In this inspiring episode of the Spark & Ignite Your Marketing Podcast, Beverly sits down with Don Mamone, a visionary photographer, speaker, and advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. Don’s entrepreneurial journey is a testament to the power of embracing one’s true identity and leveraging that authenticity to achieve remarkable business success. With over a decade of experience in the photography industry and a background in hospitality, Don offers a wealth of insights that are invaluable for both new and seasoned entrepreneurs.
Building a Business on Authenticity:
One of the key themes of the episode is the importance of authenticity in building a successful business. Don emphasizes that their photography business thrived not just because of technical skills, but because clients could feel the genuine passion and authenticity behind the work. This authenticity also extends to how Don and Emily interact with their clients, creating a personal connection that goes beyond just delivering a service.
A pivotal moment in Don’s personal and professional life was coming out as non-binary. This decision was driven by a need to live authentically and to set an example for their daughter. Don shares how embracing their true identity has not only brought personal fulfillment but has also positively impacted their business.
Authentic Content Creation:
Creating content that reflects their authentic selves has been a key strategy. Whether it’s through social media posts, blog articles, or speaking engagements, Don and Emily consistently share their story and insights in a genuine way. This has helped them build a loyal following and establish themselves as thought leaders.
Don’s insights and experiences are sure to inspire and motivate you on your entrepreneurial journey.
Follow Don Mamone
Don Mamone’s Favorite Business Tool
Don Mamone’s Favorite Book
Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s most popular book
The Untethered Soul – Michael A. Singer
The Surrender Experiment – Michael A. Singer
Watch on YouTube:
Transcript:
Beverly:
According to a report by HubSpot, content with relevant images gets 94 percent more views than content without relevant images. This statistic emphasizes the crucial role that high quality photography plays in business success, particularly in digital marketing. After a decade in hospitality and serving as the director of events at the prestigious Beverly Hilton, Don Mamone decided to channel their passion for creativity into a new venture. Alongside their wife, Emily, they founded a successful photography studio that has been capturing incredible moments and exceeding client expectations across the globe for 15 years. But Don’s impact extends far beyond photography. As a speaker and coach, they help others reach their maximum potential by discovering and embracing their true identity. Proud advocate for the LGBTQIA plus community. Don recently came out as non binary and actively works with organizations on issues of diversity, inclusivity, and representation. Today, Don will share insights into their entrepreneurial journey, the challenges they’ve faced, and the strategies that have helped them thrive in both business and in life. Welcome, Don.
Don Mamone:
Thank you so much for having me, Beverly.
Beverly:
Let’s discover the sparks that created the unique opportunities along your entrepreneurial path. Share a fun anecdote about your business’s origin. We want to hear about the light bulb moments, the kitchen table brainstorming sessions, and the aha breakthroughs that launched your brand into the spotlight.
Don Mamone:
Oh my goodness. How much time do you have? I feel like it’s been it’s been nearly 20 years. I left hospitality in 2009. And part of the reason was I got a gentle little shove. As you mentioned, I work for Hilton Hotels Company and I Loved everything about being at the property level right up until I didn’t. And once I didn’t, I really didn’t. And so there was an opportunity here in Dallas. I moved here from LA. There was a little bit of adjustment that needed to happen just generally speaking, but the biggest adjustment was I went from the property level at a prestigious hotel that was pretty much on 24, seven to a corporate endeavor. That was much more the traditional nine to five. And what happened was I came around my little cubicle and I loved the job. It was a subject matter expert project where I got to basically talk to software developers and different technical people about how it actually works at the property level, right? There’s nothing worse than a company saying we’re going to do this thing and they don’t have anybody on the team that does it for a living. And so they brought us here to do that. And I came around my little cubicle and I had a question and it was like 502. And the entire place was a ghost town. And I was like, wait a minute. Oh, that’s right. We go home at five here. This is, we’re done for the day. And so I went home and I made an eight dinner and I went to the gym and it was still only about eight o’clock. And I thought now what do I do? And I read and I made some friends and I got to know Dallas, but at the end of it all, I really realized that I needed a hobby and that hobby was something that I hadn’t done since really high school or when I traveled. And that was pick up my camera again. I fell in love with. Photography in high school. And I, this is how old I am, Beverly. I like, I love to take pictures. And then I’ve lived in the dark room for hours at a time, developing photos. And I picked up my camera and I started doing event work for local publications. So I was basically like a stringer, right? A freelancer. I would go shoot parties and photograph people. And what I realized in those moments was this is when I’m the happiest. When I’m creating imagery, this is when I’m the happiest. And two years after I moved to Dallas Blackstone bought Hilton, Hilton decided to cancel the project and was going to acquire the software we were working on as a vendor, a partner, as opposed to building their own. And they said we’ll be happy to find you another hotel somewhere. And I said, nah, like I’ve seen how the other half lives. And the idea of going back to a hotel and living in a hotel for 80 hours a week, doesn’t sound appealing anymore. And I looked at my then fiance, soon to be wife. And I said, I either have to go work at a hotel or we need to make a go of this hobby of ours cause she was also a photographer and she was doing photography in her own right. And she’s I say, we just tighten our belts, pull ourselves up, let’s go. And that was in 2009 and we never looked back.
Beverly:
I love that she was so supportive of that. She was as much of a, like a believer in the whole thing and that you guys were in it together. Cause I think making that leap together is a lot easier when you’re on your own. So that’s lovely that you have that kind of relationship with her.
Don Mamone:
Yeah, she’s a lifelong entrepreneur. She has owned a number of different companies and it was funny because I took comfort in the security and stability, although there is no such thing as true job security, right? Anybody could be laid off at any time. But I worked for a company for 10 years and before that I worked when I was in college and before that I worked when I was in high school and I always got a paycheck. And I remember You know I got the phone call. She was rubbing my back like a supportive spouse would. And I said, I just, I’ve never been quote, let go. I’ve, or on the verge of being let go. I always just moved to a different project or a different hotel. I said, I don’t know how to, what to do with this. And she’s you should give it a shot. I’ve been doing this my whole life and I think that you’re capable. I think we’ll do a great job together. I said, yeah but you don’t get a paycheck. Like, how does that work? And she’s you just have faith. You have faith that you build a business, the business will come. And it was really petrifying but there was a clarifying moment, Beverly, not that long later. So I’m a go get them kind of person. Like I will hunt and I will do these things. And what I realized suddenly was, wait a minute, there’s no base, which was the fear, right? I don’t get a paycheck every two weeks. There’s no base, but there’s also no ceiling. And that was where there was a shift for me. I was like, wait a minute. So I get to go hunt and I get to, Eat whatever I kill. I get to make as much and create as much. And the flexibility was something that was just, you had the fact that we got to go out and fight for what we earned. And the fact that I got to make my own schedule as opposed to being I don’t know, handcuffed to a hotel. Yeah. It changed the world for me.
Beverly:
All the things that entrepreneurs. Love, right? The flexibility, the idea that you get to build. Whatever it is, like you get to build it. That’s the part that makes us, I think, excited inside, but also you’re like, petrified at the same time. Yeah. Very much a dichotomy of emotions that we have to live through. And it’s not over once you start the business, it’s continually to have, you have to like swallow that fear on a pretty regular basis of outside your comfort zone as you grow and develop. And there’s, It’s always the pushing forward, I feel as an entrepreneur, so I, yes, real feelings for sure.
Don Mamone:
100%.
Beverly:
So describe the most unexpected plot twist your business has faced and how did it change the course of your journey?
