Podcast #1 Why Selling Yourself Should Be Your Superpower

No matter what stage your business is at, you have to keep selling. You can't avoid it if you are a business owner. So we might as well find a way to enjoy it!

I am so excited to bring you my very first guest to Brand Disruptor's Podcast, Nicole Cramer, Founder and Owner of Healthy Steps With Nicole. Nicole was a former math teacher turned expert saleswoman. She now teaches her clients on how to make selling fun and successful!

Nicole and I discuss how everyone can learn how to sell. You just need to know how YOU sell.

What works best for you, what is YOUR way? 

Selling starts by knowing who you are and what your brand is. Know your zone of genius and stay there! It doesn’t matter what product or service it is you are trying to sell. It all comes down to who you are.

And to do that you can’t let others impact you! Don’t stop doing something that comes naturally to you, or change your personality just because somebody else told you, you should!

Nicole talks about goals that she set for herself, and crushed them! She experienced negative talk and people not accepting her abilities even though she proved herself again and again. And how that set the path for where she is today. 

You are going to go through hard times on your path to success, but don't stop. Make the most of every situation!

This episode is FULL of golden nuggets and I know you are going to gain so much knowledge and insight from this episode! I hope you enjoy!

                               5 Rapid Fire Questions for Nicole         

1. What is your mantra? - Learn how to sell yourself.
2.  What three words would you use to describe yourself or your brand? - Passionate, goofy, dedicated
3. What is your least favorite mode of communication? - Typing!
4. What outfit makes you feel like a badass? - Fancy dresses!
5. What are your brand colors and why did you choose those? Black and White. I like the simplicity, and also I can add pops of colors in whenever I want and am not restricted to 3 brand colors.

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You can find out more about Nicole here:

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You can view Full Transcript Here:

*Note- The Brand Disruptors Podcast is produced for the ear and made to be heard not read. We strongly encourage you to listen to the audio which includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting it in print.

Speaker 1 (00:00):

Hello, and welcome to brand disrupters. I am me a Lamata host and I am here today with my beautiful friend, Nicole Kramer. Nicole, tell the audience that low and tell them a little bit about yourself. Hello

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Everybody. Hello Mia. Thank you so much for having me here. I'm always loved being in your company. Always loving love, having a good conversation with you. So I'm thrilled to be here. And I'm thrilled to talk about sales because to be honest, I kind of nerd out on conversations about sales. So I'm excited because just a little background on me. I used to be a high school math teacher, and I felt the same way about math as I do about sales. It's something that, you know, I taught high school and it was a bunch of teenagers who had to take math to get through high school. They didn't love it, but I found a way to make it enjoyable and fun because knowing that they had to do it, we might as well enjoy it while we're doing it. And I feel the same way about sales. Now I get to coach business owners on you. Don't get to have a business without sales. So let's find a way to make it fun, approachable, simple, so that you do it so that you get those sales and you can run your business and support yourself and change lives.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Oh my God. So probably most of the listeners on here, I hate doing sales, sales and speaking are probably the worst. The things that people hate to do, people like to do the least right trail. Glad that you make it fun.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah. Very, very I do my best because it, you know, if you have to do it, like when you start a business, you can't not sell at every stage of your business. Like whether you want to believe it or not, Oprah is still selling. She's not getting on sales calls, high level sales calls, but at every level of who you are as a business owner, you'll always be selling. So you can't avoid it if you want to be a business owner. So we might've spelled as well, find a way to enjoy it because it's, it's not possible to do it without it.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Oh my God. Love that. Love that. So we already had our conversation prior to jumping on here today. So I know that we're going to have some really good nuggets for you guys today. So stay tuned and put your seat belts on

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Pretty fast right here.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
That's right. So what is it, what would you say is your mantra, Nicole?

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Well, my mantra, I I'm actually going to relate it to sales and who I've become in the world of sales, because like I said, I wasn't always in sales and I didn't know what it meant or what it was or how to do it. And I started seven years ago in the corporate world of sales. I left teaching. I went into sales my very first week. My district manager called me in and he said, I know you've only been a teacher up to this point. And now you're excited to be in sales. I just want to give you one piece of advice. That's going to make you really successful sell yourself. And I was like, Oh, I was so green. I was so naive. I was so new. You know, I was like, Oh, okay. So myself. And he's like, no, I mean, really Nicole, like you're not ever going to have the best prices or the worst prices or the best equipment or the worst equipment.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
Like you basically may not have what you think somebody else wants, but what they really want is you they're attracted to your energy. They're attracted to what you can do for them. So sell yourself and you'll be successful. And I was like, okay. And your M seven years later with a lot of success under my belt. And I can tell you that is absolutely 100% the truth. You know, and I, I just, as a quick example, I tell people this a lot, we all know what ML MLMs are, right? Like if you sell doTERRA essential oils, for example, you're selling the same peppermint oil as Betty, as Suzy, as Sherry, they're all selling price, right? So why should they buy the peppermint oil from one person over another? How do you differentiate yourself? How do you sell yourself? Know what your zone of genius is and stay there.

