Elevating Your Brand & Purpose Using Human Design with Stephanie Zhong

Lauren Best (00:00:08) – Welcome to provoking Possibilities, where we reflect on pivotal life moments, ask thought provoking questions and dream up new possibilities for living a life you love that may be a little out of your current reality. I’m Lauren Best, a certified hypnotherapist and provoker of possibility, and I’ve created this podcast for people who are curious about exploring new ways of living, who are looking to connect deeper with their bodies, their intuition, their hearts, and then known, and who are really ready to just embrace their most authentic selves, to move into flow and into alignment. There is just so much that is possible for us when we open ourselves up to exploring new possibilities beyond our wildest imagination. So if you’re ready and curious to begin exploring new possibilities, join me every week for a new episode of Provoking Possibilities on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Let’s dive in. Welcome back to another week of provoking Possibilities. I’m so excited. I have Stephanie Zhang in the house today. We are going to be talking about so many beautiful things and Stephanie is a brand storytelling coach, a human design expert, which we’ve connected on so, so much and we’ll get into that later.

Lauren Best (00:01:30) – But she’s a connector of so many things that really seem unconnected, and she helps mission driven entrepreneurs own the power of their brand story and their human design to really green and gain a greater success and joy by being more of them. So we have for so many different things connected. But Stephanie is like also a mentor of sorts to me because she has so, so much wisdom. She has so much experience and expertise in online media and marketing for nonprofits or startups and civic organizations. And she also offers a beautiful signature program, which is called Own Your Message. She has also helped founders, coaches and consultants go from being their best kept secrets to undeniable authorities, and she has done just that for herself as well. Her expertise has been featured in the Balance The Grind, shout out to Washington Post, Express and podcast all over the Internet and now on this podcast. So I’m so, so honored to have her here with us today. Welcome, Stephanie. I yeah, it’s so good to see you on the other side of the screen.

Lauren Best (00:02:44) – It’s been a while since we’ve chatted. Last time we were chatting about our human designs and our compatibility, which is really, really cool.

Stephanie Zhong (00:02:53) – Lauren It’s so good to be here and I’m so excited to talk with you and to be in this community of folks who want to provoke possibilities.

Lauren Best (00:03:03) – Yes, well, you’re provoking things all over the place, like creativity and storytelling. And I’d love for people to get to know you and how you know, from the amazing expertise that I just shared with them. You’ve found yourself in this place as an entrepreneur and guiding other entrepreneurs in the way that, you know you have so naturally been able to like, use your magic in your own way, but really helping them with that magic and using some of your, you know, expertise, but also them finding their own magic as well.

Stephanie Zhong (00:03:39) – Absolutely. So, you know, today what I do is I really help people to empower and bring the multi dimensions of themselves into their brands and then leading through who they are and being more successful by being more unapologetically you.

Stephanie Zhong (00:03:56) – But in my story and this it I didn’t feel this way for a really, really long time. And as a little kid I was terribly shy of people and using my voice. I remember when when my parents would throw a dinner party with new guests, I would hide in the coat closet, literally behind the coats, and my mom would have to coax me out to be able to just hang out and play with the conventions. Right. And so but I also knew that as a little girl, I was a visionary and someone who was always imagining big ideas for how to make the world a better place. And and what I’d like to do in life. But I also knew that this terror I had about being visible and showing up and connecting with people, it was very painful. Like I wouldn’t. I knew, like, the hiding out was very painful. Right? So fast forward then many, many years later, I decided that I really wanted to become an entrepreneur after working in different capacities as a storyteller.

Stephanie Zhong (00:05:11) – So I’ve done stints as a as a news. I was working at a news desk and I was a public radio producer. I was a writing teacher, and I bounced from journalism into online media. And in all of those places, the thing that always fascinated me the most was hearing people’s stories and using storytelling as this way of building community and helping us to learn, helping me to learn. And I wanted to really focus in on helping other shy and mighty visionaries in the world who don’t embrace the spotlight, but know that there’s no way they’re going to be able to make the impact that they want to make unless they come out of hiding. Right. And unless you’re willing to shine unapologetically, no matter what, everything else is happening in the world. And so I. I ended up turning that storytelling on myself because for years and years and years I had. After interviewing, many people really learned that there’s a world inside each person. There used to be people who would strangers would come to me and tell me their life stories.

