Sales Tips for Solopreneurs Who Don't Like to Sell - #022

Show Notes

You may have started your own side hustle business for any number of reasons; to explore entrepreneurship, to gain career experience in a new area or to market your expertise. Whatever the reason, many solopreneurs and business consultants cringe at the thought of having to “sell” their product or service. Recognizing that selling is an important and necessary part of building a business, Lori Vajda and Nola Boeá discuss sales strategies for side hustlers who don’t like selling, with special guest, CEO and Founder of Big Dream Executive Coaching, Barbara Fonti.   ​

Title: Sales Tips for Solopreneurs Who Don't Like to Sell

You may have started your own side hustle business for any number of reasons; to explore entrepreneurship, to gain career experience in a new area or to market your expertise. Whatever the reason, many solopreneurs and business consultants cringe at the thought of having to “sell” their product or service. Recognizing that selling is an important and necessary part of building a business, Lori Vajda and Nola Boeá discuss sales strategies for side hustlers who don’t like selling, with special guest, CEO and Founder of Big Dream Executive Coaching, Barbara Fonti. 
    
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Sticky Brand Lab

Sales and business growth strategies are in the works. Come have a listen!

In This Episode You’ll Learn

• Tips for how to sell if you hate selling. 
• Why our negative sentiment about sales is often associated with our own unsavory sales experience with salespeople. 
• How to communicate value and enthusiasm around your offering so it doesn’t feel like ‘selling’. 
• What it means to harness the power of values and beliefs to engage your target customer.

To be a successful and profitable side hustling entrepreneur or solopreneur it’s critical to develop selling skills that work for you and help to grow your business. As Lori and Nola discovered when talking to guest Barbara Fonti, being better at sales starts with ‘being of service’ to others. In its simplest form, as a business owner, when you are as helpful as possible to your prospects and customers, sales becomes an act of service. And when you change your mindset about selling, you soon realize that you can sell more by being helpful rather than having to apply hard selling techniques.

• (4:40.30) The power of a strong ‘why’ as a sales strategy and motivation
• (6:50.84) The surprising characteristics that make for a great salesperson, and persuasive isn’t one of them. 
• (11:24.15) When it comes to understanding the value of your product or service, this is the mistake most side hustlers make. 
• (14:39:66) This simple reframe technique makes selling seem like it’s not even selling.
• (16:51.26) This all too common mistake entrepreneurs make when it comes to sales.
• (19:19:01) The number one, biggest mistake most entrepreneurs make and how to avoid it.

Resources
This episode was supported by: Be-YOU-nique

Transcript

Nola: [00:00:00] Are you a side hustler or entrepreneur who finds sales, or rather the act of selling, the least enjoyable part of your business, because it often feels too pushy? Or maybe you're the opposite. a business owner who loves selling and just wants fewer off days and more days feeling on top of your game. Well, you're in luck because today's show just might help you create your own blue haven, where off days are rare and selling has never been easier. Stay tuned. In today's show. We explore a unique approach to closing the sales gap.
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Announcer: You're listening to the Sticky Brand Lab podcast, where time strapped professionals, like you learn how to create a business you love in as little as three hours a week.

Lori: [00:00:42] The reality is your ideal clients and customers are buying. And whether they buy from you or your competition has a lot more to do with the thought you put into the act of selling than the actual product being sold. Our guest today, Barbara Fonti is more than 25 years of experience in sales and coaching. She has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, sales, professionals, and success driven achievers reach their goals. And when it comes to selling, Barbara has been successfully disrupting traditional sales methods. 

