Marketing Secrets with Russell Brunson - How to Turn Your Voice Into Revenue: Dr. Sonja’s Playbook | #Success - Ep. 34

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

What if your voice was the most valuable asset in your business? In this episode of The Russell Brunson Show, I sat down with Dr. Sonja Stribling, speaker, coach, Army veteran, and the powerhouse behind a $28 million brand built from a single outline and a willingness to say yes. In just the past three years, she has gone from speaking on borrowed stages to becoming the “General to Giants,” helping thousands of entrepreneurs build businesses by turning their story into their superpower. We unpacked how she transitioned from divorce coach to business mogul, how she closes millions from the stage, and the internal battles she had to conquer to unlock it all. This is all valuable insights you can take from her and apply directly to you and your business right now! Key Highlights: The mindset shift that helped her go from struggling coach to 8-figure business owner How a single $10K offer with no product changed the course of her career Why most people undervalue their superpower, especially when it feels “easy” Her five-part framework that includes speaking, books, coaching, and events How she helps others monetize their voice and build real brands, not just funnels The exact moment her imposter syndrome showed up and how she shut it down Her system for selling other people’s offers and making millions in commissions Why being great on stage is not optional if you want to scale What makes this game more than just a business… It’s a sport Whether you're just starting out or ready to step onto a stage and scale, Dr. Sonja brings the fire, the strategy, and the truth about what it really takes to grow something meaningful. Follow her on social @iamdrsonja or visit drsonjabrands.com to connect with her coaching programs, events, and training. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sellingonline.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://clickfunnels.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Special thanks to our sponsors: NordVPN: EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://nordvpn.com/secrets⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Northwest Registered Agent: Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠northwestregisteredagent.com/russell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to start your business with Northwest Registered Agent. LinkedIn Marketing Solutions: Get a $100 credit on your next campaign at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn.com/CLICKS⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Rocket Money: Cancel unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠RocketMoney.com/RUSSELL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Indeed: Get a $75 sponsored job credit to boost your job's visibility at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Indeed.com/clicks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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That's clickfunnels.com slash podcast. ClickFunnels, because you're one funnel away from changing the world. This is the Russell Brunson Show. What's up everybody, welcome back to the show. We're here at Inner Circle. I've been pulling in some of my favorite people for some really fun, interesting conversations.

For any of you guys who are at Funnel Hacking Live this year, we had someone who's newer to my community, my world, who came. I had a chance to meet her, how many months? It was a couple months before FHL. Let's see, two months before. And for the most part, Funnel Hacking Live, all the speaking slots were done and I heard her speak like two times and both times I was like, oh my gosh, I need to get her to speak at Funnel Hacking Live. Like, how are we gonna fix it?

We had to move things around, we had to bump people around and we got her to come and speak right before I did my pitch actually, which is like one of the scariest spots to like, you know, and luckily she said yes and she came on stage and gave one of my favorite presentations from Funnel Hacking Live this year. Someone who I have so much respect for

and it's been fun getting to know her over the last three or four months and excited for those guys who weren't on Hiking Live to meet her and hopefully have a chance to follow her and see all the cool stuff she's doing. So her name is Dr. Sonya. Thank you so much for being here with us today. Thank you Russell for having me.

When you say a couple of months prior, I'm like, what? It feels like it's been years already. I know. It's only been a few months. Yeah. Well, you just come to Boys Take five times in those few months. I did. I did.

That wasn't by choice. It was just like, hey, you need to go back. I'm like, okay. And I said yes, for't by choice. It was just like, hey, you need to go back. I'm like, okay. And I said, yes, for sure. Yeah, it's been so much fun having you. For those who don't know yet, I love you tell just a little bit of your history and backstory how because you weren't in this industry for a long time, but in the short time you've been in it, you have done some amazing things and grown faster than probably almost anyone

I've seen who's entered into it. So I love to hear kind of how you got started into this. Well, I'll go backstory being from a little small country town, not Boise, Idaho, but from Wilson, Arkansas. And so I grew up having 12 siblings. I'm the youngest of 12. And so when I grew up, I knew I wanted to not stay at home because the only thing to do at home was work at a factory or do some other wild things, but I wanted to be legal.

