Shownotes

How would you live if you truly believed that the universe is working in your favor? How can you step into a life that will expand with you and fulfill all your dreams? Tune in for a messy journey through uncertainty to decisions that become aligned.

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In this episode you will learn about:

• The moment of realization that perfection was not a serving factor.
• Allowing the universe to work in your favor
• How you learn the micro steps of confidence
• The impact of the animalistic side of the brain
• The new way of creating content
• The three components of manifesting the life you want

Episode References/Links:

• Website: https://www.attentioneers.com/

Transcript

Lesley Logan
Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I’m Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I’ve trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it’s the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It’s a practice, not a perfect. Let’s get started.

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Lesley Logan
Hey Be It babe. All right, I’m stoked, this, get ready to write this whole thing down my perfectionist overachievers, this woman is here for you. She gets you, she understand you. Yes, that’s me. But it’s also our guest, Hilary Billings. She has just really made an incredible career for herself. And I think it’s easy to see people doing stuff and go, must be nice. We’ve talked about this before with Tanya Dalton. Let’s be nice. It’s so easy for them. Like, yeah, they could do it, but I can’t. And honestly, like, what I love about Hillary’s story, and we could have gone 17 different ways with this episode, so I will have to have her back. But you are gonna hear that she can’t, she started out like a lot of us. Most of us started out in a position where we didn’t have money. We didn’t have people around us as models for what to do. And also like, there was a lot of things out of our control that kept us from being who we wanted to be in this world, or we thought we wanted to be in this world. And so what I hope you get out of this episode is that life is such a journey. And we’re supposed to do it together. And so thank you for being a listener of the show. Because, I mean, I couldn’t do the show without you. I really couldn’t. So thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for being you. And here is Hilary Billings.

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EPISODE

Lesley Logan
All right, Be It babes. I am really thrilled. Because honestly, we should be doing this podcast in person, we actually live close enough, we probably should have done that. But I’m really excited because, you know, the world is a funny place. And I was introduced to this woman a couple of times. And a couple of times, we had texted back like let’s get together. And like true women who work for themselves. Life gets really busy and things get in the way. But this is really funny how we came upon this. She reached out about wanting some help. And someone’s like Lesley, you should, you would be perfect for her. And then we hit it off on a zoom call. And we realized we were literally down the street from each other at the more we were talking. And so Hillary Billings is my guest today. She is a neighbor. Even if there’s a freeway in between, and she’s an incredible woman who has a wonderful journey that I can’t wait for you to hear about. Because y’all we I think it’s really easy for us to think about life happening to us. And really, it can be the thing that’s happening for you. And Hillary is going to tell you that, so Hillary, will you tell everyone who you are and what you’re rocking at?

Hilary Billings
Oh my gosh, Lesley, we should have done this in person. What were we thinking?

Lesley Logan
I don’t know. I literally, I was like, Oh, she could have just been to kind of come over.

Hilary Billings
Walked over, had coffee and sat down.

Lesley Logan
I would have made you a latte. I have a machine now.

Hilary Billings
Jesus, we’ll have to redo this whole thing over again. We’ll just come back we’ll do more. (Lesley: Yes, there’ll be more I agree). You know, what I think is so beautiful about this is that it is such a testament to me that the universe will not let you miss the thing that’s meant for you. Because we have spent so much time going back and forth. I think over the past two years, I’m being introduced in multiple different ways to different people. And I think that there’s something so special about that, that even though it wasn’t it was misaligned in the time or I was here and you were there or whatever was happening that we couldn’t make it work that the universe will always ensure that the people that you need to meet come back into your life. And that gives me so much peace now as someone that has struggled with anxiety and perfectionism and needing to continue to roll the ball up the hill all the time that the universe is conspiring in your favor. So I love that.

Lesley Logan
Yeah, I you as you say that I am it brings up all the different times that like the universe like would not let me not know this person. Yeah, yes, yes.

Hilary Billings
We’ve all been there right? It’s so it’s such a beautiful thing. So I’m Hilary billings I’m based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. And I also am a recovering perfectionist and I have such a very eclectic background, I’d like to call myself a cat with nine lives. I started off in psychology, went into journalism, I accidentally became a travel blogger, accidentally became Miss Nevada due to a firework accident and separating second and third degree burns. And then all this, again, this continual evolution of the universe lovingly taking me off my path, and abruptly putting me into a new scenario that I had to figure out how to work. And so now, I am a content creator of viral video content creator for social media and run a creative agency where we help personal brands and entrepreneurs and companies and their agency partners, you know, make content that people care about that their audiences want to see. So we help drive revenue and reputation that way, but lifetime learner, and certainly I like to consider myself a professional adventurer in a lot of capacities. Having done everything from Lion taming to beauty pageants to Red Carpet hosting and beyond.

