Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you speak about.
I am a life and mindset coach and former high school teacher, and so I help educators learn how to use coaching techniques in the classroom to reduce stressors and conflict and create healthier environments for their students.
Take us back to when you signed up for The Speaker Lab. What was happening or not happening in your business at the time?
Nothing was happening. In fact, I was doing something completely different, but it was time in my life for something different. I was a teacher, then went into a small business of my own. The thing that I really loved in both of those things was anytime I was able to really teach, when I was able to really talk to people and have those “aha moments” happen.
So I did a day of reflection about a year ago where I just asked: What are my values? What do I really find helpful and powerful in my life, and what do I really wanna do in the next little while? What kept coming up is I actually just love speaking.
I love speaking and who says that, right? It’s one of the biggest fears people have! But I really do. So my husband was like, “Google ‘how to get paid to speak’,” and that’s how I found Grant. He had a free workshop coming up, I joined that, and they said, “If you wanna know more, set up a one-on-one interview.” At the end of that, they told me, “We have this VIP program, we think you’d be a good fit for it – do you wanna jump in?” I literally had no speaking business whatsoever, and I jumped in.
What were some of your aha moments and takeaways through the SPEAK framework?
Because I have a background in teaching, the formula for creating a great speech wasn’t necessarily the most impactful; while it was great to refine some of that, that’s already what I’m most comfortable with.
So, the parts that have been the most helpful throughout this journey is how to set up a foundation for prospecting – how to go out and actually find the gigs, how to approach someone, reach out to cold leads, those kinds of things. Those have all been really foundational in making a successful business out of this.
Because I had run a business before, I didn’t want to not do it properly to begin with. I wanted to do this well and get started and actually go somewhere instead of struggling for a long time trying to figure it out.
I wanted to follow somebody’s pattern because they already know what they’re doing. So those were the most powerful moments for me. Now I have a formula, and a great foundation.
Now that you have built a speaking business, what have been some of your results along the way?
Of course, it feels so weird at the beginning, right? It feels weird getting out there. It feels so scary. But I tell my clients all the time, “Growth never happens in the comfort zone.” But it’s kind of scary to live outside your comfort zone.
At the beginning you’re like, “Is this even gonna work? I am putting myself out there. What if nobody responds?” But then you start to work your network and your cold leads. And because I did have a background in education, I’m trying to work whatever I can, and was able to secure a contract with our local school district here, because I do have some contacts. They gave me a contract for eight professional development workshops for the year – two of them virtual, and six in person. So I’m really excited. I already did one of those last week. And then because of that contract, I was able to secure a contract with another school district in our state here.
I’m contracted with them to do a workshop and a bunch of teacher coaching, like group coaching. It netted me about $25,000 for just those two contracts. So not a bad start. It feels really good to be doing what I feel like I’m equipped to do, and I feel confident in doing it.
I know it works now – as I get out there and see how this actually really works, I learn, “Okay this is a good way to move forward. This way of speaking works, this way of engaging works, the follow up works, the checklists work.” It feels good.
And you have to make it your own because not everything applies to everybody at every moment, but it’s always a matter of adapting. It does help to have run a business before, because I always know it’s a matter of always fine tuning procedures and things like that.
As I get going though, it really helps to have a baseline – like I’m not starting from scratch. I think that’s one of the biggest things about this program is that I could start from scratch, but I’ve done that before and it’s so much work. It’s so exhausting and it takes up so much of your emotional and mental energy, so to be able to start with something already in place where you’re like, “Okay, this PDF has the thing that I need, like if they need a bio from me, like to introduce me as a speaker, I can find a template in the resources The Speaker Lab has provided. So having those tools at your disposal just makes a huge difference in the amount of confidence that you have going into it instead of having to spend time going, “Okay, Google, I’m help me find something…or I’m gonna have to create something from scratch.”
There’s this base of what feels like support so that you can go into things feeling a lot more confident. I think that that’s probably the biggest gift from the program is that you just come in feeling like there’s a lot more behind you and that you’ve got a little bit more than you would if you were starting out from scratch without those things behind you.
After going through the program, what would you say is your new normal as a professional speaker?
It is a bit of a pinch me moment – there have been quite a few pinch me moments in the last few months for sure, where I’m going, “Oh my gosh, did this just happen?!” It definitely feels like a big transition; the new normal is definitely like, “Okay, what’s next? Who’s next in the pipeline? What are we pursuing next?” Fine tuning the current speaking topics, fine tuning what I’m doing with those, continuing to fine tune the processes, and continuing to prospect. That’s what you do! That’s the new normal. And that’s gonna be what it’s always gonna be, right?
I know that Grant likes to point to those things, but it is true. As a business owner, whatever you put into it today is what you pull out four months, six months out, down the road, so you have to keep looking forward to it. I can’t just sit back and be like, “I’ve got two contracts now, I’m good.” So I really have to make sure that I’m looking for the next thing too, asking, “How can I leverage what I’ve got now to make sure that the next thing is set in place for later.?
It sounds like you’ve got the right mindset!
I hope so! And I’ll admit, it’s not always there; there are definitely struggles and there’s definitely the fight against imposter syndrome as you begin, for sure. It’s scary. You just gotta realize that. And unless you do something with those scary moments, then you’re gonna just stay where you’re at. If that’s not what you want, you’ve either gotta push through them or you’ve been defeated where you’re at.
Who would you recommend to The Speaker Lab and why?
I would recommend The Speaker Lab to anyone who’s serious about doing this as more than a hobby. You could totally do this as a hobby, that’s fine, but if you actually wanna build a business, this is the place for you. These are the tools that they’re gonna equip you with and that’s what this is about – it’s about building something that’s gonna be long lasting, long term. They give it to you. If you do the steps, you’re gonna build something. It really does work that way. You have to actually trust the process and kind follow up with it. If you do it, it will amount to something.
So that’s who I would recommend it to – anybody who’s actually looking to build a business speaking and wants to do this. If you have a passion for it, if you have a passion for helping any group of people by speaking to them, teaching them, from a big stage or small stage, whatever it is, if you wanna build a business through it and get paid to do it, this is the place.
I even had to take a pause in the middle of it; it was not an easy process. We had a family crisis in the middle of all of this, and I had to put it at pause for a little bit, but The Speaker Lab totally worked with me. We were able to put it on pause and then I came back to it and was still able to be successful in it. Life happens, so you have to make the space for it but if you do the program, it actually is worthwhile and can work.
As we close out, is there anything else you’d like to share?
Just that it’s been amazing. It’s been a year of growth, for sure. There’s been a lot of exciting things just from my first moment of “What would this even look like?” to “Wow, I’ve got a business going and here I am in the midst of doing a ton of workshops.” It’s been a great experience overall, and I’d just add that it’s important to embrace change! That’s the only way to live life.