This week we get to speak to Nikie Foster, founder of Curious Lighthouse as she shares her journey and philosophy on happiness and discusses the importance of living in the moment. Her approach to life, focusing on the quest for happiness above all is something we could all benefit from.
Or LISTEN to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform via www.digitalcircus.life today!
Nikie's life philosophy centres on the pursuit of happiness. It is her ultimate goal and from the sounds of it, has been her main focus since she was very young girl. She believes that its not just about achieving temporary contentment but finding joy living in the now. Its the living in the now, and enjoying the small things that keeps life interesting and fulfilling.
You can absolutely reflect on the past, and you can acknowledge the future, but you really need to make the most of the current moment. Don’t get bogged down by past regrets or future anxieties. They haven’t happened yet.
Nikie's career path really demonstrates her love for variety and her embrace of curiosity and change. From aspiring to be a Radio One DJ [ much like Alan!] to engaging in diverse professions, each role Nikie has undertaken reflects her pursuit of happiness in her experiences. This adaptability and openness to change is a real superpower.
And now in her current role in learning and development Nikie's innovative use of Lego in her training programmes really exemplifies her belief in the power of engaging and enjoyable activities to enhance learning and happiness. By combining fun with professional development, she shows that happiness and personal growth can be achieved simultaneously, enriching both personal and professional lives.
So it's really simple. We could all do with being a bit more Nikie. Live in the present, embrace change, and find joy in the journey of life. We are absolutely in control of our own happiness.
Thank you Nikie, we’re so glad that we have you in our life! We really hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did recording it!
Visit the Curious Lighthouse website
Connect with Nikie on Linkedin.
Follow her adventure over on Instagram here.
This week on The Digital Circus LIFE podcast we explore the transformative journey of Vicki Brown, a personal trainer and owner of LIVEFITNOW, who turned her health issue into a career path filled with purpose and passion. We will delve into the pivotal moment that changed her life and the steps she took to build a successful business aimed at helping others. Along the way, we will also discussed the importance of balance, discipline, and personal growth.
Or LISTEN to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform via www.digitalcircus.life today!
Vicky's life took a dramatic turn when she fell ill during her final year of school. Diagnosed with a condition called indeterminate colitis, she realised the need to prioritise her health and take control of her well-being. This led her to join a gym and immerse herself in exercise, sparking a deep passion for fitness and personal growth. Vicky's illness, though initially seen as a setback, became the catalyst for a new direction in her life.
With her newfound love for the gym, Vicky decided to pursue a career in personal training. She obtained various qualifications and started working with clients, continuously learning and gaining experience. She was driven by her desire to help others improve their physical and mental well-being, particularly as they age. Vicky wanted to enable individuals to maintain their strength and independence well into their later years.
Maintaining her love for fitness while running a business required careful balance and discipline. Vicky recognised that her career had to evolve beyond one-on-one coaching to reach a broader audience. Embracing the power of the internet, she sought ways to inspire and guide more people in leading healthier lives. This expansion allowed her message of strength and well-being to resonate with a larger community.
Vicky's goal is not finite; it expands as the need for support and guidance grows in society. She believes that people are facing increasing challenges in terms of physical and mental health, loneliness, and overall well-being. As a result, her purpose becomes even more significant over time. Instead of envisioning an endpoint, Vicky sees her role expanding and her impact deepening as she continues to provide support and inspiration.
Vicky acknowledges that the journey hasn't always been easy. There were times when maintaining balance between her personal life and business obligations felt overwhelming. However, she recognised the importance of personal growth and continuously evolving her skill set. By embracing new challenges and refining her time management skills, Vicky was able to find a more sustainable balance and prioritise self-care.
Throughout her journey, Vicky has found strength in the power of community. Connecting with like-minded individuals, learning from colleagues, and being part of a supportive network has been crucial to her personal and professional growth. By surrounding herself with passionate individuals, Vicky has been able to unlock new skills, broaden her horizons, and continue making a positive impact on the lives of others.