So I left and I joined the United States. I went to college first and then I joined the United States Army. That was a thing that I knew I wanted to do. I needed to have legal rights to fight because I felt like that was all I needed. Your fighter. Yeah, pretty much. But I didn't want to fight physically. It was just mentally going through so many things. My backstory, you know, childhood, very young age and all of that. And so I joined the United States Army. And when I retired after 21 years, three combat tours, I said, what do I really want to do when I grow up? And I remember sitting at a round table with some senior officers and they said, well,

Stribling, you're about to retire. What are you going to do? And I said, well, I want to find something where I can go to work at 12 and get off at one. And they just started laughing like, no, there's got to be a thing. I had no idea that I would ever come into this coaching world. And so I've been in this space for about a decade, but the last three or four years have been amazing. They seem like they just took off once I understood what was really happening and where I could

just be authentically me. Yeah. It's interesting because a lot of people, I feel like I've been coming to my world, like, so if I do this, like how quick can I make money? And I'm always like, ah, that's the wrong question. Like the question is like, you know, coming in and like learning it and understanding and who ah, that's the wrong question. The question is coming in and learning it and understanding it and who you want to serve it and all the things that, the foundation happens ahead of time. I'm curious, 10 years ago when you kind of started,

what were the things you were going through trying to figure out before it took off? What were the seeds you were planting back then? So I was still having, like most of us, that, well, I'll admit to mine, I was dealing with some emotional things. So retiring from to mine, I was dealing with some emotional things. So retiring from the army, I was dealing with some depression and all of those things because that's all I've known all my life.

And so, and then I went through a divorce. So I'm coming into a space wanting to coach someone else, but I was still dealing with my own issues and my own limiting beliefs and all of that. And so it was very challenging because just like, you know, your clients came to you and say, hey, how fast can I make money? I was just thinking like, how fast can I get through this? I didn't think I was worthy of helping anybody else. I started out as a divorce coach and most people didn't know what a divorce coach was.

I started there because I'd been married 18 years and I wanted to help. I wanted to really serve like many of us coming to this space. I just want to help. I just want to help. I just want to help. And I quickly realized what is the very thing that I went through that I could help someone else go. And even my worst enemy, I did not want him or her to suffer the way I did,

because it was tragic for me. And so I came into this space coaching with divorce, and I would be in court with the attorney, with the judges. And folks are like, what are you? I said, I think I'm onto something. And people begin to invest in themselves, invest their money with me, and I was like, you know what, let me just get better.

I just don't wanna be doing this and be a Toyota in the industry. I wanted to become a Rolls Royce. I wanted to be the elite of the elite. That's the competition side of me, the competitive side of me anyway. So you decided you wanted to do that, because again, I love that because so many people,

I'm sure you get this people, like how did you grow so fast? And then they miss that step in the middle where you're like, I don't wanna just be good, I wanna become the best. Like I remember me specifically thinking through that. I was like, I don't wanna be someone who's just doing this, I wanna be the best that's ever done it.

And it changed your mindset and changed, but I'm curious when you made that decision, like yeah, I wanna be the best. Like what does the path look like that takes you down there? Because a lot of times you think like, I wanna become best, but what do I do first? What's step number one? It's honestly getting in the rooms

with people who are competitive as well. I don't, you know, it just hit me when you said that. It's like, I clicked with you right away. It's like, he understands. Because sometimes being an overachiever is supposed to like, okay, let me stay away from them. You're like, no, let's go. And I was like, I need that.