Lesley Logan
Okay, so, I, I think we need to tell people like when you say like, you have animals, like you have farm animals situation happening as well, right, like so… And you have a, like, land with animals.

Hilary Billings
So I do have a horse that I keep her at a barn in the mountains edge in Las Vegas, and then we do have 125 pound great pyrenee, so yes, we’re, I’m slowly accruing, the animals. I don’t have all the land yet, but we’re gonna manifest that at some point. It’s coming, I’m sure. But I have always been able to be around lots of land, lots of animals, which has been fantastic and, and had a lot of opportunity to work with different even big Catholic African lions and tigers throughout the years. So…

Lesley Logan
So So what I guess like there’s so many places we can go because I’m sure people like the firework thing, what’s going on? … But I guess like, I want to start with like, when did you recognize that your perfectionism was getting in the way? Because like, I can see how like on so many of those things like being the psychologist being the journalist, like some of that, like the perfectionism might even felt like it was a superpower. But like, obviously, it led you to something else, like can you think of a time where like, this is actually keeping me from having the life I want to live.

Hilary Billings
So the first moment that I recognized that my perfectionism may not be serving me was when I received 14 rejection letters for graduate school. So I was the number one graduate of UNLV, they gave me an award called the outstanding graduate for being the best student out of all the students and I was so proud of that. And that was based upon not only academics, where I had a three point 90 GPA, I had one A minus my entire college career, it was in world history. Ironically, I like to blame it on the teacher failed many, many moons later. But you know, it’s based upon your academics, your research, your community involvement, I was taking 21 credits a semester, which is a full course load, plus running multiple research labs, plus working part time jobs. And I was on a full academic ride scholarship. I, I couldn’t, my parents couldn’t afford for me to go to college. And I was very heavily involved with the finances of paying for our house and our mortgage when I was growing up. So I knew that if I wanted to go to college, I had to make it happen. So I applied for so many scholarships that by the time I graduated, UNLV was actually paying me to go to school. And I was terrified that we’re going to ask for the money back because I don’t have enough expenses for all of this and books and what have you. But and I made the sacrifice to stay in Las Vegas to go to school. It wasn’t the dream that I wanted. I always wanted to get out and go to someplace exotic and wanted to attend an Ivy League. But you know, again, the realistic perfectionist in me is like, let’s graduate debt free and then figure it out. So when I was applying to graduate schools, like if there was a top draft pick for graduate school programs, I was very competent, that I was that I was doing everything that I had been told, since I was a freshman that if you do these things, you will get into a great program. And it just so happened, you know, as the world will, will come upon you. There was a lot that was outside of my control for this. I graduated right after the 2008. So graduated 2010. So we’re still dealing with the 2008 crisis and recession and that crash. PhD programs will not take students unless they can fully fund them at least on the clinical psychology side. And so I was up against the same, you know, 700 applicants from across the country, and I would see the same 70 people at all of the interviews that I was going and paying to participate in. And through that process, I will get phone calls from the professors being like we loved you, you are our number two or number three pick, we only have enough money to fund student number one, or it was you were great. But the students that we’ve chosen are actually already practicing physicians that have their masters that are coming back to get their PhDs now, because of the way the market has turned. And there are a better deal than having to pay for somebody on a full PhD, right? There was even one letter that I got that was not addressed to me. And someone, someone had crossed out the name, and then misspelled my name over that for the rejection letter. So if you want to talk about feeling like I wasn’t even worthy of a reprint of a piece of paper to get my rejection it was was pretty horrific. (Leslye: Oh my God) But that was the first moment of like, you know, I’ve done everything according to what I was told to do. And now I’m in a place where the the future that I was promised isn’t available to me, at least on in the timeline that I wanted it. So now what and what would this look like? So I did what any rational 20 something would do. I bought a plane ticket to Nicaragua. I started a travel blog and went to a surf retreat with a bunch of other really powerful females to figure out my life.

