How to Build a Brand That Never Goes Out of Style—Because It’s YOU with Sigute Zitikyte
“Don’t wait for it to feel real before you start. Start, and it becomes real.”
Sigute Zitikyte reveals how to build a future-proof brand rooted in identity, and not just your skills, so you can evolve without starting your brand from scratch. This is the path to building a brand that grows with you.
Sigute is a personal brand strategist, writer, and business coach leading the Multi-Passionate movement—a platform created for high-achieving women who are done choosing between their creativity, ambition, and authenticity.
She’s helped hundreds of women stop playing small, embrace the full spectrum of who they are, and confidently build brands that reflect who they are, not just their résumés. From breaking cycles of people-pleasing to owning their voice and vision, Sigute teaches you how to build with clarity, consistency, and courage.
After years working at companies like Mindvalley and Shopify, Sigute took everything she learned and went all-in on helping professionals become the thought leaders they know they’re meant to be.
Today, she shares powerful insights with her audience of growth-minded creatives, leaders, and entrepreneurs on LinkedIn, where she writes daily.
She’s also the author of Multipassionate: How to Claim Your Identity and Radiate in a Linear World, a book that helps women reconnect with their purpose by following what lights them up.
This episode is for you if:
You’re ready to build a brand that expands with you
You’re craving the clarity, confidence, and community to grow a brand that’s rooted in who you are, not just what you do.
You want to stop hiding parts of yourself and fully own your multi-passionate identity.
Looking for a specific gem?
00:00 Introducing Sigute
02:26 Where Sigute's Story Begins
03:40 Why Identity Shaped Her Brand Voice
05:00 Does Your Environment Give You the Nourishment You Need?
07:11 Split Identity or Secret Superpower?
08:40 The Moment It All Clicked in Malaysia
10:00 How Her Parents Inspired Her Reading & Writing
13:12 Why Sigute Always Had 3 Jobs
13:41 Planting Seeds In Your Career
17:55 Applying to Mindvalley with 24 Hours’ Notice
21:57 How Mindvalley Shaped Her View of Work
23:58 Starting Her First Blog in Kuala Lumpur
29:10 Getting Her Dream Job at Shopify
31:14 Starting Her Fractional Consulting Business
33:12 The Truth About Long-Term Brand Building
34:30 The Value of a Resonant Audience
37:33 How Sigute Avoids Getting Trapped in Her Business
39:30 How to Sell to a High-Caliber Audience
42:13 Her Long-Term Vision: A Villa in France
44:08 A Morning Routine Rooted in Joy
58:30 Pouring Love into the Everyday
🎬 This interview was edited by Chara Ho, Co-Founder of Zesty Nobody
Conversation Transcript
Naomi Haile: I'd love for you to start by sharing a little bit more about your origin story, how you grew up, what you enjoyed doing as a child, and the big influences that you had growing up.
Sigute Zitikyte: Yeah, well, the first question that I've always had growing up, of course, is having a unique name here in Canada. Sigute—that's not, you know, a traditional Canadian name by any stretch of the imagination. And so, we can start all the way back to being born in Lithuania, which is a small country in Eastern Europe, and that's where I was born. We moved to Canada when I was five, and the older I get, the more I look back at that childhood and really put the pieces together of why I am the way that I am.
I think so much of my multi-passionate piece is the fact that I was born into European values and then raised with North American values. You can immediately imagine what that looks like—the culture being different. And then also, I came to Canada with certain types of food that I was eating, certain ways of dressing, of being. I even say whenever somebody speaks a different language, they almost have a different personality in that language. It brings out a different, maybe like, wittiness or flair to it.
And so, there was a lot of integrating then into, what is Canada? Like, what do people wear? What do they eat? What do they do? And there was a lot of blending in at the time. As children, right, we're obviously blending in. And so, then I'm like, that's definitely where that branding, that positioning, that finding who am I, authentically in this community of how everybody else is, comes in. And reclaiming that part of myself was huge.
Then, another big part of it, right? I was born right at the time of the Soviet Union collapsing. So, truly, genuinely, my first human memories on the planet were of my family celebrating at these rallies. Lithuania was actually the first country to break free from the Soviet Union, and then it entirely collapsed a year later. So, I think I have this strong optimism in my DNA that even 50 years of repression—you can, like, break free of it. And so much of that is like, hey, if we can do that, we can leave corporate and do our own business. Like, we good, we good. And so, that was a big part of it.
And then, you know, after something like that, where the culture completely changes—it crumbles, right? You have to rebuild it. I also think my parents made a really pivotal decision at the time to take the family and move us to Canada. They had a choice: do we stick in an environment where we're going to have a harder life, where opportunities are not going to be there? Or—you know, we're not a tree—we can plant ourselves elsewhere. They moved to Canada, and it's like the environment completely changed the future of my entire life.
And so, again, that sort of flexibility of focusing on, yeah, but is the environment giving you the sunlight and the nourishment and the food to be who you want to be? That plays another big part of me, where I always talk about being in the right environment for the craft or the gift or the purpose that you have as well. Sometimes, you know, corporate supports you for a while, and then it doesn’t, and you move into entrepreneurship.
