Sonia Zarbatany known to fans and friends as coach Sonia is an international speaker, life and business coach, as well as a corporate consultant based on. Montreal everything she has created from her coach, Sonia events, retreats, and online programs to her tribe event, space and media agency. The media all exists so she can impact as many people as possible.
Sonia also coaches and speaks on global stages to empower, inspire, and impact others to live in the now and execute the steps needed to create a brighter future for both the personal and professional lives. She brings tangible tips and next steps to start pivot and scale. And balanced their home life as an entrepreneur and business owner, she has built and scaled her own clients’ businesses to massive success.
She coaches her clients to achieve results in their own lives that they had only once to imagine possible. Sonya it’s so good to see you again, welcome to the run GPG podcast.
You do have an extensive bio and I’m excited that you are here. We did make this happen. We do have some mutual friends. This is the first like Montreal alumni episode of the show. So I’m excited about that and I’m glad we connected. So for a person introduced to you for the first time on this show, and I asked you this yesterday, how would you describe what you do?
The impact of what I do is first of all, I’m so happy to be here. Second of all, how fun is it that we’re both in Montreal? Like how fun is it? How fun is it? This world allows us to connect, you know, through Brad, who was in Vegas then through online, and then we through our relationship are able to then go on and impact thousands and hundreds of thousands.
Like that’s the beauty of it. So what do I do? I’m a speaker. The world I coach, I consult and I am a friend. I’m a mom, I’m a, they call me an influencer. But basically I, my whole passion and purpose is to really help people live their best life. Like help them figure out what their definition of success is and then scale from that and then go and achieve.
And we’re going to get into that a little bit more detailed, but you do have an interesting backstory, right? So where are you from? Where did you grow up and how did you end up in. Okay. So I was born in Morocco. I was born in Morocco. My mom had me, she was 21 years old. And, at the age of three, we moved back to Montreal.
Her family was in Montreal and I grew up in Montreal. My mom then married my step dad, who is my business head. That’s where I got into business. And I. Really really strongly into business. We own a bunch of fashion brands across Canada and the, and the U S such as guest jeans. XOX. So, and then I left my very last exam that I wrote in Western and London, Ontario, and I was like, I’m going to go do this on my own.
Like, I need to go figure. Who I am, what I’m going to do. And I moved to LA and then from LA, I moved to LA, I moved to Vegas for two and a half years. I lived in Kauai for three months when completely raw, like when deep into the whole personal development space relationship space. And then, yeah, I started speaking all over.
That’s what I love about Montreal. You always hear stories like. You know, like very rarely do you find somebody without it like a very interesting backstory to how they ended up here? You know, the family backgrounds, it really is a melting pot here. A lot of different backgrounds that I, again, that’s what I do love about the city.
Now here’s a question. How did you end up in the world of entrepreneurship, you know, personal development and eventually coaching. You know, I think it’s so beautiful because for me, what I really feel like every serious coach, we have a release backstory, right? Like for me, I needed to figure out who I was.
And that’s why I went into coaching. I didn’t go into coaching to become a coach. I just needed to figure out who I was like, what, you know, what did I really want? Right. It’s so easy for people coming from family businesses to just go, all right, I graduate, get my degree. And then I go into my fashion business.
But I was like, what, what if there’s more like, I want to explore, there’s a huge world out there. Like I want to put a name for myself. I want to, you know, I really want to live it and experience it. So that’s why I left. And I got to the landmark. I got into personal development because you know, I didn’t come from a relationship.
You know, my parents weren’t that family, that, you know, it’s a nice, simple family. So I really didn’t think I would ever get married. Like, I really just thought that I’d be the woman who just like, I was good. I didn’t meet, I needed a man to fulfill me and all these things. So I was like, maybe it’s me.
Maybe I, you know, maybe it’s me. And to be honest. Yeah, of course it was me. Right. So I got deep into personal development and my head is all about business. I can literally sit in front of anybody and develop a game plan to scale their business. Like that’s my head. That’s where I go. And to me it’s like until you can shift that mindset because that’s really what stops people, then the world’s yours.
Like go get everything that you want. Yeah. And that brings up, you know, you brought it up there, you know, sitting in developing like a, you know, a business plan, where does it start for you? Like, does it, you know, as a, getting to know the business, the mission statements, the core values, like where does, you know, developing a brand or a business plan come from?
Where does it start? What’s that? So the first thing is clarity, right? The first thing, because here’s the deal. It’s funny now I’m launching a new, new program. It’s to master your business and master your personal brand. Right. And literally the first part is your vision. Like, what do you even want? You don’t like what?
Because here’s the deal. You’re going to have to work your ass off for it. And if someone’s not like this is it, welcome to the world. Like you’re going to have to work, you know, you, but look for you, your podcast, how much work is, it’s a lot of work, but. You love it. Right. So for me, what I always go to is one is like, let’s get real, real clear on your vision.
Like, what do you want when you want to develop? Why do you want it? And what will make you so hungry for it? Through the challenges, through the struggles, through the difficulty, through the hard times that you’re going to have consistent habits. To keep going and to achieve those goals. Those people quit so quickly because they never took the first step.
