Hypnotherapy for business success with Julie Costa | Ep. 25 Content Magic with Lindsay Smith

In today's episode of Content Magic I'm super excited to introduce you to Julie Costa. Full disclosure: I'm a big fan of Julie and have one of her programs, Activate, and absolutely love it.

Julie is a master clinical hypnotherapist and NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) trainer. She works with a lot of other entrepreneurs, teaching them these modalities to help them achieve business success. She also trains others in these modalities.

In this awesome conversations, Julie and I chat about the difference between conscious and subconscious (and why we need to know the difference), her journey to entrepreneurship and the burnout she experienced by doing way too much and how she shifted that.

Sometimes we have to get quiet to get some answers and Julie talks about how we can do this in this super awesome episode. Don't miss it!

03:18 Fired led to entrepreneurship in health and wellness.
07:36 Admiration for your magical and inclusive content.
12:12 Reprogram subconscious through hypnobreathwork technique.
14:12 Subconscious mind controls 95% of our actions.
18:27 Overcoming fear and watching thoughts mindfully.
20:25 Switch task: combat negative thoughts with positivity.

CONNECT WITH JULIE!
Instagram: @julie.m.costa
Website: juliemcosta.com
Freebie: Hypnosis for attracting clients

Lindsay [00:00:03]:
If you have an online business, you're creating content. And the way you create content is more important than ever. It's really noisy out there, and learning to stand out is the only way. Hey, I'm Lindsey, and I'm the host of the Content Magic podcast, all about being an entrepreneur and creating kick ass content to market yourself and your business. I have a not so secret superpower for copywriting, marketing, and content, and I've helped hundreds of folks just like you show up with a ton of confidence in the online space. I've been doing this content thing for 20 years, and I believe the real magic is a combo of intuition, creativity, and strategy. You can create content for your business without losing your mind, I promise. So, tune in every week for tangible content tips, inspiring guests, and some real spicy opinions.

Lindsay [00:00:55]:
Probably mine. Ready to dive in?

Lindsay [00:00:57]:
Let's go. Hey, gang. Welcome back to the podcast. And I have another amazing guest. My friend Julie Costa is here on the show. Hi, Julie. Hello.

Julie [00:01:09]:
I am so pumped to be here.

Lindsay [00:01:11]:
Oh, yay. So I'm going to get you to introduce yourself. So, where are you and who are you, and what do you do? And who do you help?

Julie [00:01:20]:
Oh, it's such a loaded question, isn't it? It's a loaded question. I'll start with where I am. So I am in Newburyport, Massachusetts, about 45 minutes north of Boston. Very small coastal town. We love it. Our season is, like, approaching. We wait all year for the summer here. So I'm super excited.

Julie [00:01:39]:
And then loaded question, who am I? What do I do? I am a certified master clinical hypnotherapist, and I am an NLP trainer. So just, like, in a nutshell, like, what does that even mean? I work with a lot of business owners, coaches, entrepreneurs to help them grow their business with hypnosis. And then I also teach, train, and certify others in the same modalities I use so that they can whether add them for personal development reasons or add them into their current offerings. Kind of a mix of both of why people choose to.

Lindsay [00:02:10]:
Amazing. Full disclosure, I'm a big fan of you, and. Oh, thanks. Oh, my God, I love it when we just talk about how great we are.

Julie [00:02:22]:
More?

Lindsay [00:02:22]:
Yes, more. I know. I feel like I should just have guests on. Just be like, you're so great, and just talk about it all the time.

Julie [00:02:30]:
I love it. I'm here for it.

Lindsay [00:02:32]:
Okay, amazing. I know a little bit about your backstory, but why don't you tell us a little bit about how, what led you to this path of hypnotherapy? And what led you into entrepreneurship?

Julie [00:02:45]:
Yeah, so I'd say what led me to entrepreneurship first was I worked for Lululemon for ten years. So, you know, very popular athleisureware company. My whole identity was Lululemon for ten years, like, blood, sweat, and tears. And, um, long story short, I got fired. I got fired. I started as, like, part time educator, worked my way up to a manager of two stores, and then I ultimately got, um, fired. I kind of just stopped, like, drinking the Kool Aid, um, asking more. I was speaking up more, to be quite honest.

Lindsay [00:03:18]:
I was.