Lesley Logan
No, I free I love when a perfectionist like like, what is it like goes off the deep end. They’re like, I’m going to Nicaragua, they go to Costa Rica, they go somewhere.

Hilary Billings
Go on this journey. Everything I thought I knew was wrong. So let’s just go the other way and just swing the pendulum completely in the opposite direction. Yeah, certainly that moment. That was the first time that I started to consider what did I want my life to look like versus what should it look like? Which I think for our generation, I think now, especially for younger generation, that’s a lot easier. We’re more empowering about build the lifestyle that you want to have, and then find the career that fits within that. And I don’t feel like 10 years ago, that was an option.

Lesley Logan
No, no, hello, I’m an elder millennial. And I can tell you like I did it all right too and I was like, and then I was, you know, going to college with 911. And then I graduated right before. So i i The perfectionist rebellion is definitely something I think millennials and Gen Xers are like very clear, because like I did what you said. Yeah, it bit me in the behind. (Hilary: Yeah). Yeah!

Hilary Billings
Absolutely. Well, especially, I mean, I feel like every teen movie, every show is always about like go to college, every adult that we talk to is like, you must go to college, you must do it this way. And then you’ll make a lot of money and be happy. And it’s like, okay, great. I will I’ll do this path, just like you said. And it was very interesting to see, as I started blogging about this, like journey of finding myself and feeling at the time, like I was just really journaling the downfall of my life and like this is the unraveling of the Hillary. So here you go, and away from my friends and family to keep in touch with me while I was traveling. And then to get the response back from people all over the world who we’re dealing with a very similar mindset. And so I ended up building a readership in over 100 countries didn’t know what to do with it at the time, didn’t know how to monetize it. But it was very powerful for that to be a connection point where people wanted to have that conversation and, and to recognize that we were all dealing with it in our own little spheres in our microcosms and could finally have a way to connect about it.

Lesley Logan
Yeah, I am. I think like I think what’s really cool is you just kind of like I’m just going to try something and I’m not going to have the plan to follow which is a little it’s just like very hard for (Hilary: terrifying) it’s terrifying for perfectionists but like you were correct like I don’t think people understand that time is very specific. You all there were lawyers were going out of college who could not get a an internship like unpaid internship because four and five year attorneys were like I’ll take that job because I just I and so they’re getting these like experienced attorneys for cheaper than a college graduate. So it was just a really hard time and so I think when those things happen for you clearly it puts you it took you out of like I’m just gonna follow the next step and the next step and it made you go from a paint by number life to something that you are actually painting from scratch and so I think that’s just really really cool. From so as you as you got into this travel blogging thing and then you went on to this next thing what what was your Northstar? Was it like, what feels good? What was like, how are you picking what to do next? Were you journaling about it? Were you talking to people that you have a coach or therapy what was going on?

Hilary Billings
Yeah, it was it was a lot of allowing the universe to show me while me trying to hold on to some resemblance of control, which was not working out very well for me if I’m being honest, like, you know, the the travel blogging aspect can seem so fantastical and what a movie like experience and there were so many of those moments. A majority of the time I was terrified. A lot of the time I was crying, there was a lot of having to work through these emotional blocks. I think the biggest thing that I learned through that process that I hadn’t previously really embraced was that I am fully capable of making my own decisions, even just and that’s the beautiful thing about travel, right? Especially when you go to places where you don’t speak the language, you don’t know where you’re going. This was a time this was pre international phone plan. So like, could not Google did not have Google on my phone, where I was going. And, and I was very much alone. Like I, in order for me to feel connection, I was just journaling things I wanted to tell people later, because I didn’t want to spend the money to try to text them. It was still like $1 text message or something back then, which is why… so …

Lesley Logan
It’s okay, everyone listening to this nose. And if we have anyone who’s like, what, like, they it’s like three people and Hello. Yeah …

Hilary Billings
(Lesley: Thank you. I was really hard back then). Okay, so no, we can … And that was a whole thing and a way to call people till after nine o’clock. Oh!

Lesley Logan
I had, I was in Brazil alone. And I could only use my phone and computer at the hotel like you couldn’t even, restaurants did not have WiFi for me to use. So I would like map it out. I would like know all of the things I’m going to do for the whole day. And then no one would know where I was or who I was with until I got back to the hotel rooms.