Don Mamone:
The unexpected plot twist, I would say from a photography perspective there’s a couple and they’re going to lead into one another. So I’ve just Sprinkle it like, like you would on a, on an ice cream Sunday. Maybe this is the topping. I, Emily and I were, we’re both independently operating. So I was doing events and things like that. I had just started doing some weddings. I got pulled into it by somebody that I knew that was a wedding photographer mentoring me, but I also, I had friends That we’re getting engaged. They were like, we want you to do it. I’m like, I don’t really do weddings. They’re like, no, we want you. And that is important thing. When you’re working on a wedding day, loving your photographer is huge. I, we used to tell people that we’re going to spend more time with you than you are the person you’re marrying. So we should make sure you love your photographer. And and so that’s the direction I was headed. Emily was doing more commercial and fashion and lifestyle. And so after a few years, we realized, it’s just silly to be running two brands. That doesn’t make sense. And we were married at that point. And I remember the idea of why don’t we take our two businesses and become one and having this fear of but When you change, if you change, if we change our name, which I thought was fair because I was operating under my name and she was operating under a beautiful name which she had conceived of on her own. I thought if you change your name, people are going to be like, Oh, they went out of business or they’re just not relevant anymore. And you’re gonna have to work double time to get that. So anyway we decided to rebrand and I oftentimes to prove my first idea wrong by chewing it over for. Way too long from the perspective of, even if your first idea is the best idea, you go through all the other ideas first. And so we literally, after having gotten married, put like the Mimonis up on the whiteboard at our office. And I was like, I liked the idea of it being unique being us. And then we did all these other names, Beverly. Like when I say all these other names, we probably wrote down hundreds of ideas for a photography company. And it was interesting because we went to a bunch of. Of networking events. And during those networking events, when we walked in, cause my wife and I usually went networking together, they were like, Oh, the Mamonees are here. Not because that was the name of our brand, but that’s how people identified us because we were now in business together and married and my wife took my last name of her own accord. And so that’s how we named our business. And what we decided in that moment was that we were going to rebrand. And so we threw through networking and relationship forming. We threw a party May of 2012. That was the
Beverly:
anniversary right now.
Don Mamone:
Yes. We are celebrating our 12th anniversary as this brand. We literally like we rented out the top floor of the Stonely Hotel in Dallas. It had a Room that was very social. It looked very soft like a wedding there was a big boardroom and there was a guest room and so in a fit of brainstorming and branding over brunch My wife and I came up with the idea that at that time we were going to photograph everything from the ballroom to the boardroom, to the bedroom, because she was doing a lot of fine art intimates for our brides. And so this conception of a new brand was born and we rode that wave for five or six years and we loved everything about it right up until we didn’t. And I think you’re going to notice a pattern, right? Like I loved everything about hotels right up until I didn’t. And we loved everything about this brand right up until we didn’t. And what we started to notice was. We didn’t enjoy the weddings as much as we used to. And I think what happened for us was for me, I was the person driving the sales and the marketing and a bunch of different things. There’s a certain process. I think every couple gets to go through, but after a period of time, I felt like I wasn’t enjoying that process as much, right? Multiple interviews with brides. They’re interviewing multiple photographers. They’re asking questions and it’s a very emotional process for them. I think it just started to wear on me. And what I acknowledged was that’s not fair for anybody. And I think that a lot of people and no shame, no judgment, just stay there because that’s what they do. And I said, yeah, it’s comfortable. They know it. And so I said to Emily, I don’t love this as much as I used to. And she’s I don’t know that I do either. And so what happened was I said, I’m gonna, I’m gonna try to push us more towards corporate and nonprofit and big events and conferences. And what we started to do, we started to market to that and we started visiting hotels that did that. And we started reaching out to planners that did that. And a very interesting thing happened, right? We started to shift our market and we were like, 90% weddings and 10% other stuff. And then we were 80% weddings, and then we were 70% weddings. And I remember. We had this opportunity at a local hotel to do headshots. Large headshot opportunity for a big company. There’s nothing sexy about it. I’ll just go ahead and say it like you stand in the lobby and they’re there. You’re supposed to be charming and entice these people to do something that they really don’t want to do. You think you are offering free root canals, but what you’re doing is offering free portrait. And most people are like, no, it’s good. I’ll use the one from 10 years ago when I was 10 years younger and a few pounds lighter. Yeah. And so the thing though, was that they said. We really enjoy working with you. Y’all are so polite and so charming. And so we’re just gonna keep using you both here in Dallas and around the country. And we said, great, let’s do that. And there was a phone call that came in and I remember sitting down and it was the planner for that, those events. And they said, Our client in Dallas has loved working with you so much. They need someone that does incentive destination photography. Do you do that? And I heard the words incentive and destination. And I thought,
yes,
Don Mamone:
of course we do. And they said, because they want to take you to Costa Rica for seven days and they want you to document photojournalistically the journey of their highest end sellers. And
Beverly:
I said, you can hear the bags.
Don Mamone:
You carry the bags, Beverly. What happened was there was a five year period of time where we followed these pharmaceuticals for their incentive destination trips to Costa Rica and Nevis and Mexico and Hawaii because we did the not so sexy job with so much heart and so much love and so much care. And it was around that time that I said, this is where we belong. It’s time for us to start phasing out weddings. And so we basically just started It was very difficult, Beverly. I remember the days when I started to say oh, we don’t do as many weddings as we used to, and went to, we don’t do weddings anymore, and took down all the wedding photography. And it was Again,
Beverly:
the scary moment. Another scary moment.
Don Mamone:
Is insanely scary. And you know how the universe, sometimes when you tell it what you want, it conspires to give it to you? Oh, yeah. He had a bride that was a great bride. She was lovely. And she went and interviewed two or three different photographers. And we were in the running, it’s us and one other photography team. And I was like, this is a great wedding. It was like a five figure wedding, beautiful venue, places, vendors we’ve worked with in the past. And I remember not getting, not booking it. And I thought, man, like I put so much time into it. I thought we were a great fit, I’m glad that she found the right photographer for her. A couple of days later, one of those incentive destination calls came in.
Beverly:
And you wouldn’t have been able to do it if you
Don Mamone:
had booked that ride. We would have not been able to go because we would have had to travel on that Saturday. And I said, Emily, this was the universe telling me we don’t do weddings anymore. And so it was in that moment that we went from wedding or social to now exclusively corporate and nonprofit and branding and some lifestyle and commercial. And every time we’ve made the switch, it was because we loved it right up until we didn’t. And we had the courage and the forethought and the companionship and the support in each other to say what’s next.
Beverly:
So it leads into my next question. You may have already answered it, but I feel like There might be a little bit more to it. Reflecting on this entrepreneurial journey that you were on, what is one aspect of your business strategy or decision making process that has evolved the most over time and why? I feel like you are constantly evolving cause you’ve gone from hotels to now weddings to now destination. Like you have this evolution process. What is it about your business that has evolved the most over time and why?
Don Mamone:
I’m going to answer that in a very roundabout way.