Nola: [00:01:12] Sales goals, sales quotas, sales, projections. And the reality is you can't sustain a business without revenue coming in, and you can't have revenue without sales, whether selling conjures up images of hard selling pushy people with their own agenda in mind, or just the opposite needing to generate income, pushes you to be more driven in your approach, there is a different way. And that is exactly what our guests, Barbara Fonti knows a thing or two about.  Barbara started her career as an executive in corporate America, before taking a leave in order to pursue career opportunities that would provide her with more flexibility in her work and life. That career change put Barbara on a path she never thought she'd be on. Sales. She knew she would have to find a different way to reach her sales goals, moving from what can I sell to a how can I help approach Barbara built a successful career in sales. As an entrepreneur, executive coach, trainer and speaker Barbara is passionate about helping people live the life they've always wanted to live. Through her company, Big Dream Executive Coaching, she works with entrepreneurs and executives, helping them overcome challenges so they can achieve astonishing results. She's also the founder and CEO of the Fonti group, an insurance and a consulting company, specializing in employee benefit solutions. Barbara Fonti holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Wheaton college, Massachusetts. She is certified in leadership coaching strategies from Harvard University and is a certified professional life coach and master coach. Barbara Fonti is based in New York, but works with clients around the globe. She's here today to teach us all about selling for entrepreneurs who don't like sales. With the belief that when you're in service selling becomes an act of caring. Welcome Barbara.

Barbara: [00:02:56] Hello!

Nola: [00:02:59] So

Barbara: [00:02:59] Nola. I'm so glad to be here.

Nola: [00:03:02] we are so glad you are here.

Barbara: [00:03:06] We're having a party today. sales party.

Nola: [00:03:10] The sales party. That's right.

Well, Barbara, when we opened the show, we mentioned that you made a career shift and that that shift led you into sales. Could you tell us about your choice to leave corporate America and how you eventually ended up in sales?

Barbara: [00:03:26] Yeah. I, you know, looking back, I feel like that was the biggest risk I had ever taken in my life.  I worked for a company and I was loving what I was doing. And they were very generous to me in many ways, and it was just terrific. I was traveling a lot and just, you know, the kind of thing that you always hope for. But on the other side of that, I had two daughters and they were very small. They were toddlers at the time. And in order to do my job and do it the right way, I had to leave a lot. And I found that I was on a plane a lot and it just, it was tearing me apart. And I couldn't justify it , in my own mind and what was important to me and my values. And so I said, I, you know, I was looking for signs, I think, to leave. And I found some and took a leap of faith. And said, I want, I need something where I can be more flexible. I need something where I can, run the ship in the direction. I need to go to take care of my family as well. And so the most obvious choice was to do something in sales, because I saw that as a type of profession where you could have some flexibility in your schedule at the time. Now, when I told people that, everybody told me I would starve. So

Nola: [00:04:39] That's encouragement.

Barbara: [00:04:40] I know, and I believed them. Kind of. Um, because I, I think I was not the most likely choice of what people thought about when they thought about like, Oh, this sales superstar, you know. And then I had some men, of course, who told me, Oh, it's harder for women, and this is going to be very difficult and you can have all these obstacles. And you know, that I was able to kind of push off to the side and not pay too much attention to. but I had a strong why, which was my family.  I knew when I was young, I just wanted to be a great mom. And I don't know if I actually fulfill that or not, but that's what you have to ask my daughters are grown. They might have something else to say about that, but, but I knew that I didn't want someone else to raise them. Primarily. You know, I knew that maybe I'd have to have some babysitters, so even if I end up on government subsidies, I'm gonna, I'm gonna make that, that, leap and I'm going learn. I, I like learning. I like growing. I said, I'll find out everything I need to know about sales and I'll just give it my best. And that that's what did it, it was the strong, why, which I always believe is helps you get through those obstacles and fears.

Lori: [00:05:49] And you had mentioned that sales was not really the thing that you thought, you would start or make your career shift to. What did that experience do for you as your career took off in sales?

Barbara: [00:06:01] Well, you know, I had this preconceived notion about what sales people were. It was kind of based on things that I had seen in the media, you know? And when you think about someone in sales and you think about movies and TV shows, and you think about, you know, the typical sales person, they're always portrayed as this sort of like, either unsavory kind of character or maybe someone who's kind of pathetic and desperate

Nola: [00:06:25] Sleazy and cheesy.