Hilary Billings
Yeah. Yeah. And you’re just helping … make it back. And…

Lesley Logan
Yeah, yeah, that’s pretty much it. I mean, I believed that I was gonna be okay. But like, you know, it’s kind of funny looking back. It’s like, wow, like now when I’m in Cambodia. I’ve gone to so many places in my village that my Wi Fi just pings on as I’m going to tuck tuck. I’m like, Oh, I have Wi Fi I can like check in with this person.

Hilary Billings
The privilege that we have now that we didn’t have back then. But you know, I think there was something really special about that time, because it really forced you to have to sit like I wake up in the morning, wherever I was, and be like, Okay, today we’re in Fiji, I need to get breakfast. What do you want for breakfast? Well, where are we going to go to get that breakfast, and just learning those micro steps of confidence of like, hey, look, you got breakfast for yourself, and you didn’t know where you were like, good job on you. Goldstar. It really helped to build my confidence that I could make decisions for my life that would allow me to not only be safe, but to thrive. And I think it’s really important. And that was that became my MO for a majority of my 20s was when I was feeling unstable when I was feeling like the drama of the situation around nearby come back to the states and I was working some, you know, low paying job, doing God knows what and retail that I could always just go away and remove myself from that situation and find a way to make the uncomfortable comfortable as a way to find that self growth. And that that kind of became my my default. Because I didn’t know another way of doing that. That would keep me at one point.

Lesley Logan
You know, that thank you for saying that. I think that is something so key that right now, every listener everybody can actually be doing. I think we’re because so much of what happens to us is outside of our control, and we’re not actually honoring or celebrating what we did that was inside of our control. We’re just like so focused on like, what we weren’t able to control, we should have been able to control that. And so I love that you’re like okay, I got like, I didn’t have breakfast and dinners, no breakfast and I got breakfast and I’m having breakfast right now. And I think like to the perfectionist listening to this, she’d be like, of course she got breakfast. It’s like no, no, that is actually worth celebrating. If you did not know the next three steps and your day and you somehow found a way to make them you have to give yourself a pat on the back. Otherwise you’re gonna have a lot more tears like you brought up tear there was a lot of tears. Yeah, cuz you’re trying to become someone new, you’re trying to do something you didn’t have a muscle for. It’s just like going to the gym, you’re gonna soreness is going to happen when you’re training in a muscle group you have never trained before, it’s the same thing for anything you’re doing in life. So I love that you shared that because I hope people I hope if you’re listening, it’s like, what can you just literally look back at your day and go, Oh, I just did that. Like I literally just did that she just set? Well that’s a huge thing. A lot of people looking for confidence doesn’t come from like, you’ve been deemed it comes from these little action steps. So I love that.

Hilary Billings
Yeah, I think that we forget that. On a very basic level, we are still animals. And so we’re constantly dealing with what a natural evolution has given us, which is the anxiety of finding safety and of being able to feel competent, that we can take care of ourselves, especially when we’re trying something new. Or we’re in a situation that feels threatening for some reason. And that could be it feels threatening to because it’s it’s new and different or because there’s something that’s a piece of danger and our brain doesn’t know the difference. It’s funny, you know training, I’m an equestrian I write 100 jumper and my horse is very intelligent, but that also means she has a lot more anxiety than a lot of the horses because she is running the permutations as to what around her is potentially going to be a threat. And there is a particular corner of the arena that she has decided is this spooky, scary corner. And so we’ve been spending a lot of time with her up there, just giving her pats like when she walks through the corner and doesn’t freak out or try to bolt away, she gets pats and she gets reinforcement, or she gets a cookie. And it seems like if we were to do that to a person, it would seem stupid. But at the same time, it’s like you’re learning to calm that animalistic side of your brain that says that there is something to be afraid of here. And the more that we can reinforce that we have ourselves in these moments, the more data points we’re putting on the board, that we can help ourselves for future situations when we’re looking down the line. I mean, the more that I look at how I’ve been able to build my confidence brick by brick, it mostly has to do with being able to reference these previous moments of my life and being like, Okay, well, this thing feels really scary right now. But I previously tamed lions, so I’m pretty sure I can get over this thing right now. Or this, this moment of my career seems very vulnerable and scary right now. But I previously was rejected from every program that I thought was my future and was able to build something that was really successful and exciting. So clearly, whatever comes next is going to be okay.

