Have you ever wondered if success is more than just chasing financial goals? What if it’s really about building a business that energises you, where each day feels exciting and inspired?
In this episode, Samantha sits down with Milana Leshinsky, a thought leader and entrepreneur who has built a seven-figure business, only to discover that true success isn’t measured in dollars, but in joy. Together, they dive deep into the journey of creativity, burnout, and the quest to awaken your inner thought leader.
Samantha and Milana explore why creatives struggle in rigid business structures and how embracing your default tendencies can unlock freedom and success. Learn how to simplify complexity, leverage your expertise, and find the joy in your business again.
If you’ve been feeling uninspired, or if you’re longing to bring fresh ideas and authenticity into your business, this episode is a must-listen. Samantha and Milana dive into actionable strategies that will help you break free from the ordinary and stand out in your niche. This episode will inspire you to work smarter, simplify your approach, and uncover the business model that genuinely lights you up.
IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL DISCOVER:
- How creativity has always been at the core of Milana’s journey (02:06)
- Why a single, unifying message can be your biggest strength across all your ventures (05:17)
- Tools and systems to help you create more value in less time (11:10)
- Human design types and how they relate to thriving as a multi-passionate entrepreneur (14:41)
- The power of igniting big ideas in setting you apart in your industry (17:10)
- The importance of leaning into restlessness and evolving your thought leadership (21:27)
- Using AI to spark creativity, not replace it (29:50)
RESOURCES
QUOTES
“No matter what you do, you will come back to your default, or you will burn out. The more you attempt to get away from where you are supposed to be — your personality, your skill set, your mindset — the more you get away from that, the more likely you are to burn out.” – Milana Leshinsky
“Everybody wants to make more money in less time, but to be able to do that, you first need to figure out, ‘How can I create more value in less time?’” – Milana Leshinsky
“When you’ve got that one message, it’s the lens that you look through everything. If you look through the lens of what your one message is in all of your different offers, products, everything that you’re doing, if it doesn’t match the lens, it makes it an easy yes or a no.” – Samantha Riley
“The moment you say something that is different from what other people are saying, you are already 50% on the way to your success.” – Milana Leshinsky
“Restlessness means that you’re trying to listen to other people and doing what they’re telling you versus what you are supposed to be doing based on your personality and your passions and the way you are designed.” – Milana Leshinsky
“Ignite those big ideas, but also understand you’re not just igniting that big idea and that’s the end. You’re igniting that big idea that constantly evolves. That, to me, is thought leadership.” – Samantha Riley
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ABOUT MILANA LESHINSKY
Milana Leshinsky is an internet marketing pioneer and an icon of influence for thousands of coaches, experts, and thought leaders who want to scale with simplicity. Since 2001, Milana has created and sold $9+ million dollars of coaching programs and courses and helped thousands of coaches grow their business without burnout. She walked away from a music teaching career and launched a business that would allow her to work from home and be a mom to her two kids. Milana originated telesummit, authored two books, “Coaching Millions” and “Simplicity Entrepreneurship,” and in 2019, she created Coaching Genie – a revolutionary software tool that empowers coaches, trainers, and experts to deliver faster results and sell coaching with confidence.
WHERE TO MILANA LESHINSKY
Website: https://milana.com/
Website: https://coachinggenie.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/milana-leshinsky/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/milana.leshinsky/
CONNECT WITH SAMANTHA RILEY
Facebook: Samantha Riley
Instagram: @thesamriley
LinkedIn: Samantha Riley
Twitter: @thesamriley
TRANSCRIPTION
Samantha Riley 0:03
Welcome to today’s episode. I’m very excited, we’re going to be talking about big ideas, simplifying complexity, awakening the thought leader within you. And I’m very excited to welcome Milana Leshinsky to the show, and we’re going to dive deep today. I’ve got a feeling that this is going to be a rabbit warren of a conversation, because we had to stop our huge conversation to press record. So welcome to the show, Milana, it’s great to have you here.
