I had my son late in life. I came to online business late in life as well. But I had a proper job for a good few years. And when that was coming to an end and redundancy was looming. I still needed to earn some money. So I was, you know, well, what the heck am I going to do?
Liz:
[2:43] And I came across the opportunity to learn about social media before social media was really known about. And Facebook and Twitter were really just coming onto the scene and especially in a business sense. So I took some learning to learn about how could you help businesses to market themselves on social media. And at that point, I would have worked with anyone. you know what it's like you start in your own business you just want some money and income and it was like oh you want to work with me yes please so I was doing LinkedIn marketing Facebook Twitter you name it but Facebook had always been my first love and I'd used it with my own hobby businesses you know and I was kind of seeing when I told people what I was doing with that they were like oh can we buy that and I was like oh this this stuff works so I kind of formalized that to help others. And that really evolved. That was very much organic Facebook marketing. But those of you who have been in Facebook a while will remember around about 2014, it really started to become pay to play. And I thought I'm doing my clients a disservice if I don't start to learn Facebook ads and the paid traffic side of Facebook marketing. So that's when I started to lean into it and I absolutely fell in hate with it.
Peter:
[4:06] It's a love-hate relationship, isn't it?
Liz:
[4:07] After that, it was amazing. It wasn't. I detested it and I resisted it so hard. I was like, how the hell do you get this to work? And my first ads were just dreadful, but I'm quite a stubborn Scottish person and I thought, no, I'm going to crack this. I'm going to learn it. So I just leaned in i learned from the best everything i could about facebook ads and when i when i got them to work for me it was just this this is amazing this is the way forward and then i was getting people asking me can you run them for me and i started getting into that and that that really was what started it for me so i i started to specialize just in the paid traffic side of facebook um and yeah since about 2017 i've That's really been it.
Peter:
[4:51] Well, it's amazing. And I think everyone is familiar with meta ads because we see them one in every three posts. It doesn't matter whether you're on Facebook or Instagram. And, you know, I can almost test, I reckon like Liz right now, like if you're seeing her, you're hearing her, she's behind a few of those ads that you're seeing. So you can be like, I can imagine the complaints coming. You know, what are they, what are you doing to us? But, you know.
Liz:
[5:15] Don't tell them it's me.
Peter:
[5:18] But it's it's also interesting like it is massive business it did boom around that time and it's just it's now becoming even like more important and it's just getting harder and harder I don't know how you stay on top of it is it a case of like it's easier because you've been in it for so long or is it like it does it some changes kind of
Peter:
[5:39] come along and you're kind of like oh okay I really need to dig in here again.
Liz:
[5:42] I think it's that whole thing isn't it when when someone been doing it a long time you kind of look at and think oh they've got it sorted they've got it nailed they know what's happening and every time I go into Facebook something has changed so it doesn't necessarily get any easier but I follow the same simple strategies all the time and that's really what keeps me going and then it's just about testing it is it is about spending other people's money to test out what's happening and and that's how I learn to be honest Peter it's about just not being afraid to put money on something to see if it works but not so much that if you if you didn't get any result back you you wouldn't have lost your business so I think that's well that's the way I always approach it is right what am I most curious to test to see if it works and if it works better than what I've done before and when I find that thing that does work better well then I keep doing that and then I test again to see and I'm always about what can we do to improve things even further but a lot of people are so scared to do that it's like what's the one best right way to set up this meta ad that it's going to deliver me a result and i'm not going to lose my shirt and there is no one right way it is about testing what's right for you so that that's always been my approach now.
Peter:
[7:00] As you said that i could not help but this is a wonderful motto for life like do you like just listening to that and going wow i apply it i test it i keep it simple i find what works and then i just run with that do you find that you are applying that kind of strategy plus you know that coupled with that good old scottish stubbornness does that does that work and apply in your life as well.
