How to Lean into your Flaws and be YOUniquely You

What You’ll Learn

• [11:30] About Luria’s views on perfectionism
• [17:30] About Luria’s personal mission to embrace her flaws
• [19:15] About the pivotal moments in Luria’s journey to video confidence
• [26:00] Luria’s advice on discovering who you really are
• [34:20] How to lean into your flaws
• [51:35] How to put all this into practice

Have You Met Luria?

Over the last 14 years, Luria has created over 5,000 videos with over 1 billion views using video and live streaming shows. She’s appeared on CNN, NBC, FOX, NBC, MSNBC, ABC & BBC. She’s worked on LIVE Video for top brands like AT&T, Samsung, GoDaddy, and Panasonic.

Her business, Live Streaming Pros, has built LIVE video studios for top influencers like Amy Porterfield, Pat Flynn, Ryan Levesque, Donald Miller, and Michael Hyatt.

It’s safe to say that when it comes to live video, she knows her stuff!

So, why has it taken me so bloomin’ long to have this conversation with Luria? Honestly, I’ve been planning to invite her to chat for a long time, but something held me back.

Luria Weighs in on the Curse of Perfectionism
Listen at [11:30]

Actually, there were two things that held me back: perfectionism and comparisonitis.

Of course, I know that these are both terribly common; most of us suffer from them from time to time and if I’ve learnt anything over the last few years, it’s that doing live video, with all of its unpredictability, is the perfect antidote to both.

But I’m curious to learn Luria’s take on perfectionism and comparison syndrome (now that I’ve plucked up the courage to actually talk to her!)

It’s a Personal Mission
Listen at [17:30]

Luria admits that she has skin in the game when it comes to her mission, which is a transformation that she’s embarked upon herself.

The Pivotal Moments on Luria’s Journey To Confidence
Listen at [19:15]

If you’ve ever seen Luria on video, you’d be forgiven for being sceptical at this point; she always comes across as supremely comfortable in front of the camera.

But she confesses she wasn’t always so confident.

In fact, she used to be so nervous she’d plan every single thing to the nth degree. She recalls a particular podcast she appeared on as a guest, she needed to know every question in advance so she could script her answers. And her first invitation to appear on live video terrified her.

But, having stumbled her way through it, thinking she was awful, she was shocked when everyone around her told her how amazing she had been.

If that was one pivotal experience for Luria, another such moment came a few years later, in the early days of Live Streaming Pros. It was a huge transition involving both a change of name and a complete change of direction, not easy when you already have an audience of two million followers.

She describes herself as having gone deep into serious, buttoned-up, ‘professional mode’ at the time and says, “I lost out on a lot of opportunities because I wasn’t coming out as myself. It was a really awkward phase of re-learning how to be ‘me’ on camera.”

It was a hard process for her, and one that saw her lose the bulk of those 2m followers she’d amassed by that point in her career. But she figured it out and doing so marked a huge moment for her. Live Streaming Pros now works with some huge names!

The final significant moment came when she did the fourth episode of her YOUniquely You™ podcast.

Discovering Who You Are
Listen at [26:00]

Each of those moments was so significant because of the role they played in helping Luria discover who she is. And she has some thoughts for those of you who perhaps feel that you’re still in the midst of that process.

Having started in the business at such a young age, around 23/24, she feels like she’s had to grow up (professionally speaking, at least) under the watchful eye of the community she’d built, and that comes with its own set of challenges.

And she points out that if your audience is there because they’ve connected with YOU as well as with your content, they will stick with you no matter what transition you’re going through.

Leaning Into Your Flaws
Listen at [34:20]

Returning to our chat about flaws, I know that whether you’re concerned about how you look, your accent or something else entirely, so many of you put off doing live videos because of your ‘flaws’.

And Luria gets it.

When asked to talk about her own perceived flaws, she’s more than happy to start reeling off everything from a forehead that (she thinks) is too big, a gummy smile, and an annoying laugh to over-sized nostrils!

Of course, when I admit that I’ve noticed literally zero of those things during our conversation, I help Luria make her key point:

No one else notices your flaws. No one else sees you the way that you see you. And that can be hugely liberating.

Another ‘flaw’ she points out is her lack of knowledge when it comes to pop culture references. Growing up without a TV and with only certain forms of content, music, etc. being allowed, she missed out on a whole load of cultural references, in conversation they often go right over her head.

And it used to bother her. But now, what she does is lean into her ‘flaw’ by embracing it: she’s a fan of humour and not taking herself too seriously so she’ll either make fun of herself if she doesn’t get a reference or make a huge deal of it if someone talks about something she does get.

Now, it’s become a part of her, of who she is. Her audience uses #popcultureref in her posts and celebrates with her when she makes a big deal of understanding a pop culture reference. Something she was initially embarrassed about has actually become the source of some really cool conversations. She’s turned her flaw around and “used it as an engagement factor”!

In fact, more than merely leaning into her flaws, she discovered that with her audience’s help, it’s possible to love them because her audience has come to love them.
And while she admits that you don’t want to rely on external factors when it comes to learning to love your flaws, she acknowledges that validation from your audience can act as a powerful jump-start for the process.

Putting It Into Practice
Listen at [51:35]

So, if you’re sitting there thinking, well, that’s all well and good for a clearly flawless superstar like Luria, but how do I learn to embrace MY flaws?

Luria reckons sometimes you just have to feel the fear of exposing your flaws… and do it anyway.

Like one of her YOUniquely You™ community members, who was stressing about not being able to get her hair done after COVID hit. She just decided that she was going to go for it: she was going to go live, grey hair and all!

If you want to explore a community of people who are there to support you through your journey, to hold you accountable, check out Luria’s free Facebook group. It’s a safe environment with absolutely NO judgment!

Resources

Luria’s free Facebook group
Live Streaming Pros