Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan - Telling Your Story with Kindra Hall Episode 5

Episode Date: June 11, 2019

The award-winning columnist, author, and national champion storyteller about her journey through public speaking, the great reason to have haters, and her new book "Stories That Stick" And thank you to today's sponsors: Drop = Download the app that'll save you money on the things you shop for everyday at the App Store or Google Play and receive a $5 giftcard when you sign up with code CONFIDENCE The Great Courses Plus = Go to TheGreatCourses.com/CONFIDENCE today for access to their ent ire library FREE for an entire month! Review this podcast on Apple Podcast using this link and when you DM me the screenshot, I buy you my $299 video course as a thank you! Click here to review!  My book Confidence Creator is available now! Get it right here ! If you are looking for more tips you can download my free E-book at my website and th ank you! DM your questions for the show Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Thank you for listening to this podcast one production available on Apple podcasts and podcast one This is no ordinary sub shop this is firehouse subs Tired of overpriced lunches that under deliver on flavor head to firehouse subs where for a limited time You can get a 499 choice sub choose from a medium-smoke turkey, Virginia Honey Ham or roast beef. They're custom-made hot subs that are priced ready-made to make you smile. Just 499, only at Firehouse subs. Enjoy more subs, save more lives.

Participating locations plus tax limited time offer prices make very for delivery. Want to get paid to shop? Yes, please. Want to take shopping to the next level? Of course. Let me tell you about drop, the free app that gives out cash Awards for the shopping you do every day. All you have to do is link your debit or credit cards to the app when you sign up

Select the stores you shop at most and you'll earn points every time you spend there before you know it You can redeem your points for gift cards to places like Amazon, Sephora, Lulule and countless more. Drop is incredibly easy to use, designed for people who want their money to go as far as possible. The more you spend, the more drop gets to know you. Shop at brands you love and discover ones you're about to. It's a totally personalized shopping experience designed to get you rewarded as quickly as possible.

Unlike most reward programs, you're able to earn and redeem across a ton of next-level brands whenever you want. We're talking no lengthy phone calls or receipt scanning to redeem your points. Everything is done through the app. You'll accumulate points very quickly because the brands you're earning points from are the ones you literally spend on every day. For a limited time, if you head to the Apple Store or Google Play and sign up for drop using

code confidence, you'll receive a $5 gift card right away. Make sure to link your debit or credit card to the app when you sign up to redeem your reward. To receive your $5 gift card immediately at signing up, download the drop app at the App Store Google Play and sign up for better tomorrow. After no sleep, yeah. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me.

I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me.

I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm on this journey with me. I'm really excited about this episode because I love my guest. However, I'm excited to bring this episode to you because this is what you keep asking me. I keep getting DMs and comments on my post about how do you speak publicly?

How do you become a public speaker? How do you get started? And like you, I have been right there. I didn't know. I literally have no idea. I left corporate America, this very clear, linear world, and entered this world I knew absolutely nothing about. And I've just been making my way trying to figure it all out. And some days are easier than others and some days are incredibly challenging. However, I figured some of this stuff out. So the speaking thing is one portion I've figured out

and one of the ways I did that is I was connected to a very successful speaker who was years ahead of me. It's actually my guest today. And I guess it was a year ago, probably, when we were first introduced. And she spent some time on the phone with me really explaining how to get some things done. And it helped immensely. So I want to give you an overview of what I've learned. So speaking, the speaking business is huge. It's extremely profitable. People make anywhere from $10,000 for a keynote upwards of 500,000 for a 60-minute keynote. And it depends on who you are and obviously

a number of different things. Past presidents make a lot more money than I currently do. So it's a rewarding career. It's a great business and it's definitely something that if you have an inkling that you want to tell your story and take a stage, you need to take some steps to do so. The first thing that I did was I was challenged by someone to get out of my comfort zone and take a stand-up comedy class, which I did not love doing, but when I did it, one of the things I realized is I had a very easy

time standing on stage telling my story. It wasn't hard for me and that's, that doesn't have to be the way it is for you. In fact, I want to highlight that the way that I came into the speaking business is completely opposite way of how my guests came into the speaking business. So success doesn't have to look one way. You don't have to do it just one way, the way I do it or the way she did it. You can do it your way and you can create success. However that looks for you.

It doesn't have to be linear. In fact, it won't be. So I didn't even know people got paid for speeches. I had been speaking for over two decades in corporate America, and no one paid me back then. I just did my job, and that was part of the deal. And I started speaking for charities and MC events while I was still in corporate America.

And then I launched my personal brand, and all of these things were small steps that were taking me towards something bigger, something that I didn't even know existed. So it's important for you to keep your eyes open in your life. What steps are you taking? Where is the road taking you that maybe you don't even realize exists yet? But one of the key things is to meet different people, talk to people in different industries, different parts of the country, because connecting those dots together is really gonna help you see what potential is out there,

what industry you're not aware of yet, what opportunity, what white space exists that you just haven't found yet. So connecting those dots are critical. So I took the comedy class. I started seeing that speaking was something that was a power of mine. I started taking more stages, any type of charity event that I could take I would go. I had been speaking for years as a sales leader in leading my teams and at different events within the industry I was in. But again,

never got paid for it. So when I got fired and and I wrote my first book, Competence Creator, I did a lot of homework on how do you sell books? And I found out, speaking as one of the best ways to sell books. So I said, oh great, I can do that. So the first thing I did, and this is a big Gary Vism, is I spoke for free. And I spoke for free for, gosh, it was at least six months. It might have been eight. And the reason why I did that is I wanted to sell my book. I needed to get my book out there and I had been told this worked.

So I started going to different companies that I knew reaching out to people and saying, hey, I'd love to bring my message of competence creation to you. Here's how it's going to bring you value. And I'm not even going to charge you for coming. I just, you know, I really want to share my message. And what that would do is it would sell a lot of books for me.

People would like the message. I would talk about what you're going to learn from the book. And then that would drive book sales. So that was sort of all I thought there was from speaking. I didn't still really understand. Well during this time I met someone who was focused on building brands and she shared with me, you know, you might want to think about becoming a professional speaker. And I said, well, how do you go about doing that? And you know, we had this whole dialogue that you need a speaker real and a speaker kid and a

speaker page and you need ray reviews of your work. And so I thought, okay, I'm speaking for free. I can get this stuff from the people I'm speaking for for free. So I started asking and I want you to ask what no matter what your job is, whether you're a speaker or not, it doesn't matter. Ask people when they say to you, hey, you did a great job today. Wow, thank you. Do you mind putting that in an email form so I can use it for my LinkedIn profile or my website? You know, you want to convert those opportunities in that moment when someone's giving you good feedback. And if you know you did great at something

and no one said anything, ask them, hey, how did that presentation that I did go for you? Did you like it? Are you happy with the work I've done? Would you be willing to write a review for me? So we live in a review and recommendation world and it's on each one of us to convert those opportunities and capitalize on them. I have a testimonial page on my website all about what it's like to work with me, to read my book, to see me speak. You know, I really try to make sure that I don't need to be the one singing my own praise when I have

other people willing to do it for me. But again, it's key and critical. Do it in the moment because a week later, two weeks later, people get busy and move on. So wherever you are in your job, make sure that next time you get great feedback, jump on it and convert it into a review for you and at least put it on LinkedIn if you don't have your own site yet. So all this was going on and my book was coming out and my book started taking off and I had realized, oh there's agents out there, the book speakers and speakers get paid a lot, I need an agent. Well first of all, this is, you know, mic drop moment. People look for agents and want agents, but when you're actually ready for an agent an agent will find you and the reason why that is the case

And I'm so familiar with this business now that as we're sitting here over a year and a half later Is that speaker agents work on commission? So they want to book Bill Clinton because he gets paid $500,000 a keynote. They don't want to spend time pitching junior Sally who just started a speaking career because she's only getting paid $10,000 a speech. So you do the math and it's obvious. It makes sense. Speaker agents spend their time, energy and effort, booking and pitching the highest profile

speakers that garner the most money. Because that way they make more money, right? So it makes a lot of sense. So I spent quite a bit of time pitching myself early on to speaker agencies and being told no and being told I'm not unique. And then my book, Confidence Creator, Trump, Trump for number one on Amazon Business Biography.