Julie [00:03:18]:
I was speaking up more, and I ultimately got fired. And, uh, what was the biggest ego blow at the time? And I really couldn't talk about it for a year and a half because, like, I couldn't move past it was the biggest blessing. And so, like, now I can freely talk about it because I'm not sharing from, like, the wound, I'm sharing from the scar. So that led me into entrepreneurship because I had an idea for something, but I was never going to leave on my own. I, like, absolutely needed to be pushed out, and so that's what the universe did. So, at first, I started because I had so many relationships with health and wellness professionals from Lululemon, I started a membership to bring them all together. Together. Because what I was seeing was a lot of competitiveness, and I was like, I don't understand why we can't all, like, learn from one another, support each other, and, like, grow.

Julie [00:04:06]:
Yeah. Community over competition. And so I started a membership where we did meet in person monthly at different members businesses, because I also thought it was really important to get through the doors of a business, because then you had a better understanding of, like, who they are. COVID happened. Pivoted to all virtual, and then what people needed at the time was not so much that they were, you know, losing jobs, potentially closing brick and mortar studios, so they needed to learn how to create additional streams of revenue. And so because I was more so, like, coaching them a lot and coaching my employees a lot at Lululemon, I turned to business coaching during that time, and then I got burned the f out. Like, really bad. Like, really bad.

Julie [00:04:50]:
I was taking on, like, way more than I could do, I think what also burnt me out, and I don't know if you've been here, but, like, putting yourself on social media. In the beginning, I was constantly comparing myself to other coaches and being like, why don't get it? Like, why is Sally, like, have all these followers? And why is she making so much money and why are people making it look so easy? And it's so freaking hard? And so I think taking on too many people and then having that mindset that was absolutely exhausting and draining just learned send me to absolute burnout.

Lindsay [00:05:25]:
And so what did that burnout look like for you? You were just, like, ready to burn the whole thing down. You were just like, I'm just gonna lie on this couch for, like, the next six months.

Julie [00:05:34]:
Yeah, honestly, it was bad. I actually entered into, I mean, I don't want to say the word, like, depression lightly, but, like, my now fiance had to keep checking in with me to be like, do you need to talk to someone? Like, do you need to go to someone? Like, it was. It was not good. It was like getting out of bed at, like, 910 am. Like, it was.

Lindsay [00:05:56]:
It was just.

Julie [00:05:57]:
I was not in a good place. Not in a good place. And then I'll have, like, waves of grief that come in every now and then from. I lost my mom, and it was, like, super strong. And I knew I didn't need, like, another business coach or business course or, like, anything like that. There was just, like, something else I needed and traditional therapy.

Lindsay [00:06:17]:
It's like, it's.

Julie [00:06:18]:
I'm a big fan, but it's never done what I needed it to, like, absolutely do for me. I think that in tandem with other things is what I needed. And so I stumbled across this program that was, like, self development and just sounded so different. And I was reading about, like, subconscious reprogramming, and I'm like, wow, I've never heard that before. But I did, like, months prior, invest in a mastermind. So I was like, I can't do that right now. But lo and behold, in this mastermind, you got a one on one accountability. Coach of mine was the founder of that program about subconscious reprogramming.

Lindsay [00:06:52]:
Okay, so tell me. Okay, a few things. One, following up on, like, the social media and the comparing, I think everybody listening can relate to that. I remember when I moved from, like, done for you to doing a little bit of done with you. Like, I remember looking, this is legit, what I told my business coach at the time, and I was like, she has a sparkly jacket, and I don't have a sparkly jacket. I can't do it.

Julie [00:07:22]:
Or even at that time, too, it was so popular to have the posts with, like, the balloons of how much money you made. Not that I ever did that or ever, like, showcased anything like that. I just had so many questions and thoughts going through my head at the time.

Lindsay [00:07:36]:
Yes, yes. And I think. And what I love now about what. And I know I've told you this before, but what I love about your content, and, like, I know there's a lot of other people that do what you do, but something about you is, like, magical, and part of that is your content. Like, you have this magnetism, I think. You know, we talk about this idea of, like, audience versus community, and sometimes this idea of community is very vague, and it's like, what do you mean when you're building community? What does that mean? And I think there are some people who are just really good at building community, and I feel like that you're one of them. You have this, like, sense of, like, including everybody. Right.

Lindsay [00:08:18]:
And you, like, if I was going to describe your. If I was going to describe your brand voice, I would call. Like, I feel like you're, like, you're very approachable, and so I. Yeah, so that there's. There's my. There's my Julie Costa. I love that. Well, I mean, that's.

