Today on the Engaging Marketeer I am interviewing Emma Shaw who runs the Rebel Yell Club, which helps businesses be better at what it is that they do. Emma was inspired to set up the Rebel Yell club by a message that she doesn’t know the origin of. Was it from the beyond? Was it from a higher power? Was it from the universe? Let’s find out as we talk to Emma about why she does what she does and who she does it for.
As always, check out the full interview over on our YouTube, which includes these highlights:
Lisa on what drives her in her career…
Darren: So why do you do what you do?
Emma: Why? That is a good question.
Darren: Yeah, that’s why I asked it. You see, this isn’t my first ball game.
Emma: Why do I do it? Well, because I’ve come to terms with the fact that I am not a person that often stays within the lines of life, the accepted status quo, and I’ve also come to terms with the fact that the world is starting to feel similar in lots of different capacities, so I think there’s a lot of people out there who want to break out the rules and restrictions. I want to help them keep that and to help individuals be who they authentically are as well.
Darren: So I take it you look to work with people who are similar to you, who also colour outside the lines?
Emma: Yeah, I think so. Rebel Yell club is the consumer side of what I do. What I find is that the people who are attracted to what I do are very, very diverse in in all the ways possible, so actually it’s quite hard for me to design a client avatar. There is a certain attitude about it, but a lot of the people I work with are not like me at all, which is brilliant and makes this endlessly fascinating.
…on the problems that she solves for businesses…
Darren: What sort of problems do people and businesses have when they come to you?
Emma: There’s a bit of a growth scale, really. The key thing I do is helping small business to grow and scale without losing that magic that created the business in the first place. You’ve then got the people who after that have taken on people in some form or other but have now got all the pain that comes with dealing with other humans, either employees or associates or whatever, and we help to deal with the myriad of issues that come with that.
…on her preferred clients…
Darren: When you work with a particular client, what sort of business are you looking for that you can help?
Emma: It’s not niched down to an industry or sector or anything like that. I had in the past done a lot of work with corporates, and still do a little bit here and there, but the bigger companies are not really where my interests lie or where my best work is done.
…on the unusual origins of the Rebel Yell Club…
Darren: So where did the name ‘Rebel Yell Club’ come from?
Emma: This is an interesting, kooky story, in itself. My business for sort of six years has been very much about learning and development, because that’s been my career in general. I spent some time about three years ago trying to find out what the hook was that I wanted to do to help people. Then one day I sat in my living room, and some people are going to roll their eyes at this, and I got an instruction, from elsewhere. That instruction was very specific, the likes of which I’ve never experienced before or since, and it said ‘start a group call Rebels and Rule Breakers’. I had no idea what it was all about, but I did it anyway, and for some reason it captured people’s imagination.
Darren: I have to delve further into that.
Emma: Please do.
Darren: Where did that instruction come from?
Emma: So I am a spiritual person. I don’t follow a faith of any kind, but I am fascinated by faith. I don’t think I have a particular name for it. Some people may call it the universe, some may call it God.
…on what drove her to help people help people…
Darren: Why did you start along this path? What prompted you to look and people and try and make things better for them?
Emma: I remember being at school and observing the people around me, thinking “why do you behave the way you do?” When I ended up working in a learning and development role, I found that the stuff that really worked for me was the behavioural and mindset elements, and I discovered that I naturally had this ability to coach. I’ve done a lot of the normal coaching-type training and qualification stuff, but none of it is actually part of the skillset I use now. I’ve learnt I’m quite intuitive, I go where I feel I need to go rather than following a particular model.
Darren: Is there anything you think you should be doing rather than what you’re currently doing, or something you’d rather do or perhaps you felt you could have gone into.
Emma: It’s funny, I was thinking about this kind of question the other day ‘if money was no object, what would you be doing?’ I kind of sat there and thought I’d probably still be doing a version of what I’m currently doing.
…on the future goals…
Darren: What is the future for you? What are you looking to go towards and change?
Emma: When I think about the big ‘why’, what I’d really love to witness or be a part of in my lifetime is a tipping of the scales when it comes to the big corporate beasts versus those beautiful small independent companies. I want to witness the big corporate businesses looking at the smaller companies and saying ‘we need to be more like them’, rather than the smaller companies being sucked into the corporate vortex.
If somebody would like to get in touch with Emma to work with or reach out to her, you’ll be glad to know she’s all over the joint when it comes to social media. You can join the Rebels and Rulebreakers Facebook group, or visit the Rebel Yell Club website.