And I took that screenshot and I sent it to Harry Walker. And when they saw that pitch that I sent, I told them why I am unique, why I am a viable speaker for them and how my speaking career is going to take off and what that trajectory will look like and how it will bring value to them. You know, always making it about them. And that's when I got back to,

yes, so they picked me up. I didn't know back then. They weren't going to be out hustling pitching me. They would handle inbound requests for me, but it was on me to get out and hustle and pitch me. So that's what I did. And I got right back to sales because that's all this really is, it's sales. So I got back out to pitching myself to speak and speaking at different, speaking engagement so I could build up my reel. And then the reel is different shots and video footage of you speaking on different stages

and for different audiences and then showcasing the reviews that you have. So I was out and about doing this and speaking so many places for free. When finally someone, I don't even remember exactly how it happened, I contacted someone So I was out and about doing this and speaking so many places for free. When finally someone, I don't even remember exactly how it happened, I contacted someone pitching them on me and they said, what are you charge? And so I had to make up a number, I didn't know.

And in the beginning on anything, it's super scary because you wonder, am I worth that? But I had seen enough other speakers out there that I knew, I started saying, yeah, I am worth that. But I had seen enough other speakers out there that I knew I started saying, yeah, I am worth that. And then this is something I remember too. I had done Elena Cardone show her podcast. And when I got home after meeting with her and enjoyed being with her, I googled her and I saw she was charging $50,000 for her keynote. And I thought, whoa, okay, that inspires me that I get to kick up my pricing a little bit here because I definitely know that she's a strong, woman strong speaker, but I know that I am too.

And I've got 20 plus years speaking publicly and speaking in corporate America, I need to start charging more. So there's been a lot of different steps and missteps along the way. And finally, I decided I can't keep giving away my service if I want to be valued for that. And it's not fair if some people pay

and some people don't pay. So I decided to create a solution where if people couldn't afford my service, I would try to work out a solution with them. For example, you know, you could pay for a portion of it through your social media and promoting me because that will help expand my reach. And we just have to do the math and work out the numbers

to make sure it's worth it for me. But the idea of me speaking anymore for free was done. And it actually came back to bite me. I had spoken for a large bank and they were telling everyone in their company what a great speaker I was when other parts of the country reached out from the same brand asking for me to speak and I told them my rate. They said, but we heard you spoke for the one in Florida for free. Why would we pay

you? And so it is important at some point you have to draw, you know, you speak for free, you work for free to learn and create expertise and feedback and reviews and recommendations. But then you get to a point and you're hurting yourself by speaking for free or doing something else for free. So I did what I had to do until I didn't have to do it any longer. Then I had the reel was done. Then I had a speaker kit which essentially showcases what audiences will get when I come into speak. What is what knowledge am I imparting? What is the value prop for that audience? And then I showcase if I'm speaking for women, this is a takeaway. If I'm speaking for men and women in the workforce,

this is a takeaway. If I'm speaking for athletes, this is a takeaway. So you really refine the different approach and pitch to the very specific audience that you could potentially be working with and cater to them so they get the most value for it. So along that way I was connected to our guest today and she's light years ahead of me. Actually we find out it's four years ahead of me that she is and she's doing exceptionally well. Literally the top of the top and you can Google her, you will see the stages this woman has taken and you can just imagine the value that she is getting in return for it. So she's blown up and she deserves it. She's such a

talented person, such a great message to spread. I'm so excited and proud of her. But she spent an hour on the phone with me when I had no idea what I was doing and she helped me to have a really strong realization. I was fishing in the wrong pool. And what I mean by that is I was out pitching myself and hustling and it's a numbers game and I had a goal in mind and I was chasing it down and I was getting nose and my pitch was getting better. I was filling in the gaps. I was getting the real done. I was getting the speaker kit done, I was refining my approach. However, through that whole time period, I was still focusing on the space I knew. I was focusing on friends that I had in my community and the companies they worked

for because that was easy. I was focusing on my past career in media because that's who I knew and I had so many contacts. It was easy to call people and ask if I could speak for them. However, that small pool that I had, they did not pay speakers. So as I began to create pricing boundaries and increase pricing, I was seeing that people couldn't afford it. I was pitching the wrong potential customer.

And so Ken, what I wanna say, oh, I guess I'll say my guess is Kendra, Kendra, open my eyes to this. And she let me know you're fishing in this pool that doesn't have the fish you want. So jump out of that pool, get into the other one. There's this old, this other pool over here. And it's got everybody you want in it. And so she said to me, target people go on and look at speakers and look who they've spoken for, write a list. Those are the companies you want to speak for. Those are the ones that have the budget Heather. Then she taught me about associations and associations is the mothership of how to

really get paid in the speaking business. So I want you to take this information and know this did not happen overnight. For me, this has been, I had a 20 year plus career in corporate America, speaking every single day, not getting paid for it. Then I went out on my own and for the past year and a half, I've been building and refining my approach. Now I am a paid public speaker. I am with GDA speakers. I am with Harry Walker speaker agency.

I do have agency representation. However, it's still on me most of the time to pitch myself. So if you want to make something happen, you need to move fast, break things and figure it out along the way through tapping others, through helping other people, and oftentimes working for free in order to create the experience and expertise you need to get ahead. And then you need to start valuing yourself, which that's scary too. So the whole thing is a process. I definitely have learned so much about this business.

And again, this is not you need to the speaking business. I've also gone through similar experiences with the eLearning business with my video course. And now I'm going through it with podcasting right here with you right now. Yay fam! Thanks for being with me. So I keep entering into new business segments and trying to figure out how do I best connect these dots? How do I optimize things?

How can I become more efficient better? And how do I get to that next level? And it's about continually being scared and not knowing, but showing up as a beginner and taking those steps each day, each week, and now, each year. So I'm really excited for you to meet Kendra today. She blows me away, and the trajectory she's had is beyond impressive, but it definitely inspires me

to my potential and having her raise the bar on what how much money you can make and how much speakers make. It's just it's really exciting. So whatever it is that you want to do, know that you don't have to have all the answers today to figure it out. Just keep going forward because one of these days you're gonna get connected to a Kindra or someone who's leap years, tens of years ahead of you and that person might share some insight that you weren't previously aware of and now you start connecting the dots on your own. So I'm really excited for

you to meet my next guest, Kindra. In order to stay open and prepared for new possibilities, it's so important that we keep learning and developing our skills. That's what the Great Courses Plus is all about. Founded on the idea that education should be accessible to everyone, they made it possible to learn from the brightest minds out there that most of us who never otherwise have access to, including professors from the best universities in the world like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford, as well as experts from national geographic and the Smithsonian, and so many more. This is college-level learning. But without student loans, the pressures of homework, or grades, and the other great courses

