Who do you speak to and what do you speak about?
I speak to small businesses about company culture.
So often you see these larger organizations that have all that internally, but those smaller businesses, they want it, they desire it, but they don’t know how to come up with it. They don’t know where to start, but they want to have a healthy culture within their business because a lot of the time, they’re working with close friends. Maybe their businesses even have family members.
So I’m just trying to help small businesses really be able to navigate what it is to have a healthy culture because I view how culture makes an impact in all areas of an organization.
If we can create a healthy culture that helps with retention, it helps with the engagement of the employees, and things like that, so I really just focus on that. I often have said this, I become their Chief Culture Officer that they can’t afford necessarily to have internally, like the larger organizations do.
That’s a great topic. As someone from a small business with a great culture, I can validate how important that is. Now, we’d love to know what was happening or not happening in your speaking business that made you choose to do The Speaker Lab?
That’s a great question because I’ve been a student of leadership for my whole life.
Growing up, I always loved leadership, always loved learning this stuff, went to school for it and studied it, and I continue to be a student of leadership.
I’ve always done leadership things, but the problem is I’ve never had a framework.
I was able to put all the things that are in my head that I’ve done randomly and actually put it within a business model.
Coming across The Speaker Lab, I was like, “This can be a tool that could possibly help me really put all these different leadership things that I’ve done over the years into a framework.
All the stuff that I’ve created with The Speaker Lab is not new to me. It’s just that I’ve been able to organize it and put it in a business model which has been super helpful.
So I’m so thankful that I was able to kind of go through this process and I really feel I’ve got a framework now to work with moving forward.
Speaking of having a framework, what were some of your key takeaways and aha moments you got as you went through our SPEAK framework?
One of the things I loved about The Speaker Lab that I didn’t realize I was going to enjoy was really just getting into Circle, and seeing all the other success stories that you’re seeing people have, just really feel like I’m on this journey with a group of people–a community.
That was kind of one of those aha moments I didn’t expect to really have. I wasn’t necessarily the best at engaging, but I definitely would see those posts come through and it’s really encouraging.
But if I had to pick something out of the SPEAK framework, out of the acronym that you guys teach, I would say that the last module was a stand-out.
Being able to sit down and kind of come up with that three-year plan was really helpful for me. It was just listed out–what are your dreams? Things like that–a vision board type of thing–that was super helpful for me to have a plan.
Now that my six months have come to an end, yet I feel like I’ve still got tools that I can use into the future.
Yes, it’s just the beginning of an even bigger business. I’m so glad that Know When to Scale resonated with you. I think it’s such a great module. Well what have been some of your results and highlights as a speaker?
The biggest thing: I got a framework now. I’ve got everything packaged. I’ve got everything that I can market with. I’ve got the tools that I feel like I need moving forward.
Speaking/coaching is really my thing because I’m trying to build relationships with small business owners.
This past month I landed my first client which is going to be paying up to the end of the year. So I’m super excited for that and just kind of doing some leadership things there.
When you put in the effort and the hard work, and then get that one short win, it really encourages me.
I’m thankful to be able to have that. And I’m just thankful now knowing that if I put in the work, I’m going to see the results.
I’ve got the framework. I’ve got the tools that I need. So if I just continue to put in the work, I know the results are going to come.
Do you mind sharing a little bit more about what that relationship looked like?
One of the greatest ways to get leads is those warm leads, those relationships, and that’s kind of where this came from. He’s a Chick-fil-A owner and operator who owns two stores.
One of the things I’m doing is helping him come up with a leadership model within his organization, to be able to develop his employees. When they come in from Chick-fil-A, it’s kind of that register, but then they have different levels of leadership so I’m helping him come up with that program. It plays into their company culture.
Obviously, they’re unique because it’s Chick-Fil-A, so he’s a small business owner locally, but he’s a part of a bigger organization, so they have a lot of cultural things, but one of the things he was wanting was to have someone come in and help with leadership development.
That’s the niche I’ve landed in and was able to find through a relationship. And it’s been a fun journey and just super excited to see where it goes.
Will it look like coming in and training his particular staff or coaching him on how to do that or a mix of both?
A little mix of both–coaching him and coaching some of his lead directors that he has–he has two stores, and a couple hundred employees.
Then, I’m going to be focusing on his executive team and coach them through some things. I’ll create a program to be able to actually map out–very similar to what The Speaker Lab has done with me with creating a framework to develop me into a speaker / coach–I’m trying to create a framework for him to be able to help people.
The reason he wants to do this is then he can attract greater talent; when people hear, “Hey, I worked at this guy’s store, and I was able to get my own store because I went through this program,” and so it’s really helping him to be able to have a better business, and he’s got a heart. just like I do, to develop people to see them become the greatest that they can be so that’s one of the things we had in common.
It sounds like a lot to look forward to in the coming year. What’s your new normal looking like? How has your life changed since The Speaker Lab?
I’m excited for the future–what the future holds, the opportunities, and potential of what can happen if I put in the work.
I started working on my first book. One of my goals is to have my first book done by the end of this year, going into next year, and that’s come out of The Speaker Lab.
My Company Culture OS that has come out of this will be the subject of my book. I’m excited about that.
I’m excited about creating some master classes here in the future, to be able to have ongoing income that doesn’t require me to show up, so that’s another tool that I’m looking forward to developing, so I’m just excited.
This originally started off as this side hustle, but I see the potential of what could be my full time and lifestyle, and I’m looking forward to that.
It sounds like you’re really leaning into the multiple streams of income model too, which is so awesome.
Absolutely.
Who would you recommend to the Speaker Lab and what would you maybe say to someone who’s on the fence or kind of towing around the decision?
Well, that was me. I was on the fence, towing around the decision, and didn’t really know what this all entailed. For me, I had this message within me, this gift within me that I just didn’t know how to package and put it into play.
So if you’re out there and you’ve got a message, or you’ve been doing things for other organizations that you’d learned from other organizations or maybe from your job, that could be a tool that you could use to create your own business, own framework, own speaking, and own message.
And so just taking some of those life experiences and just thinking, “What am I passionate about? What do I love doing? How can I build a business around that?”
I love that you shared how you had your own apprehensions, yet here you are–you have done the work and you’re looking at a year of success and then some beyond that, of course. Is there anything else you would like to share as we wrap up our conversation?
Yeah, I would say this really started for me when I was on a trip overseas, and saw an organization that had processes in place that changed people’s lives with the water system that they were building.
So I would encourage people–there may have been some experiences that you have had that may begin the journey of creating this business, this coaching business, speaking business that you didn’t realize so take the things that you’ve experienced in life–whether it’s your workplace, vacations you’ve gone on, things like that–and start to dream of what can become a reality.
Take that step. Don’t be scared. The reason why we’re scared is fear of the unknown, what could happen.
When you go into The Speaker Lab, one of the things I told myself is, “I’m investing in me now. I’m investing in my family.” So there’s the cost, whatever that requires, but you know what? It’s worth it because you’re investing in yourself.