Speaker 2 (03:24):
And that's, what's going to attract people to you. Love it, love it, love it, love it. We haven't even gotten into that part. She's already given you. Awesome. So what three words would you use to best describe you and your brand? Hm, well, I always say I'm nothing, if not passionate. So passion is probably at the forefront of everything that I do. I'm goofy, I guess, would probably be a way that I like to show up. Because again, I'd like to take something that people look at as not fun and like a chore. They kind of become afraid and resentful of selling. And I like to bring some, some light, some approachability to it, and that's kind of where the goofy entertainer, I guess in me comes in. So so that's probably one of them and I'm dedicated, love it. Love it, love it.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
All right. What mode of communication is your least favorite? Well, if it's not obvious yet my most favorite is talking [inaudible], I'm a talker. Yeah. I mean, it's it's and you know, I'll, I'll use a little bit of I guess before I say what my least favorite is I didn't always own my ability to talk as a strength. I did not understand that the person that I was, I had been told as many of us are throughout our lives, that I I'm too much, you know? Well, you're too much, you're too loud. You talk too much. You've told that story eight times, you know, and I listened to everybody else's feedback and opinions, which was unwarranted sometimes. Like I didn't ask for your feedback, but you know, even from people that we love and care about and they'd be like, well, you're too much, you laugh too loud.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Are you? And I made that, I made myself wrong and I made them right. And I downplayed something that is very easy for me to do. And I made it a weakness instead of a strength. And then I was so busy downplaying my strength and trying to do all these other things that are weaknesses. For example, my least favorite way of communicating is probably typing. I just, can't like sitting down to write an email or sitting down to honestly, to write a post on social media. Now I found a way around that you turns out you don't have to write a post. You can just talk it. So all these words that come out, somebody else can put them into words on paper. But that's my least favorite because it requires a different, a different energy. And that's not how I show up best. So I would say written communication is my least favorite. Although, I mean, I don't know if this is tooting my own horn. I do find that I'm a pretty good writer when I do actually get something out. It just takes me. Yeah,

Speaker 1 (06:09):
Yep. Same, same, same here. Like, I love it. Like I can talk all day long. I used to get punished. I went to Catholic school, used to get punished for that. And we, how often though, do we do in our lives take what's natural and a natural ability for us and just stop doing it because somebody else told us that we should

Speaker 2 (06:27):
Totally. Right. Totally well. And I like, you had report card after report card that said great student, but talks too much saying, you know, and it was like, and so there was almost no way for me to not look at it as a negative, because it was, it was being pointed out at every stage of my life. That that was the thing that is, she's good. She's a good student, but talks to me

Speaker 1 (06:49):
Too much. Yeah. We just make it, we make it

Speaker 2 (06:53):
Something that it comes so easily to us that it almost can't be, it's like too good to be true kind of thing, you know? And once we realize that it really is a strength and we start to play up to that so much changes because we're letting out our, in our truth, our, who we really are our soul, and you're communicating from a place of alignment of who you really are versus trying to fit yourself into a box of who somebody else thinks you should be. Oh,

Speaker 1 (07:24):
That sounds like something that I would have said. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yep. Great minds think alike.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
So align there. All right. So tell me which, which outfit makes you feel like a bad ass? Hmm.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
You know, I grew up a tomboy. I tended to always like I remember one Christmas, I still have the pictures of it. And it was so funny. I was adamant about wearing my high top tennis shoes. You know, I was a basketball player and I, God forbid go anywhere without my high tops on, but I had this really pretty maroon velvet dress to wear for the whole. And so I wore it with my high-top tennis shoes. So I always, that was my tendency towards, you know, just being tomboy and kind of dressing down and I've found over the last, I don't know, decade or so once I started to allow myself to really look into other designs and outfits and things that I might, that I might be interested in, it opened up a different side of me that I had never allowed out. And so I think I've found a lot of fun and wearing fancy dresses. And then I feel in my power that I don't do it often. Cause I don't just walk around the house and fancy dresses, I guess I could. Cause that would probably bring something out of me. That would be really cool. But that is when I feel really confident and really sexy and like a badass.

Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yeah. I mean, I saw those photos that you took in Miami. So yeah. Look at me.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
That was a really fun photo shoot and it's, and I'm glad you mentioned that because that really did feel like when you asked me that question, that's exactly how I felt. I felt like, well, and you know, and that says another thing, and I'm sure that, that you, I know you'll understand this and your people will appreciate this. Having that professional photo shoot. It wasn't just the dress. Cause like I said, I could put that in my closet. I could put that same dress on right now and walk into my house and it wouldn't feel the same as when I had basically invested in the experience. Yeah. Just my money, but my time, my getting all the preparations ready for the dress, the jewelry, the being on the beach at the right time to meet the fatigue, like all of it together. It's like it elevated me because I was willing to invest in myself. I was, I made myself an experience. I created an experience that made me feel really good.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
Oh my God. Yes, absolutely. And it is an experience and we have to like a lot of people don't even realize that when you have a photo shoot and you're not experienced in it, we can actually see in the photos I had that experience where it was just, it was awful like, and the pictures came out. They didn't come out as well as I wanted them to come out because I did not create an experience for myself and neither did the photographer. So you have to really be careful about that.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
You know, I had I have a quick story to share about that too. I have. So I have my normal photographer that I work with when I'm in LA. And then when I travel to destinations you know, I've worked with a couple of different people. Claire's awesome. The one that I, that I worked with in Miami and I noticed a difference in working with Claire, not because she's better or worse than my other photographers. She's amazing. But I was out of my element. I was that in and of itself was part of the experience. And I'll tell you where it made a difference for my understanding back in February, I did a rebrand shoot with my, or just a touch up shoot with my regular photographer. Again, she's amazing. She creates the experience, but I didn't create it for myself leading up to the moment that we met. And I'll tell you what I did. I had a project that I was working on that morning and I spent about three hours working on spreadsheets, which by the way, let's get back to a couple of questions ago. That's another of my least favorite ways of communicating, like give me a spreadsheet. And then it was just funny because as being a former math teacher, I used to teach spreadsheets. I understand how amazing they are. It's just not my thing,