plus app makes it possible to watch or listen to lectures at any time. And with a wide array of topics, you can check out anything that you're interested in, including their course on influence, mastering life's most powerful skill, and so many more. And right now for listeners of creating confidence, they're giving away a special, limited time offer, a free month of unlimited access to their entire library. Just go to thegreatcoursesplus.com slash confidence, and start your free month today. That's thegreatcoursesPlus.com forward slash confidence. So welcome back. I'm so glad you're joining me today and I'm so excited for you to meet

my guest. Kendra Hall is president and chief storytelling officer at Stellar Collective, a consulting firm focused on the strategic application of storytelling to today's communication challenges. Kendra is one of the most sought after keynote speakers, and that is back, trusted by global brands to deliver presentations and trainings that inspire teams, individuals to better communicate the value of their company or products. What began as a storytelling assignment in 5th grade grew into a passion, not only for telling stories, but a true mastery for teaching others the methods and science

of storytelling, which I had no idea about. So I'm so excited for you guys to meet her. She was a national champion storyteller that is so weird. Remember of the board of directors of a Storytelling Network didn't know that existed and has a master's degree in communications. She conducted original research studying the role of storytelling and defining and revealing organizational culture. Kendra is a former director of marketing, VP of Sales, and today Kendra's work can be seen ink.com, entrepreneur.com.ator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www.indicator.com, www. means that audiences leave feeling excited and equipped to finally put their stories to work.

Kendra lives in Manhattan with her husband, young son, and daughter. And when she's not traveling, she could be on a spin bike where she used to be a spin teacher. But Kendra, we need to add and author of stories that stick to this bio. I know, oh, I know, maybe the bio is, it's, it's obsolete now. It's, or it's at least dated. There's a whole new iteration. And that's something I'm really excited to talk with you about today is your new book. So thank you so much for making time. I know that you've been all over the world and I appreciate you being here.

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be a part of this like movement that you're creating to be right here at the beginning. It's awesome. Oh good, I'm so glad. All right, so to give a little background, Kendra and I were introduced from a mutual friend and Kendra is such a nice person. I want everybody to know this that she genuinely helped me out and really gave me some insights and strategy around my business at a time when I was trying to figure things out and I was very confused. So, Kendra's the real deal. You definitely have to check her out on Instagram. I follow her and definitely some of the questions that I came up with for today come from following you on social

because you really bear a lot about yourself where you are and the things that are, your stories that are happening as they unfold, which I think is really cool to follow. Yeah, and you know what, I've learned, I think, you know, being a storyteller and then marrying that with, you know, the necessity of social media in a business and building a brand, what's fascinating is the posts that get the most response and engagement and this and building a brand, what's fascinating is the posts that get the most response and engagement and sharing and reposting are the ones where I am telling a story that is, you know, has some degree of vulnerability there. And I think that people are hungry for stories and they're hungry to know the real story, the true story, the story behind

the story. So I know, I love following you there and it's how fun. Like we feel like we know each other right? And we've never actually met in person. I know that's so tragic. We have to change that. I know we will change that soon. In one of these cities we will. Yes. So one of the things I want to start out with today and I'm asked so much about this and I know you are as well is how do you get into public speaking? How do you become a professional speaker? And like you, you know, Kendra, you're so far beyond, you know, success in that arena. And so many people just don't understand how do you get from ground zero to the top of the top. Can you walk us through how that works? Yeah, definitely. Well, and I think to your point, and your whole message, a lot of it just has to do

with confidence, which is funny. I say that. I feel like that was always the thing that was missing from you. So I just went forward on the actions and hopes that the confidence would follow. on the actions and hope that the confidence would follow. But for me, you know, I always, when I was growing up, I was on the speech team. I was very popular, Heather, you should know that. Just like all the speeches. That sounds so tragic, I know. I know, it's very popular.

But it made sure, it like desensitized me to the fact of having to speak in front of people. Like that was something I knew how to do. I still get nervous about it. It's still very intimidating. It's still very intense, but it was training that I had had. So that was great. But I think ultimately, the key to getting into, getting into, if you will, public speaking is to figure out what the message is that you want to share with the world, what is your story. And I say that where I feel like people think that if they don't have like some huge big story, like if they didn't climb Mount Everest, if they weren't diagnosed with a terminal disease and overcame it, that they don't have a story that's worth sharing. That is certainly not the case.

disease and overcame it that they don't have a story that's worth sharing. That is certainly not the case. You have an experience, if you, if you have any desire to get into public speaking as a career, as a professional, whatever level, it means that there's a message, there's a story inside you that wants to get out. So I number two, who wants to, who wants to hear that message? Who's going to resonate with it? Who would that message make a difference for National security experts are warning our aging power grid is more vulnerable than ever. January marked the third time a power station North Carolina was damaged by gunfire. Authorities are saying the attack raises a new level of threat. Authorities are now checking our grid for vulnerabilities. They've identified nine key substations. If these substations are attacked, power could be knocked out from coast to coast for up to 18 months. Imagine a black outlasting, not days, but weeks or months, your life would be frozen right in time right when the power goes out. That's why having your own solar power is more important than ever. With the Patriot Power Generator, you get a solar generator that doesn't install into your house because it's portable. You can take it with you. Even use it inside. But it's powerful,

enough for your phones, medical devices, or even your fridge. And right now, you can go to FordPatreots.com and use code Confidence to get 10% off your first purchase on anything in the store, including the Patriot Power Generator. You'll also get their famous guarantee for an entire year after your order. Plus, free shipping on orders over $97, and a portion of every sale is donated to charities who support our veterans and their families. Just go to 4patriots.com and use code confidence to get 10% off.

That's 4patriots.com and use code confidence to get 10% off. That's forpatriots.com and use code confidence to get yours today. If your business earns millions or tens of millions of revenue, stop what you're doing and take a listen because NetSuite by Oracle has just rolled out the best offer we've ever seen. NetSuite gives you the visibility control you need to make better decisions faster.

And for the first time in NetSuite's 22 years as the number one cloud financial system, you can defer payments of a full NetSweet implementation for six months. That's no payment, no interest for six months. And you can take advantage of this special financing offer today. NetSweet is number one, because they give your business

everything you need in real time, all in one place, to reduce manual processes, boost efficiency, build forecast, and increase productivity across every department. Now, listen, the importance of having all this information in one place to make better decisions is unprecedented. The offer in that suite is giving you is unbelievable. And it's making it all possible for you to have it.

Now, 33,000 companies have already upgraded to NetSuite gaining visibility and control over their financials, inventory, HR, e-commerce, and more. If you've been sizing NetSuite up to make the switch, then you know this deal is unprecedented. No interest, no payments. Take advantage of the special financing offer at NetSuite.com. Slash Monahan. NetSuite.com. Sl slash monahann to get the visibility and control you need to weather any storm net sweet dot com slash monahann those are the first two steps. So one of the things that you know I figured out trying to get into the speaking career or getting paid to speak was that I needed to speak for free first. Would you agree with that? Yeah, that was a big, which is, I don't know, it sometimes feels a little bit

demoralizing, right? And there's a lot of debate now about whether or not you should work for free. Like, should you paint murals for free as you're trying to gain clients? Should you do consulting for free when you are you devaluing yourself? And I actually just wrote an article for Success Magazine that there was about this, about the importance, I think they title that, I can't take credit for the title,

they did this, the pro of pro bono. What a great title, right? Nicely done. But the reality is, the reality is when you're just getting started, particularly in speaking, you need to test your message, you need to put it through some audiences, you need to put it through the fire. I will say, you know, like one of the first, like one of the first speeches I gave, it