Milana Leshinsky 0:30
Thank you, Samantha. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you and be here. And yeah, I can’t wait to see what emerges from our conversation today.
Samantha Riley 0:40
Absolutely. We’ve been buzzing around each other’s worlds for years, like you’re everywhere in my network, and it’s taken us so long to connect, but we finally have, and I’m a big believer in everything happens for the right reason. The timing for this is just perfect. We’re both creatives, you’re from a music background. I’m from a dance background. And I think what I’ve already loved about the conversation that we had before we press record is that we both were talking about the fact that most of the people in our worlds, most of the coaches that we work with, are also creatives. You know, we attract people energetically that are like us. And creatives can often feel stifled in business if they follow the rule of, focus on this one thing, do this one thing, and do it in this one way. There’s only one way to do it. And as soon as that creativity is stifled, it’s like a part of you dies inside, that spark is put out. And you talk about really igniting these big ideas, and that’s the opposite of the spark being put out, right? But before we dive into this conversation, I’d love you to share a little bit about sort of where you came from, because you’ve had an extraordinary journey to wind up where you are today.
Milana Leshinsky 2:06
I did. So, I’m originally from Ukraine. I came as a music teacher to the United States back when Ukraine was just getting out of being a Soviet Union Republic. So I was, I came on the cusp of that big transition. And so as I was coming here, my plan was to be a music teacher, but when I started, or I should say, restarted my journey here, I realised that the system is very different, and I very quickly switched my careers. And I said, okay, yes, I’ve been a musician for the first 20 years of my life. I breathed, ate, slept music. That’s all I knew, and now I’m going to put it aside so I could earn some money to make a living, and so I switched to business and computers, and over time, basically decided to start my own business. And what I discovered was that it doesn’t matter what you do and what profession you’re in, you come back to your default. My default is creating, so since 2001 I have originated telesummit. My tele was the very first one in the world. I created software. I create card decks. We just talked about that. I created over 100 coaching programs and courses, and I create, create, create, ,and what happens is, once in a while, somebody will come into my life as a coach or an expert or a mastermind member and will tell me, what’s your one thing? What’s that one thing? And I start, you know, it starts, right? You know, kind of bringing up the feelings of a little bit of a shame that I’m not as focused as other people are, or telling me that I should be, at the same time, I’m an extremely focused and self disciplined person. I am hyper focused on any project that I take upon myself. I don’t want to go too far down this conversation, because we’re just starting, but I will say that no matter what you do, you will come back to your default, or you will burn out. One of the other things that happen in your business, and the more you attempt to get away from where you are supposed to be, your personality, your skill set, your mindset, the more you get away from that, the more likely you are to burn out. And that happened to me at least once, maybe a couple times on a smaller scale. And you know, the default being what you naturally gravitate to, like when you’re left to your own devices, what do you do? You know, so …
Samantha Riley 5:17
Absolutely, let’s start there. Yeah, and I think this is a really great place to start, because, you know, I know that for you and I, and because I know this, because we had this conversation, this default of always going back, I think, is the universe saying this is where you’re meant to be. And I’ve also had this through my life that, gosh, I can think of, there’s one friend that’s always like, what is your one thing? And I’m like, I think that this is what, this is what I feel that for creatives and we’re not meant to be doing one thing. It isn’t actually landing on the one thing. It’s getting the message of this one thing, and then under, it’s like this umbrella of, okay, well, this is the message. But then I do all of these things. And, you know, you talk about simplifying complexity, I would love to have your take on, you know, what I’ve just said. Because I honestly don’t believe we’re designed to do one thing.