Beverly:
Okay. I
Don Mamone:
think the thing that has evolved the most about my business isn’t about my business at all. I think the thing that has evolved the most about. My life is me personally and in evolving personally, I changed the way that I’m doing business because I’m more authentic. I also think that as I aged, I realized that I had spent a very long time lying to myself and hating myself. And the way that I like to describe it is I was so successful. And so I think what the world sees as. Having succeeded and or is succeeding and happy and joyful and all those things. But deep down, I was like alone and afraid. And when I found myself, I found my voice and I found my confidence. And I think what that’s put before me is this idea that I get to choose. All the time, everywhere I go, even when I feel like I don’t quote have a choice, I’m using the podcast air quotes, because even when you feel like you don’t have a choice, you always have a choice. And 41 years having not told anyone, not a single carbon based life form on this planet, including my sister, who I’m incredibly close with. I didn’t have the courage. I didn’t have the words. To share who I was and then when I finally shared them with Emily and then I worked through the process and shared it with the world Suddenly I’m not going to waste a single minute. And so when there’s a moment when I’m like, yeah, I don’t know that this is right for me. I dig deep. I explore it. And sometimes I prove myself wrong. Sometimes I come back and I’m like, no, this is for you. It’s just, you want to do it differently. Or you want to do it for a different group of people or whatever it is. But I never ever anymore feel like I have to need to, should, I don’t answer that call. I answer the call that says life is short. What do you get to do and how do you want to do it? And to whom do you want to do it to or with or for? And then that’s what my guiding principle is. And that is in life and in business. So that is the thing that’s evolved the most.
Beverly:
So I think. It’s a different story, but it’s the same story for me in the sense of 12 years, my business was run by others. Like my clients determined my business. And then I decided, no, this is my business. I get to create the business that I want. That serves my dreams, my legacy, my wants, what makes me happy, who I am.
And.
Beverly:
I think maybe with some wisdom of age and confidence of I don’t really give an F what other people think anymore. Yeah, there’s some wisdom in that. And despite societal, whatever’s You decide that this is authentically me. And I think what’s lovely about the universe is the universe responds very positively to that. Typically when you are being you and you are pursuing the things that you are meant to do in this world, it like, it just happens
Don Mamone:
like it does. And I, yes, I love that the, I want to be clear for the audience. The universe does respond, but it responds in, in, I find different ways. And sometimes the thing that we think we are so afraid of is the thing that we need. And so here’s an example. So many of my clients that I work with Beverly are in your exact position or have been right. I woke up this morning and I feel like I don’t have the business I’ve wanted. I have a business that’s successful. I have a business that makes money, but it’s, I’m not running the business that I want to be running. And so when we start to go back through it I was working with someone who was a speaker as a side hustle, right? She’s immensely successful in the events and wedding space and has built a business with her sister and made copious amounts of money. And when she started to speak, she just fell flat. Not that she wasn’t successful, she reached out to me. It’s just. I don’t feel it, and I want to feel it. And when we worked together, basically the crux of it was, Why are you speaking on the things you’re speaking on? Like, why are you talking about these things? And she literally said, I think that’s what everybody expects from me. And I said, what if we went through an exercise, and you just did and gave people everything they didn’t expect? And you just listened and talked about what you want to talk. And that was literally the Lynch that changed everything. She redrafted her entire thing. And now suddenly, not only is she more popular and more successful, she’s happier, more content. She feels like she’s making a way bigger impact in this space than she would have in the other. And so to come back full circle, when you say like the universe responds, it’s either that, or people have no need or want for you anymore. And that’s one of the things people fear, a lack of belonging and acceptance, and they worry about what other opinions of them are. And I say, listen, here’s the deal. When you’re a bright, shining light, one of two things happen. People draw close and they’re like, I want to bask in the warmth and the glory of this light. Or they’re like, I’m not here. And I’m not here for that. And I’m not about that. Which is great. When people filter out. Wish them the best and wave goodbye. They are not your audience. They’re not your people and that’s okay. And authenticity oftentimes leads to building a business and a life that you can’t wait to get out of bed to live every day. All
Beverly:
of that. Yes. I was up at three o’clock this morning. Cause I was excited about all the things I had to do today. Yes, exactly. And that took me a long time to figure out. And that’s really with marketing too, with the companies we work with, the small business owners, is we want them to feel the same way, excited about their business again, and really take that as a unique opportunity to build their business in a different way from a marketing perspective. That’s a very unique opportunity then to be who they are, to be authentic, maybe to even be a little contrarian, like you’re talking about, like against the grain. Yeah. So yes, all of that is, You’re speaking my language and I love it. So we always talk about the why and the mission and the vision and the legacy and what do you really want? And like doing that work and becoming so clear on who you are. That is everything. And then all the other stuff falls into place, but you got to do that work and be super clear and understand your passion and your purpose. And then like it all just comes together. So yes. Okay. So share a customer story. Or an experience with a customer that perfectly captures the essence of your business. We want to hear about like the memorable moments or like a heartwarming interaction that keep your customer coming back for more.
Don Mamone:
Okay, so I’m gonna, I’m gonna do what I tend to do is I’m gonna sprinkle one of my number one experiences that I’ve had recently It’s both about my photography business and my identity, which I think is so important. We work with a very high end client. We’ve worked on for the last seven or eight years. The way in which we got hired was we were recommended by the hotel. And at the time this event had 1500 people at it. And I got a call from the CEOs and owners. Executive assistant. And she’s Hey, we looked at your website. We got your information from the hotel. We really like your work. I think the best, we would love to consider hiring you. Can you talk to me about what this looks like? And I said, sure. And I asked what I call the nuts and bolts and the hearts and flowers questions. Anytime I interview, especially a larger conference, that’s multiple days, because you got a lot of stakeholders, a lot of people involved invested. I said, tell me, what are we documenting? How many photographers do we think we’ll need on the ground? What is your expectation for the return? Do you want just images? Are you looking for products, these types of things? And then I said, and then talk to me about the hearts and flowers and what is, what’s important to your CEO? What’s important, your stakeholders, who are your guests? Who are going to be in the audience watching this three day conference? That’s a long time to commit. And I also realized that this was the third year of the conference. Okay. And I said, so you’ve worked in two different cities and I know a lot of people tend to hire regionally, but when you do an event of this size, a lot of times people grab onto a professional and say, Hey these people get it. We’re going to keep hiring them.
Beverly:
Why
Don Mamone:
didn’t that happen? And so she said our CEO said that
Beverly:
question. That’s a really good question.