wasn't the first, but it was one of the first. It was not good, Heather. Like, I kept, I didn't, they had a hand-hull and I wasn't good with a hand-hull. I didn't use any slides because I was like, I'm a storyteller, I don't need any slides. Everybody was kind of lost, it didn't make much sense. It was, I finished and you, somebody who's a national champion story, like I know how to speak,

but I hadn't put in the reps on this particular message on this particular thing that I was sharing and it wasn't good. It was a good thing they didn't pay me because I would have had to give them their money back. I'm pretty sure it was devastating for me, but I do think that that you have to you should like you should you should get paid when you're like this is worth this is worth being paid for but the only way to get to that point particularly in speaking is by doing it. Well, and the other point I want to add on to what you just said is you know not only do you want to make sure you're good enough and this is a practice vehicle, you know, that's give allowing you, you know, to test the material, as you said. But also, you need to develop a speaker reel. Because no one's going to hire a speaker. And I didn't know this a year ago. I thought my resume spoke for itself. Obviously, I would be a good speaker. Well, no one was offering me money

to come in until I had a developed speaker reel. Reviews, rave reviews, and then a speaker kit. I didn't know any of that stuff was necessary. Yeah, I, and I think you can also sound more complicated than it. So speaker reel. So I put together my first speaker reel. And it was pretty much a clip of me talking

in my sales position that I had had several years before, mush together with some direct-to-camera stuff that I had done, like for my blog or that was a bot in YouTube, and then a bunch of fonts that kind of moved all around, that said, as seen in, and I like, I didn't make things up, it was all true, but none of it like really, so it was very, very basic. The video wasn't good, but it was enough

that people could get a flavor in a sense for me on stage, and then once they I sent that with an email, they would take a look. But yeah, they won't take a look unless you have some sort of video. So that's an important thing. This is something you're thinking about. And you're like, oh, I don't have a huge professional design demo reel, speaker reel. No, just get some clips of you. And if you don't have those clips, and this is the other part, when I was then wanting to get to the next level, is if it was an event that maybe didn't pay, but had a video crew there,

or I could bring a video crew in, it was basically like, I will work for video, because I used to do better clips, right, to prove that I was good at what I was doing right. That makes a lot of sense. So now you've got the real setup and that was a good solution you came up with to get around having a big produced real because a lot of those challenges will stop people cold and they should stop you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. So I could have had a real done so far before I did and now I'm annoyed that I didn't think of that.

So okay, you have the real done. You've got an outline of what your story is going to be that you're going to share with the world and why you, the unique value proposition, as well as some type of a kit, something you can sense of people. Here's what you opened my eyes to. I was fishing in a pool with companies and businesses that didn't allocate dollars for speakers. You opened my eyes to the associations

where this different pool that you could fish in that had billions of dollars available for speakers. So how do you direct people to that area? So I would say the next step after, well, it's not, none of it, you know, how they show that graphic of like point eight, a point B, and this is success and what you think it looks linear. But it's actually like all these loops and like devastating lows.

But so, so I'm not exactly sure the timeline per say, but I do remember I was at an event that I just randomly got invited to because they read an article that I like did online or something and they said, hey would you come speak to our event about storytelling? And I was like, yes. And they said, what are you charged? And I just like threw out a number. I didn't know. And then they wrote me back and said, we can be this much. And I said, yes. So I went and spoke, but when I was there, I met a young man who was also a speaker and he was further along than I was. And I was there, I met a young man who was also a speaker and

he was further along than I was. And he was like, yeah, people get paid like 10 grand to do this. And I was like, wait, what, how much can I make? So I asked him, like we both spoke at the event, we were both still there the next day. And so I went up and I bought him a coffee and I said, what, so what should I do next? And he said, wow, and he was kind of just, I don't know, he didn't, you know, like, I don't think sometimes when you give advice to people

who are just a few steps behind you, you don't realize how important that advice is gonna be. He was like, well, just find some people that might wanna hear about what you're doing. He's like, I don't know, reach out to some CBBs, like customer, or what is CBB standpoint? It's like a traveler and visitors bureau, but convention and visitors bureaus. He's like, I don't know, reach out to some

CBBs and see if they know. So it wasn't that wasn't the best advice because they gave it out to CBBs and nobody wrote me back. But what I did do in that moment, what he really was saying was think of people who would want to hear the message that you have to deliver and then reach out to them. So I set a goal for myself to reach out to them. So I set a goal for myself to reach out to 100 events, people, organizations, 100 a week for six weeks. So I would sit down in front of my Excel spreadsheet and I would spend the first couple days of the week like looking up and I would Google women in business and it would show me all these associations

for women in business, women's events. So, and then I would put each one into the spreadsheet with the email, with the phone number, with the address, whatever. And then I would Google Marketing conferences because of course my message is storytelling. And about using story in marketing, and using story in business, and using stories and sales,

I go, I feel like marketing was like what I'm doing. And I found a bunch of marketing events and the American Marketing Association was a big one for me. I found the American Marketing Association one of their chapters. And I was like, oh, well, if they have Wisconsin chapter, certainly they have Johnson chapter, certainly they have, you know, um, Michigan chapter or, uh, and so then all of a sudden I found like 70 chapters. So that was a good day for me because I'm like, oh, that's like 70 of my 100. And then I just sat down at the end of the week and methodically emailed each one of them. I sent them a really short email.

This is what I do. This is what it'll do for you. Here's a link to my video. I actually didn't attach any PDFs or packets, if you will, because I didn't want the email to get caught in their spam folder. So I just sent it with a link to the video and then if they wanted more, they could write me. And I would always say, if you're not the person to speak to about this, because with associations of the leadership changes frequently, I said, would you please pass it to the person

who does make the decisions? Thank you so much. It was very gracious, very, because there was. I'm like, please somebody, just help me. I need your help to make this happen. Well, after the six weeks, I did send out 600, and I heard back from, I didn't hear back from all 600 of them, but I did hear back from a handful and a handful is all I needed.

So then I spoke for a few of those, I started getting those reviews and then it just, it went from there. So I spoke, I remember one day I spoke for the Indianapolis chapter and now this is one of my, it was probably like my fourth or fifth keynote and it was really, it was getting really good. And I remember speaking at that event and being like, there were 75 people there for the luncheon, being like, I finished and I was like, yes, like that's it, like I did it. And I got four, I think it was four calls from that event and four different jobs just from that one event.

And yeah, they don't pay when you go speak at the luncheon, you know, they maybe they pay your travel, but the people in the room or the decision-makers of people that then have that higher speakers for their company events. So yeah, I mean, it was a lot of her. Like I would come home every night. My eyes would be all crossed from like sitting there

and I'm like, I'm a storyteller and here I am just like digging into this excels red sheet but it changed everything. How many years ago was that? About four years ago though. Hold on, let me put this on the year or the month thing. That's actually not that long, Kendra, when you think about how you were struggling just to

find paid speaking gigs and to find that right audience for you and to refine your presentation, to go from that real low level beginner spot to being one of the top definitely one of the top female keynote speakers in the United States. It was, it did go, It went very quickly. Sometimes when it works, it just works. And I know that my, like, my trajectory was faster than some people's and more and slower than others. So I think that's an important thing is to not compare yourself to other people. Because I can get, I can get into that trap and there are people, people you know that I follow and I'm like, oh my gosh Look at them. Look at them go look at them. They're always trapped. They're always you know like look at all these great audiences are these great stages that you get And then you don't you don't realize the people who are watching you or you know that we're all we all have a different story

Well, and I think it's important to share this that when you and I first spoke and we were connected You thought I was so much further along than I actually was, just based off what you had seen in social media. Oh yeah. You don't always get the whole story of what's really going on. And I have so much to learn from you.

