Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan - Why Q4 Is the Time to Go BIGGER with Heather!

Episode Date: October 1, 2025

Confidence isn’t something you’re born with, but something you build. In this episode, I share why confidence is always the by-product of action, not a feeling you wait for. I talk about my experience in the C-suite, the fears I carried that turned out to be wasted energy, and how bold moves in Q4 can set you up for massive success next year. I also share how a near-canceled Dubai trip led to interviewing billionaire Peter Jones, who taught me to go BIGGER, and why being called ‘delusional’ might be the best compliment you’ll receive. Get ready to stop overthinking and start showing up as the most confident version of yourself. In This Episode You Will Learn Why CONFIDENCE is a by-product of ACTION, not a feeling. How to ACT confident before you actually feel it. The BODY LANGUAGE shift that lowers stress and boosts power. Why Q4 is the BEST TIME to pitch raises, promotions, and clients. How to LEVERAGE your personal brand for global opportunities. SALES CLOSING STRATEGIES you can apply to clients, sponsors, or pitches. The POWER of testimonials, identity, and silence in closing deals. Resources + Links October Group Ladies Only: https://heather-monahan.myshopify.com/products/seminar-registration Mastermind Team - 3 spots left! Apply here: https://heathermonahan.com/the-elite-mastermind/ Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at shopify.com/monahan Download the CFO’s Guide to AI and Machine Learning at NetSuite.com/MONAHAN. Want to do more and spend less like Uber, 8x8, and Databricks Mosaic? Take a free test drive of OCI at oracle.com/MONAHAN. Get 10% off your first Mitopure order at timeline.com/CONFIDENCE. Get 15% off your first order when you use code CONFIDENCE15 at checkout at jennikayne.com. Call my digital clone at 201-897-2553!  Visit heathermonahan.com Sign up for my mailing list: heathermonahan.com/mailing-list/  Overcome Your Villains is Available NOW! Order here: https://overcomeyourvillains.com  If you haven't yet, get my first book Confidence Creator Follow Heather on Instagram & LinkedIn

The most resonating, the most impactful questions were the ones from conversation, connection, and human, not the ones from AI. Just something to think about because I know everyone is so paranoid about AI taking over the world. And I get it. Technology is helping in big ways for us to impact more people and get more results for people. But at the same time, it really reminded me, wow, like the human touch, that human connection, that's the magic. Show up as that real version of you. own your unique perspective, your unique curiosity, and your unique feelings in connection with others, and know that that's your difference maker. No computer or robot can take that.

Come on this journey with me. Each week when you join me, we are going to chase down our goals. Overcome adversity and set you up for a better tomorrow. I'm ready for my close-up. Hi, and welcome back. I'm so glad you're back here with me this week. Okay, there's been a lot going on. It's been an intense window for me, but I'm so excited I get to be here today with you. I've got a message for you. You ready for it? If you don't have confidence, I want you to pretend you do.

Hear me up. Here's why most people believe confidence is something you're either born with or not. Come on. That is so wrong. Confidence is not an emotion. It's a byproduct of action. Let me repeat that again. Confidence is not something you're born with.

It's not an emotion. It's a byproduct of action. Think about it. Were you confident the first time you rode a bike? Were you confident the first time you drove a car? Were you confident the first day you started at a new job? Were you confident the first time you went on a date? Of course not.

But you did it anyway. And now aren't you so glad that you did? Who would you be if you didn't ride the bike, didn't drive the car, didn't go to the first day of work, or didn't go on the first date? Now these things have become second nature to you. They're no big deal. That's because confidence doesn't show up before the action. Confidence is built through the action.

In fact, studies have shown that people who act confidently are perceived as confident. Perception is everything. Perception is reality. you act confident, people perceive you as confident, and they treat you differently. They treat you better. Even if you aren't confident yet, you behave in a confident way, you act in a confident way, you are perceived as confident. Meanwhile, highly skilled people who doubt themselves are often overlooked in the same situation. We all know those situations. We've all seen them. That person that shows up in such a confident way, you know that person, everybody gives that person

whatever they want, says yes to every question asked they have. But then there's this highly skilled, super smart other person that doubts themselves, carries themselves differently, and people pass right by them. Act confidently to be perceived as confident. So you have the ability to be treated differently and therefore have a different outcome. Amy Cuttee is a very famous TEDx speaker, millions of views. She has this Harvard study where, she investigated the connection between how you hold your body, how you pose, and how it

affects you and affects those around you. So basically she says that holding a strong pose for just two minutes, an example would be to put your hands on your hip like a superhero pose like Superman. So hold that strong pose for just two minutes. It will actually lower stress hormones in your body and boost dominance hormones, testosterone. Your posture is, therefore telling your brain how to feel. So this makes good sense when parents say to your kids sit all the way up, sit up tall, put your shoulders back, right? How you present yourself, how you hold yourself. Not only does it impact how others see you, it impacts how you see yourself and how you feel. You can show up more confidently when you act more confidently,

when you stand more confidently, when you dress more confidently. So start acting like you're confident even before you are. Create it. Don't wait for it. Speak like someone who belongs there. Walk like someone who commands respect. Enter the room like God sent you there. Yes.