Don Mamone:
Because loyalty is everything to us, right? Our clients coming back over and over again, makes our job so much easier. You know what I’m saying? Like it’s easier to keep a client than get a client all day long. She said candidly, the photographers did. Okay. But it’s really important to our owner that this tell really the story of the event and the photos, they just, they couldn’t really, they couldn’t really look at them and feel the event. They couldn’t, they didn’t fall in love with the photos. And I said, okay. And we went through a bunch of other details and I said, listen, I’m confident this is right in our wheelhouse. Here are a couple of the sprinkles, right? I keep saying there’s these little tangents. So I was still doing some weddings at the time. And I had committed to helping one of my mentors with a wedding in at the Ricks Carlton in Colorado. And there was an overlap. And I said to Emily, I said, there’s this really amazing corporate event. It’s a three and a half, four day corporate event. I can be there for the first two days, but the last two days, you and our lead associate are going to have to cover it because I have to fly to Colorado. And I said, and just to throw a little wrinkle in there, there’s a VIP meet and greet with Tony Robbins after he speaks for four hours. I think you’ve got this. Do you think you’ve got this? She’s I’ve absolutely got this. So we booked the corporate job. I went and supported my friend and mentor. And I remember reaching back out after the event and delivering the event. And I said, I just want to make sure that everything we talked about was delivered. And then some like exceeding expectations is our normal. She literally said they can’t stop looking at the photos. They’ve downloaded the photos to the Google Drive They’ve categorized them by face and they were literally just going in there and looking at them over and over
again
Don Mamone:
Okay, so that was it seven years ago we’ve done the event plus other events every year and they’re about to celebrate their 10th anniversary next year and It’s in those moments when you realize It’s not about necessarily what you do. It’s also about how you do it. And I just, I said, I promised to talk a little bit about identity and authenticity and things. And so this client obviously knows me as the me that I was and the me that I pretended to be for all those years. And I told Emily, I said, one of the hardest things for me after I told her, but didn’t come out publicly was, I know that there’s a lot of people that misunderstand gender identity and gender ideology and gender expression, and I’m just worried that we’ll have worked so hard to acquire all this loyalty and all these clients. This one in particular, because unbelievably kind human, unbelievably good to us, know his family, know his children, but a man of faith. And so the thought was, if this person’s a man of faith, He might just say Hey, listen, I love you and I appreciate you, but we’re going to go on a different journey now, or we’re going to, we’re going to seek out someone different. I never sought out that approval or approval from, I just figured I’m going to be who I am. I’m going to let the cards fall as they may. I was supporting them on a phone call and somebody asked the question, and this is so relevant to what we’re talking about, asked the question of this person and said, how do you balance being a man of faith and a family person and an In a way that allows you to be everything all at once. And so unexpected Beverly and I cried, I did, I cried on this call. He said, one day I woke up and I hated everything about my job and I hated everything about my client. And the reason was because the one thing all of my clients had in common was they were willing to pay me money. And that’s not a place that we use as a filter, right? If the only common thing is people are willing to pay you money. And so he fired all his clients. And he started over again and he started to be the most authentic version of himself. He’s a man of faith. He’s got many children. He loves life. He went on to say, let’s use, for example, Don, I’ve worked with Don for the last X number of years at this time. And they’re going on a very different journey and they’re being authentically who they are. And we couldn’t be happy for him and we’re going to love them and work with them. And I thought, Holy smokes. Talk about the universe, putting me in a place where I wouldn’t normally be because of COVID and supporting a client that we love for them to, to, of their own accord, not only validate what we do, how we do it, but who we are and how much they love the authenticity. That had come out. And that’s everything to me. I feel like that customer journey for us for the last seven years. is the embodiment of creating the business and the life that you get to lead and want to lead and love to lead based solely on who you are and everything else falling right into place.
Beverly:
It gave me chills, Don. Like it gives me faith in humanity because I feel like that’s the way we should all be doing business. Yeah. And if someone is happy and authentic with themselves, like, why are we not celebrating that and supporting that in all the ways?
Yeah.
Beverly:
And I’m so glad that your mentor. Thank
Don Mamone:
you.
Beverly:
Was that person for you? Because that is what everybody needs. It makes me a little emotional too. It was a beautiful moment. And and it was like, I just have all the feelings. Cause I feel like you should be supported as a human. And especially in the passion that you love and and that you’re good at that’s the thing. It’s not just support me because I’m Just support me, but no support me is all of this all together, which is amazing. Such good answers, Don. I love it so we’re gonna dive a little bit more into the marketing side Which yeah is where I nerd out a little bit. Yeah so what’s One unconventional marketing tactic or campaign you’ve tried and were surprised by its success.
Don Mamone:
Emily and I are relationship marketers. We don’t run ads. I don’t really spend a lot of time on SEO and Google, although I probably should, and will likely get more into as we continue to grow and change. So as a relationship marketer, I got invested in networking and I would go to events and I was on the board of an event association. But one of the things that we did was I acknowledge that loyalty is everything. And we always determined where our leads came from. So when we were doing more social, we realized that our leads came from the planner, the dress shop, and the venue, because we should be the next person in a social environment. So if you’re a wedding photographer, and you’re out there, you need to reach out to hotels, planners, and dresses. At that point, and
Beverly:
at that
Don Mamone:
point, if they’re not thinking about their photography, then it’s not high enough up on their list. Because what I tell people is when you’re in a wedding space, wedding photography studios typically are a very small team, maybe even only one team of photographers. And You, if you don’t book them and they’re booked, you’re, you lose them. And so it should be high up on the list if it’s a priority to you. So long story long, we would always go to those places, right? When we moved to corporate, the venue was still the same, right? We would still go to venues and corporate planners, but partners were much broader, right? So somebody might have their CEO walk in and be like, Hey, that event we have next week. Did you hire a photographer? No, I didn’t know we needed one. Can we need one? And so typically it could be anybody they formed a relationship with. It could be DJ could be the floral company. And so we really started realizing that it’s a sort of broader reach. And so what we did was we started hosting more events. We opened a brick and mortar studio to meet with brides and grooms. And so what we started doing was you started hosting happy hours. We called them headshot happy hours. And what would happen was people would come, they would get a complimentary headshot if they brought a new unwrapped toy for a local charity called the birthday party project. So what we ended up doing was meeting a bunch of people, getting a ton of publicity and doing a really good thing for the world around us.
I love it.
Don Mamone:
And that worked out really well. The one though that I think was really fun, Emily and I decided like we need to go out into the world and we need to find our most loyal clients. and referrers and we need to make an impact. Something that they will never expect. And so it was around September going into October, fall, our favorite season. And I said, what if we did a rock and roll themed like gift delivery? She’s okay, I’m with you. And I said, we’ll do it around Halloween. And we did the, our clients rock marketing campaign.
Beverly:
I
Don Mamone:
like
Beverly:
that.
Don Mamone:
We dressed up like rock stars. We had on torn jeans and wigs and the tattoo sleeves and makeup. And. We had a basket that we delivered to everybody with a handwritten note thanking them for whatever it was that they were providing us. For some people it was thank you for all the referrals, for other people it was thank you for all the business.
Beverly:
Yeah.
Don Mamone:
And inside that box was everything related to rock. We made pet rocks, little googly eyes, we did skinny pop, we did pop rocks, we did ring pops. And so each of the little gift baskets cost like eight dollars. All told, plus we ordered the cards and then we did the deliveries and we made sort of a fun marketing campaign out of it to say Hey, when we come, we want to take photos with you. And we made appointments. Nobody likes the drop in. So I compartmentalized, I think we did 25 or 30 of them for our highest net worth people. And the fun thing about it was not only did we get the opportunity to do something nice for these people, but then they would take pictures with, the rock stars that dropped off stuff and then they would post all about it. And you get that like endorphin rush of doing something nice and then having people say nice things about you. And from that event I think came a significant amount of business, but also more importantly, just a significant amount of it feels warm, fuzzy relationship. Relationship stuff. Yeah. A hundred percent.
Beverly:
So my husband turned 48 last year and I did a whole U rock theme. Yes. So I got him like the U rock like shirts. I got him the new Metallica album had come out. So I got him like that. I got him some pop rocks. I got him a rock star. Star drink. Like a set of rockstar drinks. Yes. This whole theme. So I What a fun theme. I like themes. I do too fun for me. I love the theme. It’s so cute.
Yeah, so brilliant.
Beverly:
I, I have like my thing is like ma marketing magic and like unicorns and rainbows and that’s like a thing I love just from, I was from, I was a little girl. It just has continued on in my life. Actually. I dunno if you can see it. I know the listeners probably can’t see it, but I have a whole unicorn collection here. I see that. On my shelf that my family’s given me, clients have given me. So we are in the process of putting together like a little package of like magical things. And so it’s all about magic, like creating magic together, essentially. So I love this idea of a little like fun kit. It doesn’t have to be really overthought and not really expensive, but just a really nice, fun, bring a little magic to the day, like that’s awesome. Yes. There’s all, that’s all good. Love it. Love it. Love it. Okay. So I think you’re my new best friend.