And so, all of those things, I think, are like the core values of who I am as a human being. And I pinpoint it, really, to those first probably five or ten years of my life.
Naomi Haile: Wow. When did that click for you—being able to draw back to that? Because you were still very young at that age, and so I'm assuming, like, through conversations with your parents over time. Are you also the eldest? Did you come alone with your parents, or did you have other siblings that made that journey with you as well?
Sigute Zitikyte: I’m the middle one now. So, our younger sister was born here in Canada. When we moved, I was, I guess, the baby—the second one—and I have an older sister.
Naomi Haile: Okay, and so those realizations for you—of, you know, your country's history, and even your decision, like your parents' decision to make a change for your family and, you know, come start anew in a new place—when did you start having those types of conversations? When did you start to peel back, like, oh, these experiences played into how I see the world, how I see myself, how I can overcome and rise and help others do the same? Did that click in your teens, or was it earlier?
Sigute Zitikyte: It's interesting. I grew up not understanding this, but my grandmother used to always tell me how much harder it is for me because of this. She would always say, when you're in Canada, you're never fully Canadian, and when you're back home here in Lithuania, you're not fully Lithuanian. You're always kind of these two parts of yourself. And I think I grew up with a little bit of that split identity, in a way.
Even going back every summer to Europe, even just the fashion is a couple of years ahead in Europe. So the things that I would buy and bring home, I’m like, oh God, I can’t wear this because it’s not gonna, you know, fit the norm right now—maybe in two years I’ll be able to pull it out. So it kind of was, like, two parts of myself. And I just thought that was normal as a kid. You’re like, oh yeah, everyone has two personalities and lives, I guess. Which is probably where my split identity ended up going when I got older, with, like, corporate is here, and then my fun side is here, and my friend side is here.
But for me, it’s when I moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to work at Mindvalley. I was in my early 20s, and it was really interesting because it’s a hub of so many cultures—like from Europe, from Asia, from North America, from everywhere. And it was a really hard exercise for me, because I arrived there, and I’m always used to calling myself Canadian. I arrived there, and they’re like, okay, you’re Canadian, but you’re not. Like, you kind of remind us of the Europeans here—like, what’s going on?
And it was the first time where I wasn’t just in Europe or just in North America. I was in a third location—Asia—living with people, integrating, and then noticing that I am like a split of the two cultures into one human. And that’s when I was like, oh God, okay. This explains why, even though I’m like hustle, hustle, grind—North American values—there’s also part of me that’s about Joie de Vivre and romanticizing life. That’s my European influence, right?
And I think since then, I’ve just been on a journey of figuring out, okay, well, I’m a unique blend puzzle, like we all are, right? But for me, I was forced to address that because I was two cultures.
Naomi Haile: Wow, yeah, I was gonna ask about that experience of going abroad. I had a similar experience when I came to New York and moved to the US, where, although the culture is more similar to where I came from in Canada, I think in people's minds, a Canadian looks a certain way. And so I’m like, oh, I’m from here, and I grew up here, and I was born here. But, like, my heritage actually roots back all the way to Ethiopia and Tigray specifically.
And so it’s cool that there are so many different parts of our identities, and depending on, you know, the environment that you’re in, you can draw from more of it and really also just, like, recreate yourself in a way. And so it sounds like you did a lot of self-discovery during that time.
I’d be very curious to learn about how, growing up, your parents encouraged you to explore your curiosities. How was it for them adjusting to a new country? Did that show up in how they raised you and your siblings in Canada?
Sigute Zitikyte: Well, one thing that it really did was, because my parents moved here speaking just the basic English that you would have learned in high school, my mom really dove into reading—whether it’s fiction, non-fiction, just everything—and pushed that on us from a young age. Every word that you see that you don’t know—she was sitting there with a dictionary beside her, highlighting the words, learning them, you know, to build her fluency in English. And so I think, probably for that reason, I’m just such a big reader. I’ve always been a big reader, henceforth now a writer, which is so big. I don’t think you can be a reader when you were younger and not end up becoming a writer, just because of your love for the words and the craft of putting words together to create feelings and these worlds that exist out there.
So that was a really big, big piece of it. And then the other thing is, you know, we did not have family here, right? I remember when COVID hit, and I had so many friends saying, “Oh my God, this is the first time in my life I can’t spend Christmas with my grandparents,” and I’m like, “Oh yeah, welcome to the club.” That’s been, you know, since I was, like, five years old. I actually don’t know what it’s like to spend Christmas with your grandparents. And so, because of that, that’s another thing that my parents really pushed—holidays—very hard, right? It was just the four of us until my little sister was born. Then it was the five of us, but that was our family. That was our crazy Christmas—a small, intimate family dinner.