They just kind of ran in and said, yeah, I’m good at that. Let me open a business or let me, you know, start with the social media thing, but without a clear strategy, where are you going with it? Yeah, it’s such an important point. Clarity is critical now. You know, you have developed, you know, fiercely loyal clients and fans, a large following.
We all know what your secret sauce or superpower is. Or maybe it’s just a fundamental, you know, concept that’s made you successful. Have you thought about that? Y’all I know that here’s the deal. Two things I’ve done. One is I’ve done this coaching and the speaking thing before, you know, before moving back into Montreal and then going back into the fashion industry, but the problem is.
Here’s where I was, where it wasn’t working for me. I was speaking in speaking and giving and giving and giving, and I felt like I was 26 at the time. Right. I felt like I needed to be perfect. You know, like I felt like, Hey, I’m a coach, I’m a speaker ham on stage. I need to have my stuff all figured out.
And I didn’t like that. I don’t want to be that. I want that. The reason why I have such a loyal following and, and great and amazing audiences. They know I’m going to show up no matter what, like right before doing that, I showed up on stories and I was, I spoke about, you know, a struggle that I was having with.
And I feel so comfortable with my audience to not just show up at this strong, fearless, go get it by leader mom better, but there’s hard times. And I feel so okay with being completely vulnerable, completely authentic, and just completely me. So to give you know, your audience, a beautiful tip is imagine if you could build a personal brand.
Imagine if you could build an audience. Imagine if you could build. Just a platform where you could just show up and be yourself. That’s it. And then the beautiful thing is when people meet you in LA in real life, they already love you because they already know you. You never have to show up and be like, Hey guys, so today, no, no, Hey guys.
Or if the, if you’re a Hey guys then great, but you could just show up completely how you are and that be so great because it allows people to show up how they are as. I love that. I think, you know, being vulnerable is one thing, but authenticity is critical, you know, these days, especially on social media and I, and you are very motivating.
So I think that’s, I’m really glad that you broke that down for us. Cause you definitely have something there. Right. So you’re, you’re very motivating. You’re empowering. That’s for damn sure. But you do have a super power and I’m glad you identified it. And walk the talk like so many. I walk my talk. If I tell you I slept four hours last night, I put it on my stories.
I was like, here’s my aura ring. Four hours of sleep. I was in the gym at that time. I could’ve come up with so many excuses. I could cancel on this. I could cancel my coaching. I won’t cancel. So that will then inspire other people to do what they can not cancel in their life? So I believe that there is such beauty and leading by example, and I feel that stepping into your femininity and stepping into.
You know, your essence as a woman is something phenomenal and I’m really, really happy to be able to have a community that gets inspired by that. Do you coach men at all? Absolutely. I love coaching men. Really? Yeah. I love it. I’m not stepping into my. No, I don’t want you to step into your femininity, but I could go to in one hot second, because the thing with men that what I love about men, it’s, it’s so interesting because you know, w with the men that we could literally go straight into the business, no matter what’s happening in their life.
Whereas most women, again, I’m generalizing, you know, but whereas most women, if they’re having a crisis in their home, if their kids are off it’s, they’re all, like, we have to fix that before we go into business. One of the men that I coached literally a couple months ago, he’s sitting in front of me and he never has his phone on and he’s always checking his phone.
I’m like, what’s going on? He’s like, let me just take this. I’m like, yeah, no problem. And he gets on the phone and he goes. Yeah. Well, she is having an issue with him right now. Yeah, well, so, okay. So yeah, no, send me the pictures. Alright. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I’ll call you right after I’m just with my coach. I’ll call you after he hangs up the phone, I’m like your wife’s cheating on you.
Isn’t she like, yeah. The private detective is taking pictures as we speak. And this is halfway through this like full acquisition. Like full on. He, that’s why he had to take the phone call. Like, what do you mean your PA’s on your wife right now? And you’re sitting with me talking about, you know, acquiring another business.
Right. So, yeah. Wow. The things you hear as a coach. Hey, and I do know why you slept four hours last night. You were trying to think about what to wear and then went ahead and spilled. Right. Can you man? No, but listen, the beauty of this is your viewer. Well, your listeners won’t see that, but your viewers will. I turn my shirt around and I have a great coffee stain right there.
You can never tell you can’t tell it was smart. That’s what an entrepreneur does when you pivot. You had shared around and I made it happen.
Well, listen, you’re relating some, you know, some stories from coaching. The most surprising lesson you’ve learned since you’ve been in coaching and personal development, not to put you on the spot too much, but you know, is there a surprising lesson you’ve learned or something that you wish you knew before you started this?
Ah, that’s such a good question. What’s grit it’s so, you know, it’s so funny because. I am now coaching like I’ve, I’ve coached hundreds and hundreds of it’s like, I can, I know where we’re going within the first 30 seconds. I get your limiting belief before you even speak it. And oh, I think, you know, the most beautiful thing is people will, will.
They’ve created such realities in their world. Where they will tell you where they’re stopping themselves within the first five minutes. Like they will literally tell you that, you know? Yeah. I, you know, men are all, I’m not dating because men are all s**t. Okay. So there’s where you’re stopping yourself.
Or, you know, I haven’t succeeded because of this. Like, it’s so easy because you already are telling me where you’re stopping your. You know, we’re already here within the first five minutes because this story that you’ve created, why you’re stopping yourself while you’re not connecting to people while you’re not scaling your business while you’re scared to go, you know, big on social media or, you know, ask for the date, ask for the raise.