Lesley Logan
That is, okay, everyone can rewind that. Because they, it just goes back to and that’s why being a perfectionist, an overachiever can really hold us back, it can definitely be a superpower. And a lot of ways, especially when you’re younger, or you’re trying to overcome some things. But if you but if you only live in that zone, you’re not giving yourself credit for anything you did, really, because if it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t good enough. So you’re not even like celebrating. It’s that Yeah, but so and so help me it’s like, okay, so they helped you. And you did it. Right. So I love I love like…

Hilary Billings
You know, we don’t do anything alone. Like regardless of even if you’re going to the grocery store to buy your groceries, there was a farmer that had to make that food and then it was put on a truck and a driver brought it to the store and someone had to put it on a shelf, and then someone had to check you out. Like, there is nothing that we do in this life that we do in solidarity against anyone else. So I think we need to remove this concept or this allowing that that is something that should be praised, because it’s not realistic, and it doesn’t exist. So we all need help. And I think that that can be one of the bravest things that you do is to know when to ask for help and how to get it.

Lesley Logan
Yeah, no one to ask. And then also, maybe it’s like, I mean, there’s there’s a reason why there’s five minute journals, or it’s gratitude journals, there’s like, there’s people saying you should like write three things down. You’re just taking a moment. I remember when I was going through my tiny habits training with BJ Fogg, you know, his sister said at the end of the day, write down a story that happened that day, because you’re going to use it to help people create habits because story is what helps people understand these things. And you told some great stories help us understand how you got to where you are. But this is so important, y’all. If you don’t recognize the things that you did do, you actually cannot in the moments of like, oh my gosh, how am I gonna get through this, you’re not gonna have anything to fall back on to go, Oh, I’ve done this before. Actually, like, I remember I was walking down this. It’s not even an alley. It’s a street. But like, I think people in America would call it an alley. And it was, it was it was like 830 at night. But you know, I’m in Cambodia. So it’s, you know, dark, pitch black, and I’m walking, and I had just walked that street in the daylight. But for whatever reason, it’s dark. I’m by myself, and I’m starting to, like, have fear. And you’re right, you said it, like the brain doesn’t know a new experience from like, a dangerous experience. And I started to like, pick up my pace. And then I heard like, crap, and I almost wanted to run but I’m in sandals. So that’s not going to happen. And I was just like, we actually walked up this without any issues two hours ago. And I bet if we just walked calmly, we would get to the other side of the street and there nothing and it was like nothing was happening. I was in zero danger. But our brain can tell us a story and if we don’t have something reference back to like, help us stay present. Then we’re gonna miss out on all the potential opportunities that there are and then to go back to I just want to highlight because it makes me think of when I was a kid, you’d put up like we we do everything is with somebody is also self like it just is. Do you remember the movie? My cousin Vinnie? I don’t know if anyone Okay, so my mom loved this movie. Loved it. Hi, mom. She’s watching this on YouTube. So she loves this movie. And she and at the end of this movie, Joe Pesci is like so it was he was like, I just want to deal with my first case by myself and she’s like, Oh my gosh, what if you went all of your cases all the time, but at the end you have to look at someone go thank you. And then she goes, What a fucking nightmare. Oh my god, that’s so terrible. And it’s just so funny because that’s what we as professionals overachievers, do we like reject help? We don’t even like look up to see what It is around us, I could actually help us get to that moment because we’re like, if I don’t do it alone that I didn’t do it.

Hilary Billings
Yeah. And it’s like, when did we create that was the rule. And by the way, I knowing that if we can all objectively agree that that rule isn’t achievable, that we actually can’t get there. Because everything that we have in this life is built upon the backs of others in our community, then we’re just setting ourselves up to lose the game. So why don’t we make rules that we can actually win off of? Wouldn’t that be nice?

Lesley Logan
Wouldn’t that be nice? When that be nice? Okay, so I want to talk because you have, I mean, you’re the cat with nine lives you’d like I don’t wanna say reinvented or recreated because you’re the, you’re taking your amazing self into another situation. So can you tell us because now you’re doing something new, that that is very needed in this world. And also, like, it wasn’t anything you went to college for, And were trained, like, follow these things. So like, what are you doing now? And how, like, what what are you having to overcome to like, kind of, Be It Till You See it in this moment?