And so, because of that, there was always the decor and the trees and the gifts, and just really, really putting so much effort into it. Like, Valentine’s Day was huge. Birthdays were huge all the time. So I think that has also influenced just how I treat every—not just holiday—but every experience. I’m like, how can we love it more? How can we add more joy to it, more sparkle to it, right? Not taking anything for granted. And, you know, even if it isn’t the fabulous, big, 20-person Christmas, how can you still make it feel like it is?
So I would say those are the two big things from moving to Canada that, at least, my parents raised me to really value, and I’m grateful for that.
Naomi Haile: That’s, that’s beautiful. Um, there was something—so I went back and listened to a couple of your interviews. And before we get into your career journey and your journey into entrepreneurship, there was a story that you had shared—or a joke, really—was that growing up, you always had, like, three income streams. You know, you had multiple jobs at once.
And that was something that was a reality for me growing up. My friend invited me to join her in the summers and work part-time at a golf course, and I, you know, worked at coffee shops and stuff. And so, for you, multiple jobs—juggling that with school—I can imagine. Was that you following your curiosities? What was that that drew you to always, like, staying busy and trying, you know, different experiences?
Sigute Zitikyte: That’s such a good question. And, to me, it’s just the only way of being that I know. I’m gonna say, I think this has so much to do with my parents and my grandparents. I come from such a growth-minded family. All the time, they’re always, you know—even my grandfather would always talk about having his career, and then at nighttime, he’s also doing the next school or education to up-level.
And so I always talk about, in the multi-passionate journey, it’s always planting that next seed while you’re building out this current seed—letting it glow and grow and blossom. And then you step into the next seed, and you’re always planting the next one and thinking strategically ahead. It’s almost like I play my life and my career with a bit of chess. What’s coming down the pipeline? Let me start at least planting a seed there.
And so that’s how it always was for me. Even, you know, my parents ended up getting divorced, and my mom had been a stay-at-home mom until that point. Now, she’s in a new country, doesn’t have any work experience, doesn’t have a network, right? So now it’s like, okay, let me find something. And thankfully, you know, she had some connections, she was able to find work. But then she went to school in the evenings—every night—to study, to learn, to grow, so she could upgrade her job. And it was kind of that journey of working at night to plant the seeds for the next opportunity.
And so I think that’s just normal for me. I think that was embedded in me. I always had that. I think my first job was as a gymnastics instructor. That kind of happened organically. I was doing gymnastics—that was the sport that I loved growing up. And then my coach asked me if I wanted to help volunteer, because I think I was 14, so you can’t work. So I was volunteering, getting my high school credits, which we all had to get, which was great. And then, I think the day I turned 16, she’s like, “All right, do you want to start working?” And so that was my first job.
I did that. Then I went—you know, I did restaurants in the evenings, and just always had something going. Then I dove into real estate when I was in university. That was something that I really loved. And so, yeah, just always filling my time. I definitely was a busybody.
Naomi Haile: I just see so much of how I operate as well in your story. And, you know, my parents also came from a different country and had to figure it all out—on their own, but also with their peers. And it’s not easy, but I think there’s this ingrained resilience and confidence in knowing that you’re going to figure it out, irregardless of how hard it is in this moment.
That comment about strategically thinking about the next thing and planting seeds in advance—you know, in some cases, years in advance—at that age, is that what you strategically knew you were doing? Or was it the model that you saw, like in your mom or in your older family members, that made you think, This is just normal. This is how we all operate. This is what I need to do to position myself well?
What were you actually thinking about at that age, juggling all these different activities?
Sigute Zitikyte: Probably a mix of both. But there were definitely ambitions that I had and a sense of knowing that I would want to take little pivot steps for myself.
So, even thinking about when I moved to Mindvalley in Asia—that was a total random plot from the universe. However, the things that I first started when I—let’s just call it—when I hit 20, like when I finished university, got my first job, and was working in finance, I was like, hell yeah.
I, you know, was watching Suits at the time. I’m like, This is she. She has arrived—business suit.
And then, probably a year or two in, I was like, oh no, no. I am not obsessed with finance as much as everybody else. And that’s something that I knew very well—if I’m not obsessed with something, I’m not going to become the best. And so why am I wasting my time being second fiddle in my career? That’s when I started thinking about, okay, what do I want?
At the time, I really wanted to go into real estate. I think that’s probably normal—10 years ago, that was, like, the entrepreneurial path: real estate. There was no online world. This was, like, 15 years ago. And so that was my vision. I’m like, well, I have to leave Ottawa if I want to work at some big developer, and I have to probably move to Toronto, at the very least, here in Canada. And to do that, I also needed to integrate myself into the real estate community.
So I was very big on understanding the network that I needed to build. I actually went down that path—I started going to networking events for real estate investors, got into the groups, and I actually bought and flipped a property in Chicago at the time. Youthful delusion—it worked out great, but like a funny, random part of my past.
It was through that journey, doing that, and priming my brain with, I am leaving Ottawa, and I’m gonna pursue real estate, that actually a contact from real estate went to Mindvalley, posted on his Facebook that they were hiring, and that’s how it happened. So there’s always that trust of, like, really pushing and taking action for whatever goal you have, but also being open to the fact that something might come out of left field and actually be the thing you’re meant to go down on.