Look, you’re telling me this. So if you could just listen to yourself and listen to the excuses that you’re making in your own life. Like you’re halfway there, buddy. There you are. Cause it’s not even true, you know? Oh, if I had more money, if I was skinnier, if I was, you know, because Montreal is cold, those are all like, COVID like so many things that you’re stopping yourself because you made that your excuse.
You? Well, you sound like me yesterday. That sort sorta sounds like I was, I was sitting there. I was a little, you know, I was a little bitter at the cold. I did run 10 K. Listeners. I ran 10 K outside. I did. I got it done. I put the work in to put the word in and I’m so proud to have to do this 10 K run.
It took me a while though. It wasn’t a very fast, average cloth. You know, clock speed. But now we were talking about this yesterday. You know, the need to be in person for a lot of these coaching events before we do that, actually let me back up because you did hit on something that I think are really effective coaches, do you do it?
It’s understanding people and personality types, right? What makes people tick? And you said it, you know, within the first 30 seconds, you can read someone and identify. You know what the issue might be. And I think people management skills, that’s what gets you paid these days. And I think that’s what people need is someone who can manage their personality and understand them.
So I think that’s critical. I think you hit on something there. And like I said, you know, we were talking about this yesterday. You pivoted, you know, a lot of companies and a lot of businesses pivoted, you know, in response to the pandemic, right. And you successfully pivoted to a virtual model. How did you do that?
I pivoted and pivoted and pivoted, and, and then I fitted so much that I created a course called pivot your business in 14 days. And I love it. I, you know, it’s so interesting. Cause listen to this, right. I believe that. It’s not about, you know, we’re all coaches and speakers and trainers and blah, blah, blah.
It’s like goal-setting, but it’s not even about the goal. It’s like, it’s who you’re becoming in the pursuit of. Right. Like, I’m one of the words, like it’s my big word today. It’s like right now, who are you being right now? Are you loving your life right now? Are you taking out all of the juice that you can right now?
Are you fully present to your life right now? So for me, what I love is the challenge of me actually putting myself to the test. Like, am I really the person that I think I am. You know what I mean? Because we never got tests. Hmm. So let me take you back to 2020. When COVID hit, I was running my retreat. I was running my coach Sonia retreat in Morocco, in Marrakesh, and we had 21 people and, you know, taking them to the policies of the world on how to scale their business and going through mindset work.
And, you know, the villages of my high cash, like it was the most unbelievable transformational retreat, which I love to do, because I’m all about experiences until. The world shutdown and airports shut down. And it was really interesting because it was the first time that I actually got negative negativity over social media.
Like I’m missing something positive, right? Like I, what do you mean? And it was really interesting. Because I had big names come at me and be like, oh Sonia, you, you know, you should have known better than to take your people to such a dangerous place. I’m like, when’s the last time airports closed down. Like how women who knew better, like this, never ha.
So now we were stuck in Morocco and I had 21 people to bring home. And to me that’s like when the real retreats. And then it was like, all right, like, who are you really? Because my kids were at home. I had my two year old at home. I had my six year old at home. And as a mom, I wanted to go back to my kids and I had my three stepsons, like, you know, so, so there’s that.
But then as a leader and as a coach and as I needed to get my people home, so we really, you know, one. Got every single person home, but then I got home to Montreal and my tribe, which is my 9,000 square foot co-working space. Well, that was closed. So, you know, this beautiful space that I imagined and loved where I had 300 people at the opening two weeks before was closed.
So then I pivoted that to a media agency and we started, we didn’t stop. And then my coaching, I’m a speaker. I do events. I do live events. Well, I pivoted that to online and I started speaking virtually and I spoke to well over a hundred thousand people that year alone on different events. And then my coaching obviously, Push to online.
And then I started doing more and more online courses and realized the importance of building your personal brand and the importance of creating community and creating an audience that resonates with your material. And that wants what you have to, whether you’re selling services or products.
So I really, you know, again, it’s led by example, right? Show them how you do it and show up every single day. Consider. I can think of worse places to be stuck when the airport shuts down in Morocco. Right. It sounds like fun. Like, let’s go. Yes. Well, that’s what I did. So listen, there’s, let’s go. And then there’s this. It’s a bit freaky, honestly, because it’s like, you’re, you know what I mean?
When they closed, I got it. Everybody’s got family at home. I totally get it. Oh, if I can’t listen to this meeting, you could, I shipped my kids out. But what we did is we, again, you’re always in choice, right? So I think something beautiful as your listeners are listening. It’s like, you know, Yeah, cool.
Whatever Sonia and I story, but it’s not about my story. It’s really about. Like you like right now, you’re listening to this and you’re going, like, there is your retreat that’s happening right now. Right? You are free to choose. Like you can, maybe you decided vacs, non-facts this non, this, whatever it is that you decided, and maybe you feel stuck, but you’re still in.
Right. So when we felt stuck in Morocco, I woke up and I was like, all right, we’re going to a palace. And we rented a palace in Morocco and we danced and we danced and we played and we went hard and people were coming at me and I’ve never had so much hate because they were like, how could you dance when people are crying?
