Oct. 24, 2023

From Camera-Shy to Video Pro Helping Others - Harrison Cantel is RightOffTrack | Anya Smith

🔥 Ready to elevate your content game and personal brand?
This episode is a goldmine of insights, tips, and actionable advice for all things Video.
We're thrilled to have Harrison Cantel, the Commander-In-Chief of HCreative and a master of the "Just ...

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RightOffTrack Entrepreneurship Connection Purpose by Anya Smith

🔥 Ready to elevate your content game and personal brand?

This episode is a goldmine of insights, tips, and actionable advice for all things Video.

We're thrilled to have Harrison Cantel, the Commander-In-Chief of HCreative and a master of the "Just Hit Record" method, join us on RightOffTrack. Harrison's unique approach to content creation is not just about the technicalities; it's deeply rooted in psychology, making it a game-changer for anyone looking to make an impact.

 

Find out how he went from avoiding the camera to helping others overcome their fears.

 

🚀 Things You Don't Want to Miss:

  • 📈 The Psychology Behind Camera Shyness (Timestamp: 02:25)
  • 🎥 Why Video is Essential for Your Business (Timestamp: 04:13)
  • 🤔 Overcoming Limiting Beliefs (Timestamp: 06:18)
  • 🌱 The Importance of Starting Somewhere (Timestamp: 08:20)
  • 🎤 Embracing Mistakes and Learning (Timestamp: 10:28)
  • 📈 Client Transformations: Monetary and Personal (Timestamp: 11:25)
  • 🎥 Consistency and Strategy in Content Creation (Timestamp: 15:33)
  • 🧠 Breaking the Routine: How changing your environment can spark inspiration. (Timestamp: 21:15.00)
  • ⚡ Energy Management: How to allocate your energy wisely for maximum productivity. (Timestamp: 24:10.046)
  • 💡 Mental Health Advocacy: Harrison's personal journey and tips for managing mental health. (Timestamp: 28:48.194)
  • 🌱 Being Genuine: Harrison and Anya discuss the importance of being authentic and showing both highs and lows in content. (32:06.27) 
  •  🍍 Pineapple Debate: A light-hearted but serious debate on whether pineapple belongs on pizza or not. (39:42.506)
  • 🎯 The "Just Hit Record" Method: Why it's a psychological game-changer (Timestamp: 40:25)
  • 📈 Creating Value for Your Audience: The shift from showcasing to documenting (Timestamp: 41:45)
  • 📱 Overcoming the Excuse of Equipment: Why your smartphone is your best friend (Timestamp: 49:31)
  • 🤝 Who Would Benefit from Working with Harrison Cantel (Timestamp: 51:06)

 

Who This Episode is Perfect For:

  • Entrepreneurs: Who are looking to get more comfortable with using video as part of their work.
  • Aspiring Videographers: Learn how to be more comfortable and authentic on camera.
  • Business Owners: Discover actionable strategies for enhancing your video content and boosting growth.
  • Anyone who simply wants to be better with making videos 

Our mission at RightOffTrack is to inspire people to pursue their unique path in life and embrace their purpose. We would be so grateful if you could empower this mission by sharing this episode with a friend who would benefit from it.

👉 Listen now and don't miss out on this incredible journey of personal growth, content creation, and branding.

Harrison Cantel is not just another content creator; he's a thought leader who will change the way you approach your video content game. 🌟

 

Timestamps:

  • (00:02) Introduction to Harrison Cantel
  • (02:25) The Psychology Behind Camera Shyness
  • (04:13) Why Video is Essential for Your Business
  • (06:18) Overcoming Limiting Beliefs
  • (08:20) The Importance of Starting Somewhere
  • (10:28) Embracing Mistakes and Learning
  • (10:40) Pivotal Moments in Harrison's Journey
  • (11:25) Client Transformations: Monetary and Personal
  • (11:53) The Power of Video in Personal and Business Growth
  • (15:33) Consistency and Strategy in Content Creation
  • (15:54) The Emotional Journey of Entrepreneurship
  • (21:15.00) Breaking the Routine
  • (22:00.00) Digital Detox
  • (22:40.755) Mindfulness in Entrepreneurship
  • (24:10.046) Energy Management
  • (27:49.302) Calendar Priorities
  • (28:48.194) Mental Health Advocacy
  • (30:30.00) Public Speaking
  • (32:06.27) The Importance of Being Genuine
  • (33:07.827) Physical Health as a Foundation
  • (34:52.886) Social Media as a Digital Diary
  • (36:00.59) Balancing Work and Life
  • (38:14.503) Accepting Pizza as Payment
  • (39:42.506) The Great Pineapple Debate
  • (40:25) The "Just Hit Record" Method
  • (41:45) Creating Value for Your Audience
  • (49:31) Overcoming Equipment Excuses
  • (51:06) Who Would Benefit from Working with Harrison Cantel

 

~~~~~~~

Podcast With Purpose:

  • RightOffTrack is a podcast with a purpose and I am supporting an amazing non-profit Ready To Empower (which empower woman world wide).
  • RTE is celebrating it's 10th anniversary this year and has an awesome goal of raising $50,000 by Dec 8th, 2023 (with all proceeds going to the program operation and supporting the women). 
  • Welcome your empowering donation (of any size) here: https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTg1MzUy 

~~~~~~~

Connect with the Guest:

 

Kudos to My Design & Editing Team:

 

I treasure your feedback and comments! Let's connect on social (:

Transcript

Anya Smith (00:02.271)
Hey friends, welcome back to RightOffTrack, the podcast that dives deep into the incredible stories of people who've dared to follow their own path to success. Today, we have got a guest who's going to light a fire under all of your video making excuses. Meet Harrison Cantel, the commander in chief of all things video. Now, Harrison isn't just any video guru. He's working with big names like Microsoft and the Body Shop, but he also helped hundreds of everyday folks.

conquer their camera fears and truly shine. So whether you're camera shy or looking to boost your business through video, Harrison's got the insights you need. Now, we've all heard the excuses. Equipment is too expensive, I'm not creative, my business is too boring. Well, Harrison's here to debunk those myths and show you how video can be your game changer. From learning the ropes to staying consistent, he's got you covered. So if you're thinking, I need to get some.

So if you're thinking, I need to get me some of that video magic, you're in the right place. Harrison's not just about video. He's also a strong advocate for mental health. So we've got to touch on the importance of being yourself and taking care of your mind while chasing your dream. Stick around. This is one of the episodes you don't want to miss. Welcome to the show, Harrison. I'm so excited to have you here.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (01:19.594)
That was a phenomenal intro. I am very grateful for that. And thank you so much. I'm super excited to chat to you. As I said, I've tuned into many episodes and I absolutely love them. So I'm just very grateful for you inviting me on.x

Anya Smith (01:30.879)
Ah, same, I've tuned to so much of your content because I definitely need it. In a world of content creation video is so important but even I have a lot of pictures like, oh, I have a mom, I'm running around, what am I doing? And you're like, nope, mm-mm. I have you covered, here's what you should try. So thank you for that. And also quick shout out to Jane Kisnitsa, if I'm butchering your last name, I'm sorry. But a wonderful introduction point, so thank you for being.

open to this opportunity and I'm grateful to connections that make this possible.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (02:04.563)
and thank you Jane, love you loads.