Liz:
[7:23] Yeah sheer bloody mindedness gets me through everything, but it's gonna happen i think i think it's it's actually resilience peter i think as an entrepreneur you need that resilience and even if you try things and they go wrong that's what's going to keep you, keeping on going on and yeah I think I've got that hard hard steeliness through me from my mother all the way through and that does keep me going but I think it is an approach to entrepreneurship I think you've got to be curious and you've got to test but it's that whole mindset piece isn't it about putting aside the fear of what if it doesn't work and asking yourself well what if it does.
Peter:
[8:10] Well that's yeah it's like i usually adopt and when people say oh but why should i do that i go but why not and i.
Liz:
[8:16] Think it's we.
Peter:
[8:17] Get hardwired in that way of like i just find do you find like where like most entrepreneurs including ourselves like i know i am i consider myself a problem solver not a problem maker like it's just like where's the solution where's the solution do you find you're kind of hardwired the same way.
Liz:
[8:33] I think i am and i'm i'm not sure i know where that comes strong but I think if I look back yes I'm one of these people that if something gets lost in the house I've got to find it because I need to know where it is and it will bug me for days because it's a problem that I need to solve it's like where does it go and it and I know it's here somewhere and it can't just disappear and I think I've always been like that but I think that's the approach I take in business and everything it's like right okay this is a problem but there's an answer somewhere and i'm i'm just gonna find it i'm gonna find it and i annoy the heck out of everyone in that sheer bloody mind but that's that's just me i like to be in control and i like to yeah i like things i like to work them out i.
Peter:
[9:22] Like the way you you had to hold yourself back okay all right okay i like to hold like.
Liz:
[9:26] Control i'll be honest i know i drive people crazy with it no.
Peter:
[9:31] But it's one thing is like but you know how you work and you know how to work your systems. And when you have that, I know I get very similar. Hey, look, I know my wife gets upset with me sometimes about your partner. It's like, why do you have this? Because I know what I'm doing. I know how it works, that this is a good approach. It's been tried. It's been tested. Don't complicate the matter.
Liz:
[9:52] Exactly. And I think it has always been about keeping it simple for me. I think, you know, two reasons. I haven't got the brain power to make it overcomplicated. And I like an easy life if possible. But I think simple can be much more effective a lot of the time. And we do overcomplicate things, especially as entrepreneurs, because it's squirrel, I'll try that shiny object and I'll keep that on top of what I'm already doing and layer and layer goes on. And before we know it, we've got this hot mess of something that doesn't work and we can't unravel it to find out why the hell it's not working. So, you know, if you start with my approach and just keep it simple from the start, it's much easier to identify where you went wrong.
Peter:
[10:33] Now, of course, we're a little bit, and especially your journey, very tried and tested and you've gone through it and you've learned these lessons. There's probably some wonderful budding entrepreneurs out there going,
Peter:
[10:46] oh, wow, it's nice to hear this. And look, guys, we go through the struggles too. But it's also interesting too, and you brought this up a bit earlier, is the fact of going through it, starting your own thing. And like you said, oh, okay, the redundancy is coming and I'll get into this and I'll try that. And you're kind of working through these things. But then you mentioned like the mindset was a big part of it. And where did that really start to become? A moment for you like oh hang on this is important for me this is important for my direction in my business where did that mindset start to really become important for you in your journey.
Liz:
[11:26] It's a good question Peter and I'm not sure if there's an exact moment when I became aware that that it was important you know I'd like to say I had this sudden epiphany that I needed to do the inner work first and I'm not sure it was like that I think it's almost it's like it's almost always always been there I mean I I think it's probably a story I haven't even shared with you that you know I went through a really hard journey to have my son and I had this deep inner knowing that I was born to be a mother and it was almost no matter what obstacles were being put in my way towards that journey there was going to be a solution and this deep inner knowing and and I think this comes back to that resilience it's when when you just know in your gut that something is right and that.