Milana Leshinsky 6:34
I think it’s good piece of advice for somebody who struggles with chaos, overwhelmed and can’t reel themselves in. But you can look at the idea of having one thing as your business focus in many different ways. You can look at it as one offer, one brand, one niche market, or which is what I’m arriving at right now is, you can have one message, one unifying message. And as I looked at everything that I’ve been doing since 2001, since the day one of my business, all I’ve always wanted was to create freedom through leverage, through leveraging my expertise, my skills, and all the things that I create for others, they have the same message behind it, right, to leverage your expertise in ways that you can leverage your time better. And so my unifying message around everything I do and everything I teach and everything that comes into my head once in a while as a new idea, how can I create more value or deliver more value in less time. Everything falls under that umbrella messaging. And when I realised that, everything became so simple, it wasn’t feeling complex anymore. Like, yeah, I might have 17 products right now, but they all allow you to do one thing, to create more value in less time. And it’s funny, because everybody wants to make more money in less time, but to be able to do that, you first need to figure out, how can I create more value in less time? And so once I saw that message, everything became very simple and clear for me. And I love it, because under that umbrella message, I can create 100 more products or programs or brands, right? You wouldn’t want to do that like, that’s madness, over the years you will. And so that’s the interesting thing, Samantha, is that you and I talked about my evolution and my transition and how I’m transforming my thinking and my business and the conversations I want to have. But there is one constant thing. It’s that right there, it’s the unifying message, creating more value in less time, everything falls under that.
Samantha Riley 9:24
I love the way that you’ve created that one message. My husband and I are in business together, and we were just having this conversation yesterday. And it’s when you’ve got that one message, it’s the lens that you look through everything. It’s, if you look through the lens of what your one message is in all of your different offers, products, everything that you’re doing, if it doesn’t match the lens, it makes it an easy yes or a no. So once you understand what that one message is, it makes it very easy. And I think that’s where the confusion can come between having that one message and getting caught on you just need to do this one thing, and like you, I 100% agree that anyone that’s starting out their business should start off with one thing, because it takes some reps to learn how to speak about different things in your marketing in different ways. It takes some reps to learn how to deliver things in different ways. So I guess where I’m coming from this is people that have been doing, you know, doing it for a while, and maybe are sort of, you know, you and I discussed that we both hit 50 at the same time. You know, you get to a certain point where you’re like, Okay, well, I’ve got all of this experience, I’ve got all this knowledge. I’ve been doing this for such a long time, and now I just want to kind of go for it. So I just wanted to separate those two, those two ideas. But can you talk to me more about creating more value in less time. If you’re looking through that lens, what does that mean for your specific business?
Milana Leshinsky 11:10
For my specific business, it means that anytime I see a problem in my niche market, which happens to be coaches, consultants, experts, online entrepreneurs, who are selling expertise, when I look at a problem that they have, I immediately think about, how can I solve that problem so that it takes less time for them to deal with this issue, and so that I can spend less time dealing with this issue when I work with clients. Everything I’ve ever created has to do with simplifying, systematising and ultimately creating more value. My very first piece of software was called Assessment Generator. I sold it since then, now it’s just flourishing under somebody else’s ownership, but I created it because I wanted coaches to be able to create self assessments and forms. And that was 2007 or something. There was nothing like that. There was no Jotform. There was no Survey Monkey, there was no form builders, and so I created it because I felt like, if you want to figure out if this is the right potential client for you, you need to ask them questions. How do you do that? Through a form, ma’am, a tool. A tool was born that will save you time. You’re not going to have to talk to somebody who is not your perfect client, because you’re going to see their answers. You’re going to filter them out. So something like that is an example. My software company that I have now, Coaching Genie, that saves you a lot of time, and it creates more value for your clients, because you can walk away, you can set up your program and walk away, and it will deliver by itself. It will check in with your customers, with your clients, by itself. It will send reminders by itself. So you’re creating value for your programs, but you’re not the one doing it. I call it a high touch program, without you doing the touching. So that’s the beauty of creating more value in less time, I think it has a lot to do with building tools. In my world, I love building tools, even EFT Tapping, for those of you people who are familiar with that. Yes, we can sit and talk about why you don’t like marketing, or why marketing is not working for you, or why you feel overwhelmed. Or we could tap. Let’s go for 10,15 minutes, and you will release all that negative crap that you have in your head about marketing. That’s creating more value in less time, because it’s easier, it’s more effective. I’m not very woo. Or, you know, the energy side of me is, I would, I would call it less than developed, except for when it comes to tapping, because I’ve experienced it personally, and it works like, like magic. So those are the kind of, that’s how my brain goes. How can I create something, a tool, a system, a process, a method that will allow me to create more value in less time, but will also empower my clients to create more value in less time. Does that make sense?
