Tell us a little bit about yourself:
I’m from Castor, Louisiana, and I speak to teenagers about emotional intelligence. It comes from my own story of being a Navy veteran, of going through trauma and spending 15 years dealing with addiction and alcoholism. I speak from experience trying to help our youth not choose drugs to cope.
Why The Speaker Lab?
There was a lot not happening in my business. The engagements I was getting, I wasn’t getting paid for. I had no idea what I was doing. I would go to different free events, and I would get pieces of information, but none of the information that I got really came together, really connected to each other. I’m like, “You know, the only way that I’m gonna be able to do this is I’m gonna have to invest in myself, and learn a system, learn, learn a program, learn how to really build this as a business.”
I found The Speaker Lab through their ‘speaker fee calculator’ and kept getting emails. I thought, “If I have to join a program, I’m gonna join this one.” I kept telling myself that for like a year. When I finally got that mindset, “Okay, I’m going to have to invest in myself, I’m going to have to have somebody teach me how to do this,” The Speaker Lab was the first thing that came to my mind.
How did the Elite Program Impact Your Speaker Business?
I found out how to speak to decision-makers. I’m an introvert, so talking to people scares me, period. But when it’s time to actually talk to people, I feel like I can actually have a good conversation. But I didn’t know there was a technique for [communicating with Decision Makers]. I didn’t know that there are certain ways and specific language you have to use.
Going through the SPEAK framework helped me niche down and find out who I wanted to speak to ’cause I wanted to speak to everybody. I’m like, “I got something for everybody. Everybody can learn from me, right?” I heard someone say, “If you speak to everybody, you’re speaking to nobody,” so I started niching down, and everything flowed from there. It really blew my mind how everything connected and how everything just finally made sense. “Okay this is how I do this. This is how I connect to people. This is how I send emails. This is how I actually get paid to speak.”
What results have you seen?
The results are getting booked and paid for sure. And I now have a system. I have a system to follow that I can teach, to say, a virtual assistant. I just had a speaking engagement in Virginia, where I got to meet Brittany Richmond in person, which was pretty awesome. Getting to meet one of your mentors from The Speaker Lab in person and on the speaking trail was crazy. I’m so grateful. But yeah, I’m literally getting paid to speak. I’m speaking to decision-makers without being shy and clammed up. I have a system to follow, and everything is falling in line.
The results I’ve gotten from TSL have been extraordinary, to say the least. Not only did I have my highest paid gig to date last week at $5k, but I also had 4 paid speaking engagements this month, including a paid virtual gig today, AND I have 2 more on the schedule over the next few months. With the outreach techniques I’ve learned through TSL, I know that with my consistency, I’ll get even more.
Who would you recommend to The Speaker Lab and why?
Any speaker who wants to learn how to build a speaking business, coach, consultant, or anybody who wants to get into speaking. I rave about The Speaker Lab to anybody. I always do on Facebook, LinkedIn, and everywhere else because of how much it taught me about myself and how far I’ve grown since I first started. I get excited when we talk about The Speaker Lab. It is the best program available.