Overcoming Limiting Beliefs: From Impostor Syndrome to TikTok Success with Wave Wyld

Christine Li  0:01  
Welcome back to the Make Time for Success Podcast. I'm Dr. Christine Li and this is episode number 138. 

If you're a fan of the TikTok platform, you may very well already be familiar with my special guests today Wave Wyld. Wave is a TikTok and social video marketing expert. She has helped 1000s of creators grow their TikTok accounts with a community over virality approach. Her background is in personal branding and photo and video creation. That background helped her to launch a brand on TikTok as the Queen of trend alerts, which then started the movement of trend alerts style videos that currently dominates social media feeds. Wave is a member of TikTok's Invite Only Creator Community Program, as well as YouTube's Shorts Ceator Community. And she regularly appears in national media, top rated podcasts and social media summits. What you're going to hear inside this interview is how Wave overcame her limiting beliefs in a number of areas in order to find her special expertise, which truly showcases her talents and her authentic self It's a great story and Wave is a great woman. And I can't wait to share this episode with you now.

Hi, I'm Dr. Christine Li, and I'm a psychologist and a procrastination coach. I've helped 1000s of people move past procrastination and overwhelm so they can begin working to their potential. In this podcast, you're going to learn about powerful strategies for getting your mind, body and energy to work together so that you can focus on what's really important, and accomplish the goals you want to achieve. When you start living within your full power, you're going to see how being productive can be easy, and how you can create success on demand. Welcome to the Make Time for Success podcast. 

Hi, everyone, welcome back to the show. I'm really grateful. And happy to be here today with my special guest Wave Wyld. I call her the queen of TikTok. And she is a TikTok expert. And she's been teaching people how to excel at short form video and being visible on that platform. And I'm just grateful that she's here so that we can get to know her and get to know her areas of expertise. Welcome to the show Wave.

Wave Wyld  2:36  
Thank you so much for having me, Christine. I'm super excited to talk all things TikTok or other things as well.

Christine Li  2:44  
Yes, yes, absolutely. Can you give us a sense of your backstory going as far back as you're comfortable? And tell us about some of the factors that have influenced your career and where you are now with your business?

Wave Wyld  3:01  
Yeah, so before TikTok, so before COVID happened, I was a personal brand photographer. So creating content, photos and videos for entrepreneurs. I would say though, I don't know I wasn't the most successful or kind of more on I guess on the struggling side with that industry. However COVID happened and I had an Instagram coach friend say You know, you should really get on Tik Tok and, and check it out, I think you would like it there to different different vibe. So I just did I got on the app. And I did really love it. I love dancing to music, although I don't even dance in my videos, and you don't have to dance. So just know that. But I got on. And I just started experimenting, posting all kinds of videos, stuff about personal branding, marketing, a lot of mindset stuff that was doing well. And I had one video go semi viral is around 100,000 views, that was a really, really big deal. And I got hooked and that's how they get you. I got hooked. And I started learning about tick tock more just anywhere I could find information. And I started sharing my successes on my Instagram. And that's where I was getting a lot of questions like How are you using this app? And then it was, you know, lightbulb moment where I thought oh my gosh, like, you know, there's Instagram coaches, like why wouldn't there be tick tock coaches, and at that time, I had seen maybe five talks on the app. And I thought, You know what, like, with my background in personal branding, and my marketing skills of you know, being an entrepreneur, I could really help business owners use this app as another social media marketing tool, because that's how I see it. And I just Yeah, I decided to pivot I went all in and my life has changed.

Christine Li  4:45  
That is fantastic. And congratulations on I think being an early adopter of the app to begin with. So I guess that's a cue to everyone to jump in with you see an opportunity. It's okay to be early right It's okay to try it even though maybe you don't know anybody who's in that particular area. It's okay to experiment and be one of the first people in. And also just, it sounds like follow what makes you happy and follow what feels natural to you. It sounds like that's a lot of what you've used yourself.

Wave Wyld  5:20  
Yes, that's one thing I love about Tik Tok, it's a very creative app, you don't have to be super creative. But there's just a lot of tools and features on the app to make creative videos to have fun with it. And that just yet really jives with me.