Don Mamone:
Yes. From way back already. It sounds like we are sharing a heart, a mind, a soul. All of it.
Beverly:
So what’s one marketing trend or technology that you’re excited about possibly using in the future?
Don Mamone:
That’s so interesting for you to ask that. So I know everybody’s talking about AI, so I’m not going to talk about that. I will say that I’ve never used AI from a perspective of content creation or content curation. I’m going to say that I love the idea of intelligence. Ooh
Beverly:
real. You are totally contrarian. I love it.
Don Mamone:
Yeah I always feel like there’s the pendulum swing and I’ll share a little something about myself. I am a vinyl record listener. I love vinyl records. I’ve had some vinyl records from when I was a kid. I’ve cured procured some. I’ve gotten some as gifts. I’m always looking for original presses. I try not to buy remanufactured vinyl. So like my brother in law found an original Frank Sinatra live at the sands at an estate, so for 5, I was like, buy it right now. And so people have asked me, they’re like, okay, Don, what’s the deal? Does it just make you feel fancy to have vinyl? It can, you’re like on the trend. And I said, no, here’s the deal for me. It’s not even the audio. Okay. There are some people out there that are audiophiles that have tens of thousands of dollars worth of stereo equipment and they’re like, I hear the dynamic range and the, this and that. I will say that I think the audio is better. I think you can hear the highs and the lows better. So there is more dynamic range, but that’s not what it’s about for me. Here’s what it’s about for me. My daughter is seven and a half years old, Beverly, and we have a record player in our dining room. It’s not connected to the stereo system. It’s just a record player with a nice audio speaker in it. And we’ve made a habit of listening to records in the morning, no TV in the morning. And when we have breakfast, we have records. And she’s daddy, what record are we listening to today? I said, I don’t know, baby, go look through the stack and she’ll sort through the stack. And we’ll intentionally pick a record. And listen to that record as the artist intended. And so the word that I think about when it comes to listening to a record is intentionality. When you put on streaming, it just serves up songs or you created a playlist and it will go on. Now there is a place for that. Cause I’ll tell you if you’re busy and you’re doing stuff and you have to go flip the record every 15 to 18 minutes and then pick another record and wash your hands before you do. That is not the time to listen to a record. But when you’re being intentional and you look at the liner notes and you look at what date it was, like, this is what my daughter and I do. We look in, what date was this record made? How old were mommy and daddy when this record were made? Mommy and daddy weren’t even born when this record were made. Oh my goodness. There’s an intentionality and an experience that you can’t duplicate in another way. When I say that’s what I’m looking for in the pendulum swing, Is this idea of grassroots in my head and in my heart, content creation. That’s what I want. That’s what I want more of. I want more of that type of marketing feel the idea of coming up with the theme. Now, if you use AI to say Hey, what’s a really popular, super common theme right now, and then say, okay, great. These are all the popular themes right now. I’m going to do something different.
Like
Don Mamone:
it’s a tool like any other, and I’m not going to be on the show saying whatever you don’t use AI. What I’m saying is. When everybody’s moving one direction, yeah, you can follow that momentum. Yeah, you can do that thing, but there’s also something to be said for being counter to that. And I think it’s a beautiful idea when we focus my words for this year are our focus and intentionality. I’m done working on breadth of. Impact and I’m going for depth of impact. I want to do more at a deeper level than more at a wider level. And that takes intention and focus like listening to a vinyl record. The revenge of analog happened, right? Everybody was doing the digital. And I just heard my nephew told me that some of his friends are now calling what they call phones. Yeah, it’s an actual thing. Like they still have their iPhone, but as an example, when they go out for the night with their friends, they’re taking a burner phone or a flip phone so that they don’t get online and don’t distract from what they’re actually doing, which I think is beautiful. So as with anything, there’s going to always be a counter to what everybody else is doing. And I just want to encourage your audience to sit down in front of a blank page and a blinking cursor and say, I did this the other day as I was working on my book. I wrote, what am I even doing? That was my prompt for the day. What am I even doing? And I wrote for four hours to say, not only what is it that I’m actually doing, but what do I want to do? What do I not want to do? And it’s like all these kind of branches and spokes came out of this hub of this question. Ask yourself those questions. And that’s one of the marketing things I’m most excited about is the idea of counter to AI counter to the trends and like the trend. That’s not a trend,
Beverly:
so my very first record was Strawberry Shortcake.
Don Mamone:
I have that for my sister. It’s got the picture on the front. Yes. Yes
Beverly:
She sings start spreading the news and yeah. Yeah, that was my very first record. Yep, and my second was like you talk about vinyl like I have my dad was He played guitar and he was in a cover band for the beatles like music was a very big part of my childhood Like yeah soundtrack of my childhood is my dad playing the guitar and love that all kinds of really good music and just all the things, like he was very into harmony, so I was like picking apart the voices and it wasn’t, also the music, like the actual music itself, I played the flute and I also learned how to play the piano and it was just always about music for us. So my second one was John Denver and the Muppets.
Don Mamone:
Oh my goodness, I remember that.
Beverly:
Yeah. So that was my second. And I just think about all the memories that are associated with that. We do not have a record player. However, my son is eight. Oh, okay. And we do music appreciation Saturdays. Oh. So Saturday mornings. We ask Alexa to play a specific type of music it we vary it up quite a bit but My husband and I met in musical theater So we will we’ll play like Les Mis one day. We’ll play Kings the next day. We’ll play Metallica one day, we’ll play Enya one day, we’ll play I love Sting he’s one of my favorites, so we’ll play Sting we this kid has, he even, my husband played Weird Al Yankovic one day. Yes. You need to know all the kinds, right? And he was prolific. I’m a music fan. Yes. And we talk about that. Like how he took people’s music, re framed it for himself. He like, he’s just, he’s very prolific, but we do, we talk a lot about music and why, and my kid is a, like the other day yesterday, we were in we were having dinner somewhere. Where were we? I think Where were we? I think it was like Burger King or something like something random. And here comes the sun came on by the Beatles. Oh, and he goes, Oh, mom, it’s the Beatles. It’s one of my favorites. And I was like, I think I have done a good job as a parent.
Don Mamone:
In that moment, you’ve been a good parent. For me, it was Billy Joel. My, we have the album, but we also were listening to it on Alexa here and there. And we went somewhere and all she heard was the opening piano play of piano man. Yes. And Frankie goes, Oh, this is piano man. Billy Joel’s my favorite. I went, I could give up right now. And I’d still be best parent. I love that.
Beverly:
Yeah. So I’m with you. Yeah, we’re best friends. It’s fine.
Don Mamone:
Best friends for sure.
Beverly:
Okay. So we have to stay focused cause we’re already like 45 minutes and I try to keep the interviews under an hour, but we do our next kind of segment is the rapid fire segment, so we won’t talk as much back and forth. Okay. I will be
Don Mamone:
succinct.
Beverly:
And I will try not to have an opinion on any of this.
Don Mamone:
Have as many opinions as you want. I love it.
Beverly:
Okay. How have you created and maintained lasting connections on your entrepreneurial journey?
Don Mamone:
I care so hard. Like I care so much. And I think that compliment I get really often is my standard question for people is how can I support you? And I ask it every time I see someone, how are things going? How can I support you? And I’m like, Oh my God, what a great question. And I think that it’s a way in which we get to look at one another and realize that we’re all in this together.
Beverly:
Yeah,
Don Mamone:
that’s it.