Barbara: [00:06:27] Sleazy and cheesy or desperate and pathetic. Oh, this poor person, you know, it's so desperate.  And what happened was I just said, you know, I'm just going to go for it. And I learned that guess what? Those portrayals are not really what a professional sales professional looks like. um, and it turns out that to be very good at sales, you don't want to be pushy. You don't want to be sleazy. You want to be honest and have integrity and take care of people. And that I knew how to do.

Nola: [00:06:59] Of course you did.

Barbara: [00:07:00] was eye opening. And so all those people that said, you're just gonna starve. You know, you're not that type. You're more of the peacemaker and the nurture and the team builder. Well, guess what it turns out, those are the best kinds of qualities and skills to have to build a base of customers who love you and will tell other people about you. Who knew?

Lori: [00:07:24] I think you touched on something for many aspiring entrepreneurs. And side hustlers, the obstacle that they face when it comes to selling is fear, limiting beliefs, procrastination, time management. So this is kind of a two-part question here. How do you suggest we overcome these hurdles when we're dealing with a perspective customer, client? And part two is what is your suggestion, especially based on your experience, for moving past the obstacles when you're in a networking situation where you want to ask for possible referrals?

Barbara: [00:08:04] Okay. I have a lot to say on this subject.

Nola: [00:08:07] Cool. That's why you're here.

Barbara: [00:08:11] Oh my goodness. Well, all right business ownership entrepreneurial side, hustling, whatever you want to call it, 101 if you are in business, you are in the business of sales. So that mindset that you mentioned, you know, uh, is, so it's the, I want to say the cornerstone, but it's the foundation.

And so the first thing, the first thing you should ask yourself is how do I feel about sales and sales people? What is my perception? Get honest about that, because if you're not honest, you're not going to do yourself a service. And if you, if you find that you have these sort of negative feelings and negative perceptions about what a sales person is or what a sales activity is, you're going to find every excuse in the book to not do the things that you need to do to move yourself forward and build a successful business or career.  So first thing we want to do is ask ourselves that. Because when push comes to shove and in a networking environment or doing sales activity. We want to feel good about what we're doing. We want to feel confident and proud of this.

You know, I was just talking with, um, a woman earlier this week. Very intelligent woman. She's overseas. She's got a great business, great product with value, but she's not making money. So I said, well, what's happening? So she said, well, I'm afraid to ask for the sale, very common, right. So I said, okay, well, why are you, why are you hesitant? So we got to the heart of it. And she had a lot of shame about sales, and about her value personally. It's so incredible about who you are as a person, how much confidence you have in yourself and the value that the product or service that you're bringing to the table has. That will affect what you do and how much of that you do.  Are there some people that are pushy and maybe sleazy out there? Yes, but that's the minority. That's not the majority of salespeople.

Lori: [00:10:19] a good point. I think that's a really, really good point. I also love the fact that your first tip is get real with the image that you have. Which is what you did. You said, look, I'm a caring person. I'm a, a supportive person. These are my natural traits. This image that I have, doesn't fit who I am.

Barbara: [00:10:40] Exactly. And so understanding who you are, benefits you in, in all areas of your business, not just sales, but, uh, you know, when you think about that pushy person and you are afraid that people are going to perceive you as that pushy person, don't worry. You're not that person. And because you're not that person, people are not going to perceive you that way. So just take that off the table. Because that's just a bunch of BS that we're feeding ourselves, which is screwing with our wellbeing and our bottom line. Very important.

Lori: [00:11:12] awesome.

Barbara: [00:11:13] Right? Okay. So that's first way of getting it. So good. Get real about that. And, and let's get into a positive place when we think about that, so we can make it a priority.