And I’m like, well, that’s also. So, you know, what is yours, like maybe you’re watching this and you’re, you’re listening to this and you’re in the car. And you’re like, when’s the last time I died? Like when’s the last time I turned the music up and I just made my own party. Because at any moment you could decide to just step out of this matrix and go into your own little world and make your own movie
I love that. When was the last time you danced? It was the last time. You know, how many moves do you have? What are you talking about this morning? Oh, just that’s their dance children in the nineties. Wow. Very nice. Yeah. Not bad. Then, you talked about it, I think inevitably, like when you gained some popularity, you know, some influence, whatever you gonna have haters come for you, you said you dealt with it.
I’m assuming on social media, right. Where people are making comments. How do you deal with that? Do you just like to blow it off or do you let it sting? Or how do you deal with negativity? You know what? I don’t play in that game. I don’t, I’m. So I’m like I don’t play in that game. That’s on them. Like, I’m so I’m so clear on where I’m going.
I still know who I am. I still know what I, like. I don’t even play with that. Also. It doesn’t even get to like, I don’t even, it doesn’t even come into my bubble because I guard my circle. Like, I really have people that I test that are around me. Like I know you and I, for example, We met face-to-face in Munich yesterday.
You and I have each other. It’s like this, we’re the same person. We’re on the same page. It’s like, you know, I got you. And I know you have, so it’s like once you understand how to, how to just really manage. People that have the right mindset as you are so strong because nobody’s going to come at you because you have these people that really know you.
So would I ever be, you know, hurt by, by someone saying something negative about me? No, of course not. They don’t know. Of course not. I wouldn’t even, I wouldn’t even get to me like, how is it going to get. Yeah, I think it’s a good question to ask, you know, influencers like yourself, you know, I think it’s good to go ahead and go through that process.
Just to ask a question, I love that. I think it’s great advice and I hope our listeners are taking notes on that. She doesn’t let it affect her. She’s also drinking a Starbucks coffee, which is strange. I think every Starbucks and Montreal has shut. Now mine is open. I told you it’s red. It’s going to shut down.
It’s going to be shut down this afternoon. You’ll get some, it’s going to be shut down. I’m telling you it’s going to be shut down. All my Starbucks that I usually go to are all closed. So for all this, I also feel like I’m supporting this Starbucks in such a heavy way that they’ll probably move into my tribe real soon.
I used to get the same thing. Every time I go in there for a $10 cappuccino. Same thing. Listen, this is, this is a very important question. Now it’s a brand new world for everyone. You did talk about pivoting, right? But in your opinion, what do entrepreneurs and business builders need to focus on in 2022 and beyond now?
Oh my gosh. So first of all, here’s the deal. Before I go into any kind of actual business tip, I’m going to tell you what you need to focus on is your definition of success and happiness. Because if I tell you crypto, maybe you don’t care. If I tell you real estate, maybe you don’t, that’s not your thing.
If I tell you personal branding, like I don’t, I’m going to tell you one thing, that’s going to hit every single one of your listeners. Every single one of them needs to find out what their definition is. Cause maybe they’re tasting my definition or yours or somebody else’s. I’m not going to tell you what my, what your definition is.
Maybe this year for you is about, you know, just being a great mom or a great dad and just crushing it with your kids. And you’re super happy with that. Good. Is your goal for 2022? You’re crushing it, the job, like why do I have to tell someone, Hey, if you’re not online, you’re missing out and then you’re going into full, missing out FOMO, imposter syndrome.
Maybe your year, maybe your year is, you know what, maybe you put on 50 pounds because of COVID that’s I’m, I’m starting a 30 day transformation with my people. We didn’t put it on. What are you talking about? COVID is hard on me. Don’t call. It was hard on so many people. So just me, just me. So maybe. You know, maybe this is the first quarter, like look at it in quarters.
Maybe the first quarter is like, Hey, like I need to get my stuff back into check. Like I need to actually really look at my diet. I need to really look at my fitness and go, I need to create these habits that are going to get me back into myself, because if you let yourself go and you don’t feel aligned with yourself, you don’t feel like you’re just, you don’t feel good.
You don’t, sometimes you. Wait, or you just, you don’t feel yourself. So, if I tell you, you have to be, you know, showing up on social media, but you, you don’t even look like yourself. Cause you’re like, I just let myself go. Or I just got a divorce or I just broke up. Do you know what I mean? Like figure yourself out first, go and right after this, right.
When you’re done listening to this, cause listen to the end of it, like right. Set yourself down with a journal and really go, Hey. What’s my definition of happiness? Like what makes me happy? Like, what’s my definition of success. Is it a million, 10 million, 3 million that have to be a hundred thousand, no jaw like hoop.
How am I, what do you, what do you want? What do you, you know, cause if you stroll on social media or they’re going to tell you, make more money, make less money, work more work less than you’re all messed up. So one is you really have to figure out what it is that you want. Once that’s figured out and be at your peak, like why.
You don’t be at your peak, be the person that you always want to be, focus on being that person from that space, you have a gift. There’s a good thing, we all do. Like I don’t have any magic, special sauce. I’m just, I can, I can inspire speed. Like that’s my, that’s my thing. Give me a stage. I’ll blow. But we all have something.