Samantha Riley 14:41
It makes perfect sense. And this is something that I guess is near and dear to my heart as well, because I love to do this in a different like, in a different way. So for me, it’s always, how can we make it as fast as possible, or solve the problem as quickly as possible, so that you’ve either got more time in your business or more time to do whatever you love, whichever way you decide to do it. Because for me, even though a lot of people say, oh, I want to run my business in 10 hours a week, in human design, I’m a generator. I love to work. I know this feels really weird to a lot of people, but when I’m in my happy place, it’s when I’m in a project and it’s like, all time stops and I can easily work till 11 o’clock at night, just like doing the thing. So that’s why I always say it’s like, so that you’ve got more time to do whatever it is that you want, not just lie on a beach and have a cocktail. Even though I do love to lie on a beach and have a cocktail.
Milana Leshinsky 15:41
I am very new to human design, but I did take the test and or the test, I did look it up and I advocate.
Samantha Riley 15:48
Are you a manifesting generator?
Milana Leshinsky 15:52
I’m a manifesting generator, yeah. How did you know?
Samantha Riley 15:58
A little clue and about all of the different projects that you’re working on. And you know that comes back to living, living by your design. You’re a manifesting generator. You get joy from doing all these different things. If you listened to this, put this in the air quotes the gurus that said, Milana, just do one thing energetically. You would just die a little death inside right? And this is why we need to lean into who we are and understand who we are. I would love to talk about igniting big ideas, because all of us have ideas inside us, every single one of us, when that big idea lands, it’s so exciting. Like, even when you were telling me some of the ideas that you’ve had just recently, I was getting goosebumps. There is an energy around igniting these big ideas. And this is something that you’ve recently been leaning into more with your clients. Before I ask, you know, how people can lean into that, what does igniting big ideas do for you?
Milana Leshinsky 17:10
Yeah, I’m so glad you’re asking. As I was looking through all the things that I’ve been doing with clients, it dawned on me that I spend about 30%, of all the things that I do, I spend 30% of my time working with clients, helping them come up with their big idea. And when I say big idea, I don’t mean necessarily an idea for a business. They already have a business. My goal, you know, for my own business, but also for my clients’ businesses, is to help them not create just another program. Because who needs another program? I want you to come up with a way to talk about your program, your business, your product, you, your value, in a way that is attention worthy, that is different from what people in your niche have heard before, that will perk up their ears and they’ll, you know, they’ll be definitely paying attention, and that will stop them in their tracks. To me, that’s a big idea, which is kind of like the next version, the next elevation of your core message, right? So if you are a weight loss coach and you talk about weight loss the way that everybody talks about it, or, God forbid, you go to ChatGPT and it tells you what to say, and everybody says anything, then you just create another program that is not special, not unique, it’s not different, it’s not revolutionary. And so I really love igniting big ideas in my client’s minds, so that when they speak, they get excited, because the moment you say something that is different from what other people are saying, you are already 50% closer, like you are 50% on the way to your success, at least for that particular program for your entire business. When you can get away from the sameness, that’s your big idea. Ignite it, right? And so that’s 30% of my work. And I never realised that until I started, you know, doing my exploration in my own messaging, like, Yeah, this is what I do. I have a big idea method that I licence to people. How do you land on your big idea? And so I teach people how to create coaching programs, and they think, when they join my program, they think we’re going to create their coaching program, and they’re in for a big surprise, because we spend the first third of the program on clarifying, okay, why are you creating it? Why? How is it going to be different? Well, there’s 100 other coaches creating the same program. Why are you creating this program? What is pushing you? What is making you restless, so that you put it out there? And so, by the way, the word restless is a very important sensation. If you’re experiencing it, that means you’re not building the right business for yourself. You need to, you know, open up, come back home, come home to yourself, right? Because restlessness means that you’re trying to listen to other people and doing what you, what they’re telling you versus what you are supposed to be doing based on your personality and your passions and the way you are designed, right? So I’ve actually become restless a little while ago, and I started searching, and I realised that I have experienced a period of transformation, and I need to change some of the things that I’m saying and I’m doing to, you know, still under the same umbrella of creating more value in less time, but restlessness is a very good sign that something needs to change in your business. The restlessness is like the yellow light before it turns red and you get burned out.