But when I started, it was just, I had to understand, what does the best look like, right? Did I have a representation in front of me? And that I honestly didn't see. I didn't see anyone who represented me. I didn't see anyone with a military background. And again, I was still dealing with my life and being way the military had to train me and taught me,

I just thought differently and I just felt like this unicorn out there just operating by myself and I needed to get around people who were okay being themselves and just being just very transparent and very vulnerable and I didn't see that a lot in the industry. So the first step was getting into the rooms. The second thing was really understanding well how long not how long is this gonna take, how fast can I learn one thing and keep growing up on that? Yeah, interesting. What were some of the transition from divorce quotes

to what you're doing now? Because first, I'm assuming you're trying to get better at coaching in that process, but then somewhere along the line, maybe you're still doing it on site, I don't know. No, no, no, absolutely not. No, no, no. coaching in that process but then somewhere along the line because you're maybe you're still doing it on site I don't know. I began when I was doing the voice coaching people see me online Periscope and all those places and I even got a television show on Bravo because I was doing speaking I was going

live and someone calls like hey we're looking for our next Oprah Winfrey and I'm like I don't want to be the next Oprah Winfrey I want to be the first Dr. Sonya and that set the course. I want to be the first Dr. Sonya. And that set the course of I want to be the first in everything, not second. I wanted to be first. And so when I went on this journey to do that, Russell, I would be speaking on stages. And I remember one particular event, it was like a thousand women in a room. I finished speaking, we were talking about relationships and I said, of course, I've

always been selling from the stage. That's what I just, not intentionally. It was just like, hey, come to back table. But you would see a mad rush of people. The first time I saw it, I'm like, what just happened? Why are they responding that way? And this young lady walks up to me and she said, hey, Dr. Sonya, I've been following you on Paris Go.

And I want you to coach me. I want you to teach me to do what you do. I'm like, what am I doing? I'm like just helping. She said, no, no, no. I said, well, go to the back table and sign up, you know, for the coaching program for, you know, the life after divorce. She said, no, my husband and I are fine.

I'm like, what is going on? That was the first sign and that was the first time someone asked me to coach them in a different area. And she said, well, I mean, how much does it cost? I can pay right now. She said, you take American Express? Absolutely, we do. Yes, as always, yes.

Yes, I put the order form all over on the side, wrote in the name of the program that I hadn't even created yet. It was $10,000. She paid right then and there. What'd you call the program? Next Level Business. I know it was a build your business empire.

That's all I did, just like that. I wrote it on there, she signed it, and then we got our official contract after that. It's like, oh man, I gotta go build this. And so I've taken that model, anything that I launch, I just need the outline and I need a name and I'll go build it afterward. And it forced me to get into this space.

I just start showing her to do what I do. So now my whole thought process also is, let me just teach other people how to do what they already do and teach other people how to do that. You'll make more money teaching other people how to do what you do then you will doing it is my my thought. Yeah. Have you noticed like a lot of times the problem people have is they're really good at the thing and so because of that they don't value it because they're like oh well this is easy and then other

people look at externally like the woman there right she sees you like that's a superpower. Whatever you do on stage like, right, she sees you and you're like, that's a superpower. Whatever you do on stage, like that, you know, and almost for you, you're like, I didn't do anything special, I just did my thing, you know? I think that's what holds a lot of people back, is understanding that like your superpower is usually something that seems very common to you.

You know? It is, it is. And we begin to make an, we don't think it's valuable, so we think that there's more value in giving it away for free. Honestly, I call it the free 99. Everybody have a free 99 and they just think and you're trying to figure out, well, it's free. Why don't more people get it? Because people are starting to look at, we don't just want you free. There are some people who want more from you. They want your best, the best version of you. And so the best version of me, there's, you have to have skin in the game.

And so I believe that people out here now have great ideas, have content that they can share, but because they don't understand who they are and their value, they just decide, I'm just gonna give it away and they get burnt out. Because after a while, when you give a lot of stuff away, you're gonna get tired. Yeah, for sure.