Hilary Billings
Yeah, so a few years ago, I was presented the opportunity to have my own monetize Facebook page. At the time, I was making these comedic monologue videos and just having a ton of fun making them and they were starting to pick up some traction. So an acquaintance that I knew was a publisher that was working with Facebook to get these monetized pages. So my partner and I decided to take one on and be like, this would be great. I have a background I wrote for USA Today, I’ve been a celebrity interviewer I’ve done all of these videos have put together all this content, I know how to make a really great headline. He’s a former billboard charting artist and musician and tech entrepreneur. So we can certainly make amazing content that people are going to want to watch. And we started that that Facebook watch channel and we bombed, it was bad. We couldn’t we couldn’t make anything work. And it was so frustrating. I want to say for like six to nine months, we were like nose to the grindstone, just hitting our heads against the wall, not understanding why our content wasn’t converting. And we were seeing all these creators around us having so much success, and it was so frustrating. And we’re like, we’re so smart. We’re so dedicated. What are we doing wrong? And we hit this point of, we either have to find a new way of doing this or we have to let it go and try something else. So what are we going to do? So we sat down, and we must have watched hundreds if not 1000s of viral videos, and we created a spreadsheet in true perfectionist fashion. As to okay, what’s what’s happening in this video? What second one was happening a second three? What’s the opening image? How many people are in this video? How long is this video? What’s the theme of this video? Is there music? Is there captions? Is there subtitles? And as we started just putting in all this data, removing the emotion of you know, we’re not good enough, or we’re not doing this right, and really starting to take this experimental scientific research approach of what are these videos all have in common? We started to see some themes. So we took that knowledge into our next video, and that next video did 5 million views. And then the video after that to 10 million views. And it’s not to say that we kept this incremental pace where everything kept outpacing each other but and not every video that we did from then on out was a banger. But, you know, over the course of the next two years, we did over a billion organic views, I was able to organically grow my Tik Tok from zero to 400,000 followers in 40 days. And we realized that we had created a methodology and the science of how to leverage morality and really leverage the psychology the tension to make great content that people wanted to watch and engage in. And that would allow us to really shoot outside of our our followership, you know, a lot of times on social media, you’re reaching one to 6% of the number of people that follow you. And that’s what when brands are looking to partner with influencers. That’s what they’re looking at as those metrics. And we had minimal followers in comparison, like maybe 10,000 to 100,000. And we were still able to get these, you know, five 10 million views, because of how we were constructing the content. And the content itself wasn’t something that either one of us was really passionate about. It was a lot of very viral content, so pranks and gifting videos, and DIY and five minute crafts. But as we were looking at, you know, we knew this knowledge was special, we knew that everything that we’ve learned and how we were able to implement it was really powerful. And where could we find a way to add the value and be of service that we wanted to be? And it became very clear with my background and brand strategy and his background and serving different corporations and brands, that we would help other people, other entrepreneurs that were mission driven messengers to get their messages to the target audiences that they wanted to reach. And it’s such a it’s such a challenge right now. Right short form video is the golden standard. Everyone is trying and racing so hard to put up content, that a lot of it that there’s just massive quantity. 20 million videos are going up a day. And a lot of it sucks. (Lesley: Yeah). And so it’s like how do we create quality content that people want to watch? That’s intentional. That doesn’t make business owners and companies and entrepreneurs feel like they’re in this constant hamster wheel spinning cycle of having to make a bunch of content to just to keep up with the Joneses. And that’s where we put our focus. So I, it’s, I think what I’ve learned through this process is that everything’s an iteration on an iteration. And how do you take the skills that you previously have an add them to this next phase of your life, for the longest time, I really struggled with my career, my title being the thing that drove my worth, and to this day, that is still something that I have to battle consistently. But the more that I find myself being able to say, I’m able to be of service to people, and I’m learning, and I don’t know if this is going to be something that we’re doing 10 years from now, but I know that this business, and the way that we’re helping people right now, and all of the energy that I’m putting into this is going to grow me it’s going to grow others, and we’re all going to continue to, to have this evolutionary journey and grow on our path. So it’s really exciting to see some of the results, we’ve been able to get people, you know, millions of impressions across social media channels, we had a client that won a shorty Impact Award for some… (Lesley: WHat?!) Yeah, for some of their content. You know, we’ve had clients 240x their results. And, and being able to do it in a way that while it leverages the psychology of attention, it also really helps people stay true and authentic to their brand, and not feel like they have to dance or follow trends or constantly be researching. You know, it’s a, it’s a new way of looking at how you make content, which is always hard for people when they’re so used to just seeing these particular celebrities or gurus that they follow, doing things that are working for them. And not recognizing that there was a long road to get there. So trying to ease that, that journey for both the brand and for the user. It’s been really, really fantastic.