Maybe you’re an amazing artist. Maybe you’re phenomenal. Magician. Maybe you’re good with kids. Maybe like there’s so many gifts out there. I want you to find your gifts, right? Maybe you’re a great dad and those are good notes. Very nice. Stanford’s Hey. Right. So then once you know what your X-Factor is, what your superpower is, I would super greatly encourage you.
Build your personal. Like there’s a whole audience out there waiting for you and it’s free, but you need a strategy, right? So you have to go from your strategy of your business or your personal brand, the strategy of your content, and then to grow and convert and, and, and, and go into that. So online in a, in a huge way, real estate, I mean, It’s just that it’s, it’s just, it’s beautiful, I mean, really, you know what I mean?
Like that said guys, like there, this is like raw, like you’re, you’re owning real assets. Right. And then when, when you look at 20, 22, when you’re clear on what it is that makes you happy, what it is that you actually want. Yeah, then you’ll be able to actually start pushing to online and to definitely real estate.
And then you want to go crypto go crypto. You want to go? Right. I think that’s key. And I hope our listeners are really paying attention and taking notes because you talked about clarity before and, you know, knowing what success looks like for you is critical. And we say it too, you know? If this is your goal, or this is your endgame and work backwards, you know, like for example, if you’re in sales, how many appointments you have to make, how many calls do you have, whatever.
Right. So work your way backwards. But unless you know exactly what success looks like or what that endgame is, you know, it’s like you’re punching at the wind. Doesn’t make sense. Yeah. And then you also have to be like, it’s like work it backwards, then create that. Yes, we have to create the habits you have to consistently go and you have to become so obsessed.
If you want to be the best, become obsessed with it. Like I’m obsessed with people. I love the mind. I love seeing people win. Like it makes me so happy. So, I show up so strong for it because I get to do what it is that I love. And then I’ve acquired the skillset and the tools to be able to actually implement it.
So. If you want to be a phenomenal salesperson, you actually have to learn and you have to apply it and you consistently have to do it every single day. I’m going to ask you about your, your habits, maybe daily routine or morning routine, maybe in a minute here. But I did want to ask you, is there a commonality or a quality that you see among those that experience the most success from your post?
Yeah, the mindset. The second we shifted, it was all head. Honestly, it’s so funny because my, so I’ve done it for the last four months. I’ve mastered your mind, your mindset, then I’ve mastered your relationship, master your body and master your business. Okay. And the one that always sells out at the highest ticket is always mastering your business and mastering your personal brand.
Always people invest in their financials and where they feel they can double triple 10 X their business, easily. I always go back to your head. If you don’t believe that you’re the person that’s acquiring these, these assets, if you don’t believe that you’re the person that can generate that kind of money, if you don’t believe that you’re the person that even in your relationships like, don’t, you understand how important investing in your relationships is?
Like, when I did mess your relationship, I’m like, I would invest everything in that, like, that’s the one partnership, like you gotta get it right. And not lose yourself within that. Right? So for me, the, the, the best indicator of success is your head. And it’s this resilience of not making it. If you make mistakes, not making it means like you’re a failure, but like, oh, wow.
What a beautiful learning opportunity. Interesting. Now you did talk about this. Are you? Public speaking. Right. And that’s always considered one of the biggest fears for most people, public speaking. Have you always been a confident public speaker or what helps or what advice would you give someone when it comes to that?
Okay. I’m going to give you the best advice. They ready? Strong pause. Get your notebooks out. Okay. So here’s the deal, right? That, so it’s so funny because it really is the number one fear. People get completely freaked out by public speaking, and you can use this tool on anything to do if you want to do live or Instagram or any kind of thing like that use the same tool.
So here’s the deal. I call it something else. So this, this whole thing of I’m scared. I don’t get scared. Scared is, oh my God, you start to have butterflies. Maybe you get sweaty palms. What, like, what is it? This, that you’re calling fear, right? Your heartbeat is beating really, really strong. And you’re just kinda like, you know, a, you might get like a little sweaty in your, so I call that.
That whole process of feeling butterflies me, like I call it excitement. So I don’t know, fear. I’ve never experienced fear. That is the definition of what someone is going to call fear and defined fear. I just called it something else. So anytime I feel like it, I’m so excited. Like I’m like, and I love.
Because I’m that person I’m, I’m that person like gimme fun and experiences I’m in, like, I that’s what, that’s one of my greatest values. So for me to go into this, oh, I started feeling the butterflies. Oh, this is kind of scary, but it means it’s really exciting to me. So I will lean into the excitement and shift this idea of, oh no, this is scary too.
Oh yeah. This is going to be. So if you’re having a big speech or a presentation or a big negotiation, or you want to hop onto your social network and take your phone or whatever, it’s like, don’t go into the, oh my God, this is scary, but say, oh my God, I’m so excited. And then from that space of excitement, lean in and take that first step.
That’s so good. That’s so good. Yeah. It’s positive reinforcement telling yourself that that’s false evidence appearing real or whatever you want to call it, right. There’s no, I don’t know if fear is. I’ve never experienced it. I had it all day long. I’m asking for myself, I’ve been public speaking for many, many years.