Speaker 1 (11:09):
Not an administrator. It's administrative work. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:12):
It's just not my thing. You know? I, again, I appreciate them. They're beautiful. They're amazing. They can organize information, not my thing, but I had spent three hours doing it. So being in the energy of something that I really don't love put me in this space of like hearing, I'm driving to the photo shoot and I'm driving to the place where I'm going to go get my hair done and my makeup done. And on my way there, I'm just like, like I'm mad and I can feel it coming out of me. And I was like, Oh, Oh, great job, Nicole. Yup. You really set yourself up for success with this photo shoot. Cause you're like, I was, I was angry at just a couple of things that hadn't worked out the way I'd wanted it to, you know, and I thought never again, am I going to do anything work related before my photo shoot, I should have been getting a massage. I should have been doing something. That's going to get me into that feminine energy of like, I'm about to have a

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:01):
Experience. It let's get into that energy. And so I learned from that and it, and it ended up working out really well, honestly, because I did have a little bit of a buffer in between getting my hair and makeup and meeting the photographer. And I had my dog with me. We walked down by the beach. Like I just kind of got some of that lift pickiness out of me, but I saw an immediate understanding between how I could show up like honoring who I am in that whole experience. Not trying to cram something in and put myself in that weird energy beforehand, because like you said, it shows up in the picture.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
It does. It does. It totally does. Yeah. All right. So what are your brand colors and how did you choose them?

Speaker 2 (12:37):
Hm I'm almost, I'm actually curious to hear what you're going to think of this because I chose black and white and I chose it because, I mean, I guess I could frame this in either way I could say, well, I was indecisive because I like so many colors or I like the simplicity of the black and white. And honestly, both of those are true. I wanted to be able to introduce pops of color at any time and not feel constricted to these are my three brand colors. And I think that's amazing when, when people do that, you know I just, wasn't in a place where I wanted to choose specific colors. So I thought, well, if I do black and white, it does keep it simple. And that really is my theme with sales. Like, let's keep it simple. Let's make it approachable. Let's make it a thing that you'll do. And I thought if that's my brand is simple sales, then why should my logo and my brand colors not reflect that. And then I can bring in pops of color, like my personality I'm loud. I can bring in pops of loud color whenever I want and know that it goes along with the black and white.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
Absolutely. I mean, that's the same reasoning behind mine too. So it's interesting that you chose to do that as well.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
Well, and I just love hearing it from a brand expert. I'm like, okay, you just validated me Mia. I feel bad.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
I did exactly the same thing for the exact same reasons, because I love those colors too. And it's really hard to, especially when you don't have a favorite color, like if you like a bunch of colors, it's really hard to commit to a certain like two or three colors. Right. I mean, considering, you know, brand psychology and all those kinds of things, it just made more sense for me to, so yes, I'm validating that for you. What I did for myself.

Speaker 2 (14:17):
Well, you know, and I even like when I was in Greece last, it wouldn't be, you know, we went to Greece and I did a photo shoot there as well. And I remember thinking at one point, like I kind of decided last minute while I was there, it was when we were in IA. And I was like, well, why would I not want to do a photo shoot and Santa rainy? And the girl at the hotel was like, Oh, I know a photographer. I'll set it all up for you. So it was like literally within a couple of hours, I decided to do it, but here I was going well, it's blue and white and gorgeous here. And I've got on this bright red dress. Thank goodness. I don't have to fit within a certain because then where would I've used those pictures? You know? Cause it was kind of a last minute put together thing and it was an amazing thing. And I've used the pictures everywhere. They go with my brand because it's not specific to women.

Speaker 1 (14:54):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Well look, she just gave you all a whole lesson on why we chose these colors and hello. That is free, free, free, free. Yes.

Speaker 2 (15:04):
Pretty good advice here. Right?

Speaker 1 (15:06):
Exactly. Exactly. All right, Nicole, let's talk about, alright. You said you were a math teacher, right? So was there some kind of disruption that took place that led you to sales or like what, what made you decide that, you know, that's no longer my path. Like what was the disruption for you?

Speaker 2 (15:25):
You know, the universe was knocking for awhile and I just was not answering the door and there were some very clear signs. And, and here's the thing about my background in education. I come from a family of educators and I actually come from a family of athletes and coaches. So if following in the family tradition, I would have been a teacher and a coach. And I did all those things. I learned early on coaching sports. Wasn't really, I was a really good athlete. I didn't want to be on the coaching side. I wanted to still be on the playing side. So let that one go. It took me a lot longer to, to believe that I wasn't meant to be a teacher because I loved doing it. I just didn't love doing it somebody else's way. If that makes sense. I felt constricted by the expectations of public education.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
And I was kind of in this box that I had to perform in. So as much as I loved it and I love my students and I love teaching math. What I was in denial of is the fact that it really wasn't the best fit for me. And like I said, there were a lot of signs. The universe was knocking. And one of the things that I kept hearing over and over again is a lot of my friends that were in sales, they worked in corporate sales. So let's say it's like a Friday happy hour. You know, it's the end of the week. We all get together for happy hour.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
And my friends are like, Oh my gosh,