Liz:
[12:16] Something is meant to be it keeps you going and I think it's it's moments like that that gave me an inkling that there's there's a common thread that when I have faced adversity in life and when I have faced the tough times it's that gut feeling that you're on the right path that's that's kept me going and I think it's just leaning into that and realizing that that's not about what strategy you do that's not about what route you take the practical side of things that's actually listening to your intuition so that's the inside stuff and I think that started to grow and grow that how important that was and keeping a clear head and and really being focused on what you want and no matter how fearful and how tough things can get.
Liz:
[13:03] How do you move past that? That all comes from within. So I think it's not been a conscious thing that I've leaned into. I think it's always kind of been there. But then, as always happens, you start to, people come into your world who show you the way to deepen that journey. And I think, you know, that it's no coincidence that people like you have come into my world and people like James Wedmore, who, you know, I absolutely look
Liz:
[13:27] up to as a mentor from the the inner side of.
Peter:
[13:30] Things as.
Liz:
[13:31] Well as the the outer strategy business side of things.
Peter:
[13:35] And I love the way and thank you so much for being open about that because obviously you can see like it you know it's emotional moving like realizing and even in the moments like this it's like, reflecting on those moments you can see that emotion is still there for you it's very real but, even more so the resolve in your eyes where they're like, no, I'm meant to be a mom. And you're talking about intuition. It kind of leads me to the next question because I was kind of like, naturally, it's business and it's meta ads and there's business coaching, entrepreneurship, all these things. You're talking about the inner work and then you mentioned intuition. It's like, that's what I was going to start asking you. So, where's the energetics?
Peter:
[14:16] Where's the spiritual connection in amongst this for you? Is this something that you have grown up with and it's just kind of bubbled along with you in your journey or has it really started to serve as more so the more you've kind of leaned into your journey?
Liz:
[14:31] I think it's developed more, leaned into my journey, because I think if I look back to childhoods and even school days, there was never any, let's sit and do a meditation or any of the spiritual side of it or energetic side of it. My mum and dad were very, very practical.
Liz:
[14:51] There was never any, no, there was never any side of that in my upbringing at all. And you know that latterly there's been times when i think you know this is a mindset issue and mum and dad and you think well you just can't have that conversation because they're not not of a mindset that they would in any way embrace that or think about it.
Liz:
[15:13] But that said my mum was always i wouldn't say very religious but faith was important to her so while i'm saying that she wasn't in the mindset you know and she wouldn't sit and meditate or do the deep inner work she did have a faith in another being whatever you want to call it for her it was god so i suppose there was that even in my early childhood that kind of faith in something outside of yourself a higher power another energy so i was definitely brought up in that kind of environment but never really for doing the deep inner work and i think that has evolved over time as I've kind of grown emotionally I suppose and to explore that and to start to in times of stress in particular looking at right well getting quiet and and trying meditation as a means of getting quiet and just you know shutting out the noise to calm my own nervous state I think the more you more I've done that the more it's become a practice the more it's become important to me and the more I've sought to learn more from other people.
Peter:
[16:25] I love that. And so what would you attribute to one of the biggest like spiritual spurts or energetic learnings in tribute to where you are today?
Liz:
[16:36] God, it's such a good question.
Peter:
[16:38] I know because it's quite a lot.
Liz:
[16:40] Yeah, yeah. But again, it's trying to pinpoint it. It's almost like it's crept up on me.
Peter:
[16:47] That sneaky universe. You can never see it coming.
Liz:
[16:50] Yeah, it's almost like you're a bit woo and you're like, am I really? because i think i'm quite quiet about it it's almost just this quiet practice of i think it started peter with what did i need to make me feel better in times of stress or going through going through the the life events that hit us all yeah and yeah what did i need to get me through that i've always been one that i do like to talk i am i am a kind of an ex typical extrovert i get a lot of energy from talking things out with people but there's also the times when I just need to sit quietly and think about what do I need here and I think that was the start of it and I think it has been in those life moments needing more of it and just where can I where can I get the best help from solving the problem you know it really it comes down to that it's that problem solver thing it's like I've got a problem I don't feel good I don't feel right I feel fearful I feel stressed I feel tense I've hit a block what can I do to move past this.