Samantha Riley 21:27
Yeah, right, so that’s really interesting with that whole answer, there was only two words I wrote down, and restless was one of them before you even dived into there, because I felt that straight away. And I believe it’s because, and I was actually talking about this on a summit yesterday, as business owners, we think we need to have it all together and like, this is my message, and this is my message forever. But in actual fact, you’ll never find, you’ll never dive into your thought leadership from that frame of mind, because the thought leadership is that constant pushing. You know, you call it restless. It’s that constant, little voice that’s going well, I believe that yesterday, but today I believe something different because of the extra experience, the extra, the knowledge that I’ve created along the way, and that if we really want to lean into our thought leadership, we always need to be leaning into that. You call it restless. I can’t think of a way that I would describe it right now, but it’s just that knowing that you need to take your teaching, your understanding, your perceptions, all to a new level, to the next level. And it’s really important because, you know, you talk about awakening thought leaders, and I think that this actually, like bleeds into that, igniting those big ideas, but also understanding you’re not just igniting that big idea, and that’s the end. It’s you’re igniting that big idea that constantly evolves. That, to me, is thought leadership.
Milana Leshinsky 23:03
And you know, and I’m thinking, you I’m sure you know people like this, Samantha, I know people who are selling the same product or program that they sold 20 years ago, and they’re selling it every year for 20 years. And I look at it, and I’m stunned to begin with, I’m stunned that they can do that, because that means that they have sustained the same level of energy behind that program for 20 years. Maybe they’ve updated it like right now with AI, a lot of people are updating a little bit of the program and a little bit of the marketing behind the program, but it’s still, it’s the same exact program, and that’s mind boggling to me, but that’s the right thing for them, and that’s wonderful. But just because …
Samantha Riley 23:56
They are sort of in, I’m going to just jump in here, though, because it’s sort of, it can be, but what I’m hearing from the market is that a lot of those people that are selling the same thing 20 years later, things are not in an upward trajectory. Things are not even in a level trajectory, that there’s this downward trajectory. And I think the market, the market is more mature now, more discerning. Times are different. People are different, and the energy around some of those older programs is exactly that, it’s a little bit old, it’s a little bit stale.
Milana Leshinsky 24:36
But maybe not for them. See, that’s what I’m saying, is that I feel old energy around all of my older products. I can’t even sell them anymore. They’re good products, but I can get that energy level up in my heart to market them. It’s just that my energy is no longer there. But there are people who don’t worry about it. It’s a great product. It works. Why not continue to sell it? Why keep reinventing? See, I take joy in creating something new. Not everybody does, and I also remember that anytime I ended up having to leave a job, I experienced the same emotion like, oh my god, I’m gonna leave this job behind. I’m gonna open myself to new opportunities at a new job, new people, new projects, new environment. I would always get excited while my mom was worried about me, and she would say, you’re gonna walk away from this job. You’re being let go, like she would always worry about like, and so she worked in the same company, in the same space until she retired. So people are just different, and you have to honour the way you are. I noticed, which is an interesting observation, if you think about how you started your business, what was the first thing you, Samantha, what was the first thing? What was your first offer or product?
Samantha Riley 26:06
I’ll see. Mine was, are you talking about in my coaching business? By the way, because I’ve had many businesses.
Milana Leshinsky
Was that your first business, your coaching business?
Samantha Riley
No, no, my very first business was my dance studio.