Speaker 2 (16:35):
I just landed the biggest account of this whole year. And it's going to put me at like number five in the nation. And I'm like, Oh, that sounds so cool. Remember for her athlete, like my mind is just going crazy, like, you know, competition. And I'm like, Oh, that sounds so cool. And then somebody else would be like, Oh,

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Oh yeah, I just knocked this quarter out of the water. And it's just amazing. It's going to be a huge,

Speaker 2 (16:52):
You check for me. And I just, it always sounded so calm. And then they get to me and I'd be like, Oh, I gave a math quiz this week. Woo. I'm like, listen, I was changing and transforming lives. It's very, it's very amazing and virtuous to be a teacher. So cool. Awesome. I'm not knocking that at all. There was just something in my heart, something in my soul that was listening extra carefully to what they were saying. It just attracted me. And so that was really, I guess, over a period, it's not like one disruptor happened, a disruptor happened and you know, overnight, I was like, I need to be in sales. So over a period of time, I was like, I think I want to try that. Cause I worked hard as a teacher and I got the same pain, no matter what. And I was like, Hmm.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
And back then I was in debt. My money mindset was crazy. Like I just, I needed money. And so I saw sales as a way to take the work I was already doing and actually translate it into money instead of the work that I was doing. Just giving me the same amount of money all the time. So that was kind of my initial thing is I think I'll be good at sales. And I think I can make a lot of money and it turns out both of those are true. And thankfully that wasn't an easy thing either because my so long story short, I had a friend one summer who we played a couple of volleyball games together and afterwards he goes, and this is all in my mind, by the way, up to this point that I wanted to be in sales. It was just kind of this thing where I was like being sales, but I had all the reasons why I couldn't do it.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
I was too old. I didn't have any experience. It was too late to switch careers. I mean, I had every reason why it wasn't possible for me. Right. So we leave this volleyball game and my friend goes, you know, I've known you for a long time and I've never played sports with you until these past couple of games. Have you ever thought about being in sales? And I was like, what you just did is what I was like, is he reading my mind? I was like, well, yeah, I, yeah. I mean, actually I've always wanted to be, but like, and I gave him all the reasons I'm too old. I can't change careers. I don't know how to do it. I've never, you know, and he goes, yeah, none of that matters. If I got you an interview with my boss, could you sell yourself?

Speaker 2 (18:43):
I didn't know what sell myself meant. I didn't know. And I was like, yeah. And he's like, cool, I'm going to talk to my boss and get you in an interview. And I was like, okay. And he's like, can you put together a resume? And I was like, yeah, this is so cool. And so I went off to England for a couple of months or for like a month and a half and came back, had my resume form, turned it in. And within a week I was sitting in front of his boss and interviewing. And he's like, at the end of the interview, he goes, I got to tell you, Nicole, you knocked this out of the park. Like you really did an amazing job. And I wasn't expecting this because your resume just says, teacher, I mean, you don't have any sales experience.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
And I'm going to have a hard time telling my boss why I hired you over the 89 internal people who want this job. And I was like, Oh, like took the wind out of my sales. Right. I was like, I just went on my best performance. And this guy doesn't love me. He goes, you just don't have sales experience. And I said, well, I mean, I sold math to high school teenagers for 15 years. That's not an easy sell. I don't know where that one came from divine. He goes, wow, that is so true. I never thought about like that. And I was like, well, I mean, that's, these kids didn't do math because they wanted to do the math. They did it because I brought it out to them and he's like, okay, you do have some sales experience. And he's like, how about I put you on some ride alongs with my, a couple of my, you know, sales team guys.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
And you know, yada, yada, write a business plan. He like basically stacked all the, you know, like do this, do this, do this. And I was like, okay, I'll jump through all the hoops. And about two weeks later, I ran into a friend of mine who had always said he would hire me in sales. He always said, Nick, I've known you since we were in fourth grade, I would hire you. You'd be great. And again, I had all the reasons for him. I was like, well, I'm a teacher and I get my summers off. And you know, I don't know if I can afford to make that either whatever. So I see him two weeks later and it was like, Hey, guess what? I had an interview for a sales job. And he got mad at me. And I was like, what? I thought you'd be really proud.

Speaker 2 (20:38):
And he's like, I wanted you to work for me. I didn't tell you to just go get a sales job. I said, I want you to work for me. And I was like, Oh, well, what do you do now? Mind you, when I was in Europe, I had started drinking coffee for the first time ever in my life. This part of the story is always important because when we look back on our lives, we can see the through line. And when you see the breadcrumbs for what they really are, you know, that the universe was just leading you down this path, but you can't always see it in the moment you're in it. Right. You're in the frame. You can't see the picture, but looking back, it's like, Oh, I can connect the dots. So in that moment, having just started for the first time in my life, drinking coffee, I said, well, what do you sell? And he goes, we sell coffee. And I was like, Oh, interesting. For the first time in my life, I just started drinking coffee.