So, practically, that’s actually how it looked for me. There was strategy, but also openness to what was gonna come flying at me.
Naomi Haile: Yeah, that’s great. And when you saw that opportunity that your contact posted, what drew you to wanting to learn more and then, you know, following suit with your application or sending in that you were interested? What was it specifically that stood out to you?
Sigute Zitikyte: The thing that just resonated so hard was, I’ve always loved—I grew up reading self-help, Tony Robbins. That was my jam, watching Oprah every day. This was, again, like my split personality—the thing that I secretly did at home, and I don’t think my friends read those books at that time. It was just such a me thing that I quietly did.
And so when I saw a position at Mindvalley to be the head of partnerships, to build partnerships with these people whose books I’m reading, I was like, first of all, what the heck, this is a job? Yeah, this is a job. Number two was, wait a minute, you’re telling me there are other people my age who love this, who read these books? Like, get me over there. Those were the things that really resonated for me.
And then the one thing I have to be so grateful for is that friend of mine—well, I guess acquaintance, I’ll say at the time—you know, because I’d met him at some networking events. He’s a really, really good salesperson. And so he told me, “If you’re interested, submit your application within 24 hours, and I’ll vouch for you. I’ll get you the job.” Wow. Not, you know, “I’ll put in a good word for you.”
And so I literally, I remember sitting—it was a YouTube three-minute video application, before any of us were used to selfies or, like, photos or anything. And I remember doing, like, 20 takes, and they progressively just got worse and worse and worse. But I had to do it. It was like, okay, 24 hours, I have to send it. Maybe he was bluffing. I’m sure he’s bluffing. But since that day, I really—that’s when I fell in love with sales, because I saw what an act of love and service it is to give someone that push, to not let their fears stop them from doing something that they genuinely want.
And so it’s not like an aggressive push, but it’s like, “Yo, you want this. I’m gonna put pressure on you. You’re gonna execute.” And literally, that was it. 24 hours later, my application was in. I think a couple weeks later, I was on a call with Vishen, and two weeks after that, I was in Asia. So I moved fast.
Naomi Haile: Wow and it’s because you were open to possibilities and things that weren’t necessarily in your plan—to see it and say, “Oh, this piques my interest. Oh, my gosh, this is a whole world that I can explore,” and just lean into it. I love that that’s a part of your story because it’s also probably teed up every other thing you’ve done since then, right?
And so, talk to me about your time there. In the interviews you’ve done, I didn’t actually hear more about what that experience was like. To find your people that were your age, as you mentioned, who had shared your interests—but I’m assuming, like, actually being able to meet in person, or even through virtual mechanisms like this, the people whose books you were reading and actually help them increase their visibility.
What that did for you mentally, what that did for you emotionally, how that opened up your world—what was that experience like for you?
Sigute Zitikyte: So many things—so many things that I also picked up by osmosis as well. Yeah, right? If you need to learn a language, they say, go move to that country for two months, and you’ll learn it faster than reading any books. And so, in so many ways, one of the biggest things was a complete breakage of what work is.
As an example, I remember the first week going there, and we would always go for lunch, right? I remember we were gone for lunch for an hour, and I started physically sweating, like, we need to get back to the office. My little bell was going off—it’s been an hour—and everybody was just like, Yo, chill. Two-hour lunches were the norm. The founder, Vishen, would come with us for two hours—that was just how you did things. And, you know, people would come in at 10 a.m., some would come at 11 a.m., others at 7 a.m., and then you’d stay until whenever. There was absolutely no time connection to work, which completely broke things for me.
And then, there was the fact that you would go for dinners and parties together and spend time with everyone all the time. It merged the identities of personal and professional and just, like, integrated it. It would be Friday night at an amazing party, and you’d sit with someone and get into a topic that you love. Then, on Monday, you’d be like, Hey, let’s continue that conversation and actually build a project out of it. Everything was so integrated with what we were into and passionate about.
That was one thing. The second thing was being around, at the time, 100 people at the office, and all of us had very different creative pursuits or passions—whatever you want to call it. I actually felt like the odd one out for not having a side hustle, side business, or side pursuit. That was kind of the joke—you join Mindvalley, and you build a business because everybody else is doing it. That was the norm. The default. It was like, Oh, you like cooking? Well, why don’t you have a blog with recipes? Or, You love marketing? Okay, why aren’t you working with clients and marketing for them? What do you mean? Why aren’t you doing something?
It was the first time for me where I had always secretly written, and they were like, Oh, you like to write and take photos? Why don’t you have a blog? Start it. So, I started a blog when I was there. I had a few girlfriends, and we would go to cafes together on the weekends. That’s probably one of my favorite, favorite memories—Saturday mornings, you find a cute cafe, have your little avo toast, pull out your laptops, write, and then talk about what we wrote. It just integrated everything so well.