And so this is something like a few years ago, just so you know, like I still get through it a little bit, you know, and I still, I still bring it, but it’s, it’s just something slightly, you know, just maybe more self-aware. So. I always ask, you know, people that speak in front of 13,000 people. Like you. Not too long ago, she spoke in front of me like, it’s crazy, but you know, it’s really good too.
Another little tip that I have. So I’m very kind of, I like my little gangster rap and whatever, and like, so, music is a huge thing for me. Huge. So if I’m feeling off music, if I work out music, if I forget my headset at the gym, I’ll walk out. Like I just can’t. So for me, even before going on stage or before any big competition, I’m a very competitive person.
I’ll always have earphones in the zone, lock it down, go into stillness, go into what’s the intention that I want people to get out of this. And then I just go for the kill. I just go. That’s awesome. I’ll share my playlist with you. Let’s show them. I’ll share my playlist. Now I do want to pivot.
And I want to pivot a little bit to branding, marketing, something you’re known for. I was going to ask you, what’s the difference between marketing and branding or branding and selling, but I’m just going to jump to branding here. And you can think about this as, you know, you answer the question now you do have, as we said, a large fan base, a devoted following, we can call it a, what, what advice would you give someone who’s starting the journey of, you know, personal branding and marketing themselves from scratch?
Where would they see it? Ah, that’s actually a good question. Well, what, honestly, not to close my own stuff, but 100% do my course, because I literally go from point a all the way to execution. Like there, the reason why I, the courses and the training platforms that I do is that it’s not just, I’m going to give you this learning.
But I’m also going to give you every single tool so that you know exactly what you’re doing, and then we’ll break it down to the first 30 days and the next week. But let me give you literally four first steps on what you can do. If you’re starting off on your personal brand, one is you have to get clear. the difference of this. I’ll give you a quick example so that everyone can really, can really get it together. Coach trainer, a podcaster, somebody that has services, that’s a personal brand. That means that people will follow you.
We actually have to build your brand as a person, a Am I building a personal brand or a business brand? Most people don’t even know a personality. And the beauty of a personal brand is that people will follow people much more than they will follow. Right now, however, let’s say you have a coffee shop. Let’s say you have a store and let’s say you have a real estate agency, let’s say, so that then becomes a business brand.
Okay. So both of those, and we can go into literally a whole course on this, but both of them have different strategies. Okay. So once you’re clear on what it is that I have my business brand or a personal brand, now you’re going to say Sonia, I’m a personal brand. Great. Let’s dig it. Number one is you have to act.
To ask yourself a few questions. One is, why am I on social media? What do I want to get out of this? Okay. What, why do I want to convert my audience into my sales funnel? Do I want to sell, let’s say you’re in real estate. Do I want to sell homes? Like, why am I doing this? Because the content that we’re going to create, the strategy that we’re going to create is directly, directly associated to why you’re actually doing.
Number two is, I want you to get clear on who my ideal is. Who’s my audience? People get so lost in this. It’s almost like they stopped talking to everybody. They’re not your clients. They’re not your target audience. That’s going to be so clear that once we understand who specifically is your audience, then you can start to create content directly for them.
Then you’ll get to start and to, and understand and say, Hey, do I need to post my avid posts this morning? F**k. No, nobody cares about your avatar. That’s not your client. But if you have a Q coffee shop, you’ll post your elbow toes, right? So one is, why are you doing this? Who’s your audience? Okay. Then I would go into your values.
Like this is in everything. It’s not just in your personal brand, but it’s in your business too. Like, what are your core four values? Like what do you value? Because the second that you know what your values are, then the content, your life, everything’s going to start to have such meaning. You’ll be able to make the right decisions based on those values.
And then I’ll give you a last point. I keep going on about this, but you know, I really want to give some great value. The fourth thing is what are your content pillars? Okay. Your content billers are super important. And I hope you guys are taking notes because your content pillars are. The content categories, what will you post about?
Right. So once you’re clear on who follows you, why they follow you, then you’re going to go into, well, what kind of content am I going to be creating? So let’s say my real estate agents, like, what are you going to be creating? So maybe, you know, what can you buy with a million dollars? Well, can you, you start really going in and understanding the four core categories of what your brand spent.
Listen, everyone. This is why you need a coach. This is why you need a coach and we’ll put it in the show notes and on the episodes. So you can connect with Sonya here.
Are you a new real estate agent or thinking about getting a real estate license? So you’re going to want to ask about the greater property goose agent scholarship. Y paid for the cost of the course yourself. When the greater property group will subsidize the cost for you, make sure you reach out and get all the details on the greater property groups, agents, scholarship program.
Fantastic. That’s probably one of the best breakdowns of where to start with personal branding I’ve ever heard, honestly. And I asked the best of the best that includes you now. So honestly, like it was, that was incredible. That was a. Because it’s such a, once you understand that it’s really just a strategy, then it gets fun.
It’s just that people are so, like, there’s a specific thing. Same thing with your branding elements, you know, the branding elements, why, what you should have in your bio, how do you use your highlights to actually make them into your sales funnels? I have to tell you a hundred percent of most of the accounts that I look at.
I have no idea how to use that. They don’t know. And I’m talking with the biggest of the biggest, your highlights. It’s basically your service sections of your website. I can create you just through your Instagram, a complete website. You can book it, you can go into your calendar, you can get all the services, your funnels, everything, and that’s just using highlights.