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So the transition, how many years ago was that when you sold the very first? The very first business coach? It's been a decade, yeah, it's been a decade. A decade with the business coach or the? That's eight years, that's eight years. Okay, eight years as the first business coach. Yes.

Okay, and then tell me about that journey then. So then now you've got an outline, you've got a name and $10,000. Most people freak out at that point, they're like, oh, I don't wanna do this. How many more of them can I find? How many more? And I just start looking at things differently.

I didn't stop at that immediate point of the divorce side. I decided I have an event. I've been in that inner space. I didn't know everything, but I am definitely a risk taker. Calculated risk are better, but I'm a risk taker. And I'm like, what's the worst thing that could happen? Nobody shows up for an event. That's, you know, that whole thing. But people showed up. I had a less than a hundred people after that. I said wait

Let me see how many more of her can I get into a room and I just had a small event I invited people in we were talking about life and relationships and I made an offer the business side 60% of the people Wanted the business side and that was just a whole awakening of, wow, I'm on to something. But who would have thought, PhD or not, that didn't matter. I still had the self-doubt like many people have. I just had the self-doubt, well, can I really do this? That's when it began to kick in when more people started to pay me.

Wait, I'm an imposter. I shouldn't be doing this all of my past. So I had to deal with that internal beast that wants to show up when you're doing some amazing things. And I started to realize Russell, he's she or he is always going to show up. For every level, they show up just to test you. How do you shut that down then? Because a lot of people struggle, they never get past that, right?

I'm smiling because I don't want wanna yell too loud in the mic. It's like the voice that speaks the loudest wins. That voice that speaks the loudest, and I'm very cognizant of what that voice sounds like. That voice will say, you can't do this. Russell's gonna have you on his podcast. Are you sure you're ready for that? Like that voice wants to speak loudly.

I'm like, what are you talking about? Just sit down somewhere. I'm worthy of this, right? And so just really listening to the voice and which one is speaking the loudest. I am not saying I have mastered that, but I've become very good at recognizing that the truth, your brain cannot tell the difference between the truth and a lie. So I want to feed myself the truth at all times, but I want it to be positive, regardless if I think it's not going to work.

But I can't imagine something not working. It's going to work. I'm going to learn something from it. And so that's how I see everything now. So cool. When you said that, remind me, Annie Grace is writing another book right now and I had a chance to read one of her chapters. And she said something that was so fascinating. She said that she was talking about thoughts, but she said first off, she's like, you know, our heart beats all the time, right? And our lungs breathe and this stuff's happening subconsciously every single day and she's like just the same way that your heart beats and your lungs breathe, your brain has thoughts. It's the same thing and they just show up and they show up and they show up and a lot of times we think that those thoughts are, you know, it's like it's something but it's not, it's just

an impulse, it's like breathing, you know? And so with default, the default thought for most people, even if you're successful, is the negative thought that keeps coming in right and like we just said about like the loudest voice wins is fascinating because we the cool thing about thoughts is we can choose our thoughts like we can say i want to think this instead and then you can drown out these other ones but by default if you just sit there all sorts of weird stuff negative stuff flies in instantly right every single time it's like learning how to control those because i can't control my you can control your breathing, I guess, your heartbeat you can control.

But the thoughts when you learn how to master that and control that, then it shifts things, which is such a cool, anyway, I love geeking out that kind of stuff cause it's so interesting. It is fascinating. Just think about it. Why are there some of the top one percenters,

if you really sit down and talk to them or you, and you sit down and have a conversation, the conversations are different. The thoughts are different. You can tell where someone is in their life based on what they say because when they say something, I'm thinking about what they said and what they didn't even say and I'm thinking, oh yeah, they're just getting started. Let's say business owners.

They're just getting started in business. They're coming out of corporate America or wait, he's experienced, he's been doing this and I can tell if they've been working on their inner thoughts, they've been working on their self-being, and self-mastery is the word I'm looking for. So self-mastery is real, and many people won't tap into that. They want more skill. Russell, tell me how to do this.