Beverly:
I, so I have a little bit of a ministry background and Stephen leaders. And the thing they say to ask all the time is how can I help you today? What do you need today? As a person, as a human, like how, cause people will say if you need me, call me, but no. You need to say what can I do right now today to help you? And people
Don Mamone:
are reluctant to say Beverly so one of the quick anecdotes that I heard one time was when someone. Yeah. And the first thing they do is go ask their neighbor for a cup of sugar, whether they need it or not. And the reason that is, is it opens the gateway to say, I came to you for a cup of sugar, which means you can come to me for a cup of sugar. And so
Beverly:
reciprocity kind of thing.
Don Mamone:
And when you ask a person generally, what can I do to support you? If they’re like, Oh, I don’t know, be like how about this? Yes.
Beverly:
Yes.
Don Mamone:
Offer something up.
Beverly:
Yes, or just show up with food or whatever, like just do something because they will not ask one of my the priests that I work with, he said to me, cause I didn’t want to ask for help or something. He said, you’re preventing them from having the crown. Don’t prevent somebody from having their own crown. It brings a lot of joy to people to help you. Don’t prevent that from happening. So I support you as a great way to live in that sense. Okay. No more comment. What word or emotion would resonate from its core? If your business had a voice.
Don Mamone:
Authenticity. A hundred percent. All the time.
Beverly:
Dive into the library of business wisdom that you’ve acquired over, you said almost 20 years? What was the number? I’ve been
Don Mamone:
in the business, but yeah, entrepreneurially 20 years. Okay.
Beverly:
So which book, podcast or entrepreneur has left the most indelible mark on your journey?
Don Mamone:
That’s impossible for me to answer. And I was thinking about it based on your wonderful process of being a guest on your show. Let me just take a minute to highlight that, like such a wonderful process. I was looking at some of your pre show notes and there are so many, I will say that a lesser known, I think in wider audiences most recently there are two I’m going to share with you because they’re the most recent and I’ll tell you why very quickly because I know we’re time sensitive here. One is a, one is a PhD psychologist by the name of Dr. Benjamin Hardy. I met him at an event. I read his books. I participated in one of his masterminds and his concepts about being your future self and how you work your way into impossible goals for the you that you are now to become the you that you get to be broke my brain in all the best ways. I’m
Beverly:
writing it down because it’s so powerful.
Don Mamone:
It’s really genuinely powerful. And he’s a accomplished human. Very kind. I’ve interacted with him personally and professionally, and I can’t recommend it. He’s written five books. He’s about to release a new one called rapid transformation buys books, watches YouTube channel, soak up some of his stuff in direct and polar opposition to that. I’ve read an author by the name of Michael A. Singer, and he’s written two books. One is called the surrender experiment and the other you read that. And the other is the untethered soul. Both of which are like Eastern ideological. It’s about mindfulness and consciousness. And I said to my beautiful, talented, creative, and unconditionally supportive wife at one point I’m just struggling because these two books. Are essentially polar opposites. One is basically saying here’s how you architect your future. And this one is literally one of his books is called the surrender experiment. And it says, if you’re too focused. on what you know you need and know you want, you leave no room for the universe to give you something that you could have never expected.
Beverly:
Or to enjoy the moment in that moment you are learning and growing. Yes. Yes. And
Don Mamone:
so I’m literally in the midst of navigating that and figuring out like how to take from both to fill up my own bucket. And it’s been a beautiful journey. And so I’d highly recommend both of those. For your personal and professional life.
Beverly:
What’s one unconventional tool or app that’s become your secret weapon for success and how does it revolutionize your workflow and your business?
Don Mamone:
Uncon un, I don’t know. It’s so hard for me to say because
Beverly:
unconventional. Yeah.
Don Mamone:
Everything I do seems to be unconventional. These days I just say this is, seems super random, but it’s been over the last four or five weeks. My Kindle as somebody who’s I believe in claiming. And manifesting, not from the fact that if I just lay on my couch and wish for a Ferrari, I’m going to have a Ferrari in my garage. I don’t believe in that kind of manifesting. I believe in when we give words, power, they’re powerful. And you’ll know that when I introduced myself now, I oftentimes say that I’m a professional speaker and identity coach and an author. Oh, you’ve written a book. I’m writing a book.
I don’t
Don Mamone:
think you have to have a bestselling published book to be an author. And so I originally had writer. I’m a writer. For me, the differentiation is as an author, I am authoring things that are persistent pieces of content that I think will make the world a better place. When I find that I’m struggling with writing, I’ve been reading. And what I’ve found is, I read differently now that I identify as an author.
Beverly:
Yes.
Don Mamone:
And so for me, the Kindle has been a way of voraciously devouring content, very strategic content. Now I’m not just saying I pick up some kind of trashy novel, not that there’s anything wrong with a good beach read. But what I’m saying is, I read the book Mad Honey recently by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Lynn Boyle, which was about about gender is a subplot, right? And, oh my God I cried, I laughed, I got angry, I got validated the every emotion you could possibly imagine. But what I realized is, as I read, I’m like, huh, I love the sequence of that writing. I love the way in which that was written. And Ironically by consuming, I believe that I’m going to be able to create better and different. And so I guess what I want your audience to know is sometimes it’s important to consume strategically so that you can create authentically, right? And I think people would think, Oh you’re just reading. So what you’re just taking time off. No, like in the middle of the day, if I read for two hours, that in that moment is me working on ways in which I get to create content and show up in this world. And so I want the audience to start thinking about that. What is it that you do in life where something that you would never even have thought of will better prepare you to do that thing and to do it better. Is something that I realized is really important to me.
Beverly:
How do you keep your entrepreneurial spirit alive and how do you feed it?
Don Mamone:
So this came up earlier with small P passions and the big P purpose. I thought that creating a legacy through my camera was my purpose for a very long time. And now don’t get me wrong. There is no one true and only purpose in our lives. There’s many purposes. My daughter is, my daughter and wife are probably the two biggest from a personal perspective. But I had an event that I was at and it was one of our biggest events. It was the client that I referenced earlier. And I was at this event and it’s our biggest and most ambitious event. And somebody that I’d known for years ran up to me and said, Hey, can I talk to you for a minute? And so I grabbed my camera and I followed her with the expectation that she needed a photo. And I said, Oh, you don’t need a photo. She said, No, I need to talk to you. I’m lost. And I’m suffering and I need your help. I’ve been following your journey. I don’t know who I am. And I said, I see you and I love you for everything you are and everything you’re creating in this world. And let’s have a chat at 11 o’clock at night when the event is over and I’ll stay up for as long as I need to stay up until you feel like you can
go
Don Mamone:
about your way of finding who you are. And it was in that moment that I realized that was my purpose. And that’s what I’m going to do. And that’s how I get to show up in this world. And so when I’m tired and and I’m struggling or I have writer’s block, or I feel like I’m not making the money that I want to make or having the impact I want to have. All I do is close my eyes and think of someone holding my book, clutching my book with both arms, waiting to meet me, have their book signed, learn more about my journey so that they can know more about their journey. And they’ll think to themselves. Everything’s gonna be okay. They’re okay. I’m gonna be okay. And that’s all it takes. Fire relit, burning like an inferno and ready to go.
Beverly:
Sparking, igniting, and blazing, right?
Don Mamone:
100%. I love the idea of spark. It’s all it takes. Yes, it’s all it
Beverly:
takes. It’s just a moment. Yep. And It’s like the feel of electricity and the air is charged. And I had a moment that’s what this all kind of stemmed from is I was talking to a client and I was giving them some strategic ideas. And as I was talking to him, he was really excited about what I was talking about. I had an out of body experience of why are you not doing this for yourself? And like literally time stopped. Like the sounds faded away. It was like so profound for me. And it was just a moment like passing. Cause as soon as we started talking, I was like back into the moment, but it was like, Whoa, everything shifted in my mind. And as I’m listening to him, all of a sudden this such powerful resolve grew inside of me in that moment. And those are the very tangible moments of spark that just can change everything that can transform everything. There are beautiful moments of electricity in charge.