Anya Smith (02:07.859)
And let's get started with your story around getting on camera. Now you make it look very easy and comfortable and natural, but was that always the case? Or did you suddenly find along the way this fascination with video and then gain that skill?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (02:25.098)
It was absolutely not the case. I believe confidence is a muscle we train. I truly do not believe that anyone is born confident. It was tough, it was really tough. I was terrified of the camera to the point where I'd feel physically sick of being in front of it, so I was always behind it. The other part of it is obviously the public speaking part. I missed numerous lectures and seminars at university that involved me presenting in front of a group or even in front of one person. Almost failed.

my degree because of it. I just couldn't do it. I just could not do it. There was some sort of barrier. And I knew that if I was to start a business, which is what I'd always dreamt about, that I would have to overcome this fear. And thankfully, I've been able to do that through my own exercises and practices that I've made up, which I'm now helping as many people as physically possible to do the same.

Anya Smith (02:56.352)
Wow.

Anya Smith (03:16.767)
And why did you always dream of starting a business?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (03:20.446)
Um, I think correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like it's everyone's, well, a lot of people anyway, from a young age, like I want to be a business owner. And I guess there's a, there's an egotistical element to it when you're younger of like, you know, flash cars, big houses, money, et cetera. Um, I've quickly realized that is absolutely not the goal. Um, and that is absolutely not what happiness looks like for me. However, I was quite entrepreneurial growing up. My mother, um,

Anya Smith (03:29.439)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (03:48.458)
was a photographer, she had her own business. And at the time it was kind of unheard of to have that sort of business. So I was quite inspired by that. And I sold sweets at school. I sold sweets, I sold jewelry, I sold Dr. Dre headphones, I sold everything. So that I think was the start of it. And I just, yeah, I guess I got a taste for it. And I've always wanted to do it. And I'm just super grateful that I am able to do that now.

Anya Smith (03:59.735)
Yeah

Anya Smith (04:13.455)
Shout out to your mom. She sounds amazing. I love that you had that example. Okay, so you're mentioning, hey, here you are in school and video is not the natural thing. You were like far from it. So what happened then? What was the breaking point? You have, you mentioned this desire. I wanna start a business. I realized this was an inflection point where I need to make this happen. But why A was video, something that you decided is so essential and how do you actually make it happen? There's two wide gap things right there.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (04:15.327)
Yeah, she's cool.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (04:42.482)
Yeah, there was quite a big shift that happened for me to be fair. So I was, I was very much, uh, I was a videographer to begin with, you know, I love creating videos and I'm sure we'll go into that in a second, but I think what happened was during lockdown, uh, as for a lot of us, we had these revelations, we had these ideas and we had these kind of epiphany moments for me. The big one was continuing my videography part of the business, but also putting myself out there online.

Anya Smith (04:48.861)
Okay.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (05:09.686)
and I really struggled to articulate my message and what I wanted to say. So I thought, well, video just captures it as it is, right? It's raw, it's authentic, it's kind of whatever I wanna say and however I say it will be taken however it's taken by the audience. So that was my kind of shift when I was like, I'm really struggling to write or create carousels or do any of the other stuff to get my message across. So I turned to video and I thought, well, rather than being behind it, I'm gonna switch things up and step in front of it.

Anya Smith (05:32.288)
Mm-hmm.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (05:39.914)
and I haven't stopped since then. Thank you.

Anya Smith (05:43.411)
which we are very grateful for. Okay, so then you started going out. What were some of the things you had to go through in your head? Because we talked about mental health, but I know the one thing that I'm facing with chronic depression is like, ah, who will care? It's not even about like, am I good enough to be on camera, right? Like not to, because I'm pompous, I just, I'm a mom. Like at this point in my game, I care a little bit less. But it's like.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (05:57.841)
Mm.

Anya Smith (06:07.767)
Who will care? Will anybody be interested? Like those things are coming through my head. What are the internal things that people maybe struggle with or maybe you had to overcome to be better on this journey?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (06:18.218)
Yeah, I mean, for me and for the majority of people I've had the pleasure of working with and supporting, it's these limiting beliefs. It's these, you know, what will my friends think? What will my employer think, you know, was something that I had to think about as well, because I was still in a full-time job. Do I look stupid? Do people even care what I'm saying? You know, all of these things are going around my head. And to be honest with you, they never truly leave, but it's how you manage them that I think is what changes. So for me, very much what will my friends think? That was like one of the biggest fears for me.

Anya Smith (06:25.62)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (06:29.45)
right?

Bye.

Anya Smith (06:40.169)
right.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (06:47.69)
And also, how can I talk about this? I'm not an expert. I don't have qualifications to talk about camera shyness or confidence or whatever. So what I did was I, this is crazy. This is a super actionable part. So if anyone listening or watching has a piece of paper to hand, split that piece of paper in half on one side of the piece of paper, I want you to write down all of the limiting beliefs that come into your head. So if I say to you, right, go and talk to the camera right now.

Anya Smith (07:03.136)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (07:13.587)
Okay.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (07:17.074)
All of those limiting beliefs that pop into your head, put them on the left-hand side of that piece of paper. And then on the right-hand side is where we focus on the reality of those limiting beliefs. I'll give an example. So mine looks like this. On the left-hand side is what will my friends think? On the right-hand side is my friends are not my ideal clients and if they are my ideal clients and are taking the mick out of me, I need to question my friendship. So again, I've completely shifted my mindset from what will my friends think they'll think I'm an idiot to

Anya Smith (07:20.681)
Okay.

Anya Smith (07:34.487)
Thanks for watching!

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (07:46.85)
Well, if they think I'm an idiot and they're not supporting me, then I need to question that friend. So it takes it totally away. And I did that with every single limiting belief that came into my head. And the second thing off the back of that is at the bottom of that piece of paper, write down why you are filming the video that you're filming. I did that before every single video. Why am I putting this video out to the world? Why is it important that I record it? And the answer was always because I want to support as many people as possible to overcome a challenge.

that I know so many people face that I've managed to overcome. And that's it. And that pushed me through.

Anya Smith (08:20.179)
Oh, I love that. You know what also helps me sometimes is that realization is that everybody has to start. So all the people that we look at, I mean, yes, sure, some people maybe have more of that ability than others from the start, but most people who are really good at something, including you, had to start somewhere. With all the fumbles, every time I saw them, I'm like, that's the end of my video that doesn't go out. It's like, I don't know if that's a common human reaction, but everybody has a moments.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (08:43.171)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (08:49.183)
where they take a blooper, it doesn't go well, and they keep at it and that's how you get better. So my mindset sometimes is like, yes, this is not perfect, but I'm gonna do it. And if you look at, if you go to Harrison's LinkedIn, I like that it says like, F it. Is it? Like. I love it, I love it. And you can swear on this podcast, it's totally, it's that element that you have to just do it.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (09:05.98)
Yeah, I have a bit of a bit of a potty mouth.