And Russell's like, wait, work on this part. No, no, no, I need to make money right now. But they're missing the most important part of the journey. We got to trick them and sell them what they want, but then give them what they need. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. Because it's funny because half the time in our programs, I know it's like they come in and it's like,

okay, they want to learn BLOS, we teach them BLOS, but then, actually it was Frank Kern told me this, it was really fascinating, he had a, it was a $400 a month membership site, and the churn was really high, people kept canceling, so he was trying like a million different things to keep people to stick, and he's like, of all things I tested,

the one that worked the best is I made module number one, a mindset module. And then people like, then they actually implement it and they had success. And, but nobody, he's like, when I sold it as a benefit, no one wanted to go through the mind, I don't need mindset, I'm good, you know. Like, I'm gonna skip that, I wanna get to the good stuff.

But when we forced them to go through that, then they stuck longer, they did better. Like, it's just, it's fascinating. That's how I start out my programs. We go through some IEP initiative, the effort and the performance. We go through that and we share with them the percentage. This is if you're operating at this level it is a whole master and they're like oh my gosh that's why I can't get this done but it really helps set the next steps when they understand and you don't really say oh you need mindset. Who's going to say yeah I need some mindset. Give me some mindset. No I don't need that. It's like hey if you want to get to X amount of

income level let's look at step one what is the number one thing that most high achievers are doing and they're thinking it's another skill it's another strategy no they have really worked on themselves and there's self mastery that's included in that. Yeah. 100%. Yes. Oh yes. Okay, so now I wanna talk about, as you start transitioning, right? Divorce coach, business coach, but there was something, or somewhere,

I don't know what happened, but I think you told me, or FHL was some of the last two and a half, three years, what, are you glad to say the number? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. $28 million. In how many years? Three years. Okay, so what, there's a pivot point there.

Three years ago. What was, like, what's the difference? So right before the pandemic, I started getting on stages and I was traveling speaking, but it wasn't a thing. It was just part of the journey. People hear me speak like, hey, can you come speak on my stage and whatever.

But then I started to make it a business. What is this line of business? And I realized that I did some studies. Speaking is the number one career in the world it really is Professional speaking people, you know, they're they're nervous about it names I want to be a professional speaker, but I get nervous in front of people. Hello. So do I for three seconds until I get a mic That's why you hear me say I've never met a mic I did not like for three seconds because I had a message and so those three years

I went all in and I was sharing earlier this framework that I use I call it my 28 million dollar runway of the five things the the platforms that I find myself it's just levels the coaching the speaking and events but what's happening with the essence of all of that this is not what I do this is who I am I can't imagine Russell it's like being in the army I stay 21 years because I couldn't imagine getting out and retiring but at some point I was like, you know what? I want to do something else I've been called to do something else And so that pivot began to happen with all of the chaos happening in the world all those things taking place

The pandemic was taking place and like like everyone else. What am I going to do? I was like just do what you're already doing but take it online We had thousands show up and that's when I realized that Zoom can only get a thousand people on there. They can't get in. What happened? It maxed out. Come on.

Yeah, we broke Zoom. But I began to do that and I just went all in and it wasn't just business. I wanted to teach business from the inside out and I began to attract some of the most amazing people and they gave me this title, the general to giants. They played on the military as a general and they are the giants. And then I just rocked that out until the wheels fall off and they gave me this title, the general to giants. They played on the military as a general and they are the giants. And then I just rocked that out until the wheels fall off and we are still going through that same process.