The biggest thing is, when I moved back to Ottawa a month later, I stopped the blog. I was like, Oh, well, no one’s doing it here. I don’t have anyone to go for coffees with. The questions I would always get were, Oh, what are you gonna do with the blog? What’s the point of that? Why are you doing it? What are you trying to do? And it just—talk about killing your creativity and putting pressure on it, right? So it naturally fizzled out, and I really lost that part of it.
Since then, I’ve always wanted to recreate that feeling, which I know I was telling you a little bit before we hopped on the call. I haven’t fully officially launched it yet, but something I’ve been working on for the past few months is my Thought Leader Society. It’s just a place for women to come together on the same journey of what we’re doing. I really want to recreate that Mindvalley feeling—where we’re all doing maybe different things, but we’re all doing it. It’s cool to be passionate about something. It’s cool to put effort into it. It’s cool to wake up Saturday morning, go to a cafe, and write. I want to create that kind of energy, specifically for women in corporate who may not have anyone to connect with—whether they’re building a side hustle, just starting their business, or maybe the only one in their friend group who has a business. I don’t want it to be isolating because my first steps into entrepreneurship were actually the most connected I’ve ever felt in my life.
The third piece of it was being around all these thought leaders before thought leadership was even a thing. I got to see the reality of the behind-the-scenes. Sometimes, we look at someone and think, Oh, they have this cool business or this shiny YouTube channel, but actually seeing the real businessperson behind it—you got to be on those calls to get sponsorships. If you want them, you better be up late at night fixing whatever you need to fix so that your video goes out. You’ve got to be split testing. There’s just so much strategy that you can’t see on the front side of a beautiful finished result.
Tactically, being able to see that, I went into it being aware of the craft of being a business-minded person who gets to work, does what they need to do, and makes sure the finished product is at the caliber they want. That was probably the biggest thing. The hustle doesn’t stop. You could be an author on stages, a millionaire—the hustle doesn’t stop. Maybe you have a bigger team to delegate to, and you’re a little bit more integrated, but you’re still working. And that’s why it’s so important to find something that you love and to do something you enjoy, because you’ll be doing it full time.
Naomi Haile: What happened after you came back? You said you, you know, you stopped your blog, and I think, like, the community that you described, that you had when you were in Kuala Lumpur, is so much of what, when that’s missing, you hope to create in some way—through community building, just going to events, and trying to find your people. And, in this case, online, finding your people as well.
So, I’m curious to know what your move was after coming back to Ottawa and noticing—I’m assuming—it was a big lifestyle shift coming back. Was your aim immediately to move somewhere else? Or was it more like, How can I make the most of where I am right now and maybe attract what it is that I’m looking for in my own environment and build that? What did those next steps look like for you? And how did you eventually go on to take your skills directly to the marketplace in the work that you’re doing right now?
Sigute Zitikyte: So a big reason why I moved back was that I noticed in my last year of living in Kuala Lumpur, all of my trips stopped being, you know, to Thailand, to Bali, to Japan. They started being back home to Ottawa because I missed my family and wanted to be around them. And so I thought, Okay, it’s time to reverse it. Now, make Ottawa my home base, and I can actually travel to different locations, because travel is such a big thing for me.
So that was the latter, from what you’re saying: Okay, my home base is going to be in Ottawa. How can I make it work? How can I make the most of it? I didn’t want to regress back to the high school group, high school patterns, and ways of life, even though that was amazing. But, you know, we’re here for future growth and expansion.
When I moved back, I had one goal: get a job at Shopify. That was my Mecca. In a government town, Shopify was the one place where I knew my people—the entrepreneurs—would be. So I really pushed for it. I think if I hadn’t gotten the job, I probably would have left Ottawa to do who knows what. There’s an alternate reality where there’s a secrete living right now. But it worked out, thankfully.
It was an amazing community of people, and I sort of rebuilt an experience that I loved here. I’m a big believer that you can create your reality wherever you are. And especially now, after COVID and the shift toward people wanting more space and not wanting to be in a busy, hectic downtown all the time, it has opened opportunities for however you want to live. That also meant there was a little bit of effort up front for me to build that community for myself.
I think a lot of times we reach a point where we can’t just find a community to fit into, where they see all of us. And especially in the tech world, like, half of me was seen—the business side of me, the go, go, go, the entrepreneurial ideas—but the other side of me, the feminine side, the creative side, was not being seen at Shopify. I just remember talking to everyone there, and they’d be like, Yeah, I’m launching this app, I’m coming up with this idea, we’re going to get together and build an agency. And I was like, Yo, that is not what I want to do at all.
So again, I had to plant my own seeds. How did I start? I really started with LinkedIn—a weekly newsletter on LinkedIn. I don’t even know if LinkedIn newsletters are a thing anymore, but that’s what I started with. Then I started my newsletter and began posting a lot more frequently on LinkedIn. I started to shift the network I had and the dynamic, even with coworkers. I started having different conversations because they knew what they could come to me for, which was a lot more about positioning yourself, branding, online business, and the online world. I became a little bit of a mini guru inside Shopify. If anybody wanted to start a side hustle or an online business, that’s what they came to me for.