Don Mamone:
You can’t unsee them. I tell clients that I’m like, okay, if we’re going to do this thing, I need you to understand something. Like once I show you what you’re about to see, you can’t unsee it and you’re going to notice it from now and forever. And you’re not going to want to act out of alignment with that. So it’s, yes. Congratulations. How beautiful. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Beverly:
So this kind of was answered, but maybe you have a little tweak to it. In the fast paced world of entrepreneurship, like we are all legit entrepreneurs are the busiest people on the planet. How do you stay grounded and maintain your sense of purpose? And clarity admits all the chaos and uncertainty that is the world that we live in right now.
Don Mamone:
That’s a great question. I’m going to say that it’s my daughter. It’s funny because I say that I never knew how much I would appreciate entrepreneurship up until the day she was born because there were so many things I loved about being an entrepreneur. But the thing that I love the most now is how much time I get to spend not around her, but with her. And That she’s seven and a half now and in double that amount of time, she’s going to be 15, right? So I look back on her life and it feels like a blink of an eye and she’s going to be 15. And I think I have squeezed every last drop of time and attention and focus with her. And that’s not something I can ever get back again if I had missed it. And so that’s one of the things that I’m the most proud of and ironically, and we didn’t get too much into this, but the reason I came out seven years married and nine months having had a child with my wife was the strongest reason was her, I refuse to live in a world where I taught my daughter by example, that it’s okay to hide who you are, period. And so she is. Everything to me and the person that she’s becoming because I’m my authentic self makes me so incredibly proud. And so she’s the nexus of it all. There’s a million other reasons that we could get into. We’re not, we can do another episode another time
Beverly:
but, or
Don Mamone:
whatever, but that, that isn’t the number one nexus of it all for me.
Beverly:
Children change everything.
Don Mamone:
They do.
Beverly:
I wasn’t going to have children and we ended up having. Zeke and we adopted him and it shifted everything. So it’s
Don Mamone:
amazing.
Beverly:
It is. If your business prowled the animal kingdom, which creature would it embody and why?
Don Mamone:
This is funny. You know what? I’ve thought of Zootopia right away. Because I have a seven and a half year old and Great
Beverly:
song, by the way, the music in that is so good. So
Don Mamone:
good. So here’s the deal. Mine would have to be a mystical creature, like I have a unicorn behind me too, over there that my daughter painted for me. I would say that, but I’m going to give you a slightly more complicated answer. It would be one of the predators from Zootopia because you can’t be prey and be an entrepreneur. Solely. You can’t be like, but I’m not a predator. Like I believe in collaboration over competition. There’s plenty of business for everybody. I’m not a shark. I’m not going to hunt. I’m not going to take business from other people. But you’ve got to hunt. You have to be willing to get out there and fight for what’s yours and to cleave to those clients and be like, this is my client. I’m going to serve this client. And I would be any one of those wonderful, beautiful creatures that, that is, is. to hunt and to fight, but not at the expense of someone else.
Beverly:
Interesting. Okay. That’s it. That’s lightning round. You survived. Everything’s good. So it’s time to shift gears, excuse me, into like our, it’s called the blaze forward segment, but essentially it’s the inspiration from our conversation and we turn it into like actionable strategies for. People who are either just starting out in entrepreneurship, or they’re at that kind of moment of what do I, where do we go next? Or what do I do next? Or how do I inspire myself? Or how do I, we all get those stuck moments and sometimes hearing the right word, the right phrase, the right book, the, that’s the moments, right?
Yep.
Beverly:
So looking back on the journey you’ve been on. What pivotal piece of advice do you wish you had received earlier in your career? How might this insight have saved you some time, resources, or headaches along the way?
Don Mamone:
Obviously, there is an undeniable connection between who I am and what I do. That’s the first thing I would tell people is you are not your job. You are not your career. You are not your company. You are not your business. They may be irrevocably tied together, never to be separated, but they are two different things. So that’s number one. Number two, we live in a world where we walk a tightrope over lava infested with crocodiles, with jagged spikes and rocks. We walk this tightrope between enough and too much, and I want to hold up a mirror, I can’t give people this permission slip. So if you’re in the audience and you’re listening to my voice right now, this is not me giving you something. This is me holding up a mirror for you to see something. And that is that just existing on this planet, putting one foot in front of the other and breathing air, you are enough. And you get to be exactly that. And the idea that you’re too much or not enough to other people tells you more about them than it does about you. And you get to be exactly who you are, everywhere you go, with whomever you’re with, that gets to be your fuel. And I said this to my wife earlier, I said, I need more fuel. And she said, what do you mean? And I said, I just, as we started the new year, I started talking about that. Depth and focus and intention and writing a book, I’m 40, 000 words in. So I’m maybe like halfway there ish. And as I start to like lag or the momentum isn’t there, I’m like, I need more fuel. And she’s what for? And I had this epiphany. I need fuel to move forward. I need fuel to push me. I need fuel to pour it on the stuff that doesn’t serve me and burn it to the ground. There was this moment where I felt like I get to do exactly what I’m exactly what I’m designed to do, how I’m designed to do it. The piece of advice I would give people in my handy little way of saying it is. Your brand, your unique brand is an extension of your authentic identity and your marketing, your creative, beautiful marketing is an extension of your voice. And anytime you’re like, I’m not allowed to share this part of me or, Oh, people won’t like this part of me. You do yourself and your potential client a disservice. It’s 100 percent tied together in a way that you get to be that person so that you can create that brand so that you can serve that client and the only way to reach them is with your loud, unapologetic voice and marketing.
Beverly:
It goes full circle to what you said in the beginning about how people who are not there for that. Are self selecting themselves out of your orbit, and that’s perfectly okay. That’s actually the best thing that could happen. A hundred percent. Because you’re not spending any extra energy or anything on a person who doesn’t deserve to be in your orbit. Yes. Yes and yes. And we talk a lot about, in marketing, if you’re, in that space. And even I think with photography, we often will say, what is your niche or who are you serving? Understanding you can’t just like finding a mate, you can’t find a mate unless you know who you are. Like you have to know who you are before you know who your niches and who you serve and why you serve and how you serve to really do a good job. I will say that this process isn’t always easy and I’m on this process and I’m sure that it’s an evolution cause I don’t think you’re ever done once you’re on it, like you might even get a little comfortable and push again and get a little comfortable and push again. But. I just did a video where I talked about how I’m very camera shy. But I’ve been doing video and I said, I’m not perfect. And this is who I am. This are my thoughts. These are my feelings. This is exactly it. And I can’t ask my clients to do these things if I’m not doing these things. So you have to walk the walk and talk the talk. So for me, I was like, it’s time to pony up. Like it’s time.
Don Mamone:
And I don’t know if this, I may be answering a question before you ask it, one of the things I want your audience to know that is. It really is the end all be all, if you said to me what is the number one absolute, there’s no questions about it thing. That you derive from everything you’ve learned in the last 20 years and 47.
Beverly:
That’s the next question. What can perfect right now? What is the advice you want to give them? Okay. Take away from this interview.