Christine Li  5:37  
Okay, now listening to your story, it makes it seem as if you have no difficulty getting on camera, has that always been the case? And am I hearing that story incorrectly?

Wave Wyld  5:51  
No, that has not always been the case. So one of the reasons why I went into photography was because I was terrified of being in front of the camera. And I felt way more comfortable being able to hide behind the camera that was my safe place. And it took years it took years to get to get comfortable. So there was a you know, a few things that happened, I did have a business coach who, when I was doing personal fan brand photography, was like you have to start live streaming, you need a Facebook group, you know, you gotta gotta get on camera and live streaming. So that was one thing to start doing that very big deal to get comfortable in front of the camera talking that way. But also, when I became when I had decided, like I was going into personal brand photography, I also went and hired another photographer to do a brand shoot of me. And that in particular, it was in Savannah, Georgia. Oh my god, amazing place for for photos. And she was kind of like a glamour photographer, like they do your hair and makeup, and she has all the outfits there. But we went out and we did brand photos. And that was a very transformational experience for me. Really, you know, I had to have the experience of what it was like, so that I could offer that experience to people. So that was very transformational for me to start accepting. You know who I am and the way I look. And the way I sound on camera, and just being able to show up on camera more. So yes, it was very fortunate by the time that tic tock came around, and I got on tick tock, you know, March, February, March 2020. I was was fairly competent on camera.

Christine Li  7:35  
Okay, great. So I am thinking about all the people who might be listening to us, who might be struggling with things like being on camera, saying what they really feel and think, maybe using social media at all, whether they're a business person or not. And I'm wondering what encouragement you can give them and what do you teach your own clients to do when there feels like a big block even or maybe an act of fear, like people actually get sweaty or turn red or their heart starts to beat like crazy when they're thinking about somebody watching them?

Wave Wyld  8:15  
Yeah, well, for one thing, people love authenticity. So even in your video, if you said, Wow, I'm really nervous right now my face is going so red. That's okay. Like people are okay with that. One thing I want to say is, you know, from being in the online space for a few years, I have noticed that people do not care what you look like, right? They care what they care about is what you can do for them and how you make them feel. So that I've seen time and time again, you are the only one who's you know, criticizing yourself so harshly. So you have to know that and then you know, there are some you know, very basic exercises I teach setup, such as just filming yourself with the camera app, just your camera phone, filming yourself and making yourself watch those videos, while you pay attention and write down the you know, negative thoughts that you're thinking like, Oh, my nose looks so big, right? hate the sound of my voice and writing those down. And then what we do, right, I call those limiting beliefs. Those are things we just believe about ourselves that are holding or that are holding us back, then when I get them to do is to turn those limiting beliefs around into positive affirmations. So if your limiting belief is I don't like the way I sound when I'm talking on camera, then you can turn that around and say, I am learning to love the way I sound on camera and people enjoy listening to me.

Christine Li  9:45  
Yeah, that's actually such a powerful tool. I learned the same technique when I was training on an inpatient unit several decades ago, so I can I can guarantee that that strategy actually works. I think part of The key of changing your own thoughts is believing that you can, is believing that there's an easier way to be treating yourself and thinking about yourself. And like, I totally want to back up what wave is encouraging you to do, which is to kind of straighten out the language that you use to see and describe yourself so that you can show up on camera show up and do videos, show up and promote what you have to promote to the world more easily.

Wave Wyld  10:33  
Absolutely. And yeah, just one final note about that, just, you know, be yourself. I know, everybody says that. And but people can sense if you're trying too hard to be someone else. So just be real. And in the moment, that's what tick tock is all about. It's, it's not the it's not like the Instagram culture where things are curated. And everybody looks perfect and happy and the highlight reel, at least an app that really values authenticity, and that's what people connect with. So just be real.

Christine Li  11:04  
Okay, wonderful. How was your deep involvement on the app and in Tik Tok? And with your community there changed you? This is just a thought that's coming to my mind. And I am curious.