And imagine the level of confidence that you'll have. At first you're going to feel like you're pretending, but soon you will not be pretending anymore. I swear that is fact for you. Fear doesn't disappear. You just stop listening. to it. You start seeing it as a green light that means go and go faster. What is one bold action that you can take this week, even if you don't feel ready? That is my question to you. And I will tell

you, this is fact. When I made it to the C-suite in corporate America, I was so scared, doubting myself having master imposter syndrome before the first board meeting. And I'll let you know this. It was all for nothing. All that worrying we do, 99% of it is for nothing. We're overthinking things. We're feeling less than we're doubting ourselves. I rolled into that meeting, acting as the most confident version of myself, even though I wasn't in my heart of hearts, I was doubting myself. I was scared that maybe there were some, you know, big thing I didn't understand that I was about to be challenged with. The reality is this. It was the same people I've been working with for years. I had a new title. And ultimately, making it to the C-suite meant I had more support,

more team support, more budgets to spend. My job actually became easier. Right. So I, had played this game in my mind that I had decided what it was going to be like on the other side and maybe I wouldn't be good enough and why did I ask for so much when in reality I was overqualified for the job I was walking into. I should have been asking for years earlier and now I had more support, more budgets and can perform at a higher level, which was great for my team for the company and for our shareholders. So my fears and lack of confidence was holding the company back. I should have stepped into that role years earlier and you should too. So if there's something that you want to do. I'm going to tell you right now, I'm going to talk about this a lot right now.

As we start fourth quarter, more decisions, more strategies, more game plans, more plans are made in fourth quarter than all year. So right now, if you want that raise, if you want that promotion, if you want to start that side hustle, if you want to start soliciting clients, if you want to build something, now, if never is the time to take bolder. action. This is why I wanted to break down for you. Confidence isn't something you're born with. You didn't need to wake up today feeling confident, but you're going to build it by stepping into these actions. And when you take these steps and when you make these bold moves, you will begin to feel confident. And you're going to start getting results. So fourth quarter is

the time. Now is the time. If you've been holding off, you cannot afford to hold off anymore. Here's why. After 20-something years in corporate America and being in the C-suite for many years, all of the plans are made in fourth quarter. The best excuse leaders give to people during the year is, oh, we didn't budget for that. Oh, we didn't plan for that. We'll plan for that next year. If you've been accepting that answer as an answer,

which I would not accept that as an answer, and I can get into how I would handle it if somebody said that to me. But I want you to know this. If you've been accepting those answers, now is the time to go in to pitch yourself for next year, right? So if you want to win that big client over, you want to sell them through on the six-figure training that you're offering, if you want that big new position to be created for you with additional salary and bonus, now is a time

to pitch it. You cannot afford to sleep on this. Now is a time to step into your confidence even if you don't have it. Okay, that was just a PSA for you that was important. It was on my heart because I believe too many people don't realize that there's windows of opportunity to really capitalize on planning, on strategy, on forecasting, on vision for the future. And right now is that time. You want to speak to these people, whoever they are, potential clients, partnerships, affiliates, your boss, leadership, whoever investors, it doesn't matter who it is. Now is the time to go boldly, speak boldly, and show up as the most competent version of you asking for all it is that you want and sharing with them what that

ask is going to do for them and how it's going to deliver an incredible future vision for them and future outcome for them. Okay, so if you know or don't know, I don't know, if you don't follow me on social media, got to follow me on LinkedIn and Instagram. I show up on both of those platforms all of the time on the daily. And even when I travel, so you can track me while I'm traveling, I've been all over the world literally over the past couple of months. And I just got back from Dubai. And I'll tell you, first of all, this is so interesting. When I first went to the Middle East, it was to headline the Leap Technology Conference. And that was over a year ago, the first time I've now been multiple times. The first time, this is such a great example, I was so

scared it was paralyzing. I tried to back out the night before I was supposed to leave. I started telling everyone that I love, you know, that I think I had made a wrong decision. I went into panic mode. I was fearful. Again, I created all this worry for nothing. Listen, the flight stunk, right? Like, when you have to fly 15, 16 hours anywhere, it's not great. I'm not going to lie about that. I don't love that. The time chain, not ideal. Didn't do great with that either. However, other than that, once I got there. It was incredible. I had the most amazing trip. My first trip, I got to meet Stephen Bartlett, interview him on stage in front thousands of people, interview the princess of Saudi Arabia on stage in front thousands of people, literally meet the most incredible

humans out there and got the chance to inspire hundreds of thousands of people from a stage where I was the only white American. And it was such a cool experience. I felt so proud of myself. I became so confident going to the Middle East because of that first trip. Right. So I stepped into the fear. I stepped into the unknown and it paid massive dividends that elevated my brand, allowed me to be named top 50 international keynote speaker. Right. It changed so many things for me. But it all started with, well, first of all, the way they found me was through LinkedIn. Right. So it started with my personal brand showing up every day on social media, adding value and really owning the narrative around my personal brand. That brought me the opportunity. Right. So first of all,

you want to invest in yourself, you want to own your personal brand, you want to show up on the daily, you want to add value and let the world get to know who you are because people do business with people they know like interest. So that was step one. Step two was, well, actually I should even back it up before then. I built up business acumen before that, right? So for 20-something years in the media business, I bought and sold companies, I acquired companies, I led teams of thousands of people. And through these different roles that I had, I I accumulated massive knowledge in business. And now what I do is I share that knowledge with my coaching teams,

my mastermind, my executive clients, my consulting clients, the people who read my books, people who listen to my podcast. Hello, shout out to you. And thank you for being here. You mean the world to me without you. I have no show. So you want to leverage your expertise, your knowledge, your uniqueness, your perspective, your POV on things.