I haven't changed, I just went deeper into what I wanted to do in the business industry and it's just been a blessing, it really has. Are you speaking mostly on your own stages, other people's, is it a blend, like what's the? It's a blend, so I prefer my own because I can do it from the comforts of my home. I will go out and speak on other people's stages I

love that and then I tapped into this thing that I can speak on other people's stages and sell their offers so the very first time I did it it was a Spanish speaking community and I was nervous about going to speak there I'm like oh my gosh are we gonna have translators and there's how so how many people gonna be in this small group I'm good it's's like oh, it's 1500 like what and you want me to speak all three days and they're like, yeah And I said, okay, I don't believe I cannot do anything. I am definitely the CEO the owner and tell my team Okay, I'm jumping off this building. Just throw me to parachute and midstream. Okay, right before I hit the ground I'm good

So that's what I did and I got on this stage and it felt so comfortable. All stages feel comfortable to me. Even I had to slow down a little bit and not speak so fast so the translator could keep up. But when I tell you energy rocks any stage, it does not have any barrier. It doesn't have a language barrier, it doesn't have a money barrier, it doesn't have anything. And they made their very first $2.1 million in one hour. $2.1 million. And they asked, well, how much do you want to make? I said, oh, about $100,000. I said, dude,

no, like you need to get somebody else to do that. Let's see what you want to do. And so we did that. And that began the journey of I love, it's the art of sales. And I call it an opportunity because I believe when you're on a stage Russell, and you know this, I see you on a stage when you're talking, I'm just, and you know this, I see you on a stage when you're talking, I'm just in amazement, it's just a natural thing for you. For some people it's not, but for those of us who understand the art of speaking and sharing your thoughts

and all of that for selling, it just became a piece of cake. So now it's this whole thing of I wanna sell for everyone, but I wanna sell for those who want to help their community, who want to help the people that they serve. Yeah, and standardized that's what you're in a lot of selling other people's stuff. And that was so ironic that you put me in a slot. I had known how to plan that from day one. I was just, yeah, we're in the future and that's I asked your team I said hey can I step on one of these speakers and he thought I was joking. He said you're serious. I said, yeah, can I step on the speaker? I only wear you a buck 25.

He's like, let me go ask. I said, well, they say it's not. I was like, oh man, because it's this energy of bringing people closer to the front. Funnel hackers, let me tell you a story that still makes me cringe a little. We were gearing up for a huge launch. Funnels were done, landing pages were tight,

copy was dialed and everything was ready to rock. Except for one thing. We were looking for more support people to be able to handle the launch. And we figured no big deal, we're going to find somebody quickly. But that didn't happen. We spent weeks trying to hire the right person. We put listings on all the typical sites, but they got buried under a flood of random applicants who weren't even remotely qualified.

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heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash clicks right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash clicks, terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. Of course, we both know Myra and I went through a lot of his training, but you know, Myra, I'll tell you, I was in this space and place when I met him. And so what I realized how God has taken me on this journey, the more I want to become the person who could do a thing, the more he puts me in spaces and rooms with people like you all. Yeah, so cool.

Yes, yes. When the students ready, the teachers all right, right? That's how I always feel. Every time I'm like stuck at a level and then also like someone appears, I'm like, how often I've been aware of this person for so long? Like, you know, I mean, it always fascinates me when I, when that happens and it's exciting. That's how I got it in a circle. I was like, where's the next person?

I want to understand automation. I said, there's something going on. And I went to my own house, okay, what's going it in a circle. Where's the next person? I want to understand automation I said there's something going on and I went to my honest. Hey, what's going on in the circle? I didn't even know it existed. I told you the story of how I look close like a decade No, he was but he but I just didn't know, you know, I wasn't I guess I wasn't ready or something was taking place I was doing some other things and I just went I said hey, what's going on in in a circle? I want to learn more about it. Yeah, absolutely and went I talked to Steve in the circle and then I said hey What's the highest one? He's again? I'm a week. I know where I said do are you telling me? And he's again you keep there and so here here I am and this is where I know I belong and I should have

Been here a long time ago, but time is perfect for now. Yeah, definitely. Okay, so someone who's listening who's right now they're starting their coaching career, they're starting to go through here. You talked about, I think you said your five-step framework. Do you want to kind of go through that just like, we have probably 10-15 minutes to go through, but just so some actual things that people are like, what should I be doing? Because I want, maybe there are the spot where they've been doing this for a year or two

and not growing and they want to have a big pivot point like you were able to have. Perfect, I was just sharing this with someone yesterday, and matter of fact today, that framework in itself, even if you're just getting started, you spoke even earlier about a brand. A brand is who we are. You are the brand, honestly.