Wave Wyld  11:18  
Well, Oh, gosh. Okay, well, one thing I would say is, when I had a photography career, I really struggled with impostor syndrome, and comparing myself to other photographers, and seeing their photos and being like, Oh, wow, like the way they use that light, I'm not that good with lighting. Other photos are so beautiful mine kind of stuck type of things. And it really, really held me back. So when I got onto Tik Tok, and really wanted to start learning the app, I decided to do account reviews. And this was something I would just, I would do this on live stream, I would go live and I would look at people's accounts and give them tips. And then I started charging for it and, and whatnot. But it allowed me to really, really build confidence in my skills, because I put in the work of talking to a lot of people, and just really learning what they struggle with and thinking of, you know, ways that I could help them and come up with strategies, and then we would get the test those strategies. And that's kind of what formed the basis of, of what I teach. So that really helped me be confident. So one thing that's really changed me is, I've just, it's been amazing for me to finally step into this place of confidence in what I'm doing. And it's helped me my own, like personal growth of being an entrepreneur. You know, I also I just had so many limiting beliefs and, and things with photography, you know, that, you know, people didn't want to pay me all that kind of stuff. And it's just been able to completely turn around with tick tock, when, you know, by having this community and by by talking to people and also, you know, focusing on on serving, I always love to focus on serving and tapping into my passion. That's another way to help you when you're on camera, as well as just tapping into your passion first and focus on serving and removing that fear.

Christine Li  13:15  
Thank you for those beautiful shares. And I want to share that I love Tik Tok myself, I don't know if my audience knows that. And when I wandered onto Tik Tok, my first impression was this is a crazy place. And my second impression was, wow, anything goes here. And that is kind of freeing. So if you do have limiting thoughts, and I think we all kind of do in some place, shape or form, that this may be a space for you. So if it's not tick tock, it may be some other space that you're interested in. But I think what wave is teaching us is that it's that experimentation that will allow you to kind of disassemble your limiting thoughts and overcome them that really, what are we doing, holding ourselves back and telling ourselves that we're always in the wrong lighting, or we're always looking the wrong way? It doesn't really help us to do anything. So my lesson from listening to wave right now is experimentation over hiding every single time.

Wave Wyld  14:16  
Yes, absolutely. And focus on the message. What is it that you want to communicate to your people focus on that if people don't care, you know, what your hair looks like? Right? This is why people are like sitting in their cars. You know, making videos when people are lying in bed making videos, they don't have any makeup on I did a video the other day with no makeup. Like it's just like, whatever. I mean, it's up to you how you want to show up. But, you know, again, it is really an app that's built around authenticity and just being real and in the moment and that allows you to kind of experiment and also find a bit of your own voice and how you want to communicate on video.

Christine Li  14:58  
Wonderful. So now, can we talk about the business that you have built? And what is the community? Like? What have you learned from your community? And what do they need? And what is exciting you about your business now?

Wave Wyld  15:17  
Yeah, I think you know, for me, it was very easy to build community on Tik Tok compared to other social media platforms where, you know, I struggled more to grow. So as soon as I got to 1000 followers, I was very heavy into live streaming, I went, I think, Monday to Friday for one hour every day. And that is where I really got that sort of sense of community. Now, one thing I do teach this community over virality approach to tick tock community is sometimes a hard sell on the app because it takes time, it takes patience, it takes work, it doesn't happen overnight, you can't just press that button and have an instinct community. It's more of that long term play. So yeah, but but going live really, really helped to build that community. Once I saw like, the same people were showing up and the same people, you know, commenting on all my videos and, and being so supportive, and me being able to give back to them. Yeah, that's, that's just Yeah, it was very impactful for me. So I never take that for granted. And then, you know, I've been experimenting with all kinds of different offers and things in my business and figuring out what works and what doesn't work. I feel like I've tried to switch things around every few months. Currently, right now I have a membership I have built a brand on Tik Tok as this queen of trend alerts, I was the first person to start announcing trends in this specific format, the way I did it, with the catchphrase and with a format of video that really helped me stand out and helped me build my account. So people know me for that. And I built a brand around that. So I do have a membership where I announce trends. Now I announce them across all the short form video apps in Yeah, I love, love doing that. I love talking to my community. Yeah. And then I also have a group coaching program that I've been working on. So and you know, I do I do all kinds of other things as well, a lot of speaking and, you know, workshops, those types of things.