Share that with the world, add value. and then when you do that on the daily and do that through the lens of your personal brand you will attract opportunity to you. The bigger your brand gets, the more opportunity you're going to get. I mean, just fact, right? So, you know, I've been showing up

with my personal brand now for seven years. A lot of people ask how that happens. It just happens through consistency, right? And some people take off and grow faster than others. I have two friends who grew a lot faster than I did. Mine was definitely built through consistency and through unique moments, like getting fired, right? That was my first viral post.

My second most viral post is the School of Hard Knocks post that's been going viral on Instagram on TikTok. It has over 57 million views on Instagram alone right now. It's insane. So here's the thing. That opportunity didn't come out of nowhere. That came out of me building my personal brand and through the expertise in experiences I've had in my life and sharing those on social. You can do the same thing. Right. I am not a unicorn. You can completely duplicate what I've done. I'm basically duplicating the blueprint Gary V had shared with me on his show back in 2019. Show up daily. Be consistent. Share your POV.

Share what's unique and different about you. Allow others to learn from you, teach the things that you know, and watch your community grow. So that was how I ended up in the Middle East. So doing a great job at that first conference, got me the invite back for the next conference, which was a few months later. So I was back to Saudi Arabia the next time on that trip had another incredible trip. and actually was able to bring two of my mastermind attendees with me on my second trip, which was amazing and getting them on stage out in the Middle East was incredible, right?

So once you develop community and develop teams of people and then you create new contacts in different places, you can connect those dots and help further other people along, which has been an incredible part of my journey. I'm so grateful for. But it's so important to show up and build lasting friendships and contacts. and I made an incredible contact at my first leap event and that person just keeps booking me

for more and more international events which has been great for my business, great for my brand. So again, the way that we show up for other people will in turn show up back in our lives again in many different ways, treat people with respect, do the things that you tell people

you're going to do over deliver, even when it's hard, even when you haven't slept because that's really what it's like for me in the Middle East. It's tough. It's an eight-hour time difference which is definitely,

not easy and of course you sacrifice different things right i leave my son for a week every single time i go to the middle east and it's not easy and i'm tired and it takes about a week when i get back so i get back to normal again and it definitely leaves you depleted but at the same time you know without having sacrifice you don't get that upside of all that opportunity that has been brought to me because of these trips right so you kind of have to say listen what's the grief to gross ratio on this right if it's a lot of grief without a gross, like without an upside, then don't do it. But if there's a potential that you have to go through some grief to get there, but the gross, the outcome is going to be great, you got to go

for it. And I keep going for it. So that was my second trip went amazing. I was actually rated top 1% of speakers at that event the second time that I went to leap. And most recently, I just got back from Dubai. And this time I was at the WHX tech conference, a different conference. And it was funny. I had a keynote the day after I landed, which is always the hardest because you, you You have not acclimated to the time change at all. You're so super tired. You're not at your best. You're doubting yourself, like all the things, right?

However, like writing a bike, like learning to drive, I knew, this was now my third time to the Middle East. So I knew, okay, I'm going to pretty quickly get my bearings about me. I'm going to be okay. I've seen this movie. I've done this before. I'm not as scared as I used to be. I'm actually, I know people here now, right? I had friends that were going to be there in town and I had contacted them.

Like, these things, things just start getting. getting easier. Still wasn't easy. It takes a lot out of you, but it's so worth it. I know the grief to gross ratio is there. So one of the second day that I was there, my first day, I did a keynote. My second day, I was interviewing billionaire Peter Jones live on stage in front of thousands of people. He's the original shark tank, original Dragons Den. He's based in London, has this incredible foundation where he helps thousands of children around the world. He's just an incredible human. I had not met him going into this. I had been asked to interview him because, wouldn't you know, he had the same agent as Stephen Bartlett.

And that agent had worked with me on another trip, right? So it goes back to, again, we build out this network of people depending on how we show up and the job that we do in different trips, different events, different moments in our life. People remember. And they say, oh, hey, I know that woman. Like, yeah, let's work with her again. She did a great job last time. She'll do a great job this time. And that's exactly how I got this opportunity to interview Peter, who I did not.

not previously now. So again, show up and be your best every time. Show up for yourself, right? Like, even if you're not doing it for the people around, you show up as the best you for you, because you have no idea what future deliverables will come out of that. I was so happy and pleasantly surprised with this opportunity. When I started this podcast, it seemed like I had to have it all figured out on my own, scripts, setup, filming, schedules, logos, super overwhelming. Anytime you're starting something new or trying to promote something, it can seem like it's all on you.

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and connect with qualified candidates in minutes. See a candidate you're really interested in? You can unlock their contact info instantly. Over 320,000 new resumes are added to ZipRecruiter monthly, which means you can reach more potential hires and fill roles sooner. No wonder ZipRecruiter is the number one rated hiring site based on G2 at ZipRecruiter.com slash confidence. Use ZipRecruiter and save time hiring four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. And if you go to ZipRecruiter.com slash confidence rights, now you can try it for free. Again, that's ziprecruiter.com slash confidence. ZipRecruiter, the smartest way to hire. So I had provided questions in advance because oftentimes

they'll ask you to do that if you're interviewing someone famous live on stage. They want to know what you want to ask them. And so this was funny. I was so busy going into this trip. And I'll tell you why. I really didn't want to go. I was tired. I was just behind. Do you feel me on that? Like, do you ever have a moment of time that you're overwhelmed, too much going on? My son was starting senior year.