Julie [00:08:36]:
That's huge for me. And, like, that was my whole business when I got started, right? It was community over competition. Like, I just don't understand. There's just room for everybody. So, like, I just don't understand, like, the mindsets that don't. I mean, it's scarcity, for sure, but. And then fairness is actually, like, one of my big core values. So, like, I always think, okay, well, if I do this, will it be fair for, like, all these people? So I always try to keep, like, everybody of mine, because that's really important to me.

Lindsay [00:09:08]:
Yes, same. Okay, so I want to ask you about hypnotherapy. So I feel like there's a lot of myths out there. Like, oh, there's a lot. Like, you're gonna make me think I'm Madonna. And.

Julie [00:09:23]:
Yeah, I'd say biggest myth is always. Biggest myth is always thinking. It's stage hypnosis. So, like, when I ask people, like, what have you heard about hypnotherapy? Hypnosis, everybody always goes to, like, like, a stage hypnosis. Or, oh, there was this show when I was in high school or college or whatever it was, there was an r rated hypnotist here in Boston that was, like, very popular after I graduated college. And so, like, that's what we think about. And so we're seeing what appears, people being made to do things against their will. Like, the bark like a dog.

Julie [00:09:55]:
Cluck like a chicken. That's the biggest myth. So that is stage hypnosis, and it's for entertainment purposes only. They do have people in the crowd that are scouting out people to see, like, how highly suggestible they are. And the flip side of that, like, what hypnosis actually is, is it's just really a deep state of relaxation. And you'll. You can never be made to do things against your will, like, ever. The part of your brain that we work with, the subconscious, it's highly moral, it's highly ethical, if something hypothetically were to be said, where it's like, the bark like a dog, cluck like a chicken in a hypnosis, and you're like, yeah, we're not doing that.

Julie [00:10:37]:
Your subconscious mind just dismisses it and, like, doesn't even pick it up and take it on. So there's just, that's the biggest myth, is thinking there's a loss of control. It's mind control being made to do things against you. Well, like, that's all very far from what it actually is. It's actually a very deep state of relaxation which allows you to have, like, increased focus and attention.

Lindsay [00:10:59]:
So, I mean, I bought your program activate, which I love. So there. Let's talk about the three different types of audios that are on there. So there's, like, now I already forgotten the names. So there's hypnosis, which is hypnosis just listening to you speak and you. Well, why don't you tell me?

Julie [00:11:22]:
Yeah, so there's hypnosis audios. Yes, that's what I was first certified and trained in. So hypnosis audios are more so closing your eyes, resting, relaxing, listening. That's it. Subliminal audios. Also, what I was first certified and trained in are a different type of reprogramming where you don't have to necessarily sit, rest, close your eyes, and listen. I could have it playing in the background right now while I'm working, while I'm on a podcast, while I'm going for a walk, while I'm reading, while I'm cooking. Meant to be an audio that you can like.

Julie [00:12:00]:
Habit stack, I feel I like to call it sometimes quote unquote, like the lazy way to reprogram your subconscious. It's also my community's favorite way to program.

Lindsay [00:12:10]:
Oh, my God.

Julie [00:12:10]:
Everybody loves subliminal audience.

Lindsay [00:12:11]:
Okay?

Julie [00:12:12]:
Because you can have it stack. And so it's just like meditative music that your conscious mind picks up, but there are embedded positive affirmations that you're subconscious mind picks up. So it's still reprogrammed so it's a second audio, and then third is hypno breath work. And that's what I was trained and certified in after. And that is a mix of breath work, hypnosis, visioning, and unlike hypnosis, we kind of just, like, rest, relax, receive hypno breath work. There's an active breath work technique you're doing throughout the entire session, which allows you to drop into hypnosis a little bit more quickly.

Lindsay [00:12:52]:
Yeah. And I've done those with you. Um, and even though there was, like, a dog and children crawling all over me, I could still, like, I feel like that one's the most powerful one. If I could say that. And you, and not like. And I agree, like, you're not suggesting anything that I do, anything silly. It's all. It's all like, it's just decisions.

Lindsay [00:13:15]:
And what I notice the most, it's just like these. These decisions come in very clearly. You're like, oh, well, these are the next steps, even if they're scary, right? Yes. Yeah. And one of those next steps was starting this podcast. What? What?

Julie [00:13:30]:
Yeah, that's not like, that's my favorite part about hypno breath work is I'm just guiding you with questions, and your subconscious is popping up these really quick answers. And they may be answers in, like, your everyday waking state you didn't come up with. Because we can be so much in our head.

Lindsay [00:13:46]:
Right.