You know, it's interesting to me because you and I went about this complete polar opposite. You know, you really launched into your passion at a much younger age. And you know, you took that leap and that risk to jump full into becoming a speaker. And I remember you from social media sharing a story where someone told you not to do that. Yeah. Yeah. I was working in a sales job and I just knew. I just knew it wasn't the right place to be anymore. Maybe it's because I'm on the cusp of being a millennial like I was graduated high school in 99

right and they say it's like 99 2000. So I had this like that like edge of like I can do whatever I want to do like I should be whatever I wanted to be and I was actually at a spin class sitting next to this gentleman who is a very successful business, very, very, very successful business man. And I was just sitting next to him. It was like 5 a.m., I was there for a 5.30 a.m. spin class. And I was like, you know what, I think I'm gonna leave my job. And he's like, you can do what?

And I said, I think I'm gonna be a speaker. Like I wanna be a keynote speaker. He looked at me and said, well, would you have to be like successful at something first? I mean, just said, man, I know. And it was, and that's the thing is like, people who work out at 5 a.m. in the morning, they're going to give it to you straight. Like, they've got no time for nonsense there. They're for a reason because they've got a full day and night ahead of them. And he did, he gave it to me straight and crushed my poor little soul in that moment.

I will not lie. But it did get me thinking. It started getting me thinking, okay, so, I guess here's the thing, it didn't make me think, I can't do this, maybe it did for a minute. Then I thought, well, I can either wait to become successful at something, or is there something that I'm already successful at that I just haven't really thought of in that way?

And that's when the idea of storytelling, something that I've been doing my whole life, something that I'd studied in my master's thesis, something that I was doing on the side for nonprofit organizations and certainly doing in my role in marketing and sales, I was like, wait a minute, I know this. Like, what if I did something to do with storytelling? Now I didn't know what that was at the time. And then it all came back together where I was like, oh yeah, maybe I'll be a keynote speaker about storytelling, which let me tell you four years ago wasn't the thing.

Like people weren't talking about storytelling the way that they are now. And that's the other day is people are like, oh, it's so obvious. You talk about storytelling. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to tell people? Like hire me, pay me money, and I'm going to teach you about storytelling.

They thought that I was coming to like read stories to them. I just didn't, like people didn't get it. And so it's funny how as time goes on things look so obvious. They always look obvious in hindsight. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, that's um, I was definitely, I wasn't told not too necessarily, but it was it was highly implied, I suppose you could say to you have to be successful first. Well, you also have been faced with a lot of adversity along the way that other people might not be aware of. And one story that you shared really resonated with me

when you were about to take a major stage and another woman gave you a massive blow. Can you share that story? Yeah, I mean, it was. It was a really high stakes. And it was, again, it wasn't like for a big amount of money, but I was speaking for peers like other people who speak. That's intimidating. Yeah, speaking for speakers is the worst. It's the best if you, if you do it flawlessly. It's the worst if you mess up even a little bit. There's, I'm really critical when I watch other speakers. I'm really critical of myself. So of course, a whole room full of people like that.

That's just, it comes with the territory. But this was at a local event. It was just like a little chapter event. And I was just about to get on stage to speak for my peers. It was super intimidating. I was still really new in the speaking world. And so that was that was intimidating as well. And this woman came up to me and said, oh, so you're you're the speaker this morning. I was like, oh, yeah, she's like, huh, I've been wanting to speak

here for years. But now I guess I know what I was doing wrong. I'm not young enough or pretty enough to speak here. And then, so definitely implying that that is what got me there. Which is funny because I don't ever think that my beauty is going to get, we never think that about ourselves, right? Like I at least I don't. I'm not, I'm not going to say like, hey, it's beauty's gonna come. I knew I had to work for things because beauty wasn't gonna get me there. But to have somebody say that to you right there and quite succinctly take away, strip away any merit that you might actually have for being there. I think it would have been a lot more devastated about it if they hadn't called my name right at that moment.

They were like, okay, everybody sit down. It's time for our speak. Like it was like, it was that quick. Now as it turns out, once I get on stage for the most part, I usually forget everything else. And when I finished, it was like, it just, they were, speakers can be the best audience too, they'll like they'll give it to you if you're if they can tell that you're giving it to them they will give it right back to you and it's a beautiful thing

and it was a beautiful moment it's a beautiful morning and when I finished just she did come back up to me and say now I see uh why you were chosen to speak It's important for people to know that you're going to be faced with adversity, you're gonna be faced with haters, and it's about still taking the stage instead of letting those people tap into your fear and run with it, but hearing your name get called and just, it's like Pavlov's Law. Like you just, as soon as you heard it, you just stop right up there and you subtraction. And you know, it's, but that comes from, you know,

in my belief, practice and experience. I, the way that I do the same thing because I, I deal with a lot of adversity and haters out there is I use music to really trigger that process for me. So I have a certain playlist that I use. And I, once someone comes at me with some negative ridiculous stuff. If it's getting to me a little, I hit that playlist and I remember, oh no, remember

who you are kid. You got this, you'll be there. And I immediately go into that mindset the same way that when you heard your name called, you got right into your zone and and that's the key to, you know, leapfrog those villains. Well, and I really think that this is something that I heard from, and I can't remember who you have, like having haters means you're doing something right. Like if you don't, you're playing to, you're just too safe, right? Like the reason that woman was upset is because it looked like

I just, like she'd been doing this for so long, you know, like it looked like I, there she'd been doing this for so long, you know, like it looked like I there must have been some shortcut that I took is had to have been how she saw it and I get that like I I can't imagine how frustrating that must have been in those minutes before seeing what I could actually do to think that she just got bypassed by somebody who didn't earn it or work for it. And then when I could show that I earned my space there, it was better. But I think that you have to have the haters, like I'll get negative comments here and there on and at every time I get stings and it bothers me, yes.

But every time I'm like, yes, alright, and pissinging somebody off, like, that's good, that's good. Because usually I don't, like, I like to play really safe. So, I don't know, I try to switch it around that way. So one of the things, I wanna talk a little bit about your book Stories That Stick, which just came out, it's unbelievable, really easy read because you are such a great storyteller. So in the book, you share with the reader how they can tell their story,

find their story and deliver it. And you talk in one of the chapters about that fear of perfection. In fact, that you were so perfect in one instance, it allowed you to fail. Yeah, I think that when it comes to storytelling, certainly practicing and being very intentional and having the rights, like if you're in sales, for example, and you are going in and you're giving pitches to pretty much the same kinds of people

that seem kind of pitch over and over again, you should have your set of stories that you tell, right? And that you tell over pitch over and over again, you should have your set of stories that you tell, right? And that you tell over and over and over again with each new pitch. The key to storytelling and to make it really effective is, at this particular instance, in the book is I had practiced it so much that it was so perfect that what I got up on stage, I was basically just reciting the words. Like I might as well have been reading it off a piece of paper and I completely forgot or disconnected from the fact that the thing that makes storytelling work so well, the thing that makes it so good is that storytelling happens in concert with the other, it isn't just about

you in front of the room of, you know, in front of the boardroom or on the stage, it isn't just about you in front of the room, you know, in front of the boardroom or on the stage, it's as much about the audience as it is about you. And if you get too wrapped up in telling the perfect story, you will be too internally focused to create that concert, that conversation with the people who are listening.