He's going on college trips. He's applying to colleges. There were so much going on. I didn't feel situated. I didn't feel like in a good spot. So I tried to back out and cancel on the trip a month before. And my good friend who actually had booked me for this event said, listen, no, like no chance.

You know, I tried. I said, listen, this timing's not great. I know I agreed to this month ago, but I'm sure you can find someone else. That was my attitude because I'm thinking, I know how many people would die to take these stages, right? I don't, I didn't think it would be a big deal. She, unfortunately, did not agree with me. So she said, no, we've been promoting that you're coming.

You gave me your word. You're coming. I said, okay, I got you. I hear you loud and clear. I'm going to come. I sent all my paperwork in. It turns out that passports have to be in good standing for more than six months, meaning this is so ridiculous. But if your passport is expiring in five months, which means it's good for five more months,

that's not good enough to go to the Middle East. I don't understand. I think that's a complete mind trip. It makes no sense to me, but apparently it's the rules. So they want me to play by the rules. So they said to me, listen, your passport is expiring in five months. That's not going to work. You're not going to be able to get off the plane in Dubai.

You, and you already know what happened to me in Dubai last time, so let's not even get into that today. So they said, you've got to get this resolved. So I flipped out. However, there was something really great that came out of this. I'm going to give you a great hack right now. I had no time to get a passport renewed, right? Zero. And so I Googled, how can I get a passport in 24, you know, 48 hours?

And it turns out you can go online and sign up and then you have to go in person to the passport office. It's not as easy as like mailing in your passport and they send you back another one. This is, you know, crisis mode. but like anything, there's a solution. There's always going to be a solution. That is fact, and I just want to remind you about that, that I know in that tense window right before I was leaving, I was freaking out.

I was having so much anxiety that I didn't know how I was going to get everything worked out in time for this trip. But it did. It all worked out. So I applied online. I got a, you get an appointment to go in person. And then I Googled, I didn't have any time. I was so busy with meetings and I had not really planned on going this trip.

So I didn't have time to take off to go get a passport, photo done. So I googled, is there any way to get a passport photo done immediately? And immediately what came up was a new AI solution. I bought it. I did it. And you're able to upload from your computer a picture of yourself, as long as you don't do anything to distort it. You know, it has to be a real picture of you. Good lighting, straight on, you know, no, like there's whatever, there's all these conditions that you have to meet, but anyone can meet them. And you have plenty of pictures that will work for it. So I uploaded this professional headshot that I had taken a couple months ago when I was in LA for a shoot that I was doing for my partner,

I'd enter a fifth. And wouldn't you know, immediately the AI came back and said, this validates, your passport will be validated. This is approved. This is government approved. Print this out and bring it to your meeting. And so I sent it over to Walgreens. They printed it out in the proper size. I picked it up from Walgreens. The whole thing took me about probably 30 minutes, right? From my computer, I did the whole thing. And I went the next day to my appointment with my bomb photos, which made me so excited because typically I look like I just had been arrested or something in my passport

photos. They look so bad. You know, I don't know if you feel like that, but it was always, like, downstairs in the basement under the government agency in some dark room, they take a picture of you and you're like, you just got out of workout. That was typically what my passport photos looked like. But this one is so good because it's from the photographer. for in L.A. And it's just like, bam. My son says, you care more about your new passport than your

trip to Dubai. And he was right. I was so fired up about it. I'm like, this is like five years I get to have this now, or six years. I'm so excited. Okay. So there is this new AI, just Google AI passport photo or something like that. And you'll find it. I am not a partner for them. I'm not advertising for them, but I'm just letting you know as a hot tip. Do this. It's so much better than those other random ones that you get in the government building. Okay. So got the passport done. I was so excited that was like this amazing plot twist that I hadn't expected and it all happened pretty easily right like I had forecasted it was going to be a complete night this is going to be awful I'm never going to get this thing renewed and it turns out I get the best best passport of my

life and it took me like 48 hours and probably in total like three hours that I had to sit down in that office that was about it like it was not horrible and it was definitely worth it to go to Dubai right I went to completely I went to UAE a whole new country that I had to been to. Well, I bent to Dubai, but only, as you know, for like an hour. So this was my first real trip there. I was there for a week. And it was incredible yet again. Okay, cut to. So I had all this going on. I had to submit the questions for Peter ahead of time. So I didn't really have a lot of time. I'm going to tell you the truth. I went to chat GPT. And I just said, if I was to be interviewing Peter Jones live on stage at the WHX tech conference in Dubai, what are the best

questions that I should ask for a tech audience, an audience of AI and founders. And, you know, just kind of described who is going to be there and what ways could I add value? What type of questions and conversation could I have with them? Well, it sent me back. Great questions. I copy and paste it sent it to the team. And they responded, Heather, these look good. We'll let you know if there's any other issue. But for right now, this works. Okay, problem solved. Let's move on. On to the next one. So we move on. And now I fly out to Dubai. Again, flight is not the best. It's long. But we got there. Super tired. I had my keynote the first day. The second day I'm going in. I wake up that morning. And by the way, my emails were a complete nightmare

out there because I'm eight hours ahead of time. I'm basically missed 15. Anyways, I was missing so many emails. It was a nightmare. So if I did not respond to your email while I was in Dubai, please email me again. I have had so many people tell me, oh my gosh, you never responded. Here's a reality. I never got it. And remember this for business and for life too often we're like, oh, this person didn't respond to me. They might have been on a plane for 15 hours and never saw it. Because when I land, there's some reset that happened in my phone and there was like nine million messages and I just didn't see them all. And then I literally went to bed and then I woke up the next day and went to work. Right. So I miss for sure many messages.