Stephanie Zhong (00:06:29) – And I had realized that whatever judgments, snap judgments I would have on the outside after they talked to me, I was like, oh my gosh, this is a brilliant person, you know? And I realize it’s that don’t judge a book by its cover. And I realized that I didn’t know my own story well enough to empower myself. To show up fully in myself and that as a brand person. Then borrowing on these storytelling techniques I had used in these different capacities. It took me three years to figure out who I was, right, what my mission is, what I care about, and how every part of my life experience as a human being, as a as a parent, as a professional in lots of different industries, how do they weave together into this story of me and what makes me unique and different? As a brand strategist or as a coach that would be different from somebody else. And where there’s actually no competition when you can articulate what your own lane is and everybody has their own lane.

Lauren Best (00:07:38) – Yeah. Yeah.

Stephanie Zhong (00:07:39) – So that yeah. So that was what led me to doing this work. And in a way I’m like the least likely person to. Be a brand person or a marketer because I was just I was terrible at like sales or reaching out to people or anything like that. But once I was able to get clear on how my story can help other people and how my multidimensional self adds value in a unique way to help other people be able to empower themselves, to be seen, to claim their difference, turn it into an undeniable brand. Then marketing became fun and fascinating and joyful.

Lauren Best (00:08:27) – Yeah, you know what? Okay, This thought popped up quite early on of what you were talking, but I just want to see and I I’m assuming this is going to resonate with you, but this idea of, you know, we spend so much of our lives perhaps, you know, the example of you as a little girl hiding away, perhaps part of that might have been like this feeling of like, I don’t fit in.

Lauren Best (00:08:50) – I know I’m different from those kids and as a way to, like, not force myself to be like them or out of my comfort zone to just fit in like I’m going to hide away. And then over time and growing up, we learn like that. We in order to survive, we need to mold into what society wants or how to behave and all these things. And that very part of us, that unique, those unique pieces and our superpowers and the authenticity of not fitting in that now is like adults. We’re trying to like, reclaim and like, pull out those pieces, right? To learn why I’m different. And it’s, you know, it’s it’s wild to me when I think about that now being in this place. And, you know, as you said, you weren’t always like this. It took years to get to that. And I’m, you know, in the probably third year of doing that, really trying to, like, dig that up. But being on this side where it’s like, okay, I can confidently embrace the things of me that are different and talk about them in a way where I feel excited is just like so sad that we lose that.

Lauren Best (00:10:01) – Like, you know, people are telling us, be creative, but we’re like, we’re still trying to fit in or we’re still trying to survive in these weird ways. So that really like you sharing that really sparked this like greater essence. I think of what we see happen also often, just like in society in general.

Stephanie Zhong (00:10:22) – I love how you just brought that together. And that is exactly it. This idea of because I think the fear of being different as almost and conforming to some degree, moulding ourselves is a survival tactic to get through childhood. And then this prescribed formula for success, right? You’re going to go to school and you’re going to get a degree and then you’re going to get this secure job. And and we’ve really just seen all of that. Like as we get older, we realize it is that in fact and it’s funny because in marketing we always talk about how differentiate yourself, be different and that that actually is the secret to success. And we also are coming in as human beings terrified about putting ourselves out there and being different.

Stephanie Zhong (00:11:13) – The fear of being ridiculed, the fear of being canceled, the fear of people not caring right. And a lot of so it is for me, as you were talking. One of the things that I find so powerful and fun about doing brand work by integrating this human design, like building it from the inside out. Yeah, like who you are as a whole Is that the idea of being different is reclaiming yourself your whole self?