Lesley Logan
First of all, I think that it’s incredible what you guys were able to do I love I want to highlight like, you guys took it being personal out to like actually observe and like you said, it’s like a science experiment or whatever. And it’s, it’s true, I think, you know, no matter what you’re trying to do, you’re like, the more you make it personal about you, the harder it is, the more you can go. It’s actually it’s not about me at all. You know, like, I remember when we Brad made me get on YouTube, I think we’re eight years now. And I like I don’t think we went through a filming where I didn’t cry. Like, I don’t think there was a single filming where at some point, I didn’t cry, put some cold water on my face and try again. And it wasn’t until I realized that those videos were not about me, they were absolutely about the people watching them that we actually started getting traction they’ve been you know, and the channel is done really well for the niche that it is. It’s kind of crazy. You know, and but I love that you guys, you’re like, Okay, it’s not, we’re gonna stop thinking about us, we’re actually just gonna, like, look at what is working. And like, see how we can recreate it. And then instead of recreating it, so that could just be about you guys winning, you guys were like, How can I have we actually make this help people who actually want to change the world in different ways? And I still resonate with like, what am I calling myself? What is my title and also, like, have wanting to have that certainty? I think everyone listening like, of course, will have certainty that like, this is gonna be the thing that I do for the rest of my life. And I think the reality is, is that as long as you’re a curious person, that thing is going to change all the time. And I don’t know, gone are the days that like, you know, my grandfather after like after the base, like professional baseball and military, he was working for Coca Cola for the whole his whole life. Yeah, for some people, that is an option out there. But for a lot of us, especially creatives. And if you’re listening this Hello, you are one that is really not the that’s not it.

Hilary Billings
It’s wild to think about that I’m working in an industry that literally did not exist when I was going to college, right? Like TikTok was not a thing. We’re now on TikToks advisory board. We have a great partnership with them. These, these weren’t even platforms, Instagram was just barely coming out of the womb at this time. So, you know, I think the more that we can stay open to the fact that there were so many technological advances and things that are happening again, outside of our control, that are adding to this human experience that we don’t even know really in five to 10 years, what problems people are going to be having that we can solve that the knowledge that we’re gathering right now can help people solve. So yes, I think it’s so important to be able to stay open to that, to not hold the content so precious and so near and dear to us, which is such a hard thing to do as a perfectionist as somebody that is afraid of, when I used to make these comedic monologue videos, they would take days because even though I was making a three minute video, I would spend so much time looking at the words that I was writing on the page to see what issue someone might take with something that I was saying, like what was going to be the attack on me? Was I prepared to defend this line? That was supposed to just be some sort of comedic monologue funny skit.

Lesley Logan
And I’m sure I’m sure even with all of that three day span, you still had someone who was pissed about the word that you say.

Hilary Billings
Oh, yeah, that wouldn’t even watch the video, right? I did a video. I’m like, why having a girlfriend like having a cat, right? And like, we do our own thing. Don’t tell us to wash our hair, you know, just like silly things like that. And of course, people are like, Oh, you’re anti feminist. So I do want to like why having a boyfriend is like having a dog. And then of course, it’s like, how dare you? Yeah, yeah, it’s just, you know, you can’t win. And that’s the truth.

Lesley Logan
You’re, well, I mean, like, I, you’re not, not everyone’s gonna like you. And by the way, you don’t like everybody, like you don’t. So, so I hold yourself to a standard you won’t hold anyone else do. Anyways. Oh, my gosh, we could keep going. Obviously, you’re gonna come back. We’re gonna have you in person. Maybe we’ll have you like, come do some recaps of Brad’s … Yeah, let’s do it. Okay, we’re gonna take a quick break before we let you go, obviously, to find where people can find you, follow you work with you, and your Be It action items. All right, Hillary, where do you like to hang out? Obviously, TikTok is where you go. But where can people connect with you, if they’re like, oh my gosh, this is the girl who can tell me do the thing that I want to do.