Anya Smith (09:15.543)
to get better and that reminder sometimes like that anybody who I see who is my idol who's doing something amazing had to start. And if we don't even start then really that in itself is worse than doing it poorly sometimes and getting better along the way.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (09:22.603)
Yes.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (09:30.006)
Yeah. And guess what? You know, I started behind the scenes, behind closed doors, you know, no one knew that I was filming a lot of these videos. And some of the videos that I filmed never went out. And it was more of a repetition piece for me. And it's you know, compared to going to the gym, you go to the gym, you lift weights on the first session, you don't get instant results. You don't look different. Obviously, the repetition. Yeah, I know. That's, I gave up after the first session. But, you know, in all seriousness, you know, it's

Anya Smith (09:49.439)
Darn it.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (09:58.202)
It's about repetition and who says that the first video you record has to go out to the world? No one. I was doing it behind closed doors in lockdown when there wasn't really much else to do. And actually, interestingly, based on your point there about kind of making mistakes and the bit of like the moment. Well, for me, the first ever blooper reel that I put out on my Instagram was one of the most pivotal videos for this business because it was like, oh, he makes mistakes. He messes up all the time.

Anya Smith (10:25.867)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (10:28.042)
And then I then kind of collaborated with other creators who also mess up all the time. And it was this kind of like, look, everyone messes up, keep messing up, it's great.

Anya Smith (10:38.407)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, it makes me think of baseball, American baseball. I don't know how global that is, but the people that are most successful are the ones who strike out the most, statistically, right? They take the chance and yes, you can look at it in both ways like, oh, they strike out the most or they're more likely to become more successful because they took that chance. So there's definitely a balance, but I think about that too is like you can't get better without trying. And on the point of trying...

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (10:40.251)
So that was a pivotal moment for me.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (11:05.739)
100%.

Anya Smith (11:07.835)
I would love to hear also about how, not just your story, but helping your clients if you're open to sharing. What are some of the biggest changes you've seen of somebody taking this effort, starting somewhere, trying? What transformative power does this journey have for some of your clients?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (11:25.386)
Yeah, so let's look at it from both perspectives, because I think one of the big talking points around video is when there's no return on investment, you put a video out, it doesn't equate to a certain amount of money. So here's two examples. One of my amazing clients, one of the first clients actually that I had on a one to one basis, he made 36,000 pounds within six days of putting out video content. And the only platform he was on was the platform that we were putting videos out. So there was no other way that this was

Anya Smith (11:46.902)
Wow.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (11:53.634)
happening other than the videos he was putting out. He's continued now to scale and scale and scale. So for him, it was obviously massively monetary, the return on investment was there instantly. And that's amazing. And that just shows the power of video. And that's not something that a lot of people experience. And certainly they are seriously quick results, but it just gives an idea and an understanding of how powerful this is. The other side of it, which is my favourite part, is when people have personal transformations, especially with confidence.

Anya Smith (11:55.744)
Bye.

Anya Smith (12:10.781)
Bye.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (12:23.514)
One client who I'm still working with at the moment, she couldn't even look herself in the mirror. And from hearing that to then thinking, well, I'm trying to get her to put video content out to the world, it's a huge step. And we've done it, we've absolutely done it. And she is consistently posting and she's consistently bringing in leads because of it, which is amazing. But what a transformation, and that's a totally personal transformation from, and this is what people don't understand about video. It's not just a...

Anya Smith (12:36.68)
Mm-hmm.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (12:52.958)
a business tool. By being confident on camera, there are so many different benefits. And one of them is improving your personal life. I am a much more social and confidently social person because of this, because of what we're doing here today. That's it. It's a practice and it's helped me to be less socially anxious. But yeah, for her amazing transformation. And I'm super proud of her. And I'm also super proud of the other one for the crazy winds.

that he had in the early stages. So it just shows both ends of the spectrum, which I think is why a video is so powerful.

Anya Smith (13:25.387)
I love consistently, I see in all your posts, you shouting out your clients, which is just beautiful. It's just a testament that this journey really is about helping others find themselves. And again, a lot of times you spotlight about their transformation, not just being monetary, but really the personal. So thank you for doing that to inspire others. And you know, it was interesting you mentioned about that ROI in video, sometimes it's not as drastic as you immediately see, you know, money coming into your bank. But I was...

I'm looking at Alex Hermosy's podcast right now and he has amazing books on entrepreneurship. If you haven't heard about him and you're into entrepreneurship, please check him out. Not that I know him, but I'm inspired by him. But he talks about how for years he did invest in social media because he was thinking, well, I post something, it's gone in hours, like who cares? But then he was saying that the point isn't about the content being evergreen all the time, but it's about the audience you get.

is going to be growing and persist, consistently there. So I thought that was very interesting. If you change your mindset, like, oh, this one piece has to perform and be like the best thing ever to, I'm doing this to grow my audience. And that is itself is the kind of the focus and the I'm giving them something meaningful. That shifted my mindset around some of the things I do and like how to look at it.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (14:44.462)
I mean, he's incredible and he's been a massive inspiration for me. And I think, you know, with video and with content in general, you're paying it forward, you know, it's this compounding effect. The more you put out, the more consistent you are. You're paying it forward, you know, in six months down the line, it then starts to work. And I think people are so...

fixated on that one post that viral post, they want to get that and actually had a couple of viral posts, right? Great. Woohoo. Probably one of the worst things that happened to my social media because instantly you're attracting people that are 80% 90% of them are not your ideal client. And also, you're then putting some subconscious pressure on yourself to then outperform that every single time. It's just not sustainable. I don't think it's healthy. So my advice for anyone listening that's kind of

Anya Smith (15:11.785)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (15:15.636)
Wow.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (15:33.546)
maybe not seeing the return on investment that they would have hoped for right now from content, consistency. All of the successful creators that you and I follow and are taking inspiration from, have been working on this behind the scenes and grinding and grafting and hustling for so long before it happens. And it will happen. If you're consistent, it will happen.

Anya Smith (15:39.797)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (15:48.127)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (15:54.315)
Can I be vulnerable with you? I don't know if you saw my story yesterday on Instagram, but on a call with my friend as we're talking about social media strategy, I was almost cheering up because like, oh, you know, I wish things were faster. You know, I wish I was seeing more, but we are putting in a solid foundation and not to say that it's perfect, we're still learning and adapting, but I definitely felt that frustration. So I just wanna acknowledge that it's not easy. So when we talk about staying course and being patient, it's hard for me.

And I have those moments that are very emotional because I'm learning as an entrepreneur, everything you do feels a little bit more personal because you're putting out a part of you into the world and what you're creating isn't just for somebody else. It's really your baby. I'm a mom of three. It's a new baby that you're putting out. So it does feel to me more emotional. So yes, 100%, I keep reminding myself to be patient because I know where near the experience I want to be at and it's an effort.

but I can also acknowledge the frustration and emotions that go behind it, and that's okay too.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (16:58.178)
It's tough, it is tough. And some of my favorite creators that I followed when I first started back in kind of 2018 to 2020, they're not posting anymore. And they were the people that inspired me to post. But unfortunately, as you know, the nature of what we're doing, and as Alex or Mosi would say, the nature of the game, is that it's tough. And I think this is why it's so important that you...

find a way of enjoying the process of doing what we're doing. So I found a strategy that allows me to post twice a day, five days a week on LinkedIn. That a year ago, well yeah, that a year ago would have scared the life out of me. And that would have burned me out straight away. What I now do is I love it. I absolutely love it. And I couldn't imagine changing that. It's taken me a while to get that strategy. But what I would say again, based on your point there is that anyone that is thinking, oh, this just isn't working, it is working.

it is working. And it's that consistency and enjoy enjoying the process because look, passion speaks volumes, right? When I started, I made zero money, I probably lost money. But passion kept me going. And if the passion is there, and you can do it without the money, then you're on to a winner.