Lauren Best (00:11:49) – Yeah, yeah.

Stephanie Zhong (00:11:50) – And then bringing that out there. And it is a risk. But I have just found over and over again, Yeah. That the entrepreneurs and the coaches and the visionaries and creators who’ve worked with me to build their brand and see their whole self and claim their whole self, it feels so good. And then it feels amazing to have people respond to you more. Mm hmm. When you’re sharing that and you’re getting better clients, more aligned projects and doing work and feeling whole in yourself day after day, which I didn’t know at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey.

Stephanie Zhong (00:12:31) – But I realized one of the reasons why I chose to leave corporate and chose to leave large nonprofit work was because I wanted the freedom not just to make my own choices, but I realized now as we’re talking, it was so that I can live and work as myself.

Lauren Best (00:12:52) – Yeah, yeah.

Stephanie Zhong (00:12:53) – Who am.

Lauren Best (00:12:54) – I? It’s so powerful because we like it seems so simple yet we, you know, like there’s. And now I think both of us being in spaces where we are on these, you know, self-development journeys and this different idea of what entrepreneurship can look like, we’re surrounded by a lot of people who are thinking the same as us and who have this goal of success, including this word freedom or whatever freedom means to us as individuals and how different that can look like. But for so many people, it’s like, Oh, okay, that sounds like whatever. And it’s like, well, I need to be practical or this or that. And I would love actually for before we jump into because I really want to talk about now, you know, as a branding expert and a storyteller, how human design has really reinvented the way you show up in your work, but also how you’re helping others to do that using human design as well.

Lauren Best (00:13:53) – But for those people who aren’t listening or sorry, who are listening and have not heard of human design, can you tell us a little bit about what human design is? And perhaps I know there’s so much information about it and I promise everyone who’s listening, if you go down the rabbit hole, it is a wild spiral, but it is so fun and so worth it. I’ll never forget the first time I heard about human design and ran my chart and just how like seeing I felt invalidated, knowing that a lot of my differences I’ve experienced a lot of my life that I started to suppress like are a huge part of me. But please, you know, want to leave the stage for you to share with everyone, you know, what is human design And just some of the nuggets that you think that are really important for someone to know who is just hearing about human design for the first time as well.

Stephanie Zhong (00:14:46) – Yeah. So human design. So at a really basic level, I think of it as.

Stephanie Zhong (00:14:54) – The secret blueprint to who you are, what you came to do, and how you’re meant to use your body and mind in the most effective way possible and in flow state to live your fullest life and make the biggest impact. And so with human design, it is it’s rooted in several ancient wisdoms and also some science around how and how all of us have a unique energy and a unique way of using energy and exchanging energy with others. Which is why when we walk into a room and you notice, why is it that some people you feel like you you have that magnetism towards them? Or why other people, when you talk to them, you suddenly are more creative and you’re not sure why or somebody else. You’re like really clear and articulate. And it’s because every single person has their own unique, energetic blueprint that’s like a snowflake. And I used to wish that I was born with a manual. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. Talents are. Yeah. What are the way? Right? Like all of these things and these ingredients are actually they come out of a blueprint.

Stephanie Zhong (00:16:07) – So for anybody who loves assessment and self discovery and if you’re familiar with other tools like Enneagram or Myers-Briggs, IT human design is something that plays super well with those and reveals not just who you are, but also like when I say it’s a blueprint and a manual, it actually gives you practical tools for how to be able to use your own mind and your body and your energy in ways where you can be more creative, you can be more magnetic. When you’re using your voice, you can make better life changing decisions by knowing how to bring your mind and your body together to make really aligned decisions for yourself. In ways that. For me, it is helpful to be able to. Align the way I work towards the way my my body is meant to use energy and preserve energy and avoid burnout. And then from a creative standpoint, we can’t be creative if we are in burnout or exhausted, or our mind is just distracted to 10 million places. So it gives you all these clues into where creativity lives in you and how to activate it and.