That could happen to a lot of people. Put the onus on you to keep following up with someone when you want to get a hold of them. Once they say to you, hey, I got the message. I'm not interested. Okay, then you know problem solved let's move on in life but you know what I'd rather hear back and get confirmation they at least did know that I've been trying to contact them so that was just another hot tip from your girl Heather because too often people think we are bothering people when the reality is we are not bothering them we just probably didn't even get their attention because we live in the loudest and craziest world okay so that morning I wake up I'm going to interview peter and I get an email I see an email because I saw what's at

message. Use WhatsApp over in the Middle East, not your message, your regular messaging, your regular text. And I get a WhatsApp. Hey, did you see the emails? Well, in the middle of the night, because Peter's in a different time zone. He's in London, right? I'm from the US. Now everybody's in the UAE. He had responded, hey, I have some changes to what Heather, you know, had submitted. So now it's last minute because it's that day. And I had to get over to the venue and I'm trying to print out these new questions, and now I'm not familiar with what, you know, is in this document. So that was a little like, ah, yet again, there's always going to be a solution.

I'm like, if I get it printed, worst case, I just bring these papers out with me onto stage. We're going to be okay. You know, we can rip off things, but I'll have his template of what he is suggesting. Took a little bit of time, effort, and energy. We've got to print it out, made it to the venue. And all of a sudden I get a message,

hey, Peter's here early. He'd like to meet you. great. I was so happy because it makes it easier usually. I mean, listen, I'll be honest. There are a few celebrities that I've bet that I was interviewing live on stages before and they were not the nicest. I'm not going to say who. And in those moments, you're like, oh, boy, this is going to be a lot of fun because when you are interviewing someone or moderating a panel, it's your job to make it fun for everybody. It's your job to get the energy up for everybody. It's your job to add value, right? No matter how boring, flat, nasty someone could be or

how great they are. It's your job to, like, shine that light of their greatness so that they can bring more value to the audience and make the audience have a great experience. That's on you, right? So when you're the moderator or you're the interviewer, that's your job. And so I'm, I always pray that the people are great, but no, there's, you know, like I said, there's a few times that people have not been so great. So getting to meet Peter was incredible because he, I will say, probably also say like Jesse Itzler was very similar, like just unbelievable humans that high energy smart funny could riff like cool great stories i'm like oh this is perfect and just like a really nice human a good good person so i was so excited i was so

happy and our outfits match we were like both in navy blue it was perfect with the set like the whole thing it just i was like boom knocked it out of the park i was so happy so he said you know people didn't know who I was in Dubai. However, they definitely knew who Peter was. So he was getting swarmed. So his team came along and said, why don't we get you guys to a private area so that Peter's, you know, not having so many pictures because we were supposed to talk and talk about what we were going to say on stage. So they took us to a private place. We went to have coffee. We're sitting down and talking. And he's telling me such cool stories about being a shark. I'm asking him what it's like to be a billionaire and raise kids. He's telling me that

he makes his kids like work so hard in the warehouse and it was such like all these cool stories and then I was asking what is it like on shark tank and do you ever argue with the other judges and like what are your funniest moments and he's telling me the best dirt on the show and it was so good so at the end of that conversation I said hey I have an idea if you're cool with it the questions that I just asked you could I bring those up while we're out there live on stage he said yeah absolutely they're like why not let's do it he was so cool anyhow so I incorporated some of the AI questions that he and I had agreed to in advance and then some of the on the fly questions.

What was so cool that happened after is people had formed a long line to meet us after, really to meet him. And the reality is this, every single person brought up that their two favorite questions and two favorite stories were the one about his kids and how is it being a billionaire and keeping your kids normal and ensuring that they have good values and work ethics to grow up similar to how he did, even though he came from nothing.

Like, how do you handle that juxtapose? They loved that one. And then they loved, what is it? Like, what's the dirt on Shark Tank and Dragon's Den? And, like, do you ever argue or have moments with other judges? And when he got into that, people loved it. And it was so cool because what I found interesting, those were the only two real human questions. The other ones I really adapted from what A.

AI told me to do. So what does that say to you that the most resonating, the most impactful questions were the ones from conversation, connection, and human, not the ones from AI. Just something to think about because I know everyone is so paranoid about AI taking over the world. And I get it. And I definitely leverage and use AI every day for my business. And I'm so grateful for it. Oh my gosh. Just P.S. My Zoom note taker has changed my life in ways that you can't even imagine it's incredible. Made my coaching, my group coaching so much better, so much more impactful and so much better for my end users because they always have in real time transcripts, notes, everything available to them, which has been so cool. Like it's allowing me to have more

impact and do a better job doing the same thing I was doing before. So technology is helping in big ways for us to impact more people and get more results for people. But at the same time that day it really reminded me, wow, like the human touch, that human connection, that's the magic, right? So don't forget that and don't, let's not rely completely on AI because that is when, then we are replaceable, right? Show up as that real version of you, own your unique perspective, your unique curiosity and your unique feelings and connection with others and know that that's your difference maker. No computer or robot can take that. Confidence clear.