Vicky's story serves as an inspiration for those seeking purpose and passion in their lives. Her journey from illness to a fulfilling career highlights the transformative power of embracing challenges and pursuing your true calling. By finding balance, maintaining discipline, and embracing personal growth, Vicky has created a business founded on helping others achieve physical and mental well-being. As she looks toward the future, her purpose continues to expand, empowering her to make an even greater impact on individuals seeking a path to a long, good, and strong life.
Yes, yes, yes we know. It's a story we tell more than frequently at Yellow Tuxedo. But quite frankly we'll continue to talk about it until the cows come home because the time [ well times plural actually as we went to ITV studios 3 times] we were featured on This Morning with our old business Baylily Bell Tents is the perfect real life example of how working hard on your online presence really can open up the door to new opportunities that you may not have even realised were available to you.
So why are we blogging about it today? No...its not because the Mr Philip Scofield sacking scandal has blown up across the UK media, but our good old Facebook memories popped up this week with some incredible images and videos of our time at the ITV studios and it made us smile.
The funny thing was that when we first got the call from This Morning we weren't actually actively looking for a PR opportunity at that moment in time. Emily had literally 24hrs previously landed back on UK soil from Namibia, very tired and jet lagged from travel. We were also due to move house at the end of May so all of our worldly possessions were in boxes and scattered across Hampshire as we prepped to move. This included a lot of our business equipment that we'd put into temporary storage.
Needless to say that when the phone rang it didn't take very long for us to say yes and work out how the actual Jeff we were going to get to Central London for 05:30am the next day when we needed to pack the van and find child care for two babies..
Opportunities like This Morning don't land on your doorstep very often. And in the spirit of adventure we had to say yes.
It's very simple. It's what we teach our clients all the time. When someone Googles what you do you want to be showing up on page one. Not only do you want to show up on page one, you want to DOMINATE your page one with the most kick ass online presence that you can deliver.
And that is something that we worked incredibly hard to do for the ten years in which we grew Baylily Bell Tents. As a geographically based business we could have simply gone down the local marketing route of leaflets, local ads and wedding fairs and events. But we didn't want that. We saw the opportunity from growing an online presence that would give us the chance to not only become a well known local business but a national brand as well.
Not everyone has aspirations to be national or even global. We did. We had ambitions to grow our business with a franchise model that would be mean that we could deliver Baylily experiences all over the world [ something that we were very much going to do right up until the pandemic struck] and with those aspirations it meant that we really did have to do our best to stand out and be seen.
When the This Morning producer made that call on the chance that a glamping company could come and do a segment we were the obvious choice. We dominated our page one.
It's a perfect example of what we say about not knowing who is watching. You will NEVER know the name of the last person who googled you. It may not be ITV coming for you but the world is a huge place...you never know what that unforeseen opportunity is going to be.
The success of Baylily online was not an overnight one. In fact it took months and months of consistent effort to start making headway. It was by no means easy but nothing is. There are no magic wands. If you want something badly enough you have to put the work in.
For Baylily Bell Tents the game changer in our business really was our approach to video content and the growth of our YouTube channel. Working in seasonal events meant that we had a short window of time every year to ensure we were like content magpies collating as much video footage, photos and testimonials as possible to showcase the business properly.
In the winter we didn't down tools. We spent the off-season interviewing fellow suppliers, we did FB live Q&A sessions with couples getting married, we blogged about EVERYTHING.
And then we optimised.
And then we repurposed.
And then we rinsed and repeated.
Building an online presence doesn't have to be difficult. Its been three years since Baylily closed its doors permanently but we now spend all of our time supporting other small business owners to build a well rounded and successful online presence for themselves. We teach you the skills to be awesome online, we give you the toolkit that you can draw upon any time you have a business goal that you want to shout about and we stand on the sidelines with our virtual pom poms making sure that you feel confident enough to deliver.
We will forever be thankful for that initial phone call. It changed our world massively. It also helped shape Yellow Tuxedo to be what it is now and our approach to online visibility.
"virtual events will never be able to match the feeling of in person.."
It’s a narrative I’ve been reading a lot in Linkedin land of late.