And if you want to look at just when you first get started, people are looking at a particular area, and they think, oh, but my industry's different. You don't understand, Russell. You don't understand, Russell. You don't understand, Dr. Sarnia. And I'm like, dude, there's hundreds of thousands of you that I've taught and trained and it's the same. However, you may be different with different hair, different eye color, but it's still

the same issues that you have. So if you're just getting started, really consider where is your voice and where should it be more profound? What platform should it be? We talk about social media. It's the number one free platform where you can just go viral and you can look up and hundreds of thousands of people are seeing and hearing you. Can you imagine, especially for those that are listening right now that truly believe

which camera should I look at because I need them to see my face. This one right here. If you're really in this space right now and you really want to help and serve people that are out there, really consider what your brand looks like. And the brand is not just them building a business. You're beyond the business. What is that brand?

It's going to last much longer than your business ever could. And so it is thinking about what does that coaching look like? What coaching program do you have that you can take people on a journey? And it's no longer even called coaching anymore. You're taking us on a journey. Where is the destination for that and what are the steps we need to take? Right? And then we start thinking about speaking.

I always hear people, but I don't want to speak. I'm so nervous. I could talk one-to-one. You give them a mic, they will shut up, right? And so it's just really what's that message? What's that one message that you could take to multiple platforms to get in front of millions of people to make millions of dollars if you can understand and Apply that framework. This is a game changer. So you're coaching you're speaking you're writing a book always

I see can I tell you something that I talk about with you all the time? I said if we sit down and look at what Russell is doing he is doing these five five, this framework is the same thing. I didn't even know who you were, right, when this was developed. But it was Russell's coaching, yes, that's a yes. Russell's writing books, yes. Russell's speaking, whether he's having his own events or speaking on his own platform or speaking on somebody else's stage, Russell's having events all the time. And Russell's also has coaching programs that are out there. If we can really tap with that one brand and put it on all these platforms, God forbid if ads go down or you get shut out or the ad cost goes, oh yeah, we're not even going

to talk about that. What else can you do? Right? You can be on a platform. You can write your book, a book that makes you millions of dollars, not just millions of sales for books, but millions of dollars because of the content and the, I would say, follow-up that happens in a book. That's really the framework that anyone that's just getting started, if they really learn

to tap into that framework, it's game changer and it's game over. And you can pull up beside someone at a stoplight and you just pulled up and they're like, where did you come from? And you're the new kid on the block that's how I always feel but I showed up in the fastest not the fastest car but the car that has the fastest engine and I believe that framework has the fastest engine and that's speaking for sure. Yeah for sure. Yeah I think it's it's the thing I see what people struggle is they come into this and they're trying to figure out you use

like a finish line like how do I make the money how to do the do the thing, versus like, all right, this is a career, this is, I'm going into it, right? This is a career, you look at different things. I'm gonna be writing books, I'm speaking, I'm selling, I'm creating, you know, and it's like, it becomes that. And I think if people look at it more like that, it shifts in their heads, you know what I mean?

Like for me, like, I remember writing my first book was really hard, took me a decade to get the first one done. I was like, I'll never write a book again. And then two years later, the second one. And then I remember I had this really, I was hanging out with Brendan Bouchard. Me and him had a weird relationship.

We didn't like each other for like a decade. And then we like re-met and turned out we loved each other. And so we hung out for like a whole day. I was like, I'm so sorry. I was a jerk for a decade. He's like, me too. Anyway, it was really cool. We reconnected.