I had this big event and I wanted to perform and I wanted it to be great and I practiced it to death. And so when I got up on stage, I said all the words and it was just very blah, blah, blah. And it fell flat. So you could even fall flat as a speaker. That's shocking. I don't know.

No, I can't get in our own heads, right? Like that was a story for storytellers. That was actually at a storytelling festival. And again, I let it get in my head. And I tried to make it too perfect in doing so I just killed it. Such a bummer. Such a bummer.

But you will get back on that stage again. I just know you will. You absolutely will. So one of my favorite chapters in the book, surprisingly, is the first chapter when you tell the story of the JFK perfume line. Yes, I know. That's my favorite chapter, too.

It's all downhill from there, folks. That's not even the first chapter. It's just the intro. No, but it's a, well, you have to read it because it's, I don't know, it's like my favorite, it's one of my favorite stories, but it was an instance where I was shopping with my husband, except I wasn't supposed to be shopping. My husband is one of those people who just, when I say, we go, I'm going shopping, he just, he just loses all the color in his face, he gets a real grim

is, it's just not real. Like most men. I know, isn't that, but see that's the key there? Because it's this story. Do you know how many women? Now, only the advanced copies are out right now, because the book doesn't come out until September 24. So at the time I was recording this, only a few people haven't in their hands. But every woman who has it in their hands,

and even a few of the men, have said, I had to read it out loud to my spouse. I had to read it out loud to my partner. I had to read it out loud to my partner because it's this story that I go into buy something, my husband doesn't ever want to buy anything. And then suddenly he's standing by the Cologne counter and the clerk starts trying to sell my husband a bottle of Cologne.

But not only does my husband not ever buy anything, he believes that his own scent is good enough for the world. So he doesn't. So, this sale was not happening. Know how, know this was, it was just, there was no way, I just can't even tell you how impossible this sale was. And by the end of it, so I won't tell the whole story here, but by the end of that sale, the sales clerk,

who's just this young guy, like he couldn't have been any older than like 2022, told this incredible story in my end of it. My husband said, I will take it. And not only that, like he wanted the colon so bad because the guy so masterfully told this story, he made us go back to the shop the next day to see if they've gotten a shipment in because after the Cologne guys sold us the Cologne, they were all out. No wonder because this guy probably sells this Cologne. Like,

sure. It's about that. You're so good at it. And that my husband who doesn't buy things and doesn't work alone wanted to go back the next day, a Saturday morning, in case they got a shipment in Friday night. This is how extreme and how powerful a story can be. Like we so often we think because we think we're so smart and we think we're so evolved. We think that we make decisions based on logic and information, but we don't. We make decisions based on how we feel, the pictures that we create within our own. And here's the other thing. I think it's important. decisions based on how we feel, the pictures that we create within our own.

And here's the other thing, I think it's important. Like we don't like to think that we can be convinced by other people, right? Like when we're being sold something by somebody else, we have our walls up. But when you use stories to sell like this clerk did, to sell this bottle of cologne, he kind of like just implanted the story in and my husband's head and himself because all the to do was put that story

not only have you allevi with trying to sell with not trying to convince them themselves based on the so I don't know that's my reason you get the vote. just get it for that, just get it for that chapter. You should know what that means already. That's the best kind of notification. That's the sound of another sale on Shopify. And the moment another business dream becomes a

reality. Shopify is a commerce platform revolutionizing millions of businesses worldwide. Whether you're selling books or courses, Shopify simplifies selling online and in person, so you can focus on successfully growing your business. Shopify covers every sales channel from in-person POS system to all in one e-commerce platforms. It even lets you sell across social media marketplaces like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. Packed with industry leading tools

ready to ignite your growth, Shopify gives you complete control over your business and your brand. And thanks to 24-7 Help and Extensive Business Course Library, Shopify is there to support your success. Every step of the way, I love Shopify. What's been incredible for me about Shopify

is how no matter how big you want to grow, Shopify is there to empower you and give you the confidence and control to revolutionize your business and take your business to the next level. Now, it's your turn. Get serious about selling and try Shopify today. This is Possibility powered by Shopify. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com. Slash Monahan.

All lowercase. Go to Shopify.com. Slash Monahan. To take your business to the next level today. shopify.com slash monahan. Say you have a business idea, but you're not sure what to do next. Don't go into debt spending four plus years on a degree. Listen to the Millionaire University podcast. Learn how to run a successful business and graduate rich.

Not broke. Trust me, you need to check out this podcast. The Millionaire University podcast is hosted by Justin and Tara Williams, who started their business from Square One and now have years of valuable experience. They hit lows and dug themselves out of debt, and want to share the lessons they've learned with aspiring entrepreneurs. You don't need a degree to succeed. Millionaire University will teach you everything you need to know. From specifics like how to start a software business without creating your own software, to more broad topics like eight businesses you can start tomorrow to make 10K a month.

In each episode you'll get insights from entrepreneurs and mentors who know what it takes to be successful. So don't wait. Now is the time to turn your business idea into a reality by listening to the millionaire university podcast. New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday. Find the millionaire university on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. Well, it's also a great example as someone who's been in sales leadership roles for most of my career. Such a great example that when you do go back the next day, you are encountered with another salesperson, who just sells price point qualities of the actual scent. And you would have never even shown interest nor bought nor stock nor would have your husband ever considered it again and it was such a great comparison of how people can be

selling the identical product but do one is done with story and one is absent of story and the outcome is entirely different. Oh yeah we never are you kidding I mean I don't like I mean it's the opening chapter of a book like there is and because of the story that was told, but if we had heard the first, if we'd heard the second pitch first, which was the ingredients that were in there, and like how many fluid ounces

are in the bottle or whatever, just the nonsense that any typical sales person would sell, it was a older woman who was there the second day, the young clerk wasn't there anymore. And we never would have thought twice about it. And keep in mind, we were sold and we hadn't even smelled the column. My husband then came home.

We got back, this happened actually in Eastern Europe that happened in Slovenia. Very good storytellers over there. We got back and my husband went online and bought a bottle. And we have it here in our house. It doesn't smell good. He always tries to wear it. He tries to wear it.

And I'm like, oh, did you put the eight and bob on again? It just doesn't smell that good. But he loves wearing it, because he just it takes him back to that moment, to that memory, to that story. So, Kendra, with having a book coming out, with having launched a speaking career when people told you not to

having taken some of the largest stages that there are, when is the moment for you that you can look back to to think, wow, this is when I was really struggling with my confidence? I struggle with my confidence daily. I mean, I really do. Like, I, caution, I don't even want to like tell you this. I don't want you to know this. But like when I even wake up, I woke up this morning and knew I had this podcast or had another podcast or whatever and I was like, oh gosh, what if they, like, I don't know what I'm doing.

Why am I doing this? Like they're, I'm gonna be bad. I'm gonna be, and so, so I don't know. I feel like, I feel like that's, that's why I follow you so much because I'm like, I need to just figure out how to, because I do feel like it's not a, I feel like it's a constant battle. I feel like I have these moments of clarity of yes, I am here, I am doing this, this is what I was meant to do, this is who I was meant to be. They need to hear what I have to say.

It's going to help them in their world. They, I'm supposed to be at this exact moment. In fact, I deserve to be even beyond this because I've been working for. I have those moments and they're clear and they're crisp and they're beautiful. But they are only punctuations to a lot of muck that's otherwise where I'm like, oh gosh, what am I?