Well no offence, but maybe you’re hanging out at the wrong online events…
I won’t lie. Selling tickets for The Digital Circus LIVE were a bit of a slog this year. Especially with the current cost of living crisis we have recognised that people are prioritising their spending in different ways. And quite simply when it comes to online its easy to excuse yourself, to book out your diary with other things. The value is seemingly weighted differently to booking yourself in to something in person.
In fact one person excused themselves from coming by saying they felt that they knew everything they need to know right now. That same person is booked on to an in person learning event in just a few weeks time...
So what is the problem?
Death by PowerPoint. One directional webinars. Taking the lead from the Zoom host. Not having a voice.
Like I said. You’re hanging out at the wrong online events.
Now, one thing I know we can’t ever replicate are the hugs. The wonderful Jackie Goddard - Power To Speak mentioned this the other day. She’s a hugger. You definitely can’t do that online.
Nope you can’t.
But you CAN replicate so much other stuff. And in actual fact when done right I think it can be better than in person.
Here are a few thoughts I have had since reflecting on this years The Digital Circus LIVE event.
This year at ????The Digital Circus LIVE we facilitated a warm up act, 4xkeynote presentations, 10x 30 minute workshops, an expo, networking sessions and a sundowners session. All in all that was 20 different opportunities on the schedule that our online guests could get involved in.
Alan and I are a small business team of two. It’s just us. There is no way we could have packed that much value into an in-person event by ourselves, not to mention juggling the logistics of moving over 100 humans around a physical space.
Think of the time wasted at physical events herding visitors from space to space. Waiting for the room to fill, getting comfy in seats, waiting for a few stragglers to come back from the loo. Waiting for the speaker to set up at the front, settling down the noise before starting.
Using Hopin for our event was incredible and for the most part transitioning between speakers was seamless. Alan and I were in mission control throughout the day ensuring that 5-10mins before we had the next expert lined up, tested and energised.
We had a 91% turn out on the day which was incredible. And from the LIVE attendees [ replays were available to those who couldn’t make the day LIVE] the average time spent at the event per visitor was 6hrs and 17mins. Our virtual doors opened from 08:45 to have some opportunity to network before the first live element at 09:45 and closed at 17:30. This meant that the majority of the attendees were in it for the long haul. People fed back that they couldn’t wait for the next thing on the agenda, in fact one attendee was having so much fun that she forgot to pick up her own children from school at 3pm.
One major win was that people seemingly enjoyed and valued the 30min session times throughout the day. No long and arduous 2hr zoom webinars but fast paced and balanced sessions filled with value and a couple of key takeaways per session that were immediately actionable. This meant that if a particular topic didn’t resonate with an individual they weren’t tied into an hour long session where they could be utilising their time better. We also ensured that there were two sessions running side by side at all times to ensure that the choice was left in the hand of the participant.
Managing visitor participation at an in person event is hard. Think about it for a second from both session delivery and participant perspective in an auditorium. The speaker is delivering one to many and for the most part this is one way delivery, all be it on a stage. The room may be listening but for the most part silent. You sit with someone to your left and to your right and you may converse but you’re not chatting to the person in the back row or in seat 4F.
In an online space the dialogue is free flowing throughout the session. If you’ve chosen to keep your camera on you can read the room, you can look at facial reactions, you can leave continuous feedback and comments in the chat, you can spark conversations for later on in the day because you’re not leaving it for the potential Q&A at the end of a physical session [ if anyone has been brave enough to raise their hand in public]
By running an online event somewhere like Hopin and by thoughtfully curating an event schedule that took in so much we really did put the choice in the hands of our event visitors. For those that wanted to learn? They did. For those that wanted to sit in the networking zone all day? They did. There were those that interacted with their cameras and microphones on and those preferred to stay off camera. Those that made a hundred comments and got involved in the polls and those that just listened and absorbed.
The day could be exactly what you wanted it to be.
But yes Emily you say, it’s not all about the learning sessions at at an in person event. The magic happens during lunch or at the bar….
Well that surely depends on your own character doesn’t it?