Julie [00:13:46]:
Like the overanalyzing, overthinking. But these are direct messages from your subconscious, which means it's like the most clear message and coming from your inner knowing and your intuition. So that's exciting.

Lindsay [00:13:59]:
So let's talk a little bit about the difference between the subconscious mind and the conscious mind. Like, how can we explain this to people who are maybe kind of like, huh, what does that mean? And why do I need to know the difference?

Julie [00:14:12]:
Yeah, I'd say if you were to think of a visual like an iceberg, I always like to show this in my workshop. So, like, the top of the iceberg, what you see that, let's say, represents the conscious part of your mind, the part of your mind you're actively working with all day long. Like, when you listen to a podcast, that's with your conscious part of your mind, when you read a self development book or a book in general, when you want to take action on a goal and you want to utilize willpower, that's all part of your conscious mind feels like it runs the show, but it is actually only responsible for 5%. It's like that tip of the iceberg. But then you've, like, under the water, like, this huge part of the iceberg, the part that's kind of invisible and you can't see, and that's the subconscious that represents 95% of your mind, which is wild. And most of us actually don't tap into that. And so the subconscious is responsible for your belief systems. So your belief about everything, like what you believe to be true about love, what you believe to be true about trust, about worthiness, success attracting clients, your emotions, your thought patterns, runs the body, so it keeps your blood pumping, your heart going, like all bodily functions and most of us don't tap into the subconscious.

Julie [00:15:33]:
And so when you can tap into the actual 95% of your brain and then actually work with your belief systems, that's where some real incredible change can take place.

Lindsay [00:15:45]:
So that's wild. I know. I love percentages.

Julie [00:15:50]:
Oh, mostly everything we do, we think, oh, I got this, or I'm like, I'm gonna go achieve that goal. Like, when I think about, I don't know, like, the new year and all, like, the new year resolution, people, let's say with, like, weight loss. Like, most people drop off because they're only working on the willpower, the 95% of your brain where they're not tapping. And to the subconscious, and I feel.

Lindsay [00:16:10]:
Like willpower is, like, not even a real thing. It's just like, you're kind of like. Like, willpower is this much. And then you're kind of like, yeah, like, willpower is not going to sustain anything.

Julie [00:16:19]:
Never. No. And I always say, too, it's like, with the two parts of the brain, the conscious, like, that's the goal setter. So it's like, I'm going to go do this thing. I have this willpower. But your subconscious is actually, like, the goal getter because of your beliefs. It's going to determine, like, if you actually achieve it or not.

Lindsay [00:16:37]:
So is it possible to undo some of those beliefs that are stuck in our unconscious mind?

Julie [00:16:49]:
Yes. And that's the good news. Always. Yeah. And that's with. There's so many different modalities you can use to reprogram your subconscious. Hypnotherapy, hypnosis, my fav. Hypno.

Julie [00:17:03]:
Breath work. Breath work. Meditation, tapping, subliminal audios, visualization, which is like something free we can all do, you know, whenever. Yes. Like, that's the good news, is, like, you can reprogram those beliefs. The key part of that, though, is, like, there needs to be, like, consistency and repetition. It's not like a one and done.

Lindsay [00:17:26]:
Yeah. And I. And it's funny, right? Like, I know what some of mine are, especially in business, as they pop up. And sometimes you're like, wait, I thought I was done with that. And then it pops up again. You're like, oh, shit. So do you find that? No, go ahead.

Julie [00:17:44]:
No, go ahead.

Lindsay [00:17:45]:
Do you find that with your clients? Like, does that happen?

Julie [00:17:48]:
Yes. And the reason why is with. So, like, sharing about the subconscious how it's like, you know, highly moral, highly ethical, but its number one job is to keep you safe and protect you. It's only in any given moment in time. So let's say today it's only going to present to you what it deems safe for you. And so the more layers you then unpack, you know, on your healing journey, it could be like a year, a year from now. And it's like something else under that same topic comes up, and you're like, oh, my God, why did this come up before? It's because now it deems it safe for it to come up for you.

Lindsay [00:18:27]:
That's so interesting. I literally have my, like, kajabi site open, and I'm writing an email, and I've been putting it off all day because I just was like, no, I can't put, like, I'm like, I can't put that into the world. And it's. Right. It's like this weird fear stuff that comes up all the time in my business, and it's. Anyways, it's just these things that you notice. And I think, you know, I used to teach yoga, and often the way I talk to people about creating content and, like, using creativity. And I'm like, you kind of have to, like, you know, be the third person observer of your thoughts and just, like, watch them go by like a movie, right.