The second thing that can really help overcome at crunch time asking for what you want and what you need is knowing the value of the product or service that you bring to the table. And you might say, well, who doesn't know the value of their product or service? Well, you'd be surprised.  So when I ask people, you know, well, tell me about what your product does. They'll tell me, their features and the different, you know, nuances of their service to their product. I want to know what it does for your end user. How it's going to be a value to them. Once you on earth at once you take time to figure out and determine and write down what the value of your product or services, guess what happens. You start becoming more confident and now you want to pass on and be like, yeah, people need this. Yeah. I need to get the word out.

So. First off, we, we take away these bad connotations about sales. Number two, we get really confident about what it is we're bringing to the table. And then number three, we want to practice our pitch. Okay. If you do sales, in front of people networking or via zoom networking, or you're reaching out to people on the telephone, or you're doing a webinar or whatever the means is that you want to propose something and close the sale, you need to write it down and practice it and practice it and practice it. I have a dog he's 12 years old. His name is Jack and he's my little partner in crime here. He sits here and he has heard more pitches, probably anybody on the planet earth. I practiced to him. You could practice in front of your computer practice in front of your mirror, call your friend up. Um, if you're in a business organization, you've got some kind of support with other like-minded business, people or entrepreneurs say, Hey guys, why don't we practice our pitch? Um, it's going to be uncomfortable at first and you may trip over your words, but then you won't. And when it's crunch time, you won't and if you've practiced it and practicing and practice it, it's going to roll off your lips.

Nola: [00:13:38] Yeah, I am so surprised how many times I figure, oh, I know what we're talking about. You know, it's, it's, I'm, I'm, I'm all over this topic. And then when it actually comes time to articulate, it it's that's when I realized why people actually practice it. Because it doesn't necessarily roll off the tongue. there's like this gap between my brain and my mouth. But what I noticed when you were talking about, what do you have to tell yourself, first and the whole prospect of, Hey, people need this. That is really an attitude shift. It's not like, how can I get this into the hands of customers, because I need to make a sale. It's this has really has some value that people can benefit from. And I've got to get the word out. Just the way you, you articulated that, it's a mental and emotional shift.

Barbara: [00:14:31] Absolutely. If you really want to know the secret to my success, here, it is Enthusiasm sells,

Nola: [00:14:36] Enthusiasm sells.

Lori: [00:14:37] Enthusiasm sells.

Barbara: [00:14:39] And sales at its core is really just, it's just communication tool, where you are taking your passion for something and transferring it to someone else. That's what it is.  . Does that make sense?

Lori: [00:14:51] It sure does. Because when you, when you, you have enthusiasm for what you do or what you sell or how you can be of service, it comes through as authentic and, and that in, and you can't fake enthusiasm because it doesn't sound authentic.

Nola: [00:15:11] and when you really have a desire to help people that does come through as authentic.

Barbara: [00:15:18] I love that. You know, it's, it's like saying, okay, I'm not selling, I'm serving.

Nola: [00:15:24] There you go,
 
When we come back, Barbara, we would love to get your advice and feedback on common mistakes business owners make in their approach to selling. As well as tips for setting realistic sales goals,

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Lori: [00:16:16] Welcome back to Sticky Brand Lab, where we show you how to turn your knowledge, passion, and great idea into an income stream, so you can create a business and lifestyle you're excited about. I've recently read Barbara in a Forrester report that 59% of buyers choose to do their own research because they feel salespeople push their agenda rather than help the customer solve a problem. So with that kind of idea in mind, what are some of the common mistakes people make when it comes, comes to sales?

Barbara: [00:16:51] The first thing that comes to mind is that they don't ask enough questions.

Lori: [00:16:56] What do you mean by that?

Barbara: [00:16:57] So when we are in front of a potential client, a potential buyer, sometimes we want to just convey to them what we want them to know. But if we really want to serve that client and we want them to trust us, and we want to come from a place of integrity, we need to find out a little bit about them. So that we can make sure that what it is we're bringing to the table is solving a problem that they might have. So you need to uncover some things and kind of get to know them a little bit better.  So don't make assumptions, ask good probing questions.

Lori: [00:17:34] When you say, ask probing questions. It's probing. What does that mean in sales?