Stephanie Zhong (00:17:37) – Also how to. Yeah. For me, it’s about a system that helps you see how your body, mind and spirit are meant to work on the same team together. And it’s rooted in it’s very objective in the sense that it comes from your birth time, your birth place and your birth location, which is similar to astrology, and it has a connection to astrology. And what I appreciate about it. After giving readings to different creators and leaders on three continents now is how incredibly accurate it is. And one of the things I appreciate about it that is different from the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs and other assessment tools which I use and love, is that because it’s coming from your your birth information, you’re not answering a survey. So when you’re answering a survey, the accuracy of those other tools are dependent on how self-aware you are.

Lauren Best (00:18:37) – We’re conditioned to different things.

Stephanie Zhong (00:18:40) – Conditioned, right. So it is accurate to a degree. But this is so objective. Like when I say blueprint, like you talked about downloading your chart, you will actually see a physical.

Stephanie Zhong (00:18:53) – Part of your head down to your spine of how energy is physically working in your body and where certain gifts and tools are. And you can point to these things. And when you can point to these things and know that it wasn’t coming from a questionnaire. It’s incredibly powerful information to help you to be able to really live your authentic self in relationship to other people who have different energies from you and have different gifts from you. Right? So yeah, so I have found that it’s it’s a great self-care, leadership and creativity tool.

Lauren Best (00:19:32) – Yeah. And I think one thing like that has been so impactful for me in the beginning at least, was seeing some of these things about my energy and. Seeing what this, you know, blueprint is telling me as permission slips that my body was already telling me when I was getting to burn out for, you know, using energy in ways that really weren’t supporting my design, but seeing them as, okay, my body was telling me this before. I didn’t listen to it because society was telling me that I needed to keep operating in this way.

Lauren Best (00:20:09) – And now this blueprint is almost giving me that permission to like, listen to my body, which is also really like, it just sucks that we have to get to that place. But it’s an amazing, amazing tool and I really like to think of it as a tool now because for a while I was like very hung up on, Well, this is the only fate for me because this has this, but there’s so many ways that can reinterpret to our life and there’s so many tools that we use. And human design is such a beautiful one that we can. Yeah, I love how you said the mind bought like it’s another enhancer of that mind body connection to really figure out how we we can operate and feel good and feel creative and be the leaders or the, you know, person that we’re meant to be in this world in whatever that looks like, because there’s so many different types of leaders. And I know, you know, you bridging this world of human design into, you know, storytelling and branding.

Lauren Best (00:21:11) – How has that journey been for you, taking that leap to as an expert who has this amazing, you know, career and is known as this creative and storyteller to bring this kind of you know, a lot of people see this as like this woo woo element, even though, like you said, it’s rooted in the science and energy. And when I was little or even sometimes now when I think of a corporate CEO, I don’t think of someone who’s maybe that open to talking about their energy right.

Stephanie Zhong (00:21:45) – So how although it is happening now, right. Yes, I, I am having a lot of requests from and this going to answer your question, but I’ve had a lot of requests from leaders and teams now who are interested in understanding this because in coming out of Covid we’ve recognized, wow, the importance of energy and the return on energy because everybody top to bottom is exhausted. Yeah, everyone is recognizing that these so-called traditional ways of working and leading don’t really align or work for anybody. And these one size fits all ideas around productivity or leadership that it’s running counter to us and people are actually having health problems as a result.

Stephanie Zhong (00:22:39) – Yeah. So for me, in terms of and I can speak to that because I was on that train, which is what. Right? Which is what led me to human design to help me understand that as the CEO and leader of my own business, that I was operating in a way that was very counter to the way I was actually born and built to operate. And so that was number one, was once I realized that I need to adjust things differently. The other thing about what it connects together is the way I go about doing brand is that it is about double down on your difference and it is reinforcing how your difference is uniquely valuable and important. And it’s important that you not only message your brand that way, but you’re embodying yourself fully and that the decisions you make in your business or who you work with or how you get the word out about your your work. If there’s no one size fits all either. And so human design is how it really helps. Like you said, permission slips get extended out further.