Hilary Billings
If you’re interested in learning more about how you can leverage the psychology of attention for your short form videos, that’s Instagram rails, YouTube shorts, Facebook rails, Tik Tok, or beyond or even just finding a better way of getting your message out there, you can find us at attentioneers.com. That’s attention e e r s .com. You can book a free call with myself or my co founder. And we’d be happy to see how we can help you move forward and all of your dreams and aspirations of being a mission driven messenger that grows your reach.

Lesley Logan
I love it. Okay, before I let you go, you’ve given us so many great tips. But for the people who skipped at the end, TLDR, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps they can take to Be It Till You See It.

Hilary Billings
So I have found, obviously travel to get uncomfortable and find a way to make that comfortable with a mechanism that I use a lot in my 20s As I’ve been in my 30s. Now, it’s much harder to be able to pick up and go and find that time. And so I’ve had to learn to utilize different tools in order to find the expansion and the growth that I’ve wanted to, and to feel more deserving in my day to day life. And to really hone in on that competence. I follow a woman named Lacey Phillips, she’s fantastic, she runs to be magnetic. And there’s three components that she talks about when it comes to manifesting the life that you want. And it all comes down to creating and really feeling deserving. The universe wants to give you what, what you want to have, but you have to actually feel deserving and worthy of receiving it. So in order to get to the levels of that you want to be at, you need to be expanding. So a lot of the times we don’t see to believe that something that we want is actually possible. So I might say that I want a million dollar year. But if I don’t know anybody, or any other entrepreneur that’s come from my situation with my background, that’s made a million dollars in a year. Even though that’s something that I want, like intrinsically, I don’t unconsciously believe that that can happen for me. So going out, and really finding and putting it out to the universe, that whatever it is that you’re trying to call in, that you want examples, you want to be able to see to believe that those things are possible. So we want to find expanders, we’ve got to unblock what standing in our way. Because a lot of the times, it’s our own limiting beliefs. And again, we can want to be calling in something like I want a million dollars a year. But if I have this belief that that’s going to take me running myself into the ground in order to make that happen, or I have to completely forego every other aspect of my life in order to have that type of success. I’m going to hold myself back. So really understanding what it is that standing in my way and what fears that I have to help keep me safe and secure in my little bubble. What is it that I need to unblock that I need to go in and reprogram for myself and the last piece is taking aligned action what is it that I actually should be doing that’s me standing in my work to say yes, this is what I believe this is how much I believe I belong here. And I am going to make decisions not about wanting validation from somebody else or that comment or or you know what I’m afraid someone’s going to say about me but knowing that my voice matters and taking the actions that align with that but we need all three components in order to expand unblock and take the aligned action to manifest and call what we want and that will help us to be the worthy person that the universe wants us to be.

Lesley Logan
Who I have chills Like, I love that you brought this up because I’ve been on a, like, manifestation kick for my own self because I’m like, you know, I think I haven’t been very specific. And like I’ve been, I’ve been very I’ve been, I’ve thought it was clear, but I’m like, you know, I probably could have been more specific like the color of the car like the things you know, like all the things you know. So, thank you for bringing this up. I’m going to use these y’all. How are you going to use these tips in your life? Let us know tag Hillary, tag to Be It pod. Hillary, thank you so much. I am so freaking grateful that everyone is conspiring to make sure that we connect and we are friends and now that I am in Vegas for quite some time we are absolutely going to hang out. We’re not the wind blows to a destination.

Hilary Billings
Oh Mary Poppins umbrellas ready to go.

Lesley Logan
No, you guys have no idea how windy Vegas is people think it’s just hot and desert and the gusts can be like 70 miles an hour. So at any rate, if you did put an umbrella out there, you might not know where you’re gonna land. But Hillary, I’m just so grateful for you. Thank you all for listening. This is so fun. Please share this with a friend, share this episode on whatever social media platform you love. Don’t be perfect about it like however you know how to share it is the best way to do it. We love that and until next time, Be It Till You See It.

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Lesley Logan
That’s all I’ve got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate this show and leave a review. And, follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over on IG at the @be_it_pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us help others to BE IT TILL YOU SEE IT. Have an awesome day!

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Lesley Logan
‘Be It Till You See It’ is a production of the ‘Bloom Podcast Network’.

Brad Crowell
It’s written, filmed and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan
It is produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.

Brad Crowell
Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan
Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals and Ximena Velasquez for our transcriptions.

Brad Crowell
Also to Angelina Herico for adding all the content to our website. And finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.