Liz:
[17:56] And being open to anything that would help with that and meditation certainly for gosh for about the last 15 years I don't do it regularly enough but when I do I get such peace and quiet from that and I think it's realizing just the power of the mind that when you set your mind to something it can do so much and and then it's just it just has naturally evolved to people the right people coming to my life at the right time and whether that's because I'm putting out the right energy that I'm open to that I don't know but that's certainly happened and even in the last 12 months I've got good colleagues that I've been on retreats with where we've really leaned into the power of the mind chats I've had with people like yourself listening to podcasts that are more on the spiritual energetic side and to the pure practical side of things which I think comes as quite a surprise to a lot of people when i'm they see me as doing meta ads and that's very process driven stats and it's metrics and it's numbers and it's very masculine and and actually i think that's my superpower for meta ads is bringing a little bit of the energetic side to it and the spidey senses of just knowing what's right and what's working well.
Peter:
[19:02] That's me you've got those down pat it's like because it's you're the go-to person for it it's like i know there's like, there must be a part of you going, I feel for him like, I know what it's like because doing my line of work and obviously, because we obviously met at retreats and we catch up, whatever else. And I see everyone. Doing to you what people do to me after my events which is not a problem don't get me wrong guys if you listen to this but it's just one of those things it comes it's like the nature of the beast it comes with the territory of like okay this is what i'm helping you with this is what i'm talking about so you get a lot of people kind of coming up with you but i also feel like that's why when i every time i meet you i see i'm like i am not gonna mention anything about i know you're gonna get enough of that as it is and i know what it's like so i was like let's have a conversation about something completely different that's not related.
Liz:
[19:52] I know. And I get it. Can I just pick your brains for five minutes? And I have no brains left. So pick away if you can find something of use.
Peter:
[20:00] Those five minutes add up very quickly, I can tell you. Because it's like three days with sometimes, what, 200 people? Just recently it was 1,200 people. Those five minutes add up very, very quickly. So I don't know how you have the capacity left sometimes.
Liz:
[20:15] To it's fine but it's usually fine but if you if you ask me a question and come between me and a bar of chocolate that's when you'll see the bad side of listening so.
Peter:
[20:25] Just out of curiosity what's your favorite chocolate to chomp on.
Liz:
[20:27] Oh i've got so many peter um that's like choosing your favorite child that's just impossible even though it's impossible.
Peter:
[20:38] We all do it.
Liz:
[20:39] I know well my go-to for the day-to-day for a fix is Galaxy Smooth Caramel. So anyone listening, next time you see me, if you want to ask me a Facebook ads question, give me a bar of Galaxy and I'm yours.
Peter:
[20:52] A bar of Galaxy. So Galaxy Caramel, is it?
Liz:
[20:56] Galaxy Smooth Caramel.
Peter:
[20:57] Smooth Caramel.
Liz:
[20:58] That's my day-to-day favourite.
Peter:
[20:59] Right.
Liz:
[21:00] But for a real treat, it's green and blacks or lint, lint chocolate.
Peter:
[21:04] Okay. Now here's the tough question. What's the wine you go to in the moment of need?
Liz:
[21:11] Anything that's available whatever's in line of sight on the on.
Peter:
[21:18] The supermarket shelves that's just that's sorry emotional eater coming through like oil 10 is mine 100 a.
Liz:
[21:25] New chocolate got.
Peter:
[21:26] Out of the way i was just i was i was thinking maybe there is like i i've never really thought about it because i'm a bit like that too he's like hey stress hits like nah bring on the calories i don't care where it's coming from and then it's like but i thought no you're so specific about your chocolate. I'm thinking maybe you have like this real deep go-to, like this is my feel-good one, you know?
Liz:
[21:47] Well, to be honest, the real feel-good one in the real times of need is actually chocolate ice cream. Hagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream, Belgian chocolate. That would be the one that, yeah, I would eat the whole tub.