Barbara: [00:17:39] Uh, it means asking questions about that person or their business. If you're selling business to business, something that's going to help someone's business, you want to ask a lot of questions about their business. So you can get to know more about it. If you have several different products or services, which one would be the best fit for them. If you're, if you are a business to consumer, ask some questions about that person, about their needs, about their family's needs, perhaps. About their auto needs, about whatever it is that surrounds your product and service. It also helps you be more compelling because if you're uncovering a need, then you've just uncovered a problem that you can potentially solve.

Lori: [00:18:21] Like hear what your, what, some of What you're saying is do more listening rather than talking, Even though you're asking questions, ask the question and be quiet.

Barbara: [00:18:32] Yes. I was just going to say, ask and shut up. And don't be afraid of silence. We're all afraid of silence. So we feel we need to, uh, fill in the blank, but sometimes you ask a question and the person you asked that question to doesn't automatically know the answer. They need to give it a little bit of thought and that's okay. And that's what you want. And you know, what else, when someone gives you a response, take a minute before you say something. So don't feel like you need, when someone else is speaking. Listen to what they're saying. Don't be thinking about what you're going to say next, listen, and give it a thoughtful response instead of just, you know, saying the next thing you want them to know. Right.

So that would be the first thing. And then the, you know, a big mistake, which sounds unbelievable, but a big mistake that people make is they don't ask for the sale is probably the number one mistake that people in a sales role don't do. And we get into this sort of, we have a nice conversation with someone the meeting's going so well, and we don't want to ruffle anyone's feathers. And we're just so excited that they're excited about our product or service and that's the way it goes. but there's a hesitancy because again, we go back to mindset. There's this fear, if I now remind them of the value and ask for them to take action, they might not love me. They might not like me. They might think that I'm annoying. And so, you know, there's this fear about that. So we need to get over the fear and

Lori: [00:20:06] How do you get over not asking for the close?

Barbara: [00:20:10] Well, preparation. Plain and simple. So write down what you want, whether it's what you want people to do when they go to your website, whether it's you, what you want them to do at the end of your webinar or a presentation you're giving, or a phone call that write down what it is that you want. Get that sticky tab and put it in front and practice and practice and practice and practice, ask for the sale. And some people are afraid of that and that's okay. Do it scared. Do it scared if you

Nola: [00:20:43] and it gets easier.

Barbara: [00:20:45] does. You'll be less scared and less scared and There is a cost to not asking for the sale as well. Now I used to sell a lot of insurance. I'll give you a quick example. And, um, sometimes when people first go into insurance, they, you know, they work for another company company says, okay, come on and give me a list of all the people and the family members and everybody, you know, and now go talk to them about it. And most people are uncomfortable with that. They don't want to do that. They would rather go and sell and present their product or service to people they don't know. And I was like that as well. And unfortunately, what had happened was I had a close friend, had gotten sick, she got a heart attack and then called me afterwards and said, Barbara, can you get me disability insurance? Because now I have a problem going to be out of work at least two months. And I don't know how I'm going to pay the bills and blah, blah, blah. And of course at that point, it's too late to get the insurance she's uninsurable. And it taught me a lesson because I felt, I felt a lot of shame for not going outside of my comfort zone and letting everybody I know know about the importance of what I was offering people. Had, I done that she might've gotten the insurance, whatever it would have cost would have been a lot less than her bills that she had to pay. So I, what I'm saying is that if you don't ask for the sale, you might be doing potential customers a disservice.

Nola: [00:22:10] That's another mind shift.

Lori: [00:22:12] Yeah. it's okay to ask the people that are close to you that you know, about the product or service that you're selling. if they don't want it, they'll say no. You'll get practice, but more importantly, if it's a product that you believe in that there's, that you understand the value of it, then you're letting them know.  It's caring is sharing.

Nola: [00:22:36] You've given them that choice.