Anya Smith (18:14.663)
Yeah. So you mentioned the strategy a little bit. Can you share a little bit what the strategy is, if you're okay sharing that, or maybe how did you, what were the steps getting to a place where you went from, mm, I'm not sure if this is possible, would burn me out to like, I'm loving this, this is great.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (18:22.702)
I need a 7.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (18:31.566)
Yeah, it was exactly like that. It was literally like, I hate this. Why am I doing this to now? I literally love it. Okay, so the first thing is, social media, in my opinion, is one big experiment. No one really knows what post is going to land, what post is going to flop, etc. So it's one big experiment. And that's what I love about it. You know, I can just chuck something out. And it's not polished, and it's raw, and whatever, and it may work, it may not. But I learned from every single post.

Anya Smith (18:48.811)
Right.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (18:57.93)
So I had to kind of get my head around that idea that every post is an experiment. Um, and the more kind of ingredients you add into that big experiment, the better it is, um, the strategy I have now in, it takes an hour a week, you know, this is, it's absolutely doable for anyone. Um, whether they've got three or four jobs, three or four kids, three or four cats, doesn't matter an hour a week is all, all you need. And what I do is throughout the week. I

Anya Smith (19:14.283)
Right.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (19:24.61)
I have kind of a storage system, which is gonna be a game changer for anyone that hasn't heard this before. If you use WhatsApp, which I know probably 99.9% of people listening and watching will use, what you wanna do is add your best friend to a group chat on WhatsApp, so it's you two, and then kick him or her out of the group chat instantly, and then you're in a group chat with yourself. You pin that chat to the top of your WhatsApp, you literally swipe across and pin it, and that now is your idea storing place.

Anya Smith (19:34.762)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (19:39.999)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (19:45.175)
Okay.

Anya Smith (19:49.943)
Okay.

Anya Smith (19:53.413)
Okay.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (19:53.778)
Every single time I think of an idea, I voice note it in there, I chuck it in there. Obviously message your friend and say, sorry about kicking you out, but this is why I did it. But it's over, yeah, you're in and now you're out. That is my storage system. Then what happens is throughout the week, I'm collating and collecting all of these ideas. And the more, and I'll talk about where these ideas come from in a second, the more I have, the better. And then what happens on a Monday, I block book out one hour and I film as many of those ideas as possible.

Anya Smith (20:01.869)
It's over between us.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (20:23.098)
Some Mondays I could film 30 videos in the hour, other ones I could literally film three or four. There's no pressure, I just wanna film as many as I can based on how I'm feeling and the energy I've got that day, whatever, and how many coffees I've had. Now, in terms of the idea generation thing, because I think this is gonna be useful for anyone listening, I know full well what it's like to sit there and think, what can I post today? We've all been there, right? We have all been there. We look at other people's posts and we go, God, how did they come up with that idea?

Anya Smith (20:34.23)
Right.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (20:52.31)
We are content creation machines. We are surrounded by content. However, if you're sat in an office nine to five every day with your headphones on working away, there's not a lot of inspiration going on. So I had to really switch things up. So rather than sitting where I am now five days a week, I base myself at a coffee shop for a couple of days. I go and work with a friend for a couple of days. I'll go for a walk. I'll do things that are kind of breaking out of this mundane, boring routine that we...

always kind of, we all kind of live in occasionally. And what that does is creates inspiration for me, which is where the ideas come from. It could be speaking to someone in the Costa queue waiting for a coffee that could give me an idea. And that is a real life example. And one thing I heard on a podcast yesterday, which is hot off the press, which has been a game changer, is every time you exercise or do anything, let's say you're in the queue at the doctor's or you're on a treadmill,

you are always grabbing your phone to feel that boredom. So headphones are going in on the treadmill because it makes life easier. Try going on a treadmill without headphones. See how long you run for, because it won't be very long, because your brain goes, stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it. Now, if you're in the queue at the doctor's, you grab your phone and you scroll through social media. I challenge anyone, and I did this morning, I did a cheeky little 5K walk this morning, and I did not wear headphones. It is

Incredible. Just being alone in your thoughts. How many times a day or a week can we confidently say that we're alone in our thoughts? We're not. We're always scrolling or doing stuff. Just stop. No headphones, no distractions. Enjoy the crazy thoughts that enter your mind. And actually that's where the best ideas come from.

Anya Smith (22:40.755)
You know, on that topic, I think not just for content creation, I think it's so good for your sanity. I was we were just in Bend, Oregon for a family vacation. And I was thinking. Yeah, I mentioned to you before the call, I was struggling a little bit with, like, just how much is going on, like the entrepreneurship journey. And so I finally pulled out the book. I think it's called The Catastrophe, Catastrophe Living by John Kibot Zan. I'm sorry if I'm butchering his last name, but it's about mindfulness.

And I think just beyond the point of it being good for content creation, we need to sometimes realize how much energy we're spending living in the future, especially when we're entrepreneurs. And I had to be like, okay, this is really not serving me. Like one of the things I'm reflecting on is all the habits that now I have no excuses to blame it on employer, it's all me. And so one of the things I was like, I'm worrying so much about what's going to happen in the future. And like, is this going to pan out, all this stuff.

And so sometimes just coming back to the moment is not only good to think about content creation, not get distracted and use that energy elsewhere, but it's also good for your mental health, where you're just coming like here, what's happening right now? Let's not focus on tomorrow because we're only honestly living just right now, and take some of that energy back into what we want to happen instead of the worries and things like that. So for anybody that will help with your content creation, think about where your energy goes.

where your time goes, where your focus goes, not just for content creation, but also for mental health.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (24:10.046)
100% the energy I can't, yeah, I can't stress that enough. Like what an amazing point about the energy side of it, because that's something that I've really had, I've really had to be more aware of over the last six months to prevent myself from burning out is right, where am I spending my energy? Not just time, where am I spending my energy? Because I could spend an hour's worth of energy in five minutes, technically, right? So it's really important that I identify right, when is my energy at its best? And when it is, I can do those creative tasks. When it's not,

I'm not gonna, I'm gonna go do something else. And it's really, really paying attention to where your energy levels are at. So important.

Anya Smith (24:45.143)
100%, you know what I just started doing, similar to your point, so I do have those three boys, right? I do have the thing, and I can make an excuse about that, like, ah, and I was, partially in my head, but I decided one thing where I was going against my values, that was a conversation actually that came from another podcast recently here, was I wanted this creative journey to be where I'm creating in the energy flow that feels productive, like where I'm feeling good and I'm creating content in that flow and now I'm just like, okay.