Even at that point, I started my side hustle. I tapped back into my Mindvalley community and started consulting and helping people there, knowing it would evolve. It evolved several times up to where we are today, but I kind of let that journey unfold. It’s why I’m a really big fan of side hustling—so that you have financial stability, your systems and routines down pat, and then you can build something on the side and unleash it when you’re ready.
I find the time constraint really helpful. If you know you only have an hour every night to work on your business, you’re going to work on it. But if you have all day, you’re like, Ah, I’ll do it later, and then it doesn’t happen. Things like that, which we often think are a bug, are actually a feature of the side hustle. Not having desperate energy while building your business is key.
I’ve never taken on a client I didn’t want to work with, which is such a luxury. So many people feel like they have to work with clients they don’t like, and that’s the biggest killer of a business—working with clients you don’t like, doing work you don’t like. Then you blow it all up and say it wasn’t for you. I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Naomi Haile: Yeah, and for the individuals that you're that you met at Shopify, you know in the company, or the individuals that you tap back into from your Mind Valley days, what was the thread of where those people were at and how they were thinking about making a change in their life or in their career or in their business? Where were you meeting people and where and what stage were they really coming to you for advice and support?
Sigute Zitikyte: That's a good question. So I started with a consulting business, working with top thought leaders. Because of my background at Mindvalley and the work I was doing at Shopify, I was going in and helping them scale their businesses, right?
So whether it was building out partnership programs, supporting book launches—anything that involved scaling their impact as business owners—that’s where I would join their team. Sort of FRAC, we call it now, fractional consulting. That’s really what I was doing.
I’d go in, help with that. If they wanted to set up group memberships, if they had online courses, if they had products—even, I think, because of my Shopify side, a lot of people felt comfortable launching their products with me. So it was a lot of working with these thought leaders who, looking back now, I can see how, because they built that foundation with a strong brand and a really strong audience, they could now sell in different ways and build a career wherever their curiosity led them.
I got to work with coaches who became online creators, who then became authors. And now they had this total financial baseline where they were like, Oh, I want to launch a tea product. Let’s go. Ooh, now I want to do this. And I got to see, firsthand, the glory of putting in the damn work to build something for yourself.
And so I was doing that, and then I was like, Yeah, I’m doing that for myself. Let’s go.
Naomi Haile: And so, like, services-based businesses are such a great entry because they're, you know, low cost and give you access to people who need what you’re selling and what your expertise is.
How—when did you—so, you mentioned the newsletters that you started off with on LinkedIn, and then eventually finding people where your message really resonated. And now, you post online every day on LinkedIn.
Your content, from what I see, resonates with people on such a deep level. The engagement that you have—the Oh, I feel so seen responses from what you write and share online—I think it just speaks to the fact that you've done this for yourself and that you've had hundreds, if not thousands, of conversations with people. Like, you really understand where their mindset is and what's potentially blocking them.
So, for those who know they want to build a side hustle, are in the midst of building one right now, have a consulting business, or are looking to fully leave their job and build their portfolio career—what would you say to them?
From a place of consistency, how do they need to show up? And then also, from a mindset perspective, what does it take? Because you've seen it, and you've been behind the scenes.
Sigute Zitikyte: Such a good question. I think there’s so much power in building your own community and your own audience. And that’s exactly what you were just saying—because you get the feedback.
We have this thing where we don’t want to share our side hustle, passion project, or idea until it feels real to us. And the irony is that it’s only going to feel real when you’ve talked to people and learned from them—what they want, what language they use, right?
We’re all starting—again, tech speak—but we’re all starting with an MVP. We’re all starting with a hypothesis, and then we’re going out, seeing how people react, what they resonate with, and then we do more of that.
Going through that experimentation phase is really important. And honestly, the best place to start, and the best time to start, is before you need it—because you have the luxury of figuring it out, having the conversations you want to have, and finding the people who want to have those conversations. Once you’ve locked that in, I’m like, you’re golden. Now we’re just adding fuel to the fire and building it out.
And there’s a level of safety, stability, and security when you have a core group of people that you understand, who understand you, and who you know will give you feedback—who will want to work with you.
A client actually recently called me the queen of MVP. She’s like, Listen, I’ve been following you for like six years. Whatever you create, I’m the first one who’s going to give you feedback on it, talk to you about it—all of these things.
And so, I have a mindset of: I’m co-creating with my audience whatever they need in the next step of their journey. And I think that’s a really big differentiator too, which I appreciate—and I love that you caught it.
The resonance on LinkedIn—there’s what you do, the how-tos, the hacks, and here’s how to do things. And then there’s, Here’s who I am—my values, my integrity, how I see the world.
And so, you can choose which type of audience you want to build. As a multi-passionate person, as someone who’s always growing, I’m building an audience that’s aligned with my values, how I see the world, and how they see their direction and their future growing.