Peter:
[21:59] Your face says it off. I can see you visualizing it right now. It's just like, no.
Liz:
[22:04] That's the one. People say, why are you not the size of a house?
Peter:
[22:10] No i love it but and it's like i just love that kind of taking it through it and like you know where it all kind of fits for you but this is also interesting too because where this kind of comes to the the crux of it and this is this is a beautiful part i love hearing about it from you you know obviously just before recording is that you're now finding like a real greater shift for yourself, you're finding a greater sense of purpose, but we'll get to that in a moment, but this has all been born out of a very, very deep and very painful, you know, personal period of your life. Would you mind just walking us through where this is coming from, your journey into the next-
Liz:
[22:58] So, I mean, you did ask about who's been, you know, big influences in me leaning into the kind of more energetic and in a work side. And, you know, I'd have to acknowledge James Wedmore for that because I've been in his world. He's been a client of mine for seven years now. I've been in his coaching groups and absorbing his knowledge and wisdom. And that has definitely, I've taken a lot of learning from that. And the one big lesson has always been that no matter what happens in your life,
Liz:
[23:33] it's happening for you, not to you. And that there is a lesson in everything. And that can be a hard one to swallow at times.
Liz:
[23:42] And so what really happened for me was very suddenly last summer, my mum was taken into hospital and she never left. She never left it. And it was a really, really difficult time. And her passing I don't think you know your parents are going to pass away at some point it's inevitable but I don't think anything prepares you for that experience in losing especially for me my mother the person who brings you into the world and it was a shock, and it was traumatic and but all the way through it I thought there's got to be something here that I've got to learn there's something in here in the manner of a going.
Liz:
[24:31] There is something here and I reflect I didn't really reflect on it I think I just allowed it to come in because I don't think you can force that and I truly believe the revelation would come at some point.
Liz:
[24:46] And it did because the whole the support that, I wanted to give to her to be by her bedside when she was in hospital to look after my dad at the same time I had to let go of so much in my business and it taught me a big big lesson about priorities and about as an entrepreneur how what is required to be able to run a successful business alongside being there for your loved ones and picking up the emotional responsibilities of life when they happen and they're going to happen and you might think you've got a successful business but there are times in your life where if I think to kind of.
Liz:
[25:39] There's lots of different ways to build a house, but you're not going to know how strong that house is until the wind really blows. And when the wind blew for me last summer, the foundations my business were built on were not as strong as I thought they were.
Liz:
[25:57] And out of that, I just found the purpose that I wanted to make sure that no woman was in a position where she had to sacrifice her business to to shoulder the emotional responsibilities of life and that she could choose where her time was spent and not worry about the business and what was going to happen if she's not in it and because that was my reality was I realized that was a lot of my business depended on me being there and being in it to keep it running and had to make the choice okay well I need to let that part go because there's no one else to pick it up and that shouldn't have been a shock to me, that I had built something around me that the business owned a lot of me and I didn't own it and that that needed to change and I wanted to help other women change and I think since then the number of people I've talked to who tell me stories about someone passing away someone suddenly becoming ill themselves suddenly having an illness where they can't work they haven't got the emotional strength length to work or the motivation, literally to even get out of bed, let alone run the business. So what do you do in those moments if you haven't set up your business in a way that it's going to keep running without you?
Peter:
[27:17] That's a really good question. And we are going to so pick that up in the next part of this episode, because even before we break for that episode i could just see how much that shock and i just want to say thank you for being open and vulnerable and sharing that experience around your mom for you know obviously with me obviously with the listeners and i know that those words are going to be helpful to so many other people out there so so much thank you so much for that and i'm really looking forward to picking this conversation up oh man so much to talk about i feel like it was like how how many hours how many minutes, but we're going to get this. Stay tuned, guys. We're going to pick this up with Liz Melville when we're coming back, Finding Purpose from Greatest Pain here in part two.
Liz:
[28:11] Thanks, Peter.