Milana Leshinsky 26:17
Your dance studio, that’s right. And so, is there any connection between your coaching business and your dance studio?
Samantha Riley 26:23
There is so much connection. It’s teaching. I love to teach.
Milana Leshinsky 26:27
Okay, so there you go, right? So you’re teaching and you’re teaching now, and you probably started your entrepreneurial venture with teaching. You were teaching dance. I started by creating an ebook. Somebody else we both know, probably who is a well known selling from stage expert. She started inviting people in her living room and given a workshop where she would sell a program at the end. That was her first thing, and that’s what she’s still doing. This is what she was doing. This is her default go-to. So anytime I try to do something different, maybe, maybe like, Oh, I love how she does that. I wish I could do this. Let me try that. I come back to my default, which is creating new products and tools. And you probably come back to teaching. And I love to teach, but I love to teach the frameworks that I discover or that I put together, you know, to simplify complex concepts. So that’s a really good question to ask yourself. Your default most likely is the first thing that you chose to sell, or the first strategy that you chose to use to sell. It Right? Is it writing. Is it speaking? Is it teaching? Is it creating? Is it networking? Connecting? Connecting, you know, putting people together. So I think that that is a good sign to look at. How did you start?
Samantha Riley 28:10
Yeah, I really love that. And as you were speaking, I was even thinking like, Well, what was it that, with my teaching that was a little bit different as well, that I’m still bringing through. And what came up for me is that, as a dance teacher, we don’t just teach dance, we choreograph, we create. We create whole experiences. Because we will hear a piece of music, we’ll be excited by it. We’ll choreograph a routine. We will design the set. We’ll design the costumes. We will, you know, look after the technical aspect of the dancer and it turns into this one package. And that very much is still what I do now, it’s not just, I don’t just teach this thing. It’s like, how does it all come together to create one experience or one outcome? And I’m very good at being …
Milana Leshinsky 28:58
You produce. That’s what you did. You were producing. That’s what producers do, too, right? You come up with a concept, you design the experience, you put together all the moving parts, and then there’s the outcome, and that’s what you do now. You did that with dancing. You did, you do that with coaching. So that is your unique flavour, unique vibe of your work you do with clients. And I immediately, okay, how do we turn it into a tool? Let’s turn it into a tool, simplify all your clients’ problems, or maybe this particular problem. And now that you have this tool, let’s monetise this tool. That’s kind of how my trajectory of thinking goes. Let’s see a problem, let’s create a tool, and let’s figure out how to monetise it, and that’s it.
Samantha Riley
Yeah, one of the other things I picked up when you were speaking earlier is, and it was, you slipped it in so quickly, but I want to go back to it. You said that we don’t lean into ChatGPT for our messaging. I 100% agree. I personally do use Chat GPT, not for messaging, not for copy, but I love it to start an idea because, because I’m not, I have blank page-itis, I hate starting with a blank page. I’d love to know how you use AI, or how I guess, how you utilise AI in your business.
Milana Leshinsky 30:31
I use it every day. I use it even to research my new angle, my new messaging, my new big idea, but I don’t just take what it gives me. I look at it, I say, no, that’s not going to work. And here’s why this is not working for me. So I use it more like a consultant who is smart but not very informed about me. I train it to learn me. And so I upload testimonials from my clients so that it knows what my clients love about me. I upload the features and benefits of my Coaching Genie software so that it understands why I created it, the story behind it and what it gives. I will upload it, and then I will say something like based on the information I just shared with you what do you think I should say about X, or what is the opt in copy should say? Or what should my tagline be? And then it will give me stuff. And 90% of the time I disagree with it and I don’t like it, so I continue to prompt and prompt and prompt until I’m happy, or until it gives me an idea that I’m like, Oh yeah, that actually goes together. This is really solid. So I use it as a consultant who doesn’t mind me, who doesn’t mind that I constantly argue with it.