LinkedIn wants me to post today at 9 a.m. so I should really make a post at 9 a.m. between all the craziness. And I was trying to do that for weeks and I was like, oh, this is really not working. And then to your point, I realized, you know what? On Sunday, I'm gonna kick out the boys in the most loving way and I'm gonna book that hour to create content where it's quiet in the house. And it just takes that. I am grateful to have the support so I realized not everybody has that. But that realization where I was going is my values and hence.

Spending more energy on something that could be done a lot easier and more fruitfully was a game changer for me. And that's changing that strategy. What is not serving you, going against your values, that's probably draining you more. And how can you still do what you feel is necessary, but in a way that is more fruitful?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (25:57.47)
Yeah, and really looking ahead in your diary as well. You know, what have you got in for next week that doesn't need to be in there isn't a good use of your time or energy. Get rid of it. If you got to come up with an excuse, you got to come up with an excuse, but just get rid of it. And I'm so strict now with what I do and what I spend my time on and I have to be because otherwise, it's so easy to just be a yes man or women, right? It's just like, Yep, I'll do that. Yep. I'll do that. Because it's in a couple of weeks time. It's it's not healthy.

Anya Smith (26:25.303)
You know what forced me to actually, I'm very much the same, like I want to say yes. And I look at my calendar now and sometimes I'm realizing it's not serving me as much as I should be. So I'm actually working on thinking about how to cut things back, like being more strict with my calendar. But I realize, yes, I heard like, oh, just, you know, empower yourself, make time for yourself, all the things that I heard that. And it was like from one year out the other, it didn't resonate with me. And then somebody was saying, well, how are you showing up to those things?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (26:54.594)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (26:54.631)
if you have all the things booked up. And that is what actually struck a chord with me, that if I'm trying to do something and I'm trying to accomplish something and make it worthwhile for other people, then I'm probably showing up worse and distancing myself from the goals if I am over committing and not creating something as best as it could be if I had more intentional time for it.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (27:17.646)
That's a really, really good point.

It's just about being aware, being more self aware, isn't it? And just being more strict with yourself and as a business owner, you know, and you know this full well that you don't have to ask to book off holiday. You don't have to, you are in full control and that is difficult at times, but it's also super important that the personal stuff goes into your diary before the business stuff that is so important. And like I've just started doing that. Everything that I need to do on a personal level, whether it's exercise, play with my daughter, go on holiday, whatever it is.

Anya Smith (27:40.979)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (27:49.302)
that goes in my diary before anything else.

Anya Smith (27:59.713)
Hey, I think that last part got cut off. Could you repeat that last part and we'll edit this a little part out?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (28:03.658)
Yeah, of course. So it's so important that personal stuff goes in the diary before business stuff, right? So every single week or the end of the week, I look at my diary for next week and I ensure that all my personal stuff is in there first, whether it's exercise, playing with my daughter, going on holiday, whatever it is, put that in first because otherwise, people will take that time slot away from you. It's non-negotiable, put it in the diary.

Anya Smith (28:27.516)
Yeah. And in the intro, I mentioned also that you're a big advocate for mental health, and I feel like we've been just touching on that subject naturally here in discussion. So I wanted to throw in, why is that topic something so important to you? And is there anything that you want to share around that for maybe tips and things that help you on your journey around that?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (28:48.194)
I think acceptance was the biggest and best thing I ever did. I went so many years through university. I mean, university were actually three of the best years of my life, but three of the worst at the same time, because it's very lonely and you kind of got to fend for yourself. So accepting that I was struggling was the first step, reaching out to partner, family, professionals, et cetera.

And more recently, I've just come off of my, all of the antidepressants I was on for eight years, which is a long time, which is amazing. It's definitely not been smooth sailing, let me tell you that. But of course, when you rely on something for so long, to then get all of these emotions back in the system and having to deal with them, it's literally like being a child and having to deal with all of those emotions that you've never experienced before. Well, that's what it feels like. So I'm a huge advocate of it.

Also because I am, you know, my content, I'm full of energy. I try and give as much as I can. I'm also very, very transparent and do show the other side of the business as well. So I'm not, I'm never hiding away from that. And that's why I'm now more than ever a mental health advocate. And I want to do whatever I can to support people because I know what it's like. I've been at the lowest of lows. I've experienced things that, you know, a lot of people would be very surprised to, to hear.

So for me, it's a massive part of me. And I now have accepted that I have these things that happen in my mind, and how I deal with them is up to me, but they're there. They don't go, they are managed, sometimes better than others, but it's important not to think that, you know, you're not looking for a cure, you're looking for a management system, you're looking for a way to kind of enjoy your life and actually use it to your advantage as well. Anxiety is one of them. I...

often feel anxious about certain things. I've got this massive public speaking gig coming up in London, my first ever one in November. Terrified, right? But I'm going to turn that anxiety into excitement because I think that's what it is, right? There's an element of anxiety that is excitement. It's the unknown. It's something new. So I think there are ways of using it to your advantage, but I think the first thing, Anya, is just accepting that you are struggling. And I know it sounds cliche, but speaking about it.

Anya Smith (30:48.139)
Mm.

Anya Smith (30:52.535)
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith (30:57.556)
Right.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (31:10.65)
is the best thing I ever did. And it was something that I put off for so long. And I, looking back, I wish I never had, because it had to get to the worst of the worst before I seeked help. It shouldn't have got to that stage.

Anya Smith (31:22.327)
I appreciate you sharing it as a human, like a real human, which, you know, I've known this since our prep call and just seeing the content, but I appreciate you sharing that. Because I think so often we show in our content just like the best things, the highlights of our life. And you know, that's all good too for motivation, inspiration, but also there's just a personal side to everybody and everybody has their good moments and their low moments.

And I think it's important to be genuine and be authentic throughout this experience so people can relate to that more. If they're struggling, they have a sense of hope, like, hey, look at Harrison, like, it's not gonna be perfect, but it gives me a sense that it's possible. And how can I also maybe find myself in that journey wherever I'm at?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (32:06.27)
Yeah, and just being strict with other people as well, you know, just look, I'm really, my energy isn't there today, so I'm gonna have to move our call to next week. Really sorry, that's it, you know, and I, I...

Yeah, I'm just really aware of it. And I know that now coming off of the medication, it's really important for me to do all of the right things to make sure that I don't slip back into where I was. And two of the main things, which again, sounds cliche, but exercise and healthy eating. Massively important, something I've never really focused that much attention on because I'm a massive, massive foodie. But

Anya Smith (32:39.292)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (32:49.174)
It pays dividends, you know, it pays and it just is so important. And as I said, you know, I went for a walk this morning. I now go for a walk every morning before work and it just has been a game changer. It just how tired you feel like just dragging yourself out and getting out and fresh. It just does crazy things for your mind and it's all positive.

