From Miss Ireland to Rapid Transformational Therapist: Lynda Duffy's Journey

Welcome to a deep dive into the life of Lynda Duffy, a former Miss Ireland (2002) and model, who has now transitioned into a Rapid Transformational Therapist. This blog post is based on a podcast episode where I, Garry Kelly, had the pleasure of interviewing Lynda about her journey in the modelling industry, her struggles with an eating disorder, and her transition into her current profession.

Lynda's Journey in the Modelling Industry

Lynda's journey in the modelling industry was not without its challenges. She initially thought she could fix her problems on her own, considering herself a strong person with willpower. However, she soon realized that her struggles with an eating disorder were not something she could handle alone. Despite her fears of being seen as seeking attention, she knew she had to confront her issues.

A Life-Changing Decision

Lynda's life took a significant turn when she decided to leave the Middle East and start afresh in Ireland. This decision was not taken lightly, and she put a lot of thought into it. Her close friends would say she is a completely different person now, having experienced some difficult times before coming home.

The Transition to Rapid Transformational Therapy

I was particularly interested in Lynda's current profession as a Rapid Transformational Therapist (RTT) and how she started her own business. Lynda's experiences with media and the challenges of being in the public eye had a profound impact on her decision to pursue this career. She quickly learned how what she said could be misconstrued or manipulated by the media. Despite the challenges, Lynda recognized the opportunities that being Miss Ireland opened up for her.

The Struggles of an Introvert in the Public Eye

While still studying marine science in college, Lynda took a year off to fulfil her duties as Miss Ireland. However, she soon realized that the glamorous lifestyle of being a beauty queen wasn't a natural fit for her. As an introvert, she found it challenging to navigate social situations and network with people she didn't know. Over time, she learned to prioritize her own comfort and accept her introverted nature.

The Move to Dubai and the Struggle with an Eating Disorder

Lynda's decision to move to Dubai came at a time when she was in a job she didn't enjoy and felt stuck. After a relationship ended and she wasn't happy with her work, she decided to quit her job and explore other options. However, her eating disorder became more prominent when she moved to Dubai. She knew she had a problem but didn't actively seek help because she believed she could fix it herself.

A Pivotal Moment

Lynda reached a breaking point when she realized she needed to go home due to her deteriorating mental health. Despite the complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, she managed to return home, entering a state of isolation. This period was a turning point for Lynda, leading her to address the root causes of her addiction and destructive behaviours.

The Journey to Becoming a Therapist

Lynda spent a year studying and preparing to become a therapist while working full-time in the Middle East. She eventually resigned from her job and returned to Ireland to start her own therapy practice. Her therapy approach, Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT), combines cognitive behavioural therapy, neuro-linguistic programming, and hypnotherapy.

The Impact of Childhood Experiences and Generational Trauma

During our conversation, Lynda emphasized the impact of childhood experiences on forming beliefs and how labelling children can affect their behaviour. She also touched on the topic of generational trauma and how it can be passed down through generations. Many of the people she works with have experienced trauma in their childhood, which continues to affect their adult lives.

The Role of the Subconscious in Therapy

Lynda explained that during her therapy sessions, she acts like a detective, probing and exploring the client's background. She believes that the subconscious mind is like a memory vault that remembers everything, and sometimes unexpected memories or issues come up during the session.

Lynda's Personal Growth and Success

Lynda reflected on her personal growth and the challenges she faced in her journey towards self-acceptance and success. She emphasized the importance of persistence and giving oneself time to grow. She also discussed her approach to her work and how she tries to make it about helping others rather than focusing on herself.

Conclusion

Lynda's journey from Miss Ireland to a Rapid Transformational Therapist is a testament to her resilience and determination. Despite the challenges she faced, she managed to turn her life around and is now helping others do the same. If you're interested in connecting with Lynda for her Rapid Transformational Therapy services, you can find her online.

Watch the podcast in full

Garry Talks Season 4 is also available all major podcast platforms.

How Podcasting can Grow your Business in 2023

If you think podcasts are just a casual form of millennial entertainment, think again. Podcasting can be a really powerful tool to help drive your business, and this article will explain why.

A Growing Industry

Podcast consumption has nearly doubled in the last five years. In our increasingly digital world, not only are the forms of entertainment we consume changing, but also how we prefer to get all types of information like news, knowledge and advice. As our lives get busier, people are seeking the easiest way to find out everything they want to know, including the next best product or service to buy. For that, podcasting is the perfect solution.