Seth Godin, I heard him say on a podcast that he argues with ChatGPT constantly. That’s so funny. He’s very frustrated by that. And I thought that’s what I do, because I know what I don’t want, and I’m searching for the things that I do want, and until it gives me something that I can use, or something that will spark an idea, I’m not happy, and sometimes I get frustrated, and I will close it and I’m like, I’m done with you. I’m gonna do this on my own. And then I remember that up until 2024, I created all my own messaging, copy, products, assessments, tools, software. I am capable of doing things on my own, but ChatGPT saves time and becomes your brainstorming partner for when you feel stuck.
Samantha Riley 33:12
Yeah, I believe that we have this opportunity now. I’ve not heard anyone else speak to this. So I’d love to riff with you, because I think this could go somewhere cool. Yeah, I use ChatGPT every day as well. I use it to save time. I use it to get ideas. I use it in the same way as you do. I do not use that word for word, because there, you can, you read someone’s text now, and you know that it’s come out of AI, it’s just written in a certain way. But what I do believe, it’s given even greater opportunity, more than any time in history, for creatives to actually stand out, that if we actually lean into our creativity, that it’s going to stand out now, more than ever, while there are people that are fully leaning into AI. I think that for a lot of people in my world that are using it in the same way as we are, and going more into creative writing than what they may have done before, it is standing out so much. What’s your take on that sort of, you know, the AI versus the creative?
Milana Leshinsky 34:33
Yeah, well, I will answer by telling you exactly what I say to my clients when I teach them how to create a coaching program. I tell them, please do not use ChatGPT until you have your own outline of the program and the teaching points, because if you start going to ChatGPT, you’re basically getting, I’m ashamed to create your program, which it does in a very generic way that everybody else has access to. And so you want to formulate your own point of view first, and then you can go to ChatGPT and put some flesh on it if you want to. But I value ideas very greatly. The idea of a creative person, of a big thinker, is incredibly valuable. And while ChatGPT can certainly help you come up with the big idea, unless you have your own big ideas, it will give you the generic vanilla stuff that everyone else can use. And, you know, I’m curious what’s going to happen in a few years when I am putting my entire sales page right into ChatGPT , and I say, you know, give me a great headline sometimes, right? And so people are putting all their stuff, all their great ideas, into ChatGPT. I’m curious what it’s going to look like in a few years when ChatGPT now has a ginormous knowledge base of all the things that everybody has ever asked. I’m curious what’s going to happen with all that information and ideas and how it consolidates and analyses, right? So I have a both hate and love relationship with AI for that reason. So you just need to know how to use it in a way that you are still the director of your project.
Samantha Riley 36:45
Yes, yeah, when you were talking about not coming up with your offer idea, so you know, your modules, for example, or the layout of your webinar, or like, the the talking points of your webinar, doing that is actually using someone else’s information, which actually stifles your creativity, and it stifles that well, what is your unique method? So I love that you suggest that people only use it once they’re really clear on what they’re doing, because otherwise, what it could be doing is, I guess, training you to think like everyone else, and that is totally against what you and I talk about.
Milana Leshinsky 37:28
Well, you know, I took a class, I shared with you. I took a class in card deck design, to design my own card deck. I don’t know why I took the class. I think I was becoming restless. I needed some creativity, and that class exploded my brain with creative ideas, not only for card decks, but also for a new program, new messaging, new thinking. You know, just the class was just really stimulating for my brain. But part of the class assignment was to come up with images to put on your card decks. And I had this I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. I just knew that I wanted something inspirational. My card deck is called healing words for heavy hearts, for people who are going through tough times in their lives and they need some emotional support. And each card is like a permission slip to, you know, accept how you’re feeling and to, so that you can begin the healing. And so I wanted inspirational images. And anytime I would describe what I’m looking for, ChatGPT would give me something like, you know, Jesus on the mountain, something spiritual, but a completely wrong flavour of spirituality, or something vintage, like from the 50s. I just could not figure out what prompt to put to get the images I wanted. So my instructor suggested, Why don’t you take your art, because I also paint, take your art, upload it into ChatGPT, and ask for a prompt to describe that painting, and then use that prompt to create your card deck images. And I did that, and the first image that it gave me after I did that, I was blown away by the precision of the emotion, the feeling that I was trying to create and communicate through the image. So the teaching point here is until I gave it my original thought, my original piece of art, it would not understand me. It could not get what I wanted from it. So, because I communicate through a paintbrush, I put my piece of art in there. It picked up on all the little speckles or fireflies or the whimsical feeling that I was looking for, and it gave me what I wanted. And people in my class were like, how did you get this, these images? What did you type in? And I said, I put my own art into it. So when people ask me, Did you create these pictures? Did you paint this? I’m like, No, but it’s inspired by my art.