Don Mamone:
And this is both strategic and tactical. Okay. So everybody go grab a pen and paper. If you have to pause it, do it now. People talk about fear a lot. They talk about imposter syndrome. They talk about an inability. It is what it is. Fear is a good thing. Fear means you’re pushing yourself past your comfort zone and anytime you do something that you’re not really good at, that you’ve done a million times, you’re going to be afraid or you’re going to feel like you don’t belong there. Say hi to it, welcome it, sit it down next to you and bring it along for the ride. The one thing that I want you all to get rid of is fragility. It’s the other F word when we live in a fragile space and we think, am I allowed to do that? Am I supposed to do that? Is it okay? Did I do that? Will this client like this? Will this person like this? If you’re acting in alignment with your core values and your identity than what other people think. It doesn’t matter, ever. And so when you get rid of the fragility, are you ready for the last F word? It’s not the F word. I promise. I promise to keep it clean, okay? The last F word, which is the end all, be all, holy grail of what we’ve talked about for the last hour. is freedom. What you’re going to find is you get to do anything you want, whenever you want, wherever you are, and you’ll never worry about whether it’s quote right or not. As you can imagine, I don’t live in a binary world. Shocking. I know, but I don’t believe in either, or I believe in both. And so when you’re getting ready to make a choice, There is no right and wrong choice. There’s the choice that’s in alignment with who you are and what you do or not. There’s the one that’s best for your business, or it might not be like there are shades of gray for your decision making. But the number one thing you’re going to find is. If you’re sure of who you are and you own your identity and who you are, anything that you do, you’re going to feel free and comfortable to do. You can raise your price. You can lower your price. You can market here. You can market there. No, there’s no thought. There’s no fragility of walking around on eggshells and wondering and wishing and hoping. You’re just going to act bold and confident in alignment with who you are and how you get to show up. Freedom is everything. The emails I write, the marketing copy I write, the way in which I approach clients. I literally said to somebody Oh we don’t know and blah, blah, blah. I, and I know them well enough to have this snarky attitude. I’m like, that’s okay. Not everybody’s ready for the best, but when you are, we will serve you and exceed your every expectation. That’s snarky. That’s snarky and sarcastic. And that’s me, that’s who I am. And so there was never a part of me that was like am I allowed to write this? Of course I am. That’s who I am.
That’s
Don Mamone:
how I get to show up and you get to do the same. So erase fragility, embrace freedom, and your whole life and your whole business will change.
Beverly:
And I think along the same way, I think the thing that I’ve learned is there are moments where you have the fear that anything that I have feared. Honestly, any step in my career, my whatever has been very scary, but also the most rewarding choices I have made in my career. So the scariest is also the most rewarding at the end of the day. And I think what, as long as I’m evolving along that continuum, that is me, whatever that looks like. Those moments will continue to happen. It never really stops. And I think, thank goodness my parents didn’t give me the fragility thing. I don’t feel like, yeah, there’s moments where I’m a little bit unsure and maybe I like video thing, like I’m like figuring it out and all the things.
Yeah.
Beverly:
But it’s always been like, do it, try it, do the best you can get better at it. Like it’s always been like that. It’s an iterative process. Don’t worry about it. It’s fine. And I work with so many clients who won’t even take the step because they’re like, so worried of failing and they haven’t even tried it. And they’m worried about failing. I’m like, you don’t fail until you actually try. Like you can’t. This idea of fear plus freedom or fear plus for fear minus fragility equals this equation equals freedom is very powerful. And all the things that we kind of align with our, like how we approach our customers and our clients as well, a little bit different verbiage and things like that, but very similar in the sense of you have to know yourself. And you have to be able to try to, if you want to grow, you have to grow.
Don Mamone:
And it’s part of the fragility is that external facing fragility of, I’m not going to be so fragile as to allow someone else’s opinion or someone else’s thought process or someone else’s own baggage. To impact me. And if you talk to somebody and I do, I work with a lot of people that struggle with self esteem issues and a lack of confidence and imposter syndrome, if you really dig down to it, it’s not that they’re, Don’t like being on video. It’s that they worry about what people think when they watch that video. And the irony is most of those people, if they were to say something, what they’re really saying is I’m too scared to do this video. And so I try to make you feel smaller so that I feel bigger because you did do the video thing. And so if I latch on to some sort of, you said too many ums or, Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you didn’t do your hair that day. I get to feel bigger about the fact that I wasn’t even brave enough to go on camera at all, right? And I went on camera yesterday to do a cute little reel about the dentist after I had been numbed and was like slurring my words and stuff because the concept of that video was I got to go to the dentist and people are like who Says that I was like I do I removed have to and I need to get to because I have the money to take care of my teeth. It’s like a gratitude thing. And there’s people are like, wait a minute, you went on camera with the numbness and the slobbering and stuff. I’m like, yep, sure did. It’s real. It’s authentic. And it’s irrelevant. There’s a hundred percent life. And I’ll say it again because I think it is one of the most beautiful things that I’ve introduced into the way that I photograph people when I do headshots is if you’re out there and you’re struggling, I see you and I love you unconditionally without capacity for exactly who you are and you get to love yourself in that same way. There’s plenty of things Beverly. I don’t really necessarily like about myself that I’m constantly evolving and changing and growing. I love myself unconditionally, which means that I get to love those things too, whether I like them that much or not, maybe not. Then I get to look at that and notice that and think about ways in which I can change that. But if I can love you unconditionally without capacity, then you get to do the same and it changes so much.
Beverly:
Oh gosh, it’s been so great, Don, having you on the show and I have really, truly enjoyed our conversation. This is why I love what I do. Meeting people. I’ve had so many fascinating conversations. Everyone’s journey is so unique. It’s lovely to just have, I am grateful for this opportunity to have the show and have guests like you on it. So thank you so much. So what are the ways that people can find out more about what you do and your projects? And this upcoming book you’re working on yeah, tell us all the things.
Don Mamone:
I am somewhat ubiquitous online under my name, which is Don Mimone, right? And you can put that in the show notes. I have a website, donmimone. com. I’m very active on Instagram and LinkedIn and a variety of other social media sites. What I like to tell people is I try to inspire people through. the written and spoken word. And so my zone of genius and my happiest place is on a stage. So if you’re listening to this podcast, you’re looking for a keynote speaker to inspire and motivate a group of people to be their most authentic selves. I’m your person. If you’re looking for someone to help coach you to become that person, then I’m your person. A lot of the work I do is either individual one on one or small group because people do tend to a few things that they may not have told other people all the time. And so we do that typically in a very, what I try to create is a very safe, comfortable space for them. But between speaking on stage and inspiring and motivating people individually to become the best, most authentic versions of themselves to then go on and have, I don’t know, the most successful, happiest, most impactful lives. That’s my jam. And so people can find me on my website or on social media. My DMS are open. I answer them myself.
Beverly:
wonderful. Thank you so much, Dan.
Don Mamone:
You’re welcome.
Beverly:
As we conclude today’s episode, I just want to take another minute to just thank Don for sharing his wealth of knowledge and all the expertise in photography and the inclusion advocacy. Amazing. So thank you. Don, your insights have illuminated our listeners path. They’ve offered some invaluable tips, lots of books to read, strategies to think about. To enhance not only their business and marketing, but also I think your personal life, which is amazing. So to our listeners, I hope you find this episode as enlightening as I did. And remember to implement these insights into your small business and into your life. And don’t hesitate, like Don said, to reach out if you have any questions or need further assistance or help. So stay tuned for more inspiring conversations and actionable tips in to ignite your marketing. journey and the future episodes of Spark Ignite Your Marketing Podcast. And until next time, keep sparking and igniting.
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