I ask you to try to find your passion. Okay, so the one thing that I took, and I actually just requested to get the actual interview, even though I was dead tired and I'm not at my best. So give your girl some grace when you hear it. It is not like me right now. I've been home for over a week and I'm fired up and, you know, I'm feeling good. I was definitely not feeling like this that day.

However, it still went great, not my best moments, but I lost my footing a couple times and definitely stumbled over words, which I typically don't do, but you know what? Again, we're going to give you some grace, and Peter definitely gave me grace. He was so kind after I couldn't believe it. But here's the thing. I requested the footage. I'm going to get it back so that you can hear it, and I will drop it to you here, just so you can learn from him because he came from nothing, created this billion with a B, billion dollar empire. He's such an amazing human, so cool, so real, literally, other than Jesse. It's like, that's the only person I can compare him to, like real, cool, smart, like relatable, nice, give back.

Like, I mean, Peter is definitely like the top of the tops, like coolest cat out there. So you're going to love him. I loved him. And one of the big messages I took from him, you'll hear the whole interview, but one of the big messages I took from him, it's the standout big message, is just go bigger. just go bigger because it's like a sitting with him. I said that to him when we stood up. I said, wow, Peter, getting to hang out with you, I was with him for a couple of hours before we went on.

I just said, getting to hang out with you, I just feel this one thing I want to say it to you. I said, I just feel like I need to go bigger. And he's like, yeah, you do. He said, you definitely do. He had said it a number of times. Like, it just basically sums up that I want to be basically delusional about things. And I want people to tell me I'm delusional.

That's when I know I'm on the right track. And he said, I also know I'm never going to fail. I'm just getting feedback. He truly believes he'll never fail because he's just going to get feedback, which can adjust his course so we can get on to the next thing, take that turn, make that pivot.

It's like failure is not even an element in my life. There's no possibility of it. I'll just get feedback. I'll readjust. I'll go bigger. And I'll get that other people going to think I'm delusional. Maybe I am, but it just seems to keep working out for me.

So that's so contrarian way of thinking. So many of us think, oh, my God, I'm going to fail. I'm going to fail. This isn't going to work. Like we obsess about the failure, which isn't even a factor in his forecasting or planning. And then when other people tell us we're delusional, we back off. When people tell him he's delusional, he leans in. That's like a compliment to him.

So just go bigger. And it's all kind of summed up by this attitude that I want to be called delusional. that's when I know I'm onto something big. Like, that's when I know I'm onto that. Next thing, I'm going big enough. And so be a little delusional. Just go bigger and challenge yourself. And I've been saying this to everyone in my life since I got back, whenever someone

asked me a question or like, Heather, what do you think about this? Or what do you think about this? Or even when I'm sitting alone at my house and I'm working on my business, I'm like, how can I just go bigger than this? So this week, I want you to ask yourself this, especially in Q4 right now. Like, whatever your goals are for this quarter, for this month, I want you to know this, just go bigger. and allow other people to think you're delusional because that will mean you're actually on the right track.

So I hope that inspires you. I'm definitely going to get you that footage. I can't wait to get it for you. And I want to share something else with you. October is your month, right? Like this is a time and it's got to be your time right now. I want you to know there's two ways you can work with me so I can help you to elevate to the next level. One is through my October ladies-only team.

That's Fridays, four Fridays in October, starting on the 10th at 1 p.m. Eastern every Friday. You are not going to want to miss us. We just had the most incredible September team. I can just give you a couple of quick highlights. Miranda, one of the September masterclass attendees, had her first 15K week ever in business. And that was in her last week of September after being in the program for 30 days.

Massive results for her. Dana, another attendee who is coming back again next month. Actually, they're both coming back again for the October master class. She closed more clients and built more in the month of September than she did in the entire previous year. Fact. You can check out those testimonials. They are all over the Internet, but I will tell you this right now, people are getting massive results. So if you've got big goals, you've been holding yourself back, you need accountability, you want a team of champions cheering you on daily on the WhatsApp team.

I am telling you this, we are going to elevate your presence on LinkedIn. we are going to go over the sales strategies, tips and tactics that are holding you back and teach you how to overcome the adversity that you're facing in this moment and hold you accountable to these big goals. Just go bigger. Let them think you're delusional

because that's when you know you're actually on the right track. Okay, now we are going to cut to, I'm going to give you a little bit of insight from the September master class from one of our meetings and some of the things that I was teaching that helped the team get to the next level.

Meet a different guest each week. I put together a bunch of different closing techniques and specifically because sponsorship I know is important. And I also did coaching client strategies. And some of these are really, really good. So I just want to talk through to high level pretty quickly. Oh, this is such a good one.

Okay, this is, first of all, everything is sales, right? So it's like, this can be applied to anything, right? So this is pitching you to be on an event. This is pitching a client. Like, this could be anything. These are just some different closes for you to try. I love this one, the transformation close. This is so good, you guys.

