We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alethea Tyler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alethea, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Everything good I’ve done in my life, I’ve done scared.

Going to a college with people who I thought were smarter than me, from better families than me, who had more money than me.

(The last one was totally true.)

Quitting my waitressing job a few months after graduating college to start a business even though I had no idea what I was doing or how to do it.

Making my first Instagram post, introducing myself to the world as a business owner, thinking about all the people who would see that post. Who might think: what the hell is she doing? Who does she think she is? Who—if I failed—would laugh at me and who—if I succeeded—might get mad or jealous about that success.

But I did those things anyway.

Being successful is not just doing well on the first go… It’s all the time you had to spend believing in yourself before the proof was there because when it does work out, that’s when you realize you can do things despite being scared.

And when you realize that, you can do anything because you’ve stopped living life by the limits of what is comfortable.

To be successful isn’t to just go after what you want and get it; it’s about transforming into the person who makes it possible to arrive at the final destination, because let’s be honest—who you are when you start will not and cannot be who you are when you finish.

(If it was possible, you’d already have what you want.)

To be successful, to accomplish whatever it is you want to requires growth and that growth is often as painful and scary as it is exciting. Which means being successful requires brutal honesty with yourself.

It’s about being okay when what you want brings up all the things you’ll have to let go of to get it. It’s about radical self-belief—ridiculously, almost foolishly believing you can do it despite not actually knowing if you can.

The first night in my dorm, I was terrified. I was scared about parties and classes and all of the ways I could stick out like a sore thumb, expose my underbelly, and be laughed at for.

When I decided to move from Colorado to California, relying only on my savings and my 3-month-old business, I was scared. I was worried about the money running out, about being in a state where I didn’t have any job connections, about how I would feel if I failed.

And when I posted that first Instagram post for my business it took me over two hours to write a tiny caption. And as soon as it was posted, I kept checking to see who had liked it, who had seen it, who I might have embarrassed myself in front of.

And then you get to thinking about the other side of the experience. You think okay, worse case, this thing I’m worried about DOES happen. So what?

Some of the things I worried about DID happen. My friends at college found out about my GoFundMe for tuition. I had months in my business where I didn’t make anything. People unfollowed me because they didn’t like my content.

And it’s been okay.

To answer the question, “what does it take to be successful?” is tricky because depending on what success means to you, it looks different. But, if I had to give a short answer it would be this:

To be successful, you’ll have to be okay with other people thinking you’re crazy; you’ll have to face the inner wounds that make you question whether or not you’re capable or even deserving; you’ll have to be honest enough with yourself about your shortcomings and how much failure scares you; and as you move through all of that, you’ll have to do the thing you feel compelled to go after anyway.

That’s what it takes to be successful.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

There are three things I do very well: eat (my mother has lovingly dubbed me the family garbage disposal), stress out over things that haven’t happened yet, and write.

And the last one is how I make my living.

(Although eating comes into play with the brand I’ve built, too.)

Writing has always had a hold on me—the attempt to boil your thoughts down into an eloquent assortment of letters that not only gets your point across, but helps someone understand you, see you, feel what you’re feeling.

It’s a different language than speech. And it’s one that proves incredibly challenging, especially when you aren’t writing about a character, but instead, you’re trying to convey the complexity of yourself.

As a creative copywriter, I spend my time sifting through other people’s words so I can help string them together in a way that not only is understandable but gives others a taste of what that person is like and who they are.

As business owners, the most powerful tool we have is getting people to like us—not in some phony, inauthentic way, but in the way where we show up so powerfully as ourselves that someone else can recognize what values, beliefs, and silly habits are shared ground.

I’ve been writing my whole life about various plotlines, I even got my degree in Creative Writing, but the thing I love most about the stories I get to help tell now are the bridges these stories build—the bridge between a seriously passionate and driven business owner to the person who’s looking for exactly what they offer.