Stephanie Zhong (00:23:55) – It’s permission slip to be who I am. It’s permission slip for me to use my voice and my gifts in certain ways to to reach the most success, which may not look like the the person next to me who’s having success in other way. It teaches you strategies for how to be able to manifest. That’s a woowoo term, but how to be able to really attract the the opportunities that you want to attract. And that again, everybody is different. And so and also when we talk about mind body connection, I’ve learned that you talked about conditioning and how our brains, we’ve been conditioned to do things certain ways. We’ve been conditioned to believe certain things about ourselves and how our value is defined externally. And what human design gives you. Is it clues you into something called your inner authority, which I like to call your inner CEO. It’s just your chief executive officer or your inner chief enlightenment officer. So think so many people right now think the biggest thing for me that I realized was that the way society is set up, you know, we prioritize strategy and stuff and we use our our brains in a way that’s actually not in proportion to the way it should be used.

Stephanie Zhong (00:25:18) – Like we use it like the end all, be all. But it’s really meant to be more like Google. So Google is a great place to analyze, gather information and research, right? Like, if you’re going to make you’re going to figure out like, you know, what are the ten best cities to live in to be happy. And then it tells you that. But you would never ask Google, so which city should I move to?

Lauren Best (00:25:41) – Right.

Stephanie Zhong (00:25:42) – And so in our bodies, right. But we do that every day. Yeah. Condition to do that to treat our brains which are really supposed to be Google supporting the decisions. And like you said, we all have those moments like for everybody listening. Think about a time you made a decision that seems so out of the blue and everybody else thought you were crazy. And even your brain is like, I know it doesn’t make sense, but I know I’m supposed to do this. That is you activating your human design to make decisions. And that’s and the brain just gets to submit information and input and say, Hey, I’ve got this stuff for you to consider.

Stephanie Zhong (00:26:25) – And so human design teaches you. Is that your gut? Is it your heart? You know, is it there’s like seven different types. And so when, you know, like it helps you be intentional instead of just organically accidentally, once in a while, I can kind of tune into my body and on the branch front, then everybody has a different way of marketing and using their voice. And so for some people doing ads, certain energy types, there’s five energy types in human design. And Lauren, you and I are protectors, right? We’re 20% of the population. Yeah. It helps us to understand. Wow. When we say people are different and what’s right for me and what’s right for you may not be the same thing. And alignment looks different for everybody. And the paths to success. You really can see it in the human design when you realize that and you can. And so for me, it’s like helping people with the permission slip to truly be different, make different decisions, mark it in a way that feels aligned to them, instead of forcing people to go on TikTok if they don’t want to go on TikTok.

Stephanie Zhong (00:27:42) – Yeah. And your human design may even reveal to you, Well, there’s a reason why. Like, you can almost see that you’re better off cultivating close relationships or, you know, and so strategies that work for somebody else, instead of us going, What’s wrong with me? What am I doing wrong? It’s know what is aligned to me, what’s going to work best for me with the least amount of energy and the most amount of flow. And so again, I love that with human design, when you can see your blueprint and you can use it as it becomes you Also, it has a practical toolkit. Yeah. To show you what you can do instead of following everybody else, you know, like just the one size fits all.

Lauren Best (00:28:28) – Oh, my gosh. Well, I feel like we just started and we’re already at the end of our of our conversation. But I would love to, Stephanie, if you’re open to it. And now I’m just putting you on the spot, but you take that time to check in with yourself.

Lauren Best (00:28:42) – But I would love to have you back to dive a little bit more into the different types of human design because we didn’t even get to there. But I think this really painted a picture for so many people of just how important it is to to really embrace these parts of us and show up naturally in our storytelling, our marketing and how in the world we’re just showing up more and more like ourselves. So thank you so much for sharing with all of us, all of your wisdom. Where can people find you if they want a human design reading with you or want to find out more about your work? Where can they find you?