Julie [00:19:12]:
That you're not.

Lindsay [00:19:13]:
And I'm pointing to my forehead, like, all the thoughts are here. So many thoughts. So many. But sometimes you forget and you, like, you know, there's that country song. You don't believe everything you think, right. And it's like, it's the same. It's like you can't believe everything you think because your thoughts are not always telling you the truth.

Julie [00:19:39]:
Mm hmm. Yeah. It may not be thoughts that, like, support you.

Lindsay [00:19:42]:
Yes. Yeah. And so what do you do when those thoughts pop up and you're just like, I don't know. Sometimes I. Sometimes I compare it to being in labor, and I'm like, thank you for coming.

Julie [00:19:54]:
Thank you.

Lindsay [00:19:55]:
You've done your job, being in labor or, like, any kind of discomfort, like, thank you for coming me here and showing me. And by now, I don't need you to come. Thank you.

Julie [00:20:06]:
Yeah, you know what? Actually, I sometimes task clients with, like. And I remember one client specifically, her big thing was just saying, like, she doesn't know. She doesn't know. I don't know. Um. And they were like, there were layers to unpack. But, like, anybody can do this. Like, if you ever catch yourself in the same loop, I'll share.

Julie [00:20:25]:
Like, one of mine is always this, like, not knowing enough or not feeling smart enough has, like, always been a thing for me. And so something you could do. It's called a switch task. It's like, anytime you catch yourself saying something, like, negative. Cause the more negative things you say to yourself, your subconscious believes that to be true. So we really wanna, like, catch it. So if I were to say to myself, like, today, like, oh, man, I just don't feel smart enough. I would instantly say switch, whether out loud or in my head, and then immediately say the opposite, like, a more empowering belief about that.

Julie [00:21:02]:
So for this one client, she just kept being like, well, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. And so her task for a long period of time was, like, anytime she caught herself saying that, she'd be like, switch. I know, that's so simple.

Lindsay [00:21:15]:
But, like, can change so much.

Julie [00:21:17]:
It's so simple. It changes so much because you're, like, getting the switch in there, and so you're just becoming, like, consciously aware of the thoughts, and you start to do it more often so that conscious thoughts then gets put back into your subconscious as a more empowering belief to support you.

Lindsay [00:21:38]:
Whoa, that's wild.

Julie [00:21:40]:
I feel like I encourage everybody to do it.

Lindsay [00:21:42]:
Yes. Yes, I do. Yes, I agree. Let's all do that. So if you take nothing away from this conversation. Yes. Notice your thoughts, and then if they're yucky, just say, thank you for coming, switch. Thank you.

Lindsay [00:21:57]:
Because I feel like you have to thank them for coming. I don't know why.

Julie [00:22:00]:
No, I like that. Thank you for coming, switch. And then say a more empowering belief instead.

Lindsay [00:22:06]:
And I do that about anxiety, too. And I'm kind of like. Like, you know how sometimes you just, like, feel really anxious and you're like, what is it? That's. Sometimes you don't even know what it is. And you're like, what is it? And then you kind of, once you figure out what it is and you can name it, you're like, oh, you're here for that? Okay, thanks. Bye. Bye. Thanks for coming.

Lindsay [00:22:25]:
See you later.

Julie [00:22:27]:
Yeah, I get that a lot. And I feel like people, when we feel, like, overwhelmed and the overwhelming anxiousness. Cause I'll catch myself and I'm like, what am I specifically overwhelmed about? And I literally have to go through it in my head and then maybe even write it down. And I'm like, oh, it's not that bad.

Lindsay [00:22:47]:
Yeah, I know. It's not that bad. I know it's not that bad. Thank you, Julie. You're so lovely. Where can people find you? And how can they work with you?

Julie [00:22:56]:
Yeah, I mean, social streets. Instagram is my favorite place to hang out, so. Julie M. Costa. My website's the same. Juliemcosta.com. And yeah, come say hi. I say my DM's are always open.

Julie [00:23:11]:
I always love chatting. And I think I have a couple of, like, free resources in my bio over there too.

Lindsay [00:23:17]:
Okay, awesome. Thank you for coming.

Julie [00:23:20]:
Thanks for having me.

Lindsay [00:23:21]:
Toodaloo, everybody.

Lindsay [00:23:25]:
Thank you so much for listening. If you loved what you heard, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share this episode on social media. And don't forget to tag me on Instagram. Lindsaysmithcreative. And if you do all three, I'll be your best friend forever and invite you to all my birthday parties. That's it for today, and I'll see you next time.