Speaker 3 (21:27):
Mmm.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
What would that mean? And he's like, well, does, does the other company give you a core package? Does the other company do this? Because the other, and I was like, I don't know. And these two guys, by the way, knew each other. They were both my friends and we're all sitting here. We were at a friend's birthday party. And both of them start arguing with each other about like, well, no, I wanted to work for me because of this. And I went and I was like, that was the first time I remember feeling like, it's not just me wanting to do this. Those are two people who really believe I can do this. And that was my first glimmer of like, I think this might be for me. So again, cut to about three months later I had gone to this my friend Jareds company visited with him, saw the office. He told me more about what they did. I spent a day with them and he's like, what do you think? And I was like, well, I think it sounds pretty cool. Everybody sounds really nice, you know, whatever. And he's like, well, why don't we go to lunch together? And so we went to lunch and his friend Phil came with us

Speaker 2 (22:23):
Talk to the entire lunch Mia about Ohio state. And there was one other thing, nothing to do with sales. Right. I was like, well, HIO, state football and math and England. That's what it was England and Ohio state football. So we leave there. And my friend, Jared, who wants to hire me for this job calls me. He goes, Hey, Phil said, you're a no brainer. And I was like, why would he say that? I thought he was saying like, I'm a no brainer as in like, I'm a ditz or I'm like,

Speaker 3 (22:55):
He goes,

Speaker 2 (22:56):
He would love to hire you for the position. And I was like, why does that matter? He's like, Oh, I didn't tell you. Phil's my boss.

Speaker 3 (23:03):
And I was like, I didn't say anything about sales.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
And he's like, I know it was perfect. And I got all worried thinking. I just spent lunch talking about football and stupid stuff. That didn't matter. I should have been talking about sales. He goes, Nick, if you would have talked about sales, you would have blown the whole thing. Yep. And that Phil was the same guy who, my first week I walked in and he's like, sell yourself. That's why I hired you. You sold yourself to me at that lunch. And so I was like, okay, all right. That makes sense. It started to make sense that like people just there's an energy there that attracts people to you and that's, what's gonna make you successful. So that's how I got into sales. It, wasn't a pretty start. Took me about a year and a half to get to that number one spot that I knew I wanted to be in, but that year and a half was, I learned a lot. You, and that's part of why I love being a sales coach now is I'm like, listen, I took all that stuff and put it together. And I'm going to keep it simple for you. You don't have to have, you know, a 30 year career in sales to know how to sell yourself. And I proved that to myself by, by creating that success. And now I just, I love it. I love knowing that we don't have to make it harder than it really is. And so that, that was my, that was my journey.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
So what would you say to people who are like, Oh, but you're pretty and Oh, but you're bubbly and Oh, but this and Oh, but that, like, what would you say to people who don't identify themselves like you do and to them about them selling themselves?

Speaker 2 (24:24):
You know, it's funny. Cause that was a hard lesson for me. When I first I can tell you me looking back, you know, we all have our tip of the iceberg story. So once I became, once I became number one in the nation, and again, that was my only goal. I had tunnel vision. I was like, number one nation. That's what I'm going to be from my very first week, I sat down again, Phil called me in and said, sell yourself. I was like, cool. I just need to sell myself. And I sit with my, my brand new sales team. They've all been in sales, their whole career. And they were like, why would you want to leave T you know, I'm just meeting them for the first time. They're like, why would you want to leave teaching and come here? And I was like, well, because I just always thought sales would be fun.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
And I want to be number one in the nation. And they laughed me out of the room. The one guy goes, do you know how hard that is? And I was like no, do you? And he's like, no, cause I've never been able to do it. And I was like, Oh, well where there's a will. There's a way. And then, I mean, when I say the next year and a half, like some people might look at that and go, wow. In a year and a half without sales experience, you made yourself the best in the company. I'm fine with the timeline. But I know that year and a half involved, a lot of tears involved, a lot of like, there was a steep learning curve, you know? And so it didn't come without its own version of struggle and persistence and tenacity. When I got there, that same guy who was like, you know, and he's one of my good friends still now to this day. But when I got there and I became number one, he goes, how'd you do? It

Speaker 3 (25:48):
Was like,

Speaker 1 (25:53):
I've known you for a year. And what do you mean? How did I do it? You think I'm hiding some stuff