Many businesses are recognising this as a valuable way to establish their brand and market their product or service. As more brands continue to join the podcasting world, it is estimated to become a $1 billion industry by the end of this year. A 2020 Statista study also found that over 15 million UK citizens were monthly podcast listeners, which is expected to grow to over 19 million people by 2024. That is a lot of potential customers!

Benefits for your Business

• Promote your products and services

  Corporate podcasts are the perfect opportunity to produce meaningful content that creates a specific audience interested in your product or service. Research companies have also determined that 54% of listeners believe that podcast advertisements make them much more likely to buy a product than any other advertising media.

• Reach a wider audience and target your niche market

  Podcasting is available globally, and due to the number of daily listeners, it provides a high chance of hitting your market niche. It is especially powerful in targeting a younger demographic, as most podcast listeners are between 12 to 34 years old, a group that is often difficult to reach using traditional marketing methods.

• A cheaper and more accessible form of marketing

  Unlike most other forms of marketing, podcasting is an inexpensive marketing tool where you are in full control of the content and how much to invest in it.

• Gain more recognition in your field

  By starting your own podcast, you can stay ahead of your competitors and display a commitment to innovation by staying in tune with the changing world. This can drastically increase the recognition and reputation your business has in your industry.

• Engage with your customers

  Listener engagement is far higher for podcasts than other platforms, making branded podcasts a great opportunity to create successful marketing campaigns. Podcasts provide a more intimate connection to an audience compared to other forms of media, so brands have a great chance of building a genuine connection to current and potential customers.

What about radio?

While radio is useful to reach a mass audience, a very small percentage of these will be in your target market. On the other hand, podcasting focuses on appealing to a niche market by discussing specific topics that will of interest to your specific target audience.

Podcasting is also outgrowing radio, as reported by Digital Ireland. Their latest report found that we now spend 49 minutes more per day listening to digital audio than radio. A BBC report also found that 78% of branded podcast listeners remembered a show’s branded content, compared to 53% of radio listeners.

Podcasting in Ireland

The podcasting scene is growing worldwide, and Ireland is no exception. Acast Ireland has reported over 7.5m podcast listens every month in Ireland, showcasing a growth of 39% within the last year. Micheal Scully, sales director of Acast Ireland suggested that podcasts are now “beyond the point where any serious marketeer can ignore them”.

Where to Start

If you think podcasting is a good move for your business but don’t know where to start, we have our own podcast studio with everything you need to produce a professional and high quality podcast. Come and record your show and we can help you get it up and running.

For more information on how to get started: https://www.gkmedia.ie/podcasts

Choosing the Best Social Media Platform for your Business or Brand

Often when a company brings us in to manage their social media accounts or want to share a video we produced for them – they’re not sure which platform to focus on.

A common question they have is – ‘Do we need to be present on all major platforms - Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and SnapChat?’

My first response is - ‘Where is your audience and what are they consuming online?’

For many years, Facebook was the default place to go. Every business was told to have a Facebook page. Some businesses even chose having a Facebook page over having a website.

The second thing I always say is – ‘Don’t become reliant on one social media platform.’

Why? Because like Bebo, Friendster, Google+, Vine, Woo Media, etc., one day this platform may no longer exist, or work for your business like it used to.

You need to know where your audience is now, and be prepared to adapt alongside the changing digital habits of your online market. If you’re struggling to understand what platforms those are, keep reading.

Facebook

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has shifted his attention away from Facebook, instead focusing on building the Metaverse. Meanwhile their stock has dropped by 60% this year and many major brands are leaving Facebook due to its poor organic reach.

However this has now left a bigger space for smaller businesses with less of a marketing budget to shine, as the massive budgets of big companies aren’t saturating the platform. If your target audience is over the age of 30, Facebook ads for marketing are still extremely relevant. Facebook has a robust online advertising tool integrated into the platform, allowing you to tailor your ads by demographic and interest more so than on other social media outlets.

Instagram

Instagram users can be of any age, making it a powerful tool to reach any age demographic.

20% of the time people now spend on Instagram is watching reels. if you are on Instagram, you need to be publishing reels at least on a weekly basis.

Instagram reels have many benefits that TikTok has, but the reach is less confined to a younger audience. A mix of reels, stories, and image posts, allows you to build connections with your existing customers, engaging with them on a more personal level than LinkedIn or Facebook. If you’re selling a product, their integrated shopping section can generate more direct sales -with a selling fee of 5% per shipment.