You know, like, oh, I, you know, for, well, maybe it's an audience, maybe it's a particular audience that I have to speak for. And I'm like, who do I think I am going in to speak for this audience? Like they, I don't have the credentials that they have. I don't know. Or when I know that there's another speaker

who's going to be there. And I'm like, I, they already heard from this person, like how can I, so there are, I don't know, either, you need to teach me the confident creation strategies. I need to learn even more from you because it's, I wish that were the constant place of operation versus the exciting moments that are. You know what's kind of cool about what you just shared is,

I'm glad it isn't the constant for you because it's not for me either. It was for a long time when I was complacent and I wasn't challenging myself to take risks and grow. I felt somewhat really confident in my role and job at the same company for 14 years. I knew it inside out. There was nothing that was challenging. But when you take risks, when you put yourself out there, and you say, I've never been a guest on podcast, I'm going to jump in and start doing that. I've never written a book. I'm going to jump in and do that. I've never taken this stage. I'm going to take that risk. That's when you know, when you start questioning yourself, you should also applaud for yourself because you are taking that risk

and you are putting yourself out there and that growth and that excitement is such a, it's an amazing feeling, even though it can't be challenging in moments. You know what, you just made a huge difference with that same thing. So I think about, like for example, I exercise, let's talk about exercise for a second here.

I never used to act. I started exercising regularly just 10 years ago, which of course feels like two years ago, but it was 10 years ago. And I went to a spin class. And the only reason I went to the spin class is because I had gone on this like extreme fast for my wedding. So I looked amazing on my wedding day.

Really good. I did. I looked amazing. And then I went on my honeymoon and I like straight up eight cheetos for breakfast. Like anything there was to eat. I just ate all of it. So by the time I got back from my wedding, my wedding dress didn't or for my honeymoon, my wedding dress didn't fit already. And I was like, oh, not there. To let yourself go so soon. So I just, I called up my girlfriend who had been going to the spin class and which is the same spin class where I met the gentleman who told me that I needed to be successful,

which was completely wrong. And so she was like, okay, go to the spin class with me. And I remember going that first day, like the first five minute, like you had to wear the, like, I called them feats cuffs, but they were just spin shoes. And like I clipped into the bike, and I almost died within the first five minutes.

And it was so terrifying, and it was so uncomfortable. And every time I would go, I was just so nervous. But now, 10 years later, I get pissed when I'm not, when I don't reserve a bike and like, I can't get on my soul cycle app and time to get a bike in the front row. Like I, I am confident when I go into a spin class. Like I am confident when I go for a three mile run.

Not much longer than three miles. Like I am confident when I go for, but you know what, I have been spinning for 10 years, and I know that I'm good at it. And I guess you're right. Like I, even though I've been telling stories and using stories, I'm still actually, if you think about it, relatively new to the stage. And I will say I'm getting a lot more confident as the norm in speaking. I'm getting a lot more confident as the norm in speaking, but there are a lot of other things going on in business. I'm writing more, we just launched a workshop. We're going to host our own workshops.

We're going through the whole publishing process, which is new around every corner. You're right. I've never been a guest on a podcast before. Why would I feel? So I love that. I love that that we're doing new things and you're going to feel that way when you're doing new things. And we forget that this is this right here what we're doing right now is new for me. Like how do I forget that? I expect to be you know the top notch spinner when I'm on the podcast for the first time. And new for me too and what's interesting

in people didn't get to see was when we, this is the first time I've ever recorded remotely for my show because we were not able to get a date to work and it was important I wanted to get your message to my peeps. So your husband had to jump on the phone with me and help me figure out how to unmute, you know, and it's in those moments it can be really stressful because you're a beginner and you don't know what you those moments, it can be really stressful because you're a beginner and you don't know what you're doing, but kind of owning that instead saying, hey, guys, this is my first time.

I have no idea what I'm doing and I need help. You know, that helps you get to that solution faster. But we're both beginners of this thing and I'm so excited we both are because it's so much more fun and feels alive versus doing something perfect that I was complacent. Yeah, no, I love that. I feel like it's, I feel like it's good. Yeah, we've never been, I like to keep moving and I like to keep doing. They like we move, we just recently literally moved

from our very beautiful life in suburban Arizona. We lived on a golf course and then we moved to an apartment in New York, in New York City. Like, what, but we, I did, we felt like, okay, it's pretty much perfect here. Like, let's shake things up. So maybe that's just my natural state of being. Heather. I'm so glad that you shook it up with stories that stick. This book is unbelievable. Please go pre-ordered this book now. If you are in sales and listen up everybody in the world is in sales, you are always being sold or someone is selling you. So get this book and get really clear on what your

story is and put it to work for you. Follow Kendra at Kendra Hall on Instagram definitely and what else am I leaving out Kendra? I think that's the most important place Instagram. My website is Kendra Hall.com and on there you can sign up to get my weekly storytelling videos. But you'll get everything you need to know if you go to Instagram. Thank you so much, Kindra, for your time today and definitely pick up stories at Stick. I'm so glad that I did. Thank you.

Thanks, Heather. So I hope that you loved Kindra and getting a chance to get to know her. She is a really dynamic person. So today I am not actually answering questions that were submitted to me, but instead I am going to give you two different conversations that I had with friends in my life this week that I really wanted to address and allow everybody to hear because these conversations can apply to so many of us. So the first one is a good friend of mine is just starting her own company and during those times when you're unsure of yourself, you're not feeling extremely

confident, you don't have a lot of experience pricing your services, knowing your value, and you can be on some unsure footing when that happens. Sometimes we don't handle things the way that we wish we could have. So I wanted to share the story with you. My friend sent a proposal over to a potential client, someone that really wants to hire her. She knew going in, the person did not have a lot of money, or they were alluding to that they didn't have a lot of money because they were struggling with their company and business, but they really needed her expertise and help and they weren't sure

how they could afford her. Basically trying to set her expectations on the front end that there's not a lot of money there. And what happens when you don't have a lot of experience in a business and pricing and valuing yourself is you may be taken aback by that fear and you don't want to go and high. Anyway, what my friend did was she put together a scope of work and you know showed the value that she was going to be creating for the client and the potential client and in the end what that investment was going to be in order to deliver the goods. And the potential client came right back and

said, there is no way I can afford this. This is just far beyond what I was expecting. And I can't do this. So why don't I just hire you for an hour at an hourly rate and have you come in and work for me for an hour and see how that goes. Okay, well, when that happens, it's really important to take a step back and think to yourself, hang on. I have this lifetime of expertise and credibility and experience that I've built,

and I don't value that on an hourly rate because the scope of work she had sent was, I don't remember if it was $5,000, $10,000, $15,000, whatever the dollar amount was, it was a package of services and packaging her expertise to deliver an outcome, a potential outcome for this client at an investment price that was fair for what she was bringing. Now this person is trying to nickel and dime her just to see if what type of value they can squeeze out of her in an hour. So it's important when you're faced with a situation like this to take that step back and say, Hey, Bob, just got your note. And again, if you can do it face to face, that's really ideal. Worst case, do it on the phone. Never do

these things over email or text. It just doesn't translate and you're not going to get your end goal. You're not going to achieve your goals if you do that. That's really a terrible way to handle it. So you want to get face to face. Ultimately, if you absolutely can't, you do it over the phone. And the reason why is you want to see those people eye to eye and convey that message in your strength and belief in yourself because that's really what's going to allow them to know they're going to be in great hands and they can't afford not to do it. So it's reframing that idea that listen, my business is struggling, I have no money to invest. Yeah, Bob, that's exactly why you can't afford not to do this. that's exactly why you can't afford not to do this. What you're currently doing is not working. The scope of work that I've sent you and solution

that I've sent you is exactly what you need. And this is exactly why you can't afford not to do this. So it's really reframing the way that clients thinking. So unfortunately this person, Bob, we'll call this person for just a fake name. But this person, Bob is saying, no, I'll pay this hourly rate. How is $200 an hour?