Because guess what? I have the freedom now to grow because I know they’re growing with me. Growth-mindedness is a big value that we all share. And so, you know—playing big, being seen, using our voice, creating change in the world, creating impact. These are all people who have creativity, so they’re going to want to create things. We’re all growing together.
And I’m just always one step ahead of my peer group, able to go, Okay, do you guys need this? Okay, let me build it out. Building that way so I’m never trapped in a business.
Versus what I’ve seen a lot is: Here’s the one thing that I do, the skill set that I have. And now I’ve grown out of it, but you guys only want me for this skill set. If I choose something else, I’m going to have to start from scratch, right? Or then AI comes, and suddenly, we don’t need this skill anymore, and you’re like, Oh my God, I put all my eggs into this one skill.
And so, for me, it’s always like: How can I reinvent before the world blows up what I have right now?
Naomi Haile: I love that. That piece about not being trapped in a business is everything.
And as you were talking about the values and mindsets of the people that you have—like, you listed out six or seven different ones—I’m like, those are the people. You’ve been able to identify that in yourself, and so everything you write, everything you put out there, is true to who you are.
And so, you’re only attracting people who really align with and see the world in a similar way. They may not agree on all fronts, but there’s a way of life that is in agreement and in alignment—which is amazing that you’ve built that.
Sigute Zitikyte: And sometimes it’s hard—unless you’re really into spirituality, mindset, and all of these things—it’s really hard to say this to the average person and have them not think you’re wacko. But there is, like, an energy frequency in the world—low vibe, high vibe. And it’s actually scientifically proven; you can definitely read books on it.
As you evolve to higher states of being—right, from anger, frustration, and scarcity mindset—and you move into more abundance, where there’s opportunity and love, you start to shift. You begin asking, How is this happening for me, not just to me? Instead of feeling like you’re being punished.
As you rise in those levels, you just can’t tolerate the lower frequencies anymore, right? If you’re in an abundant state, you’re like, I’m allergic to scarcity right now.
And I think the biggest thing for me was growing out of people-pleasing—for myself and my own journey—which, hi, hello, I had to grow out of. And now, it’s hard for me to go all the way back down to someone who’s stuck in it and not willing to at least have the awareness and grow through it.
That’s why they say, in certain circles, your confidence is going to look like arrogance. And like, I don’t have time for that, right? If we’re confident, I don’t have time to second-guess why I’m confident just because you think I’m arrogant. I’m just like, no—different vibe, different frequency.
And so, we just need that community—the people at each level—to meet us where we’re at.
And I think that’s the intangible part of a brand. Like, where are you at? Are you also entering that phase of your spiritual evolution? Are you still in a scarcity mindset?
That’s why how you sell is part of your brand. If I’m like, Naomi, are you depressed and broken? I have a product for you!—I’m not going to attract you. Because you’re like, No, I’m not depressed and broken. I’m somebody who’s forward-thinking.
So, to you, I would speak to your vision—to, you know, blah, blah, blah, having this grand vision. That’s how I’m going to sell to a high-caliber, premium audience.
And so, anybody who’s like, I made $600K last month by doing this!—I’m like, Have fun. But you’re going to build an audience that, unless you are at that frequency as well, you’re not going to resonate with.
And so, it just removes any sort of competition or comparison or anything. Because I know who I’m building for, and I don’t care what tactics you’re using, because I’m here for the long game.
I always joke—I’m building an audience and a community where, when we’re 80, we’ll be in a villa in France, sipping wine, being like, Ah, it’s a good life. It’s a good life.
And I’m like, That’s my final business. I’m going to have, like, a villa Airbnb experience. Who knows what it’ll be, but that’s my—yeah, we’re just all going to retire together in a commune in France. So stay tuned.
Naomi Haile: I heard you say that, and I’m like, so resonant. Me and my partner were just in Spain, and I’m like, the food here, the peace of mind, everything.
And so, I love that in your mind—I know you’re far, like, in terms of timeline, like, there’s still life to live—but who knows? I love that that is part of your vision because it informs the way that you move today. It informs your language. It informs what you’re willing to tolerate if it doesn’t align with where you’re going.
I’m curious to know, as we wrap up the episode, how you fuel yourself spiritually. Because you talked about the different levels of energy and frequency, and that also, to an extent, involves a level of protecting your peace.
So, what do you do for yourself to stay energized, to stay in a state of joy, love, and peace?
Do you journal?
Sigute Zitikyte: I journaled for a really long time, like a decade straight, not having missed a single day. Now, I’m a little bit lighter on that, but certain things are just so foundational. I think it always starts with the body. You have to, like, move—especially if you’re somebody who’s in your head a lot. Movement, sweat, exercise. So, like, every single day, every morning, I’m working out just to ground myself.
I do a lot of—I was actually, it’s so funny—I wake up at 5 in the morning, and it’s dark and cold, and we can have all these excuses. This morning, I caught myself. I got out of bed being like, ugh, and immediately—it’s just something in my brain—I was like, Look at me, badass, getting up at 5 a.m. We’re gonna love this work. Look what we’re doing for us. We’re gonna have such a big day. That’s just the internal dialogue in my head. And I think that is something you just rewire, right?