TikTok

TikTok has gone from a niche social network for lip-syncing teens to the fastest growing app in the western world, with one billion active users worldwide with users spending an average of 52 minutes per day on the app.

Marketers are drawn to TikTok as it reflects a key social media trend for creative skills and collaboration amongst young audiences. However, it does seem to be retaining its audience as they age, and as it continues to grow in popularity, older generations are getting in on the action too.

Brands can boost their credibility and friendly brand image by being at the forefront of Tiktok’s cutting-edge trends. Huge budgets are not required for video content creation either. Spontaneous content produced in ordinary surroundings is common for even the biggest of brands, such as Ryanair, Duolingo and even the WHO.

TikTok is not a platform heavily used for advertising, but they do have a big winning tool - their algorithm.

Tiktok’s algorithm especially knows what the user finds interesting based on their online activity, making it one of the best platforms to reach a global audience that will show content to your typical customer profile. Combining light-hearted or informational content and inviting collaborators to speak about your business can help build brand awareness and drive traffic to your website or store.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the best for B2B and B2C marketing, but it may take some extra networking effort to reach your ideal customer.

Ask yourself if your audience is on LinkedIn at least a few times a week. LinkedIn users span all ages, from newly-graduated college students to c-suite executives. This audience is looking to build their personal or business success in some way by building their LinkedIn network.

When using LinkedIn to accomplish your business goals, it’s important that you’re prepared to engage with others’ content, too.

Top Tip: To engage on a deeper level with your audience, search LinkedIn for industry groups to join that align with your company and audience interests. This can be a good way to locate relevant people within your industry.

Twitter

Twitter has 206 million daily active users, seen as an authentic network to share opinions and its real-time nature is perfect for sharing breaking news and urgent updates.

Twitter is most popular amongst the 25-34-year-old age bracket (38%) followed by 35-49-year-olds (20%) according to Statista. In terms of gender, more men use the network at 62 percent compared to 38 percent of women.

Marketers can use it to start conversations and engage users and deal with complaints or queries in real-time. Many big brands now use it to respond to trending news, using humour to increase their otherwise corporate brand image. Retweets can be a great way to drive engagement amongst your user base and create a discussion or get feedback from a particular user and their followers.

How to grow on any platform

Frequent posting of engaging content is essential for the algorithm to want to show your content to current and potential customers. If you’re posting content and then going offline straight after, you may not get the results you were hoping for.

If you need help in developing an online campaign or even better - have an experienced team manage your social media accounts for you - producing video assets, graphics, engaging with your audience, building sales funnels and monitoring your online growth – then don’t hesitate to contact the team here at GKMedia.ie

6 Benefits of Podcasting

With attention spans at an all-time low, audiences are often looking for ways to consume quality information while they are busy driving, cleaning, working, or out for an evening stroll.

While Podcasts are no longer new, they have now been around long enough to gain huge popularity, and are still a growing content platform. Whether it is to provide educational content, share a meaningful story, or give people a behind-the-scenes look into your business, podcasting is one of the best ways to get people tuned in.

Let’s look at 6 reasons why:

1. Expand your network and connect with like-minded individuals:

   With podcasting, you can connect with people who share your interests and learn from experts in your industry. By interviewing guests and sharing their insights with your audience, you can build relationships that benefit everyone involved.

2. Convenience for listeners:

   Podcasts can be accessed and listened to anytime, anywhere, and on any device, making them a convenient way for audiences to consume content on-the-go.

3. Share your unique perspective:

   By starting a podcast, you can share your thoughts and opinions on various topics and attract a dedicated following of listeners who appreciate your perspective.

   4. Promote your brand and business:

   Podcasting can be an effective way to build your brand and promote your business, creating a more personal connection with your audience and fostering brand loyalty.

   5. Tell your story and connect emotionally:

   By sharing your personal story on a podcast, you can create a deeper emotional connection with your audience, motivating and inspiring them with your experiences.

   6. Have fun and unleash your creativity:

   Podcasting is a creative outlet that allows you to express yourself freely and have fun while doing it. You never know what moments of humor or insight might resonate with your audience and lead to unexpected success.

Where to Start

If you think podcasting is a good move for your business but don’t know where to start, we have our own podcast studio with everything you need to produce a professional and high quality podcast. Come and record your show and we can help you get it up and running.

For more information visit: https://www.gkmedia.ie/podcasts