If you’re anything like me at public events you gravitate to the people you know rather than standing in the middle of the space hoping to find a random face you’ve never met. In fact in a busy room I find it an absolute social nightmare to make sure I can give everyone the right amount of attention, making eye contact whilst eating a sausage roll at a buffet, trying to listen intently to the person next to me whilst having a sensory overload with the other conversations happening at the same time.
Arguably you have the opportunity to speak to MORE people at an online event than in person in a calmer, turn taking environment.
So that takes me to point 5…
Yes you often get lunch at an in person event. Sometimes it’s provided, at other events you’ve got paid options. That doesn’t mean you have to miss out at an online event.
In year one of The Digital Circus LIVE we trialled something that we may actually bring back for 2024. Lunch in the post!
As part of our offering we wanted to feel as close to an in person conference as possible but just in an online space. We worked with two catering companies to provide post friendly lunch options to our participants. One was an afternoon tea style box supplied by Chouxlicious and the other a charcuterie box from The Slinky Fox.
People could opt in if they wanted or alternatively nip down into their kitchens to make a cheese sarnie during the lunch break meaning that those who wanted to be catered for could fully absorb the day. They had commonality with others who received their box on the morning of the event and they could use the lunch break to eat amongst their event colleagues and peers and have that conversation point you would have at an in person conference.
Much like in point 4 we trialled this in year one with post friendly gin cocktails for the sundowners at the end of the day. We dropped the mail order gin but the Sundowners session has remained for every LIVE so far. This year Alan and I arrived at a packed full Sundowners room with two cans of red stripe and laid back in our chairs. Everyone brought a long a drink if they wanted one and we just unpicked the day that was and shared stories, wins and future thoughts. We couldn’t get everyone to leave at the end!
The Digital Circus LIVE opened us up to participants globally. And yes, at some stage our little event delivered by our little team of two might be the size of the likes of CEX and Social Media Marketing World whereby participants are willing to fly half way across the world to join us in person but for now we’re still Emily and Alan from Yellow Tuxedo with our bijou audience that we are growing daily.
Our online event allowed us to interact with people from USA, Australia, Finland, Germany, Dubai, India and beyond.
And whilst yes, we still agree that we couldn’t have hugs on the day, networking in the way we did online means that we can cut to the chase when we next see people in the real world. I don’t need or want to hug EVERYONE, there are some key people that I now know that I absolutely want to continue building a relationship with after The Digital Circus LIVE. I’ll seek them out for a hug later!
The Digital Circus LIVE will be back next year continuing to build human connection in a digital world. Sign up here to be on the waiting list to find out more when details are released..
The shops are full of festive food and cheer, the lights are going up and your diary is getting busy. Here we come Christmas 2022!
It’s set to be a very different feel to last year when we were still nervous about group gatherings and the office party was likely a zoom affair! You could hide in your comfy clothes until it was all over, right??!!
Don’t panic if you aren’t prepared for an in person festive season yet. I’ve got you covered with some style and confidence boosting tips!
Take a look ahead at what you have in the diary. You have probably got a few Christmas drinks and or dinner dates planned plus a work get together perhaps?
My advice would be to start planning what to wear for each of these events in advance. Believe me it will save you so much time and worry as the dates approach.
You DO NOT need a new outfit for every occasion. In fact, if the attendees will be different at every event, you could even just repeat your outfit! There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that in these times when we are all trying to save money and be more sustainable. Re-wear with pride!
Or perhaps you could make a small change to an outfit such as a different pair of shoes, belt necklace?
Plan your outfits from head to toe including shoes and any accessories then hang them at the front of your wardrobe ready to go. This ensures you will have to deal with any ironing or digging out items well beforehand – no last-minute panics!
If you are stuck for outfit inspiration – don’t worry, I’ll cover this later on!
Sometimes you may receive an invite which mentions a specific dress code – this can also be a source of stress if you aren’t sure. Here are some pointers and explanations for the main ones:
White Tie-
The most formal of dress codes and not seen too often Also known as Full evening dress and ‘tails’. For women this means a formal floor length gown and for men a white dress shirt, white bow tie and a jacket with tails.