Anya Smith (33:07.827)
Oh, absolutely. I think that early on in life, like before my 30s, I was like, the physical part was all like vanity. Like, how can I post for Instagram at this angle? And then you're like, oh, I'm actually sore all the time or my back hurts. And you're like, okay, actually, this is something that's very foundational for everything else. Like, what if I look at it, not like I need to get to a certain size or a certain weight, but like, this is the foundation of how my brain functions every day.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (33:19.634)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (33:37.867)
You know, what I eat, and yes, like I've had fries on vacation and all the good stuff, and you love pizza, so we both can relate to that. But it's like, how do you want to feel every day for the most part, right? There's a balance to it, so it's a very important foundation. I'm just so proud of you. Not that matters, not that that's a motivation, but I am proud of you. Yeah, it's amazing.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (33:54.382)
Oh, it absolutely is. It absolutely is. And I think as well, you know, you and I are very fortunate to have a really nice community supporting us and that's been the best thing. And yeah, I mean, I've never, I just don't shy away from it. I just, I couldn't, I couldn't pretend to be someone I'm not. And that's something I've never been able to do. So I am what I am on and off social media, you know, and that's it. And sometimes that comes to bite me in the backside and I say things I shouldn't, but you know, it is what it is. We're all ourselves. And I think...

It's about the best thing that anyone can do is be unapologetically themselves because it is so energy-zapping trying to be someone else because I tried it for years, you know, on and offline. You know, I wanted to be like the most successful creators so I copied what they would do. What a load of rubbish. Just embrace who you are, show up as yourself, whether you're sad, whether you're happy, doesn't matter. Show up consistently. And I guess social media from a business owner perspective, it's kind of like a digital diary.

Anya Smith (34:31.211)
Mm.

Anya Smith (34:38.371)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (34:51.68)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (34:52.886)
that's it's super important.

Anya Smith (34:55.735)
I heard from a friend sometimes, oh, that looks really good, like from other people who I admire. But sometimes you have to realize like those people earn their spot and people who are commenting are not just commenting on like the type of the content, they're commenting on that persona, on that relationship they have and the belief they have in that. So sometimes if you just focus on replicating, yes, sometimes it may work, but a lot of times it may not. Like their content may not be groundbreaking. It's just that they've earned that spot, that reputation or whatnot. So that way they can post.

In their own style, people resonate that way, but it may not work for you to find your own style, what works for you and kind of earn your own spot in your own right. That's the only way it's gonna work.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (35:33.826)
And also, everyone's winging it. No one has everything worked out. No matter how they look, no matter how shiny and excellent they look on social media, they're not. They are, you know, and that's great. You know, it's all part of it. We're all winging it. We're all kind of taking it day by day, which is a great point that you made as well. And I think that's the most important thing to think because the future's not guaranteed, right? So we've just got to focus on the now and enjoy it. And I think the biggest shift in the...

Anya Smith (35:41.535)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (35:50.591)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (35:55.604)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (36:00.59)
The biggest change that I've made within my business recently is doing more of the stuff I wanna do and doing less of the stuff I don't wanna do, regardless of how that affects revenue. Like, I just don't care. I just wanna be happy. So for me, it's all about that balance between doing what I want. Obviously, I have to make money to pay bills, of course, but I'm definitely not working towards multi-billion dollar business. It's not interesting to me.

Anya Smith (36:10.143)
Hmm. Yeah.

Anya Smith (36:24.534)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (36:25.682)
It just is more important that I just have the freedom, time and location and spend time doing stuff I wanna do.

Anya Smith (36:29.747)
Yeah. And touching on that, we didn't touch on this earlier. How did you actually start the business? So here, yes, you had videography skills and then you decided, hey, I'm going to get in front of it. But it takes steps to say, hey, I'm actually going to do it. And you said you had a job too before that. So how did you transition to be fully an entrepreneur? What were maybe some of the learnings you want to share around that?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (36:51.57)
Yeah, so it was again going back to kind of lockdown time. I realized that a lot of businesses.

were unable to open. So let's take restaurants for example, that's where I started. So I would go, I'd contact restaurants and say, look, I know you're open for delivery, but you're not open for people to come and sit in. And the only way of communicating that message effectively is through social media. So can I help you with that? And that's kind of how it started. So supporting those local businesses, yeah. Supporting the local businesses and then...

Anya Smith (37:14.826)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (37:18.763)
Brilliant.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (37:25.022)
Again, the camera shyness piece, you know, I was like, actually, you know, I'm feeling more confident on camera now and sharing those exercises and processes. And then a couple of business owners and a couple of people that I was inspired by reached out to me and said, look, I'm really scared of being on camera. Can you help? And that's when I realized actually, there's a business here. This is like using my own experience and my own solutions, if you like, to help other people. And as I said, it hasn't stopped since then. There's been a couple of other bits and bobs, you know,

people with editing videos and implementing strategies and stuff. But the bulk of it is helping people to feel more comfortable in the presence of the camera to grow their business and improve their life as well. Like that's, that's what I do. And that's what I've been doing since then.

Anya Smith (38:10.043)
And so I detour, I think you mentioned that you love pizza so much that you've accepted payment for the foreign pizza. Is that is that how it happened? Like through this restaurant support story.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (38:14.503)
Oh, yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (38:18.35)
It was a fail.

Yeah, kind of. I mean, through the restaurant, I've also had a client a couple of years ago, sent me like four pizzas to my door, which I thought was incredible. I definitely have accepted pizza as payment. Pizza is everywhere. Pizza is behind me right now. There's a pizza mat over there. It's like two meters big. Yeah, pizza is life.

Anya Smith (38:42.635)
Okay, can I ask a provocative question on the subject? Okay, pineapple or no pineapple? What's our stance on pineapple? I think that's like the.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (38:51.55)
So I think it's inhumane and unethical to put pineapple on pizza. And I'll tell you why. Okay. I'll tell you why. And by the way, I'm not just any pizza guy. I am the pizza guy. Right? This stuff is only for life. I am inked. I have a pizza slice on my wrist. Now the reason is it's literally pineapple is pretty much all water. Right? It's literally like running a slice of pizza under the tap. Right? It doesn't make any sense.

Anya Smith (38:57.047)
Ha ha!

Anya Smith (39:01.495)
Okay, you're tattooed. He's showing the tattoo on him if you don't... Okay.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (39:20.53)
and it also doesn't taste good. So whoever's eating, putting pineapple on pizza, stop it. I'm banning it. I'm going around to all the supermarkets and I'm removing pineapple. I'm the pineapple killer. Just don't do it. Don't do it.

Anya Smith (39:24.607)
I am. It's okay.

Anya Smith (39:33.192)
Okay, okay, this is an example where we can have very serious disagreements on some of our views and still come together for a purpose. Let this be an example for others.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (39:42.506)
It's gonna be tough with that one. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's a touchy subject, but I'm glad we've kind of got it off our chest.

Anya Smith (39:49.687)
Okay, yes, we can still be friends. We'll work through it, we'll work through this offline to get the issues resolved, but we'll work through it. Speaking, though, coming back online to helping your clients, helping yourself, can you share a couple of strategies, maybe that we haven't noted? I know I have this little sticky note of the limiting beliefs and reality and like what am I doing this for? But any other exercise that you feel free you can share with others.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (39:57.323)
Yes.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (40:15.35)
Yeah, sure. So the JHR method, which is the just hit record method is some is probably my first strategy if you like, or first actionable exercise that I came up with.