And this is like when I used to hire people back in the media business, this is like the kind of clothes that I would get somebody to come to work for me. In six months, you could still feel stuck, or you could have the clarity, confidence, and plan will build together. Which future do you want to choose today? I think the decision's pretty easy. It's like moving forward with the confidence. Like, come up, where do you want to be in six months?

Where I am over here, you want to still be sitting right there. I think more of you than that. Like, you've got to speak life into people, right? So that's called a transformation close, showing someone from point A to point B. So everyone gets like to understand what that looks like, okay, the identity closed. This is such a good one too. Investing in coaching is what leaders do when they're ready to level up. Are you ready to own that identity now?

So it's like showing them a picture of someone that everybody wants to be like a leader. Like who doesn't want to be a leader? Right. I don't want to be a follower. I want to be a leader. Right. So like you're attaching identity and saying and like kind of putting it on a pedestal and saying, aren't you ready to be that person now?

I love that one. Social proof. This is testimonials. Guys, testimonials sell, right? While we can sell ourselves, someone else standing next to us saying, oh my God, she's not lying. She's that good.

Like, she's changed my life. Let me tell you what she did for me. That's always going to be the most powerful thing. So reading testimonials to people, one of my clients was right where you are, overwhelmed and uncertain. Within 90 days, she doubled her confidence and was leading at a new level.

Do you want to own your version of that transformation now? So you're putting them in the shoes of that other testimonium. Does that make sense? The commitment close. Would you like to start with biweekly sessions or go all in with the full program? You're giving them like one of two options, right? Like which one? That's also the assumptive close, right?

Like you're just assuming we're moving forward. At this point, we've walked through it. Which one do you want to do? You want to pay up front right now 100% or do on monthly installments? The silent close. And this Dana goes back to like the power of the pause. Power pause is super important in sales. Are you ready to step in?

to this next chapter with me he who speaks first loses once our pitch is done we do not talk ourselves out of the sale we're very confident and silent right so like that's a really important strategy is not to talk yourself out of the sale but instead hold strong confident and powerful in your silence and that makes the other person feel like i got to say something like because they're going to get uncomfortable we don't get uncomfortable we're fine okay now to sponsorships I love these. These are really good. The partnership close. This isn't just about a logo on a flyer. This is a really good line. This isn't just about a logo on a flyer. It's about positioning your brand as the one investing in women leaders. Do you want to make that impact together with me? Like that's boom. Like it's not about it's not about a logo. This is about the impact that you have. Oh my gosh, Andrew, for domestic violence like, oh, you could kill it with this, right? You could be like, who doesn't want to change the lives of millions of people? people. You're no longer a logo on a wall anymore, Jim. You're saving women's lives. Let's get in that game now. Like, who could say no to that? I don't know anyone that could. Okay, the ROI close.

Our last sponsor saw a three X return in visibility and new business. Would you like me to reserve that same kind of opportunity for you this year? Or are you good where you are? Come on. Like, who doesn't want that? Right. I love that one. The exclusivity close. We're only taking 20 partners, X amount, a certain finite amount. Spots are filling up fast. Once they're gone, they're gone. Don't you want me to hold a spot for you? I don't want you to get on the wait list and miss this opportunity again.

Let's do it. Like, it's a fear of missing out. Like, there's only X amount of spots left. Come on. You don't want to have to wait until next year. This is the time. The alignment close. Your company's mission perfectly aligns with this event.

Being on our stage puts you in front of the exact audience that you've been trying to reach. Shouldn't we lock this in for you? I mean, that's again. It's saying like your brands aligned with the audience that I have. but it's also the assumptive clothes that like, come on, like, this is exact. This is what you just told me. Here's what I heard you say that you serve women who are empowered and looking to move forward.

I just share with you exactly who my audience is. They match. Like, I think our work is done here. Let's take it forward. FOMO clothes. Competitors are starting to step into the space. This is your chance to lead the conversation, not be a follower in it. Why don't we confirm you as the lead sponsor today?

Like, again, it's going back to the identity. Like, be the leader. Don't be a follower. That really gets. especially in men's head or a competitive alpha woman like this girl right here. I'm like, I don't want to be a follower. I want to be a leader. Like, put me and coach.

The silent clothes back to what we did before. Do you want to secure the sponsorship now? And then just wait and like whatever they're going to say, whatever they're going to say is feedback. This is where a lot of people get lost. And I saw someone on the chat thread saying this like, oh, should I lower prices or whatever? This is where everything is a negotiation.

Everything's a jump off. There's no need to get upset about it. Get curious about it. it. I'm always like, hmm, what did I not sell them on well enough yet that they're like balking back on price. Now, something interesting about price is that oftentimes it's we didn't sell the value enough, right? That could be it. And we could get better. And there's plenty of tools that we can use that we can roll play. We can go through different ways to do that. So that is one option. But oftentimes, you know what it is? We're fishing in the wrong pond. We're going to

pitch a $100,000 sponsorship to a company that only has a budget of $1,000. Right? Like, we have to qualify that people are the right avatar for us to pitch. And sometimes that's hard to know, like, especially when we're starting in a, I remember when I started in the speaking business, I was like, nobody has the kind of money to pay me what I want. I was fishing in the wrong pond. I started looking at who books Mel Robbins, who books Bernay Brown, they have between 50 to 200K a speaker.