Black Tie-
For women this doesn’t have to mean a floor length dress anymore nor does it have to be black. A cocktail knee length dress is fine even above the knee. Matching separates and jumpsuits would also be acceptable just ensure your outfit is glamorous think sequins and embellishment, luxurious fabrics such as silk, taffeta, satin, tulle, lace and chiffon. Add heels and polished accessories such as a clutch bag and jewellery. In recent years, fancy flat shoes have also become acceptable if you struggle with heels. Try a pair with a satin bow, a bright colour or print.
Black tie for men – this would normally mean a dinner jacket (tuxedo) often in black and a black bow tie but other colours for tuxedo jackets and bow ties are acceptable now too.
Cocktail-
For women this is very similar to a black-tie event but would not include a floor length gown. As above think glamorous and polished.
For men – the cocktail dress code offers a bit more flexibility. A dark suit and tie and smart shoes would fit the bill.
Festive –
For women think sequins and shine, red and green colours, sparkly accessories.
Men could consider a velvet jacket or coloured tie.
NB Unless specifically mentioned I WOULD NOT take this to mean antler hairbands, Christmas jumpers and tinsel!!
Smart Casual –
This is my husbands and many peoples least favourite dress code!! The best way to approach it is to think of one or two smart items you could wear with something more casual.
So, for women - you could add a blazer and heels to a daytime dress, a dressy top and heels to jeans, a smart blouse to relaxed trousers
For men – you could also do the blazer with jeans and smart shoes, a smart (cashmere?) jumper to dark denim jeans or trousers. Smart boots would also be acceptable instead of shoes. As a rule, trainers would not be acceptable, but it depends on the host and venue it may be acceptable to wear very neat and smart dark colour versions.
So, you understand the dress code and are ready to start planning outfits! It is likely you have already got all the ingredients to put together suitable outfits. Use the following outfit formulas to ‘shop your wardrobe’ first before hitting the shops! You may need to purchase some new accessories, but you’ll still be saving money if you don’t buy everything new!
Black tie/Cocktail ideas women –
Do you have a glamourous dress you like and feel comfortable in?
If it is black, you can try it with some different print shoes and statement jewellery. Charity shops have lots on offer this time of year – always worth a look. Coloured dresses such as red, blue, pink try clashing colour accessories to mix things up. (see pic for inspiration)
For men – if you don’t own a tux don’t forget you can hire - for more info see below. Also try charity shops and preloved shops. For a cocktail dress code take a look at a smart suit you own and try mixing with a non-work shirt or if you have some smart trousers, you feel great in search out a velvet blazer or different colour blazer on second hand sites, preloved/charity shops.
Smart Casual / Festive ideas
For both women and men my biggest tip is that a blazer is your friend! If you don’t own one you can get some amazing value ones at Zara /Zara men. I’ll say it again – try second hand sites vinted, eBay charity shops and preloved shops too.
For women you can pop a blazer over a dress, skirt and camisole, jeans and blouse and add heels, jewellery and bag and you are good to go!
For men add to smart trousers / dark jeans and a plain t shirt and shoes/smart boots.
For women a smart jumper over a sparkly skirt/tulle skirt and heels or a blouse with jeans/trousers and heels are great options. There are so many sparkly accessories around such as hairbands and glitzy bags so you can jazz up even the simplest of outfits. A denim dress is a great investment and can be worn from day to night.
You can save money and help the planet by searching out preloved items Plus no one else will have the same outfit!
Here are some of my favourite sites to check out.
Preloved clothes...
Great for designer labels...
Rental sites- perfect for formal events
Accessories
For men...
Preloved boutiques and small businesses...
I absolutely love Re:dress in Winchester, a treasure trove of preloved pieces from Prad to Zara! If you are in the area, they are always worth a visit!
Bella Ling provides preloved designer goodies particularly good for accessories bags and jewellery.
Don’t forget that if you are feeling nervous about getting out again everyone else is too!
With a bit of thought and planning beforehand you’ll know that you are showing up as your best dressed self!
Dress Up, Show Up, Be Confident this festive season.
For more style tips and outfit inspiration follow me on Instagram and Facebook @stylesolutionsbysarah.
Sarah is a a cherished member of The Digital Circus community. You can find out more about becoming a member for yourself here.