Speaker 2 (25:56):
Separate from you? And he's like, no, I mean, really how'd you do it? And I was like, I just showed up. And I was myself and we had this big joke cause I have no cards that I write after every meeting I had with somebody I'd write a handwritten note card and send it through snail mail to them. And I said, well, I think my note cards worked. He goes, your note cards made you number one. And I was like, are you looking for a magic pill? I mean, I'm not like, I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. All I know is I wanted to make it happen. I figured out how to make it happen. I put me in everything I did. I personalized everything I did and showed up as me. And I just believe that I was so dedicated to making this happen.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
That truly where there's a will, there's a way. And so he was the first person that kind of questioned me. And then after that, I was like, you know what, I'm going to do this again. I don't want anybody to question me. I don't want anybody to think of a one hit wonder, I'm going to go a second year in a row. And right then and there, I made it a point to say, I'm going to do number one a second year in a row. And that's exactly what, and everybody was like, are you crazy? My work offered me a promotion. I said, I don't want your promotion. I want to go number one again. And they said, do you know how hard that is? And I said, we'll find out. And then when I did it a second year in a row, one of my friends came back from a a training he had gone to and he said, Nick, I just have mad respect for you.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
And I know how hard you've worked. I've been there at the 5:00 AM, install meetings that you've got, I've done all like, I've worked with you on a lot of this. I know how hard you've worked, but I'm really irritated because I just got back from this training and people are talking about you. And I was like, what do you mean? And he's like, well, they keep saying, must be nice to have a husband that gets her, all of her leads. And I was devastated. I was like, I just worked my ass off for two years in a row. I was the number one person in the company out of to whatever, a hundred, 200 people. And they think that somebody was feeding me leads. Like, I think they're confused. I have a husband that gives me leads. I need a lead on a husband. That's what they'd like.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
We just need to reverse these words like there. And I just need to laugh. I have a husband that gets, and he knew, I mean, obviously my friend he's like, you don't have a husband. I got really mad. And I started arguing with them and I was like, she doesn't have a husband that gets released. She worked hard for this and they didn't want to believe me. I said, they don't want to believe you because they need an excuse for why they didn't do it. And that really confirmed for me that like, I honestly thought there'd be some fireworks and some big celebrations when I got there and there weren't, and it was more people kind of chipping away at at. And so it was, they used the excuse of like, well, she's pretty. And that's why she has a husband that gets her like all the things that like half of them weren't even true.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
And that was pretty devastating to me because I saw it so differently. And I actually went back to all of my biggest accounts. Okay. Out of the, I don't even know over the two year period of, of being number one. Now I've had considerable success since then as well. But there's a long story that goes with that. But I, I realized most of my big accounts had a female decision maker. Hmm. Now I'm not saying that proves anything one way or the other, but to me, I could take the sex sells idea out of it. And like, listen to this, the truth. I mean, sex sells. There's a reason that like on a five Oh one Levi's blue jeans, commercial, they're not talking about how many buttons and the, the waist, you know, height comfortable. They are. And they're making you look like you're about to have sex if you were there Levi jeans.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
And obviously listen, being, being, you know, well, groomed being attractive, being presentable obviously can give you an edge, but I just knew how hard I had worked over those two years. And I thought, how dare somebody take that away and say that it's just because I walked in and looked pretty and people just drop dead and sign my contract. Like, yeah. And so again, that was part of what I went back and looked at who my decision makers were during, during the course of those couple of years and almost every single one was female. And that spoke volumes to me that it didn't have anything to do with that. People are still going to make their excuses. And so that's, I guess that's what I would say more than anything is people need a reason why they haven't been successful and they're going to chip away at the reasons why you haven't.

Speaker 1 (30:05):
And it's more of an indication about who they are and not who you are. Right. So, you know, the naysayers are going to be there and that's their stuff. You get to leave it where it is. What we think about you is none of your business,

Speaker 2 (30:17):
One of my favorite quotes and it's, so again, again, they're going to make up whatever they want. Like they're making up that I have a husband that gets me leads. I don't have a husband I've never been married. So that spoke volumes to me about where people are willing to go to justify what they haven't done. Yeah. And that's okay. Like you said, it says more about them than, than us. And I'm just, I don't worry about it anymore.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
Right. I mean, you know, you were the number one sales person in your company for the last, for those two years and who gives a shit what they think by. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (30:42):
Yeah. That's exactly right. Exactly.

Speaker 1 (30:45):
Taking your commission check and having a party and going to greet whatever it is that you want it to go to. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see. We'll see you later.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
Bye bye.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
So tell me, like, if we were to give the audience three tips, like I heard one of them already, and it really does speak to being authentic, but three tips that you can tell our audience, like if they wanted to improve their sales quotion or their sales skills, what should they be doing?

Speaker 2 (31:16):
So I'm sure the one that you're thinking of that I will never not say sell yourself, but that sounds a little too simple sometimes for people that are like, Oh, but I am, I am selling myself.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Do you think you're talking about being authentic is what you're saying? What you're saying, sell yourself. You're saying, be who you are. And like you said, personalized things. Like, I love the fact that you talked about the handwritten note. No one else does that, like, what can you do to differentiate yourself?

Speaker 2 (31:42):
Yeah. And that, for me was a big one because I had never not done that in my life. Like I remember being a little girl and loving the idea of a letter showing up for me in the mail. And that had such an impact on me that I took that. And like, you know, we all like getting mail, but I just took it to a different level. And I still, to this day, if you ask any of my friends or family, they're like, Oh yeah, she's the one that writes cards. Like I just, I like writing a handwritten note because it makes me stand out and especially in the digital world of emails and online communication as a way for me to stand out. And so look for the things that not just to stand out, to stand out, but that really aligned with who you are that will differentiate you in that way.

Speaker 2 (32:19):
And so yeah, the ham, and again, when that guy was like, Oh, you think the handwritten notes made you number one in a way? Yeah. Yeah. I do. Do I think that if I tell everybody in their brother to go write handwritten notes, that they're going to have the massive, massive success that I had? No, because it also still has to be again, aligned with you. It has to be something that you enjoy doing, because just like we talked about with the photo, shoot your energy and how you show up for that thing will be felt. Yes. So if you're not really an handwritten note person

Speaker 1 (32:53):
[Inaudible]

Speaker 2 (32:54):
Yeah. But find your thing, you know, find your life. And in the online world, one of the ways that I've been able to differentiate myself is with videos. So like, you know, and we all know in the world of sales, there's, there's hot leads. There's warm leads, there's cold traffic. And the cold stuff is the hardest to convert. Obviously we know that the best place to find business is with people. You've already done business with the hardest place to do it. And I have this all the time with my clients. They're like, but I just want to go find new people. I'm like, but you have to work so much harder for new people. Like you already have an established relationship with some of the warm leads. So start there, you know, but with the cold traffic, how can you again, differentiate yourself and online?