Sure, I’m helping sell stuff with words, but behind that, is the fun of helping people connect with each other. Which, when you think about it, is exactly what all storytelling does—at least the good stories—they make you care about and relate to someone else.

At the heart of my brand, Copy with Spice, is a focus on spice and flavor and that spice and flavor represent someone’s personality; their unique set of words; their unique blend of background, qualifications, opinions, and experiences.

What I love about what I do is—in the form of writing websites, emails, and sales pages—I get to help people unearth and unleash their voice and their message so they can spend their time (and make their living) doing the exact thing that they feel called to do.

How did you build your audience on social media?

If I’m being honest, I’ve always hated social media…when it came to posting about myself. I had no problem spending time scrolling through Instagram or laughing at ridiculous videos or updates on Facebook, or back in the day, endlessly reposting on Tumblr.

But when I started my business, I realized, one of the uncomfortable things I was gonna have to do was make an Instagram and actually post on it. After all, it’s a free marketing platform and a way to connect with people you’d never even know existed in real life…

… So, I sucked it up and did it.

And it’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done. Not only did it grow and fund my entire business in the beginning, but it also connected me with people who were doing the same wacky thing I was—running an online business, which can be a lonely and unrelatable job at 23.

And it all started by sharing what I was learning about.

A few pieces of advice for those just starting out:

1 – Whatever you’re learning, share –

When you start diving deeper into your industry—whether that’s reading books, taking courses, or actually working with clients/selling—you’re learning about so many new things and that makes for great social media content because other people like to learn, too.

It also helps establish you as an expert in your industry which helps people realize all the ways you can help them. That’s exactly what I did in the beginning—posted about what I was learning, gave tips, and tried to helped people with copy to the best of my newbie abilities.

2 – Have fun

Fun stuff stands out. The ideas that have come to me, that I’ve been most nervous to share, are almost always the content pieces that get the most engagement. I keep a notes app of ideas I randomly have for content so I can write them down whenever they pop into my head.

3 – Don’t forget to literally tell people what you offer

Your social media shouldn’t only be fun and educational, it needs to be promotional too. If you don’t post about what you sell, chances are people won’t even know what it is that you offer. So, make sure to mix in promotional content with fun and educational.

4 —Try different things out

You never know what will resonate with different people so don’t be afraid to experiment. The cool thing about social media is you’ll find out pretty fast what your audience likes and what they don’t. And, you can always directly ask them what questions they have or what type of content they want to see more of.

5 — Build relationships

The people who I have met on Instagram who I just started DMing because they seemed cool are the people who have become my friends and my clients. Social media platforms like Instagram are a GREAT tool for building relationships and it’s easy too—just start talking to someone about something they share on their story. You’ll likely make a new friend, and you never know who may be looking for the exact thing you offer.

6 – Show your face

This was the one I hated MOST. The first time I posted myself talking on my story, I was SO nervous. But the thing is, people connect with other people. So even if your posts are beautiful, if you don’t show the human(s) behind the screen, your audience will have a hard time connecting with you.

Growing my Instagram audience has been a long and worthwhile process. And even though I believe consistency to be super important when you’re building a brand, I also think it’s important to be of not just posting to post. When I stopped thinking about the vanity metrics and started thinking about what I was excited to share and how I wanted to challenge people to think about copywriting in new ways, that’s when the massive growth began!

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

So many! But, I’ll just choose a top few.

For those looking to heal so they can break the habit of putting others before themselves—Permission to Put Yourself First by Nancy Levin

For those looking to gorge themselves full on the wisdom and knowledge of absolutely brilliant and accomplished human beings—Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris

For those looking to become ridiculously good storytellers by reading about ridiculously good stories—The Storyteller’s Secret by Carmine Gallo

For those looking to kick their old beliefs about money to the curb so they can actually make the money they say they want to make—You’re a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero

And for those starting the entrepreneurial journey who want to create a business, and a life, from their inspired and authentic Zone of Genius—The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://copywithspice.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/copywithspice/

Image Credits
Gracie Wilson Photography (my brand photographer)