And I remember he was finishing, he was about to submit a manuscript. And so we were in Vegas together. And he was showing it to me. And, and I was like, you write another book, like, are you tired writing books? He's like, what do you mean? It's like, this is my career. This is what I do. It's like, I read a book every two years for the rest of my life. And, and first, like, for me, it was like, this resistance, like, I don't want to do that. And then it was

like, okay, if I'm like, if I really want it, if I really believe in this, I really wanna do this, and I really try and change people's lives, that's the pattern, right? I gotta write books, I gotta make a part of it. Every, for me, every two, well, this last book's taking me longer, but in theory, every two years,

a new book needs to be coming, right? So then it becomes part of who you are, and it's different, right? And then I speak, I gotta find speak engagement. I need to be figuring things out. And it's, I'm very introverted, I still get scared every time I before I speak but then you like you said as soon as the mic starts it's just like a

wrestling match you're so scared and you shake the person's hand then all the nerves go away it's like getting past that but it's it's like you got to be actively looking for those things right like you don't get on a hundred stages unless you're like people are waiting like no one's ever asked me to be on the stage like what are you waiting for yeah how do you know them to invite you to the table create your own table? I never say yes, you were a wrestler. I played basketball I even play semi pro basketball and I can remember playing in Europe and that there's a movie that was out and said

The coach was speaking but he was speaking in a different language She was American I think he was German and I went through that same scenario and I would ask my teammate like what a coach said He said make sure Sonya gives you the ball or put Sonya, I was a point guard so make sure you do everything she says. That's what she was translating to me and that's really what I've done in this industry. I became a point guard passing the ball over to my two or my three or my four or my person down low so they can do whatever they need to do right under the goal. So this is really what we do. It's a sport. This is really a sport and I love sports. This is a game for us.

A game of business. Yes. I joke with my kids because they're all video game. You know, I'm like, I mean business like a video game, but the end you get to keep the money. Yeah. You know, I'm ready to play these games, you're winning money, but you don't get to be like, we just spend it afterwards. It's so cool. And you actually help people and it's tangible and it's, it's the best game ever created.

It is. It's amazing. But Russell, thank you for creating this community. I just got to say, I believe it's not just for me to be here. I really want to open doors for more people that look like me, more women, more women of color, because I can't believe, and I hope this is okay on camera, I really want us to understand because there's some things that are sharing in these rooms that we're not learning anywhere else.

I don't know anyone. I've been in a lot of masterminds including Brandon's and I needed to find someone who is maybe it's just me. That's competitive but not against other people but for themselves and they just keep going. And I always wanted to be my coach's number one student. It's not being a teacher's pet. They may not know it but I always want you to put something out there. Yep, I know Dr. Sanya is gonna do it. Did you do it? Yeah, I did it. Matter of fact, I did it five times. It works this way. But it is just, I thank you for creating environments like this because I've never seen anything like this in my life. Even the military can take something from this, from the training that we do with our

soldiers, from every branch of service. So that's gonna be my business. How fast can I get back to them to show them this is how it should be done, the training at least. Oh, thank you. That means the world to me. I appreciate it. All right, to end out with for people who heard your story and they want to plug in and learn more about you and so like where's the best place for them to go and to be able to plug into you and your entire business in your world and see you speak and everything. Well, you know, I would say unless you if you want to just be a Toyota, don't come over here. But if you really want to level up to the you if you want to just be a Toyota don't come over here

but if you really want to level up to the place where they want to be they can find me on social media at I am Dr. Sonya for those that really want to become speakers. It says women speaking grow rich because that's where my heart is but I do coach some smart men so along the way so they can find me on social media and they can go to Drsonyabrands.com. Awesome, thanks for being here and hanging out and it's always fun having you in Boise and thanks for being a part of the podcast, I appreciate it. Thank you, I appreciate the invite for sure. Do you have a funnel but it's not converting? The problem 99.9% of the time is that your funnel is good

but you suck at selling. If you wanna learn how to sell so your funnels will actually convert, then get a ticket to my next Selling Online event by going to sellingonline.com slash podcast. That's sellingonline.com slash podcast.