In our latest instalment of That Lightbulb Moment we talk to the utterly fabulous Victoria Brown from LiveFitNow about her personal lightbulb moment since working with us within The Digital Circus which involved reusing content and making her life a lot easier!
LiveFitNow is a personal training service based in Berkshire. Vicki's ethos is to motivate, believe and achieve and she really wants to help you achieve your goals whether you are you are looking to get fit, get stronger, lose or gain weight, or train for a specific event.
Since the pandemic began last year Vicki has successfully moved her business online from a physical 1-2-1 service. Not only does Vicki now provide online classes and coaching but she has now gone on to set up an online membership, The LiveFitNow Club as well as an excellent podcast which is well worth a listen!
As you can see from above, Vicki is an incredibly busy lady and she is SMASHING it right now. So it was so great to hear that she has found being in The Digital Circus so beneficial. In the video Vicki says that one her biggest realisations is that as businesses we often have so much more content than we first think and that actually if you look back our content has plenty of life in it when utilised properly. Reusing your existing content is so much smarter than trying to reinvent the wheel and creating reams and reams of new content which we all know can be labour intensive.
At Yellow Tuxedo we are massive advocates of reusing content within your business. This could be as simple as tidying your content archives and reoptimising it to be seen, updating key videos and blogs for a new audience or taking relevant snippets and sound bites from the original source to create engaging micro content.
Get your content working for you!!
Thank you so much to Vicki for chatting to us. We are also super excited to announce that she has agreed to be a guest speaker at our event The Digital Circus LIVE on May the 18th. Be sure to come along and ask her some questions!
This weeks video tutorial has been created for all of you who have yet to log into your Google Analytics accounts!!! We have spoken to so many business owners recently who simply just don’t check their stats because they are worried that they won’t understand the insights. With this in mind we have created a Google analytics tutorial for beginners that just highlights some of the key metrics to get you started. Trust us, once you start playing around with all of the data you’ll become addicted just like us!
To find out more about using Google Analytics to help grow your website traffic click and watch our video above. And if you haven’t yet done so why don’t you subscribe to our Yellow Tuxedo YouTube channel to stay up to date with all of our latest video training.
As always if you have any questions do be sure to chat to a member of our team, we’re always happy to talk things through with you!
Have a tip top day and if you haven’t yet installed the app on your phone then go and do it RIGHT NOW!
IGTV is most definitely not dead, well yet! Yet its still one of those features on Instagram that doesnt get used enough. We all know that video content is king so why wouldn’t you use IGTV as another place to repurpose your awesome video macro content? In todays how to guide by Alan, he shows you how to upload to IGTV from your computer as opposed to natively from your phone.
There are several big plus points to uploading from your desktop. One MASSIVE one being the length of video that you are able to upload. On your phone you are limited to just 10mins, when you upload from your computer this is extended to up to 1hr.
Alan also goes on to show you how to upload cover art the right way so that it sits tidily on your instagram grid [ for those of you who are scared to break away from your curated feeds!!] as well as how to create drafts that can be edited and uploaded when you are ready.
We’d love to know if you are currently a fan of using IGTV and how often you post videos to your channel. Do be sure to let us know in the comments!
As always if you have any questions do be sure to chat to a member of our team, we’re always happy to talk things through with you.
Emily x
Celebrating your weekly wins. Today we're in the garden making the most of the sun today and we're celebrating everything good and positive from this week. We really hope you enjoy VLOG #009 from us. What have been your wins this week?
During this time is easy to fall into the trap of negative thoughts. Its a REALLY REALLY tough time for everyone right now and we completely understand that however a really healthy habit to get into is trying to find the positives in your week. Whether that be professionally, personally or whether you just managed to get out of your slouchy PJ's at some point!!!!
Celebrate the wins as much as you can. It will help propel you forward.
Watch VLOG #010 Its a new week. Start is Strong, positive and healthy.
Yay, it's the international day of happiness and we ask our 4yr old Ben what makes him happy.. In VLOG 004 we talk all about the International Day of Happiness and what makes you happy and what you can do to make others happy!