Your bio Lincoln bio and a bit of your feet. That’s it. You got yourself a. That’s basically the business card now, anyway, is your social, of course it is why you invest in it. What are you guys doing? Don’t make it, you cannot show up and tell me that you’re a coach or that you are a successful person and ask for a high ticket.
And then I show up on your Instagram or your social media and it’s whack. Like don’t be wack. Be better than this. Don’t be whack, don’t be whack. Was there a tipping point for you on your social media that made you personal brand explode or maybe in an inflection point? Yeah, it’s weird. So that was actually before it was really funny.
So I was president of my brand, my background in fashion, right. So I was, I think it was with, probably with Vince Camuto. So I was doing that. I was doing socials, I got social. I really got it. I love scaling and marketing and all that stuff, so I got it. And I understood that. You know, the marketing before in the fashion industry was, you know, magazines and ad campaigns and billboards and all that.
And I, from the beginning was like, guys, it’s all going to be on your phone because imagine I have access to people all day long, directly on their phone. So I started pulling all ad budgets and throwing that into socials. And then I started understanding the power of influence because. And I started understanding, wait a second, like these people are going to be our biggest, because they’re going to be our biggest money makers because people want to follow people that they like.
And the second they like you, they want to buy every single thing that you’re wearing, that you’re talking about. Your lip, gloss, your eyebrows, everything, everything. They just want all of it. Your, I was looking at your eyebrows just now I was going to ask you, but then I was like, so what I got is, as I’m doing this for my brands, I’m like, but wait a second.
I might not just be doing that for myself. So I make a tremendous amount of money with my sponsorships on my own account. Right. And I have beautiful brand collaborations from, you know, airports to, to hotels. I’ve worked with the best hotels to, you know, Amex that I’ve been with. So all kinds of phenomenal brands, because I understood very well how to align my brand.
To, you know, the bigger corporate brands that I wanted to align myself with. So that’s why I have banks, insurance, companies, all of that. So there’s tremendous, tremendous, tremendous value in building a community. Tremendous, consistent. You know, I, I tell people this all the time and really, I mean, you just document your day and, and that’s what, you know, you attract the people that you want to attract.
And, there’s so much that there’s so much content and just documenting your day, especially if you’re a busy entrepreneur like yourself. One of the things I do want to ask you about is being a working mom. And I think you can, you can speak with authority on. Yes, I can. Yes. And what encouragement can you give the working moms out there who are struggling and are doing their best in an uncertain time?
I love my mom, so I might see. It’s so funny. Cause that’s such a pillar of my brand too. And so I have, so I have a four year old boy. I have an eight year old daughter and I have three steps sentences, 1724 and 26. So we’re a family of five Yaya and we are. Tight beyond type, beyond type. Like my kids have never said the word stepbrother.
They have no idea. They’re just like, it’s one big family. My step sons, you know, they live with us. They’re with us all the time. So my family is 100%. My priority. 100%. Every single thing I do is my family. I’m obsessed with my family and my relationship. I put my relationship even before my kids and. I think it is so beautiful because I just got back.
For example, from Mexico this week, I had, I went for, for work. I had two days of work in Mexico and then I flew out with my husband. We spent the whole weekend in Mexico and we reconnected. My kids were fine and we invested time in each other. So let me break it down for you guys so that you have clear tangibles number one, you’re going to be tired.
I’m exhausted. It’s a lot of work, honestly, it’s so much work. So I know that it’s a lot of work. So you might as well do something that you really, really love because it’s very challenging already to be away from your kids. So if you’re going to be away from your kids, like doing something you love, you know, so that you’re actually fulfilled at work.
And then the most important thing, if I could give you my number one tip, is planning your week. I am so organized. I am so structured. I ran to my house. I run my kids. I run that whole thing, but my, my weakest plan. And every single thing in my weakest plan. So from my meetings, my coachings, my business, my kids’ activity, my kids’ karate, my dinners with my husband, my friends get meeting requests, everything in my life gets a meeting request.
If it’s not in my scalp under, it’s not, it’s not happening. It’s just not there. So we become master schedulers and one more great tip for all of the moms and dads out there is make sure that you, that you have. Like my morning routine, my workouts, my likes, I need me because if I’m me that I could be for everybody else, but I have to feed myself first because I can’t go on empty and then be this phenomenal person for anybody, including my kids.
Yeah. That’s great advice. I think that’s fantastic. Scheduling does become critical, especially if you’ve got a lot of balls in the air. Right. So, you touched on it, your daily routine or your morning routine. What does that look like? ’cause I know you’re high energy. So I’m at the listeners. Want to know what your morning routine looks like?
Yeah. So the lizard, well, those who follow me and I hope you do on, on, on Instagram. I’m big on Instagram. It’s the one platform that I use, but, you know, so I really share my morning routine because I think it’s so important to have your habits. Right? So for me, my, my, my morning routine, the first thing first is always like, I wake up it’s my.
Right. Feed your mind, like feed your mind. If you’re finding that news is triggering you or socials triggering, you put your phone away, like start with intention in your life. Right? So for me, it’s my kids. So the kids start my day. It’s getting them out to school, getting them, the lunches, all that kind of stuff.