Speaker 2 (33:29):
It's not always a handwritten note. So I sent videos and I just say, Hey Jessica, how are you? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So find things that you, again, the videos play up to my strengths. I like to talk. I'm very personable and I'm good on video. So those are things that work for me find the thing that works for you and show up in that way. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's so, because here's the other thing it's not about doing it because it's going to get you business. It's about doing it because it's pleasurable for you and you know, you'll keep doing it. If it's pleasurable, you know, just like with a workout. I mean, if you know that you need to work out or you want to work out because you want to feel better, you want to feel healthier. Why would you pick a workout that you don't like, you're eventually going to stop it.

Speaker 2 (34:11):
You're eventually gonna get to a point where you're like, Oh, this isn't fun anymore. You know, so really you love and you enjoy and you'll keep showing up for, and you know, there's, there's a a story that I heard from Liz Gilbert, but it's actually via Liz Gilbert and it's from Mark Manson. So they are two authors. I don't know if you've read their two books. Mark Manson wrote the subtle art of not giving a fuck. Liz Gilbert has written many books, but this one specifically happened to be in big magic. One of her books, she, she wrote recently and the story is that basically whatever you choose to do in life is not always going to be shifts and gigs, right? It's not always going to be fun. It's not always going to be like, woo, woo. I love this. Yes. It's going to have a shit sandwich.

Speaker 2 (34:54):
Yup. You're going to have to eat a shit sandwich every now and then. So what's your favorite flavor of shit sandwich, right? You're going to have to eat it. And the other thing is it's like choose something that no matter what, you know, that you will keep showing up in, even when it gets hard, even when the shit sandwich gets handed your way on a plate. And I think that's one of the biggest things too, is build the business that you love, not the business that you're going to resent, build a business that works for you. Not, not a business that you're going to get angry and resentful.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Yeah. Because I think that a lot of people build their businesses because, Oh, I can do this and I can make a lot of money at it instead of, Oh, you know what? I'm really interested in this. So I know I'm going to want to keep doing it. Or if I, if I get a little disinterested, maybe I can make a little tweak to it. Maybe I can make a little twist. Maybe I can make it a little bit different and make myself different in the market too. Right. You look because you love

Speaker 2 (35:51):
And quit listening to all the, like one of my favorite examples to use is dry bar. Now I would imagine everybody who's listening to this. And if they don't know who dr. R is, maybe they're in a different country, drive art doesn't exist there. It basically is. And I, I love it. Thank you, dry bar. It basically is a place where you can go get a blowout, but like that is also included. If you go get your hair most of the time, when we go get our hair done, it's styled. When we get it done. Yeah. Drive our just took something completely out of that process. Just one piece of it and said, we're just going to do this for people. And I thought there were a lot of people along the way that were like, you can't just do that. People aren't going to just come and pay for a blow out people. And it turns out

Speaker 1 (36:33):
They will, they will. What's your blowout.

Speaker 2 (36:37):
What's your dry bar. What's your, you know, like even Uber, like these disruptors, these companies that have taken something and said, how can we take something that we know people want, but put our own little twist on it. And it's the same thing for us in our business. It's what is your special sauce? What is your zone of genius and how do you play up to that? Quit worrying about the fact that, you know, play to the people who knew, who, you know, want it quit playing to the people who are the naysayers and the criticizers, because if it's really who you are and what you do well, then show up with that, you know? And that's the business that you're going to love because you're going to keep showing up because it's so easy for you to show up. Cause it's you

Speaker 1 (37:13):
Absolutely just like this for you, with your sales. Right. And I think it has a lot to do with our story too. I think gives me, I think people do not account enough for their stories and their experiences and using those things to find how they can put their twist on things. Right.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
You know, speaking of that, that's a perfect segue to tell this story. I just heard it this morning. I was listening to unleash the power within Tony Robin's book. He tells this story about FedEx in Memphis. Their headquarters is in Memphis, you know, and one day the plant manager walks in and all the conveyor belts are shut down every single conveyor belt. And this is like every package in the world goes through Memphis, no matter where it's going after that. Right. They all get routed through Memphis. So if these conveyor belts aren't running and aren't working the whole business, shut down, they're losing millions. Right, right. And he's like, Oh my God, what are we going to do? Nobody can do anything. Everything's shut down. There's nothing wrong with the electricity. And they're like, we don't know what's happening. So he calls the repair guy.

Speaker 2 (38:12):
He's like, Hey, I am like desperate. This is major. Where are you? Can you come? And he's like, yeah, I'm five minutes away. I'll be right there. The repair guy walks in, he looks around the whole warehouse and he sees this pole in the middle and he goes over to the pole and he opens this little box and he twists a screw, a quarter of an inch. Everything turns on, everything starts working again. Everything's great. And the plant manager's like, Oh my God, you saved my life. What do I owe you? And he goes $10,000. And he goes, well, what do you mean $10,000. You were here for five minutes and you turned a screw. He goes, I'm going to need an itemized bill for this. And he goes, Oh, okay. I don't need to go anywhere to come up with itemized. They'll give me a piece of paper.