Anya Smith (40:23.831)
Okay.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (40:25.794)
It's super simple, there's a massive psychological element to it. And I love psychology. So it's the just hit record method and what it means is rather than when you're filming, rather than pressing stop and start every time you mess up or whatever, you just walk in the room, you hit record and you leave that rolling until you're confident you said everything you need to. So you've just got one long clip, whether it's 10 minutes, 10 hours, doesn't matter, rather than having 121 little individual clips. Now the reason being is because every time you press stop when you mess up, you're telling

Anya Smith (40:47.893)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (40:51.295)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (40:55.628)
that you've messed up. So that big red button becomes a kind of I've messed up button, I've messed up, now I'm gonna start again, now I'm gonna start again. It's very difficult to restart it, to restart the engines and get back in the zone. If you're doing an activity on your laptop and then you go and do something else then come back to it. It's very difficult to multitask and split your attention. So that's the thought process behind it. Also it's a lot easier to edit. You know it's just literally taking out the bits where you did mess up and then you've

Anya Smith (40:57.275)
Interesting.

Anya Smith (41:03.125)
Mm.

Anya Smith (41:14.133)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (41:21.684)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (41:25.488)
The psychological part of it is the most important and I do that today. I've done it for years and years and years I get all my clients do the same. So the just hit record method has been a game changer for me

Anya Smith (41:37.503)
I just I'm thinking about this episode for our audience like so much to take away the what's up part this part like the Psychological part like whoa, I'm really excited So one other topic that I'm honestly not doing great job on and it's top of mind for me is creating value for listeners I'm realizing that going to this journey. I've been too preoccupied like what's in it for me, you know Like I want to get XYZ. I want to grow my audience

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (41:45.396)
I'm out.

Anya Smith (42:04.503)
And transparently, I want to do a better job of with my content, sharing something that's creating value. And I do feel a little hesitant because I am starting out. So I'm like, oh, what can I share? But you know, that's my own limiting belief, right? But how do you personally think about creating value in your content? And how do you help your clients also focus on that if that's a...

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (42:25.63)
Yeah, so to begin with, it was really difficult. I was like, what is valuable? And everyone chucks around this value thing and I'm like, do I have enough to talk about? Is it of interest? Can it help anyone? So what I began doing, and I still do it today, and what I help all my clients with is moving from a showcasing model to a documenting model. So rather than I'm the best, I'm the video expert, do this, do that, if you wanna overcome camera shyness, do this right now, I moved away from that and I went to more of I.

Anya Smith (42:30.633)
Mm-hmm.

Anya Smith (42:37.088)
Right.

Anya Smith (42:44.983)
Mm.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (42:55.938)
I overcame camera shyness, here's how I did it. Here are three ways that helped me to feel more confident in front of the camera. So rather than showing off, if you like, and kind of showboating, I'm talking about what I'm actually doing right now.

If it helps someone, great. If it doesn't, no problem. You know, and it, what then happens is the people that need your support will then gravitate towards you and those that don't won't. But the point is, is focusing really on this documentation model. And the thing that Alex Hormozi talks about all the time, he's documenting his journey through business because Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, all of them didn't. Right. That's the, he talks about all the time. I'm doing exactly the same. And I would urge anyone listening to do exactly the same because you've got

Anya Smith (43:33.303)
Mm-hmm.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (43:41.198)
Content that is resonating with people, you've got content that is talking about your personal journey to help other people. It may or may not help them. And then the other part of it is that look back in a year's time and look at how far you've come because I don't think we do that enough. We don't reflect enough, do we? We constantly like, forward, stop. Look back at your videos a year ago, notice the difference, work out what you love about them now, what you loved about them then, and make sure that you continue.

Anya Smith (43:44.375)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Anya Smith (43:54.005)
Mm-hmm.

Right.

Anya Smith (44:08.435)
And question on that, sometimes I wonder, like is it too, not that, honestly, maybe I'm not really, it's not really a problem, but it's in my head sometimes, like can you be posting too much? Like sometimes, you know, you create a couple of videos, like oh, can I post two a day? Like what is that balance of creating enough content and posting enough and not feeling like you're overwhelming your audience? Like I worry about like, am I, is this just too much? Like can I put like three posts a day here? Like on all platforms, is that?

overwhelming for my audience. Have you had any tips around that? Like to create content and feel like, hey, this is enough or this is the right level of engagement to have in a day, in a week.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (44:48.47)
Yeah, I think you've got to think about it from a selfish perspective to begin with, right, is actually what is sustainable for you. The way I talk to my clients is, look, can you continue the way you're going right now with your content consistency for the next six months? If the answer's yes, great, that's your sweet spot. If the answer's no, then you need to reduce the amount you're posting because it's not sustainable. There's no point in posting seven times a day for seven weeks and then not posting for a month.

you speak to someone like Gary Vee, he'll tell you to post 280 things on TikTok every single day. I disagree with that. Again, because my goal is not to go viral, whereas I think that's a very kind of let's go viral model. For me, it's the what can I actually do every day? So as I said to you a few minutes ago, like the sweet spot for me is twice a day on LinkedIn, five days a week.

Anya Smith (45:18.088)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (45:25.107)
Yeah.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (45:37.802)
that's my sweet spot. I can sustain that for the next few years. And I'm confident in that. So it's about identifying what is actually sustainable rather than obviously everything's about your audience. That's great. But but you're not going to be able to serve your audience in seven weeks time if you burn out within that seven weeks, right?

Anya Smith (45:41.448)
Right.

Anya Smith (45:55.555)
Right. The one thing that I'm more focused on is having too much. Sometimes you have a day and you're like, oh, is it too much to post? I hear some people say just post once on LinkedIn because the algorithm will downgrade your second post. Or maybe I'm posting and I'm posting on different social platforms and I worry like, is that too much? Like where people are seeing maybe a similar story on different platforms. That's more of my concern. I mean, I have a follow up question.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (46:18.688)
Mm.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (46:21.858)
So I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, to be honest. I guess the only way of finding out is asking the audience, how many times do you wanna see my content every day? Whether they see it or not is another story. As we know, the algorithm just makes it up as it goes along. I don't think there is actually a right or wrong answer. I don't even think Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook could give you the answer. I don't think there is a, this is too much, because again, people log on at different times, people consume in different ways.

Anya Smith (46:27.367)
Yeah. Hmm.

Anya Smith (46:41.876)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (46:47.479)
Right.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (46:47.934)
I repurpose a lot of my content. So some of my videos will end up as carousels or image posts or whatever And I think it's more about just driving the same message home With 100 passion and you know actionable advice Um as much as you can sustain yourself

Anya Smith (46:53.213)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (47:04.179)
Beautiful. And one other thing that I struggle with sometimes is like, am I focusing on too broad of things? So sometimes I'm thinking like how to create mommy hack videos, like, you know, what helps me have Sandy during the day. And part of it is like, how do you do the podcast? And part of it is like networking and kind of getting your voice out there. And I worry that maybe too broad. Like I love that some people have a very specific focus to either audience knows when they're going in that they're going to find XYZ content, which is brilliant. But

I struggle with having maybe too broad some of those times interests. What are your thoughts on that?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (47:37.566)
Yeah, it's a really good point because I, I don't have a specific strategy for that. I mean, I have my pillars, if you like, I have the topics that I talk about. So I guess it's weighing up the two sides of it. It's weighing up what you actually enjoy creating and talking about. Because again, if you enjoy talking about it, the passion's there. So if you enjoy like the mom hacks, the cool mom hacks, whatever you want to call them, right? Then obviously, you know, you know it's how I was like mom, because obviously we say mommy, but anyway, I don't say that.