Samantha Riley 40:27
Yeah, that is awesome. Now I know that you have created a free resource for anyone that’s been loving this conversation, this could be really helpful for them around thought leadership and uncovering your own unique flavour. Can you share a little bit about what this free resource is?
Milana Leshinsky 40:51
Yes, so I really believe in the power of questions, as I should, but there’s something about questions that help you create space for new ideas, fresh insights, helping you uncover growth opportunities in your business and really clarify what you’re building, like, what’s your unique path to profit? And so I have created a little workbook. It’s called The Thought Leaders Journey. Get the breakthrough you’ve been looking for. And by answering these 12 questions, you will start finding those moments of your next level. What’s your next level? And how can you be different from everybody else in your niche? It just really, it’s designed to stimulate you and your brain to really walk away from the sameness, get away from the sameness, so that you could stand out in your niche, and position yourself as a thought leader and really get yourself, the business, create the business that is perfectly designed, custom designed for you.
Samantha Riley 42:23
The one that lights you up.
Milana Leshinsky 42:26
Yes, yes. And you’re welcome to give the link, or I can give the link however you want.
Samantha Riley 42:30
Yeah. We’ll put the link. We’ll pop the link in the show notes below, on whatever platform you’re listening on. That means, if you’re cooking dinner or on the treadmill, you don’t have to try and remember it, just scroll down wherever you are listening or watching, and the link for that will be down below. Milana, it’s been a pleasure chatting with you. I always love chatting with creatives. It just, it sends my brain into this fun place where these little explosions are always going off. If there’s one thing you wanted to leave our listeners with today, in regards to igniting big ideas, simplifying complexity and, you know, awakening their thought leadership, what would it be?
Milana Leshinsky 43:12
Yeah. About eight years ago, I walked away from a seven-figure business. I made a million dollars, and I walked away from it because I burned out. And the most amazing thing that I experienced was that angels didn’t sing in the sky, the rainbow didn’t appear, and I didn’t even know I made a million dollars because I was too sleepy, too tired, too exhausted, had panic attacks, had anxiety, and just wanted to travel to an island far, far away, where nobody had ever heard of business. That’s how, the place that I reached. And so since then, I no longer strive for a million dollars is my goal. My goal is to wake up every morning and love what I do and get excited to run to my office or my computer and work on what I want to work on. That’s how I started measuring my success. And that’s very different, because when you first started business, making a million dollars is like the Holy Grail, right? And so I have redefined success, and I know that it’s hard to kind of get that now, if you’re not at a million dollars, but I’m telling you that at a million dollars, you’re still the same person. You still have your default. So hurry up and figure out what your default is.
Samantha Riley 44:48
And if you don’t hurry up, just have a damn good time trying.
Milana Leshinsky 44:51
Exactly. If the journey is the process, it’s the joy of creating the business that you want, because nothing else matters. Nothing else matters but the joy you are experiencing in your life, in your business. And it’s weird for me to say that, because I love making a million dollars, and realising that I made a million dollars. It just didn’t do anything for me personally.
Samantha Riley 45:19
You know, I love that so much. Milana, it has been an absolute pleasure chatting with you. Thanks so much for coming and discussing this big idea with us. It’s been so fun.
Milana Leshinsky 45:31
Thank you so much, Samantha. Awesome questions, and I love this conversation.
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