Speaker 2 (38:51):
I'll write it right now. And he hands them a piece of paper. And on the piece of paper, he writes turning the screw $1, knowing which screw to turn $9,999. Exactly what you just said. We discount our experience. We discount who we are, because it seems so easy for us because it's that wealth of knowledge that other people need, but it comes easily to us. So we don't see it in the same valuable way that somebody else might, you know, it's kinda like what you went in. You and I were talking about earlier, like a copywriter. Wow. For somebody who doesn't like to put words to paper or type like somebody that can save my life, they have a skill that I just don't have.

Speaker 1 (39:32):
Yeah. Cause you can talk your sales. Right. And you can set me into sales, but maybe you can't communicate that on paper that person's specialty is going to help you convert those into sales.

Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah. And if I try to do it myself, how many hours is going to take, what's it going to cost me in the meantime, by trying to do it myself, you know, an oil change is one of my favorite examples to use. I am not trying to change my own oil. I could, I could watch some YouTube videos, but how many hours is it going to take me to do all the things that I need to do to learn how to do it by all the stuff, and then actually do it. And I'm going to take a shower afterwards, cause I'm covered in oil. Or I can just go right over to the guy around the corner and he can do it in 45 minutes.

Speaker 1 (40:11):
Right. So let's think let's talk about that. Let's talk about how, when we decide to farm something out to somebody else, right. To give it to an expert, what's it going to cost you to do it? Cause it's going to cost you something and then what's it gonna cost you to pay them to do it

Speaker 2 (40:31):
Right. And it's such a good, like as a business owner, everybody needs to think like this, right? Who are you and your business and how do you generate revenue in your business? And what are the things that you can delegate so that you can show up as that person who drives your business forward in the best way that only you can, nobody can be you, nobody can do what you do. And so like if I have a $10,000 package that I can go sell to my clients and I spend time focusing on conversations with people, interested in that and selling them on the $10,000, then I stand to gain a lot more by being who I am best in my business and delegating the other tasks that are in, in terms of like hourly rate, nothing compared to what I can earn as my hourly rate.

Speaker 1 (41:19):
Absolutely. Because if you sell two of those packages, that's a two, that's a $20,000 hourly rate. Exactly. Or you could have been paying a copywriter, a thousand dollars to write your sales page or whatever,

Speaker 2 (41:30):
Whatever it costs. Right. Which is easy for they absolutely above and beyond or in that thousand or whatever their rate is because it's easy work for them. So we should always be taking on the energetically, easy work for us and charging adequately for it because you have to look at it less about what I'm worth and what is it worth to somebody else? It's like the screw story. Like it took that guy five minutes. He twisted it. But how much revenue did FedEx stand to lose? If that screw wasn't twisted and how much time would they have spent turning screws all over that plant trying to figure out which one was the right one. Absolutely. What is it going to cost that person in the meantime it's less about, I don't know if I'm worth that and I want to do it for free. What's it worth to somebody easily to you is valuable to them. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (42:16):
Yeah. Cause you, you are, are you talking about selling the value of what it is that you're selling beside yourself, besides we're selling the value of what it is that you have done,

Speaker 2 (42:27):
Right. Right. Like there's a value prop there. And how do you position that? How do you see that as benefiting somebody else's life as truly changing and transforming their life? Like the transformation is what you're selling. You know, I say this all the time to my clients. I'm like, you're not selling 12 sessions on zoom. You're selling a transformation. Yeah. You're not selling a mattress. You're selling a good night's sleep. And once you get clarity behind, nobody wants a mattress to have a mattress. Nobody wants to lose weight just to lose weight. Nobody, you know, like even house I've used this example before you're not buying a house for the house, you're buying a house for the visions of the memories you're going to create in that house. And there might be some features about it that you're like, well it has to have a hot tub or it has to have a pool. Fine. You're looking for those features. But ultimately what you're looking for those features for is the experience the house is going to bring to you.

Speaker 1 (43:09):
Oh, love it. Love it. Love it. And speaking of experiences, if you enjoyed this with Nicole, Nicole, I want to thank you so much for coming today. Cause this was amazing. And I think that you actually do simplify sales for people. And when we talk about selling ourselves, you do have to have your brand together, right? You have to have your brand together. And I think that it's really important for you to know what you bring to the table. You have to show up authentically in order for people to get who you are. Because as you can see, that's an Nicole was doing. She thought when she was not even in her pseudo interview, right. She thought she was just talking about football was a football football in England, right? Well, I'm not an LSU fan, but that's where I would say that I would land.

Speaker 1 (43:53):
But anyway, she was talking about football in England. She didn't even realize she was being interviewed. She was just being herself. So that's the point, right? Just be yourselves. And if you guys want to learn more from Nicole, she's going to be one of our guest experts in the freedom lounge. So make sure that you get your membership there and come and look at her training and hang out with us. She's going to be answering questions. She's going to have a training that's accessible to you. And again, Nicole, I want to thank you so much for coming today. This is so much fun. And now I want to go sell some stuff.

Speaker 2 (44:27):
Right? I hope you got all lit up and excited about I got this. Yeah, let's do it. I'm on board. I mean, thank you so much for having me on. I owe, like I said, at the beginning, I always enjoy being in your company. I always enjoy having conversations with you and this was no different. It was just an amazing opportunity to connect and hopefully share and create some value for the people listening. Alright. Thank you so much. I know we have. Thank you, Nicole.