I want to fish in that pond, right? So instead of, I wasn't qualifying, I was just like going wherever who called me. And then I'm like, they only have a grant to pay, they only have this to pay. get strategic about and so sponsorships you guys is a good one Dana I know you and Miranda both look at this it's all out there it's you can look at the events that are similar to yours

and then look at the logos at the bottom and look at the testimonials on the website like you can see who actually is pulling the trigger at these companies for these sponsorships and you can see the events that they've sponsored before and then if they're repeat sponsors you know that they like it it's working right so it's like

why wouldn't you go after that you know they have the budget and you can find the name on the testimonial. I'm here to help you. I'm here to help you. Check the show notes below to get the link so you can join my October Masterclass team. Now, if you're like, Heather, I need bigger than that.

I need more than that. And I'm a guy, right? You could be a man or a woman. I've got three seats left for my annual mastermind. This is my biggest, biggest deal of the year. We do two in-person events during the year. you get access to me you get one on one with me you get the entire team which is next level and I was just looking at my services page on LinkedIn because every once in a while we need to go back

down the rabbit hole on ourselves and say hey let's look at our own business and as we moved to Q4 I was thinking the same thing I'm like oh I need to I need to go check out my own pages I need to improve on how I look on social media which I'm encouraging you to do as well and I will tell you this. I decided to take a look and add some testimonials. Here's a couple. These are from mastermind attendees from me from last year. This one's Kristen Petronio. I'm so grateful for you at Heather Monaghan. Your encouragement gave me the courage to take a chance and share my story. Something I never imagined would resonate with so many people. Thank you. And just FYI, her mother had passed away and she knew she had a message on her heart that she wanted to share. She's a real estate agent.

she's out in Arizona and she was she felt called to do something more but didn't know how to do it and that's why she came to my mastermind she said you know there's no right way to navigate grief but if you think there's something painful in your life and you can turn it into purpose i truly encourage you to try i've said it before and i'll say it again losing my mom woke me up in a way i didn't know i needed in the midst of that loss i somehow found myself again and i know she's been guiding me every step of the way for the first time in a long time i found peace When we're caught up in pain, drama, or healing, it's hard to see clearly, but life truly begins to shift when your mindset does.

There really is so much more peace on the other side of that change. And I love that testimonial. I love that she shared her message with the world and the feedback that she's been getting from people, the impact that she's having. If you felt like there's a calling on your heart that there's something more for you out there, that you have a message that you need to share, please send me an application. click the link below. There's an apply to the mastermind.

Listen, I have this group of people that are working together to get their message out to the world, to elevate their brands. Some of them are in corporate America and want to get to the next level on land board seats. Some of them are entrepreneurs.

Some of them are people going through pivot moments in their careers right now. Everyone's in a different situation, but they all want to get to the next level. They want to reach more people and they have a message on their heart. Okay, this one's from Erica Glenn.

Heather's coaching helped me get through a difficult time in my career. As we spoke about different strategies, next moves to make and how to grow. I leveled up twice, and we worked one-on-one. She hired me for one-on-one executive coaching, and she joined my mastermind. She did a lot to help me gain confidence and taught me the importance of building a personal brand. The brand continues to pay off, and my confidence continues to grow. As a result, I just finished my second TEDx, and I'm leveling

up again. So I worked with Erica when she was at a Fortune 10 company, and we got her promoted twice, and then we got her out of there when she wanted to make the pivot and become an entrepreneur and start her own company. And since then, her TEDx has gone viral and she is reaching millions of people. Okay, Stacey Copman, the single best investment I've made in myself was hiring Heather to be my mentor,

mastermind coach, her ability to create confidence and help people believe in themselves so quickly is truly a gift. Stacey's message on her heart, she was unhappy as a senior level executive in corporate America. She was killing it and had golden handcuffs

and didn't believe there was anything else out there for her. Since then, she has, during my mastermind last year. She's my mastermind again this year. But during last year's mastermind, she ended up resigning from her company, starting her own job. And wouldn't you know, months later, that company went bankrupt. That company is letting people go left and right. And the fact that she left before that happened is so serendipitous and divinely led. And I am so proud of her. She literally jumped over a landmine and never looked back. And that was a cat. for her to go to the next level. So far this year, she has made more money than she did the

entire year last year in her corporate position. And her one fear was that that wouldn't happen. So not only does she have freedom, not only is she so much happier, not only is she feeling like a more competent version of herself as she stepped into her purpose and her passion, she has more free time with her kids too. So she's gone on more vacations this year. It's just, it's been incredible to watch. And I'm blessed to have the opportunity to teach people of things that I've learned through my corporate career, through sales, sales leadership, through starting my own company through writing a book, through launching a speaking career, and through landing board seats, right? So I'm here, I can teach it to you, join the team. There's nothing more

important than community these days. And the impact of doing things as a collective has a domino effect in your life, in your business, and in the world. So click the show notes below. I've got two links for you to join my October team for women only or to join my mastermind, which is men and women. I'd love to see it. I'd love to talk to you and answer any questions that you have. Until next time, keep creating your confidence. You know I will be. I decided to change that dynamic. I could have been more excited for what you're going to hear, start learning and growing.

Inevitably something will happen. No one succeeds alone. You don't stop and look around once in a while. You could miss it. I'm on this journey with me.