And then it’s me. I go right. Either down to my gym. Now I have a gym in my house or I’ll go to the gym. But it’s almost every single day I get it in and in my head I’m feeding my head. So if it’s a phenomenal podcast or if it’s a great course, I’m watching, or I need to get my head in the game so that I feel like I’m Amman.
Right. So, and I move your body. So feed your head, move your body. Add love, like full gratitude. And that’s not some, I’m not talking about some just personal development thing, but every single night I go to bed and I’m grateful for my day. And I teach that to my kids. Like I teach my daughter every single day.
What was your highlight? She does her gratitude. She has three things to do. She’s. She’s eight years old and she’ll probably, you know, she speaks and, and that’s what we want to show our next generation. Right. It’s like being so grateful that every single day you get to do something that you love. Right.
And appreciate those moments. Thank you for breaking that down. A couple of wrap-up questions, if you’re okay with that, these are fun ones. These are fun. One. So, Sonya. If you could have dinner with any three people in history, pastor presence. Who would they be and why
dinner? Wow. That’s a good question. Dinner with who? With me there’s so many people it’s not fair. So I love dinner, I just love it. And honestly, like, I, ah, this is a tough one for. It does put you on the spot a little bit, but it’s the same reaction almost every time. Oh my God. I had never really thought about it, but everyone that’s just like, you’re, I’m just like, oh, you know, what’s so interesting about it is like, I want people that are not known.
Like I want somebody in India. That’s just like living his life. Cherished an amazing life and like a total, you know, like a total monk. That’s just like this. I want that. Then I want to go. And I want to be with someone who’s just like a Bohemian traveling the world and like making their own room. Like, I want both stories, right?
Like I want, I want three people that have the most epic journey, completely different from mine. And like, those are the stories that I want to hear. You know, so in theory, that’s great, but we’re going to force you to name some. Okay. You’re going to force me. No, this is so difficult. And it’s like every book I read, like I want to meet them all.
Everyone I want to meet. I don’t know. So we’ll, I’ll go. I’ll go first. Okay. So like, I’ll go.
Okay. Kanye West, Bradley and Sonya’s opportunity. That’s what I’ll do. Oh, wait, hold on. Maybe I better pick up. Yeah. Okay. Let’s go with it. Okay. That’s a good dinner. I’d like to go with Kanye to bread too. I mean, we love bread. Okay. What are we, who are we going to go for dinner with then? I’m thinking about the Superbowl. I’m like, let’s bring 50. How about MNM?
Let’s bring him and Biggie back. No, I say, I say, you mean biggie and Tupac. We’re at dinner too. That would be fired. That would be a fun dinner table dinner. Now, Sonia,
you’re opening a bottle of champagne a year from now celebrating something you’ve accomplished. What would that be? Ooh, everything. What do I want to accomplish? Oh, I want to, I want to have a huge book launch. Like I want my book to be a bestseller. I want it to be everywhere. I want to be on platforms everywhere.
Like COVID done. We’re playing, we’re doing a retreat. Yeah. Let’s go back to a retreat and experience. Like let’s, let’s pop bottles together. I think onstage somewhere. Definitely not Montreal big stage and just be like cheers to life. Like that’s what I’m into. It’s the hard way too. Yeah. And what’s the name of the book?
Let’s plug the book. Let’s tell, tell everybody about the book when it comes out, what it’s called. Yeah. I’m so excited about it. Okay. So the book’s going to come out soon. I really want to launch the mastery program first, so. Pivot your business in 14 days, which is your business mastery. And then you have your personal branding mastery.
Then I launched the book. So it’s how to live your 10 out of 10 life. So this is the book, it’s my methodology. It’s literally eight steps for you to actually create the definition that you want out of your life and for you to execute it. So I go from mindset to relationship, to body, to business like this is it.
Like I love, it’s very methodology based. Tons of storytelling and tons of just epicness. It’s going to be phenomenal. Final question. When all is said and done, what do you want to be known for? What is the Sonya Zarbatany legacy? Good question. This Sonia RV, tiny legacy looks like the next generation.
I want to be the woman who is onstage, bringing up other women and young girls to lead the next generation. Like I want to bring back the girls to be, you know, impactful with empathy and kindness and lead the next generation. That’s what I want to be known for. I want to bring women back up. I want to, I want to bring our daughters up.
I want my daughter to bring other daughters up and I just want to be the woman who just like helped others shine. That’s yeah. That’s beautiful for me. That’s incredible. No hesitation there. I love that. A fantastic breakdown. What an awesome conversation. I want to thank you for making time for us. Yeah.
And for being here today, we made it happen. Right. We made it happen in the same city and I’m diff on opposite ends of the city, actually. So, but not fantastic. Now, where do you want the people to find you or go follow you or click through or your coaching program? Where do you want everyone to go? I want them to be number one.
They have to follow me on Instagram. So at Sonia’s Arbit Tawny. Yeah, ad’s Sonya’s are Zarbatany on Instagram then my website is coach Sonia.com. Very simple. There are tons there too. And then my program, we can, you can actually, pre register at go coach Sonia doc. Go coach Sonia.com. That’s a great URL. I think so, too, right.
That’s a great URL. Well done. What a fantastic discussion. I really enjoyed having you.
Thanks a lot.
