Tell us a little bit about who you are and who you speak to.
Thank you for the introduction. I’m really excited to be here with you this afternoon chatting about things because I am so excited to be bringing business to nonprofits. I do that through speaking, through consulting and through connecting.
The Speaker Lab has been an amazing catalyst in my business.
What made you say yes to The Speaker Lab?
It was around Thanksgiving of 2023 when I was jumping on one of the first webinars…I remember feeling like it was talking to who I always had wanted to become with my business, like it was calling to someone myself who had, who had hidden for a long time.
I did public speaking in high school; that’s where I got a start in this craft, and I used it in my professional career in the Air Force, and throughout my work as a trainer and speaker, though I wasn’t calling myself those things.
Really leaning into the authenticity of Elise Woodworth – speaker, author, and nonprofit consultant has really been tremendously helpful in presenting myself to the world.
How did the SPEAK Framework impact you and your business?
The SPEAK framework is very straightforward and I don’t feel like there were any curve balls. It’s just: take these steps, and take them in order was important. One of the things that I was really happy about is that I already had a book; I have a book published and it’s a bestselling book, and I knew that’s what I wanted to talk about – Business Not Battle for Nonprofit Boards. I want to make nonprofit board members more effective. So I had a really clear idea of what my niche was, who my audience was, and what I wanted to tell them.
What were some of your aha moments and takeaways from the program?
The biggest one for me, the presenter was like, “As long as you are treating this like a hobby, it’s gonna treat you like a hobby. Then when you start treating it like a business, it will start treating you like a business. For me that was a, um, pivotal mindset shift of like, “Okay, I, I have to start putting the hours in to the outreach and into actually marketing, not just saying I’m marketing, but actually doing the outreach and doing the marketing pieces that are turning my business into something that is really amazing and, and taking off.”
Tell us about your wins and results.
Yeah, so I have a CRM, which I think is a huge win and I have been using the Wix platform for a number of years, so I already had an email list built up in there. Was I using it? Kind of. Was I using any sort of CRM function that exists there? No, absolutely not. Did I hear it over and over again in the Focus Group Calls, in the SPEAK Live sessions, in the coaching calls, in the modules – get a CRM, get a CRM, here’s lots of ways to get a CRM.
So I think one of the victories that I’ve taken away from this, and it’s a business fundamental, is having constant growth in my CRM. Reaching out to people, putting people in that I meet at different networking events or that I’m introduced to and still adding them in even though I’m not adding them to my subscriber list yet. I have them in my CRM and understand that they are prospects, that they are people that I can reach out to, and now I’m keeping notes on them.
It’s been amazing for those relationships and the growth of that isn’t something I could keep in my head. There’s no way I could keep all these names and faces and ideas. I needed help and the Speaker Lab definitely pushed me to get that help that I needed.
The other big win is that I’m booked and paid to speak. I work with, an outreach assistant and I have a marketing assistant as well. And in the process of coming up with the 25 leads that you come together with in module four, one of those cold leads, I had my assistant reach out to her and set up a call and that turned into me being booked and paid to speak at their conference in September, which is addressing nonprofit leaders in the state of West Virginia.
So I’m speaking to my target market – it’s my Expert Positioning Statement in a nutshell. And without having the ability, the confidence, overcoming the imposter syndrome constantly to clearly communicate who I am and what I do and how I do it, I don’t think I would be in the same position.
The third win has been an introduction to Finding your Red Thread from Tamson Webster. I picked that up out of the Circle community; it was a recommended book someone had shared. I know she has a couple of podcasts that she’s done with Grant as well. That book has been tremendous in helping me really focus in and enhance my talk to being something that is referable and is going to continue to help me grow my business.
I think the community is such a wonderful place. It’s bustling with information and connections and things like that. I would just go in, for that instance, and many other times I would just go in and search for a particular topic, recommended books, recommended CRMs, and other things, and see what people were already talking about versus making my own post. I found a lot of really good information from the past speaking to me.
How did it feel getting booked and paid to speak?
I was not prepared for it at all [actually]. It was very out of left field. I had prepared for it to be another what I call “connecting conversation” where I get to know a potential contact, or what do we call them? – potential prospect, and we just ask questions, I get to know their organization, what their goals are, and it’s really casual. I’m not selling anything, just trying to get to know them. And in that conversation, she recognized my passion and enthusiasm for helping board members and helping nonprofit leaders and said, “You know, actually I’m planning a conference in the fall. Would you be open to putting together a proposal?” I had fireworks of excitement internally, and externally I was like, “Just keep it cool.” I really wasn’t expecting to submit a proposal and within the next week and a half I had a signed agreement for a gig in September. So that was really exciting.
I was super glad to have the templates, the things to think about and what to say in those emails because I would’ve just been guessing otherwise. So it was really valuable to have those “This is what’s worked for people, this is what is working, “ and that was able to allow me to come across very professional, like I’ve been doing this for a while. Instead of just putting together my standard consulting proposal, this was a lot higher level, and I really appreciated having The Speaker Lab’s resources.
I was just recently looking at our flow chart and saw where it recommends hopping on the phone, so I love that your story is a testament to how powerful that phone call can be. You just followed the framework right along and saw results.
Well, and I do think there’s value for me in having an assistant because my strength is not in cold outreach. I know hers is and she is someone I trust to speak for me. So she makes those initial phone calls and sets up a meeting, a conversation for me, and I think that provides an extra layer of professionalism that is very on brand for me. It also gets me over the obstacle, the bridge of not wanting to do that and turning that phone number in your CRM into a person.
Who would you recommend to The Speaker Lab and why?
I would recommend the Speaker Lab to someone who is ready for this to be their business. I think hobby speakers or those trying to figure out whether you want to speak or not. I don’t think this is the right place for you. If that’s what your question is, if you’re like, “Maybe this is something I wanna do, maybe not,” I don’t think this is the right investment.
But I think if you are ready to take the stage, if you’re ready to share a message, share your passion with other people through this platform of public speaking, then I think The Speaker Lab is a great place to learn a framework and set the foundation for a really successful business.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
I would like to say a special thank you to all the coaches and the staff at The Speaker Lab. I think you guys have created a really beautiful environment for building community, for learning and growing. I don’t know that there are any coaches I didn’t interact with in one way or another
that were available in my program.
I just thank you all for taking the time to get to know me, to help push me on to the next level and to really catapult my business from a hobby to something that I can have in the future.