Anya Smith (47:59.947)
Semi-cool.

Anya Smith (48:05.052)
Aw.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (48:08.634)
I would focus firstly on, right, what do I actually enjoy creating and talking about? Because then the passion is gonna come through. So that's gonna work. Then the other side of it is what are the pain points and challenges that my ideal clients are facing and do the two marry up? If they don't, it's not the end of the world, but ideally you wanna be talking about stuff that your ideal clients can relate to. So in your example, if you were doing the kind of the mom stuff, great, because that does feed across nicely. I mean, you are a mom, you are a business owner.

Anya Smith (48:27.488)
Right.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (48:35.838)
and then you can relate it to the business and how that works, of course. So again, what do you enjoy and what are your clients experiencing in terms of challenges and do the two relate?

Anya Smith (48:44.251)
Oh, beautiful. Thank you. I feel like I'm having a little coaching session for myself.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (48:49.607)
But yeah, definitely the mum hacks, that's going to work all day long.

Anya Smith (48:54.591)
Thank you. Yeah, I'm just gonna go for it. Like you said, it's an experiment. So we have to test things out. And to be very honest, I haven't created those yet. So in my head, I'm worrying about something which I haven't even tried. Gotta just get on it and see what happens. One other thing that you talk about, if we can just wrap up with it, is the excuses you make about not having editing skills or having the equipment. What would you say to somebody who's like,

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (49:06.891)
Yeah, which is what we all do. It's what we all do.

Anya Smith (49:22.771)
I just don't know. I don't have that amazing camera. I don't have editing skills. How do you bypass those common excuses?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (49:31.458)
The first thing you do is put your bank card away because there is no money that needs to be spent. All you need are three things. The smartphone that's never more than three feet away from you, the window that is in your house or in your workplace somewhere. We all have one, if you don't, you're lying. And the third thing is your message. You know, what do you believe in? What are you passionate about?

We can spend thousands of thousands of pounds on equipment I have two DSLR cameras that I've used for years that are sat in the office all day every day I film all of my content on my phone Simplest it's easy. It's accessible off it goes to the world When it comes to the editing just to answer that one WWW.capcuts.com it's free to use it will also caption your videos It's pretty user-friendly if you try and think this is horrendous then contact me. I'll edit your videos for you with my team

Anya Smith (50:04.331)
Hmm.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (50:27.006)
But realistically, people are overcomplicating it. And plus, side note, if you are terrified of being in front of the camera, do you really think thousands of pounds or thousands of dollars worth of shiny equipment around you is gonna make you feel any more at ease? Because I'm telling you now, I've tried it and it is not. It's like someone coming up to you in the street with a big camera and a microphone going, speak. It is terrifying. So stick with what you're comfortable with. Stick with the thing that's always near you.

Anya Smith (50:45.824)
Yeah.

Anya Smith (50:49.411)
Ah!

Yeah.

Anya Smith (50:55.647)
Amazing, I love it. And one thing I want to wrap up is how could people, who is like your ideal client? Like who would benefit from working with you and your team?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (51:06.446)
I don't wanna say everyone because that's, it kind of is true, it kind of isn't, but I'd say anyone that owns a business that is looking to scale that business and put more content out to the world and just can't quite find that sweet spot, or someone that is actually sat there thinking, you know what, I just wanna be more confident. I wanna be more confident. I wanna get myself out there and push myself to the limit. And I wanna meet new people and connect with new people. Either one of those two people.

Anya Smith (51:09.391)
I love it.

Anya Smith (51:19.339)
Mm-hmm.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (51:35.134)
send me a message, I would absolutely love to support you.

Anya Smith (51:38.131)
And where should people find you? Of course, I'll put the links in the description.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (51:41.45)
So LinkedIn and Instagram, I am Harrison Cantel, LinkedIn is just Harrison Cantel. I'm very active on both of them and please send me a message if you've listened to this and we can have a chat about any of the things I've gone through and fire any questions away. I'm here for it, my DMs are open 24 seven.

Anya Smith (51:57.735)
Oh, Harrison, you're amazing. Thank you so much for being so generous of your time. Was there anything that I missed that you wanted to share of the world before we wrap up?

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (52:05.834)
I just think you're incredible and what you're doing is incredible and every single person that is listening or watching needs to invest more time and clicks on subscribes and likes and comments and everything because this is a platform that is allowing people like me, which I'm super grateful for and other creators and business owners to speak and it's such an important thing you're doing and I know that there's a lot of hard work that goes into it so I appreciate you and I know that everyone else feels the same.

Anya Smith (52:15.977)
Oh.

Anya Smith (52:32.095)
You're amazing. I appreciate you as well. Like this just would be like my little I'll record that part and play for myself at the end Of the day at the beginning and end of the day. So thank you Okay here at right off track. We wrap up with three rapid-fire questions and then we'll let you go through the day Okay, first one favorite pizza topping

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (52:37.223)
Do it. Set it as your ringtone.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (52:44.018)
Yeah, let's do it.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (52:50.017)
Meet all the meat.

Anya Smith (52:52.735)
course. Favorite quote you live by.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (52:57.11)
If you believe it, you can achieve it.

Anya Smith (52:59.736)
Okay, last but not least, in the positive context, going off track is.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (53:06.104)
doing what you believe in regardless of every opinion that is against you or every limits in belief or every barrier smashing through it and keep doing what you're doing and being a driving force for your message and your beliefs.

Anya Smith (53:18.519)
I thought that just came out of you. It's like it's... It's amazing. Well, thank you, Kirsten. You're amazing and to our audience, I so appreciate you investing in yourself by taking time to listen to this. I also appreciate you supporting our mission of inspiring people to live with purpose and embrace their unique path. And on that note, one of our elements of purpose of the podcast is supporting an end profit called Ready to Empower right now. They are raising an amazing $50,000, all of which goes to operations.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (53:20.594)
I don't know where that came from, but it's there.

Anya Smith (53:47.387)
for empowering women around the world. So if you want to support an amazing cause with a purpose, I would so appreciate you taking the time to look at our description and support them by end of December, or sorry, December 8th. And again, thank you to everybody for listening and thank you for coming right off track and we look forward to having our next invention. Harrison, thank you again, you are amazing. I appreciate your time today. Till next time.

Harrison Cantel | HCreative (54:06.862)
Thank you so much.

Amazing

Anya Smith (54:12.496)
Ta-da!

 

Harrison CantelProfile Photo

Harrison Cantel

Founder of HCreative

Harrison Cantel is the commander-in-chief for all things video.

Not only has he worked with global companies such as; Microsoft and The Bodyshop… he has also helped hundreds of people just like you to overcome camera shyness and show up and blow up as their true self.

Whether you are terrified of the camera OR you are looking to generate more inbound leads to your business, Harrison is here to help.

Oh and…
He is a self-diagnosed pizza addict who occasionally accepts pizza as payment.