Like, negative thoughts—I’d love to ruminate. Listen, let me tell you, I love to ruminate. It’s like potato chips for me. I could just sit on the couch and think, That person pissed me off, or, like, let me just pick at this, you know, like picking a scab. You want to keep going. But you have to be the adult in the room and say, Okay, we’re not ruminating. On to the next. And then, over time, as you break that circuit, it naturally starts happening.
And yeah, I’ve always had this awareness, like when I wake up. I think it’s actually proven now—I’ve been hearing a lot of podcasts about it—that we naturally wake up in a state where we have more negative thoughts. So I’ve just accepted that as my way of life. I’ll probably wake up and think, I just want to stay in bed, but I’ve rewired it to go, Okay, now we’re going to have a good day. No overthinking—straight to the gym, workout, and then I come back and read for 15 minutes. Whatever book I have, probably five books going at all times—fiction, nonfiction, this, that, or the other. I need the variety. So I do that.
Then I shower and get ready. I was actually telling a friend yesterday—my morning routine, putting on some light makeup, doing my hair—that’s like my meditation in action. And it really is. It’s so funny how we try to optimize our mornings, like, cut this out, cut that out. I remember for many years, there were a lot of women who would say, Oh, it’s unfair that we have to do our makeup and hair—it’s so easy for men. But if we just shift our mindset: What if you use that time? I listen to podcasts then, or audiobooks, whatever energy I need for the day. I’ll think, Oh, I need a little Mel Robbins today, or I need a little Naomi today. Whatever flavor I need to fill my cup, I pour that into my morning. Or sometimes it’s just doing my hair and thinking, Oh, I love my hair today; this is great. Or, I love how my eyes look today. Just pouring love into yourself.
That’s a really big part of my grounding process. After that, I write on LinkedIn. Every morning, I sit down, pull out my Notes app, scroll through to see what I want to write about, and then write. It’s an activity that forces me to sit down and re-ground myself: Who am I writing for? What do I want them to feel? What energy do I want to give? Let me connect back to my mission. Every day, I’m re-grounding myself and my goals. I create the content, and then I’m off to the races.
In the evenings, I try to have a little fun time with my partner. We’ll watch a movie, go for a walk, or do something—always a nice dinner. Then I take my bath at night and go to bed.
Where boundaries come in is not feeling like I should be doing something else, or thinking, I need to be going out every night to be seen, or anything like that. You need those boundaries. I’ve become so cognizant of this. If I have a conversation with someone and feel depleted after, I’m like, We’re in the fade. We’re in the fade. Gotta figure this out because I can’t have that. I can’t have my energy depleted when there are other people, like this conversation, where I’m energized after.
It’s just recognizing what your soul needs at this time and going for it. That can be tough, but you’ve gotta do it.
Naomi Haile: Yeah, thank you for sharing your morning routine and how you've—like, when you were talking about even just getting ready, doing your hair, doing your makeup—what a beautiful way to take care of yourself.
And like, what a beautiful moment before you start your day and start talking to all these other people, to first talk to yourself and really just talk about the day you want to have and affirm yourself. I love that. That’s beautiful.
Sigute Zitikyte: And we have to—you know, the things that we put effort into—then we’re like, if you put time, effort, and energy into yourself, then think about what you’re telling yourself: I’m worthy of effort.
And so, if somebody treats you like crap in your life, you’re like, Oh no, no, no. Yeah, I am way— not how we roll. My hair? Not how we roll. Like, no, no.
Do you know I just spent 20 minutes on my hair today? That’s how much I love myself. You’re not doing this to me or calling me this way or anything like that.
It just really elevates your standards the more you pour into yourself. So, big believer in that.
Naomi Haile: I love that. Thank you. Thank you for this. I’d love for you to tell people where they can connect with you. We’ve talked about LinkedIn, your book—your book, Multi-Passionate as well. Yeah. How do you like to connect with people online, and where can they find you?
Sigute Zitikyte: I always say, Come to LinkedIn, search for my name. I'm the only one there with that name—you'll find me. And then I have my website, where you can dive even deeper into who I am and what I stand for. But I love just the conversations on LinkedIn all the time. And, yeah, there are always different ways to work with me, but I always say, let’s get to know each other, and then we can go from there.
Naomi Haile: Amazing. Amazing. Thank you. Thank you for making the time to speak with me, sanguta, and thank you to everyone who has listened to this episode of The Power of why podcast. We will catch you in the next one.
Sigute Zitikyte: Amazing. Thanks, Naomi, thank you.
Connect with Sigute
LinkedIn: Sigute Zitikyte
Book: Multi-Passionate: How to Claim Your Identity and Radiate as a Multi-Passionate in a Linear World
Website: sigutezitikyte.com
Instagram: Sigute Zitikyte
Connect with Naomi
Website: naomihaile.com
LinkedIn: Naomi Haile
Instagram: @naomiahaile
Twitter: @naomiathaile