And my friend went back and said, well, I don't charge hourly rates. I guess I could do it for 500. Now, if you don't charge hourly rates and that's not your business model, do not move to, okay, you're asking for an hourly rate, I will give you one. That person cannot dictate your business.

And sometimes we feel so, we want so bad to have that first client or have that next client or have that up. We don't want to miss the potential upside. What if I can upsell them? People will treat you the way you allow them to and allowing another person or business to dictate how your business should be valued That's not acceptable. So it's really important to make sure that instead of Caving to someone else we stand our ground and get back to revisiting. Okay, maybe I didn't do a good enough job, conveying to them the value I'm going to bring,

because here's the thing, I've heard so many times, oh, I don't have a budget for that, Heather, I can't afford that. And I really like to look at it as, how can you afford not to do this? When you look at the experience I have, look at the reviews and recommendations, look at the feedback from other clients I've worked with, You know, that's going to sell them on the fact that

there is tremendous value there. Frankly, I think I'm undervaluing my services and I did that to try to meet your needs because I know you are in a bit of a pinch. However, I cannot go beneath that $15,000 price. That is the lowest that I can go. You can't afford not to make this commitment in your business or you're going to find yourself in a worse situation if you continue down this path. Trying to hire people for an hourly rate. When something's cheap, there's not a lot of value and I need to convey that to you. I am an investment in your business as you know, as you're attracted to my expertise and the value I can bring to you, you need to know you get what you pay for.

And I've got tremendous results. I'd like to bring tremendous results to your business and I like to get started. Let's revisit that scope of work I sent you. And you know, don't allow someone else to dictate how you will price yourself. It's really, really critical. And once that situation starts and they see that they can drive your behavior and your pricing, that will be an ongoing issue that you do not want to deal with for sure. Okay, so you can't afford not to do this is definitely the takeaway there. So don't price yourself by our price yourself

as UC fit. Now, another situation came up in the past week. A good friend of mine is representing basically an agency that she started and she represents different clients and one of them has a massive social media following and she contacted me saying, hey I want to run something by you. One of my clients wants to get into podcasting. He's got a huge social media following. I wanted to join a marquee brand and podcasting company to really help him get to the next level and do it the right way.

What do you think about this deal that I'm looking at? And she says, this company wants 20% of the revenues that are coming in. That is just far too expensive, don't you agree? That's an interesting question that I want to dig into a little bit. So the first thing that I think of is not 20% is too expensive. No, the first thing I think of is what are you getting for a value in exchange for giving up the 20% because in fact, 20% could be really cheap. It depends what you're getting and what your needs are.

So if you already have a massive reach and you don't need the massive reach a podcasting company is going to bring, maybe that doesn't make as much sense for you. But you need to dig into what does that 20% bring and how my benefit from that? Because one of the ways that I look at it is for me joining podcast one, they have massive reach, they have so many massive shows that I can go on that allow me to expand my reach, they have the ability to promote my show on their other shows, they have the expertise on how to edit programs, you know, what the right flow of a show is. They were able to teach me and advise me so much as well as connect me to these other massive shows and continue to promote me and help me to get guests and evaluate which

are the right guests. They brought so much expertise to the table that I did not have, that there was tremendous value to me there. So for me to ever say, and I'm just throwing out this random 20% number because that's what she threw to me, that would be so inexpensive at 20% because of the value that I was getting. So sometimes we get caught up on what a cost is instead of what are we getting in return for giving up that revenue or in return on the back end because it could be that someone's charging you 15% and all they're doing is editing your materials and in my opinion, that

is far too expensive. So it isn't about the number so much, it's about digging in and really assessing what are your needs, what is the outcome you're looking for, what does success look like to you and what are these costs involved? Because it may end up that you're giving up half of your profits, but you're so happy because you're growing at such a faster rate and your show is so much dynamically better

than anyone else is out there, that it made all the sense in the world to do that. So really dig into what does success look like? Where is it that you have weaknesses? And where is the value that the other partner is bringing and trying not to get so hung up on is it a 20% deal, a 50% deal, a 10% deal, because that can be incredibly misleading. Now, the other piece of advice I gave her is that there isn't just one company, right? In any space, there's going to be competitors. So in the podcasting world, if you're working with this one company and you feel that 20%

doesn't want what you're giving up 20% of your revenues and what you're getting in return, it's not equal. It doesn't make sense for you. Go and meet with all of their competitors, because everyone's gonna have a different value proposition that they're gonna bring to the table for you. Everyone's gonna charge something differently, or potentially have a need or want, why they want you that you might have more leverage

at different companies. So one of the things I did, I had met with a number of different podcasting companies, and for me, it was really important. I didn't want to have to take on one more job. I couldn't handle more on my plate on a day-to-day basis. And the idea of launching my show on my own, figuring out how to edit, finding out what that right strategy was and flow for the show, figuring out how am I going to get my guess?

How do I upload the audio? It seemed overwhelming to me at first. So I would meet with these different companies and they would all essentially say the same thing. Heather, we love you. We'd love to have you as part of our family. Go ahead and launch your program. Go ahead and launch your podcast.

And when your numbers get up to 20, 30, 40,000 downloads, come back to us and we'd love to sign you. Well, to me, here's what that meant, is my needs were that I needed the support now, not down the road. I wasn't in a position where I felt comfortable launching my show on my own, because I didn't have the bandwidth.

So they were not solving a problem for me. So they could have wanted 80% of my revenues and it was going to be too much or they could have wanted 8% and it was going to be too much because they weren't solving my problem. The issue wasn't how much they wanted to take or leave with me from revenue standpoint. The issue was they did not solve my problem. They wanted me to go create success, create a show on my own, which I did not have the bandwidth to do, nor did I want to do, and wait for me to go create success, create a show on my own, which I did not have the bandwidth to do, nor did I want to do, and wait for me to become successful and bring the show back to them. I did not think that was a good plan for me.

I did not think that made any sense, frankly. And instead, I ended up joining a company that wanted to take a chance on me, that totally and wholeheartedly believed in me, and didn't have me create a show on my own because I had explained, I don't have the bandwidth to take that on. However, I know if we can work out a deal here together that in conjunction with you and your team, I can launch the show and I believe it will be successful

and this will make you a lot of money. And I'm really happy that they took that chance on me. We far exceeded the downloads that we had hoped for. We define what success would look like. We follow the metrics, but like anything, sales fix all problems. The more that we can market the show, promote the show, get reviews and ratings,

it keeps taking the show to the top. So I try not to focus too much on the metrics and following the dashboard. I'll glance at it once a day, because I am a little obsessed with it right now and I'm really excited about it. But what I spend my time on all day long is incentivizing people to leave a rating review,

incentivizing people to share my content so that the message can reach a broader audience. I spend time pitching myself for different shows in showing different hosts why I make sense and bring value to them and to their audience. So I really work on growing the downloads and staying focused on driving that sale. Please download the show. Please share the show with your friends. And if you could please rate and review the show, I would be happy to buy you my $299 confidence creator video course as a thank you. You just need to DM me the screenshot. I'm on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, everywhere wherever you are I'm

there. And I so appreciate you supporting creating confidence. Being here again this week and I just it means the world to me. So thank you so much and I hope that you love this episode as much as I did and I'll be back with you next week.