Christine Li  17:26  
Beautiful. So in your telling of what you've been doing and building, I hear a lot of consistency that you've been showing up these live streams. I can't even imagine doing a live stream for an hour that's a long time and then to do it five days in a row. Can you explain what you believe motivates you? Or keeps you feeling like let's keep this going. Let's not drop out. Let's stay consistent.

Wave Wyld  17:52  
I am a very consistent person. People know that about me, like my middle name, so maybe I just have that going for me. I also would say it is a like a little bit of my personality. I'm not sure if you are familiar with the Clifton Strengths test I am. So my number one strength is the executor. So in my my partner also calls me like a little doer, I do doo doo so you know, I have my to do list. I just I'm always just doing busy, busy be I guess that's that's a little bit of it's just built into me. Okay. Yeah. And I guess, you know, I feel like for the first time in my life, I felt something, I found something that I was truly passionate about and that I felt like I was really good at and starting to make something of my life. So I think that's just what what keeps me going.

Christine Li  18:45  
Okay, beautiful. It sounds like you have alignment. So it's a little bit easy to to find that consistency. For those people who are listening who might not quite be at that consistent, it's part of me routine, what tips might you have for those people?

Wave Wyld  19:01  
Will definitely you know, one of the first things I work on with all of my students is creating a content strategy, because that helps you stay consistent. And I think a lot of people don't realize, you know, when you go to Tik Tok that you need one. And I usually say okay, well do you have one for Instagram, like you have a plan of what you're posting and the content you're creating? Oh, yeah. And I'm like, Hey, we need one for Tik Tok as well. So having a plan of the types of videos you're going to post like, I break it down into content pillars, which is not different than Instagram, choosing four to six themes or topics that you want to talk about on your page that all relate you know, to your offers and building a brand and a business and all that. So having that is going to help you know what you should be posting and then we go through how much of each kind of pillar or each content category that you are going to post. So that is the plan and then once you have the plan, it's going to help you stay consistent, because, you know, it's the worst feeling in the world to wake up in the morning and be like, oh, I need to post something on social media today. You know, what am I? What am I going to post and you know, you need to have the plan and the strategy.

Christine Li  20:13  
Okay, excellent tips, excellent tips, and congratulations on the growing community and finding your alignment and overcoming all of the limiting beliefs that were there before. This is a really great success story.

Wave Wyld  20:27  
It took me a long time. Pretty much 40 years.

Christine Li  20:31  
Yeah, but wonderful that it's happened. I just had the lovely opportunity of talking with waves, membership community. We've invited me to talk about procrastination to the group and I just want to encourage anyone who's inclined to work with wave to go and join her membership. It's a lovely group of people wave is so lovely, and full of wisdom and encouragement, as well. And can you just describe to our audience how they can join the membership and or stay in touch with you?

Wave Wyld  21:04  
Yeah, so it's called Social Video Marketing Mastery. So we actually cover TikTok reels and shorts. So those are the big three main platforms for short form video. And you can reach out to me my website has more information, wavewyld.com Or on all social platforms. It's just my name at Wave Wyld.

Christine Li  21:25  
Okay, beautiful. Thank you wave you are so amazing to work with. I've had so much fun getting to know you and collaborating with you. And I want to thank you again for being here today. Thank you so much. Okay, everyone, please give a DM to wave on Instagram or Tiktok. And you'll definitely find her there. And please visit us again on this podcast Make Time for Success. Next week when another episode drops. I'll see you there. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of the Make Time for Success podcast. If you enjoyed what you heard, you can subscribe to make sure you get notified of upcoming episodes. You can also visit our website maketimeforsuccesspodcast.com for past episodes, show notes and all the resources we mentioned on the show. Feel free to connect with me over on Instagram too. You can find me there under the name procrastination coach. Send me a DM and let me know what your thoughts are about the episodes you've been listening to. And let me know any topics that you might like me to talk about on the show. I'd love to hear all about how you're making time for success. We'll talk to you soon!

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