Stephanie Zhong (00:29:21) – Yeah, absolutely. So I if you’re interested in building your story foundation for your brand or human design reading, the best place to go is my website, which is Stephanie Zhang and Zhang is spelled Z is in zesty h, o and g.com. I have a free brand of brilliance video training that will show you how to pull out six dimensions of you and weave them into your undeniable brand story.

Stephanie Zhong (00:29:54) – And then I also have a special gift for all of you as Lauren’s La Lauren best besties. And this is a new mini course that’s about activating creativity with your human design. So it’s normally valued at $99, but all of you guys get to go for get it for free. And so all you’ll have to do that link, I guess, will be in the show notes and you’ll be using coupon code, provoke creativity to get that. I’m so excited for all of you to be able to unlock more creativity and your hidden like fuel for creativity and much, much more with this mini course.

Lauren Best (00:30:42) – I’m so excited to I’m going to be unlocking that for sure. And I am just so grateful for you sharing all your wisdom with us and also this freebie. You guys, this is unbelievable. Like Stephanie and I did. And maybe another maybe there’s a part three or maybe two. We are chat a little bit about the reading that Stephanie and I did together where she pulled both of our charts to look at our compatibility as collaborators and creatives.

Lauren Best (00:31:12) – So there’s just so, so much you can do with human design and we’ve only just like touch the surface. So we’ll definitely be back with more. And yeah, thank you all for tuning in. Thank you, Stephanie, for sharing with us and can’t wait to have you back.

Stephanie Zhong (00:31:30) – Thank you so much for having me.

Lauren Best (00:31:35) – I am so excited to bring this little treat to you because right now I am offering a buy one, get one offer for my private hypnosis happy hour sessions, which for two sessions is just $222, which is the price of one session on its own. So right now you can buy one, get one for the price of one, just $222 for two sessions. And within these hypnosis happy hour sessions, we can focus on whatever it is you want to show up with, whether you have a goal in mind or some sort of desire, and you feel like there’s just blocks and limiting beliefs that are stopping you from actually going out there and following your intuition, or whether you’re struggling to manage your time, your energy, to set boundaries or want to just show up in the world a little bit differently than what you are right now.

Lauren Best (00:32:27) – We can also figure out how to connect back to your intuition a little more, Listen to the whispers of your mind and do some work with your nervous system and just feeling comfortable and safe in your body. We can focus on letting go of old stories, rewriting your beliefs, reprogramming those beliefs, and just really visualizing what your idea of success could look like in whatever it is you’re going through at the moment. So do know that there will be a limited amount available, but you can book these sessions all the way through to the end of the year. So right now you can visit my website. Lauren and book those sessions through there or follow the link below and you can get access directly to that Bogo offer for private hypnosis Happy Hour, which will be two sessions for $222. So make sure you don’t miss out. And I cannot wait to support you to really connect to your subconscious mind and see where the session might take you. Thank you so much for joining me on this journey of exploring new possibilities and embracing your most authentic self.

Lauren Best (00:33:42) – I appreciate you and your willingness to open your mind and your heart to new ideas and ways of being that are beyond your current reality. So if you found value in this episode, please take a moment to leave a reading and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to this podcast. Your support helps us to spread the message of compassion, self-discovery and personal growth to more people who may benefit from it. And if you’re looking for additional support on your journey of self-discovery and transformation, I invite you to visit my website at Lauren Bascombe, where you’ll find resources, courses and coaching services to help you navigate life’s challenges with more ease and joy and confidence and support. So please check that out. And more than anything, I hope you’ll remember that you’re not alone on this journey. We are all in this together, and by embracing our most authentic selves, we can create more compassion and connection to the world. So please keep dreaming, keep exploring and keep provoking possibilities with love and intuition. I’ll be back soon with more thought provoking questions, inspiring stories, and powerful insights and conversations to support you on your journey.

Lauren Best (00:34:55) – But until then, take care of yourself and others and remember that you are worthy of love and possibility.