Barbara: [00:22:38] Yeah. What I like to do is just make it easy for them. Simple and easy and no pressure. Let them know what to expect. If they work with you or they buy their product. So paint a picture for them. So they take the mystery out because it's easier for them to take action, let them know what the next step would be. If they wanted to purchase this or engage in some kind of service agreement with you, whatever, and then ask them how it sounds. And then shut up again. We shut up. So paint a picture.

Nola: [00:23:14] Paint a picture

Barbara: [00:23:15] Yup. Tell them what the next steps would be.

Nola: [00:23:18] next steps.

Barbara: [00:23:19] And then ask them how that sounds and

Nola: [00:23:21] How does that sound and

Barbara: [00:23:24] And if they're like, great. Okay. Where's your credit card?

Nola: [00:23:28] Can I talk now? it. You make it sound so simple, but I can tell, practicing this will be uncomfortable. And if there wasn't somebody like you saying, It's going to be uncomfortable, you're on the right track, just keep it up, then I would say, This is uncomfortable. I'm not going to do it. I'm going to do something more comfortable, which probably means I'm going to do something less effective. But hearing this advice will tell me. This is what to do. It will feel uncomfortable, but as long as you remember that you are providing a service, and people are truly benefiting from that service, and you're giving them a choice to be able to take advantage of that service or not. It's on them. There's no pressure. It's, it's really a mind shift. It makes it so much easier. You've just given, you've just given some very valuable steps to be able to practice that and go, okay, I think I can do this.

Lori: [00:24:27] Yeah. what other, um, tips or tricks or hacks would you offer up?

Barbara: [00:24:34] If you want to be really successful, here's a tip. You can be in love with your product or service, but what you need to be in love with is what it does for your customer.  A great sales person, who does it with more ease and flow is in love with what your product or service does for your customer. Sit down and take time to think about that. How is it going to make them feel? See, everything we do, if you break it down is because we believe it's going to make us feel a certain way. And everything we don't do is because we believe it's going to make us feel a certain way, right? I'm not going to pick up the phone and call people and tell them about what it is I'm offering. Cause it's gonna make me feel scared or crappy or whatever. So how is. Your product or service going to make your customer feel? How are they going to believe it's going to make them feel when you tell them the story that you want to tell them? Are they going to believe that doing business with you is going to make them feel smart or successful or beautiful or handsome or healthy? You know, how, what do they believe about that? Because that if you tap into that, that's golden, it's golden and you'll be head and shoulders above your other, competitors.

Lori: [00:25:59] That is, uh, that is really awesome. Well, we believe in inspiring quotes and mottoes, uh, Nola. And I actually developed, uh, some, a PDF with inspirational quotes that we have for aspiring side hustlers and entrepreneurs. And we thought it would be interesting to see what your personal favorite quote or motto was for being a successful business woman. Can you tell us what your quote is?

Barbara: [00:26:25] Sure it's a quote from Seth Godin who is a marketing guru, right. We love him and, and it's goes like this. You are more powerful than you think you are. So act accordingly,

Lori: [00:26:41] I have goosebumps on that one. That is, awesome.

Barbara: [00:26:44] We find we have a lot of negative self-talk and we tend to get mired in the things that we don't believe we can do, we might not get the success that we want, and that's why a lot of people suffer from something called imposter syndrome.

Nola: [00:27:05] nodding.

Barbara: [00:27:06] so, but we, most of these things we tell ourselves are untrue. They're actually lies. The truth is, that you are more powerful than you think you are. So act accordingly. Don't be afraid. You're better than you think you are. Don't compare yourself to other people. Don't compare yourself at the beginning stages of your business, to people who are established. Don't compare your revenue to someone else who may have invested 10 times more than you have. So these things are just They screw your wellbeing and they, they put you outside of a peak performance state, which is really where you want to be in order to be successful.

Lori: [00:27:44] That's so true. Yeah.

Nola: [00:27:46] it. Yeah. That's that may just go on my wall.

Lori: [00:27:49] I know.

Nola: [00:27:52] Well, we're definitely going to, um, put that on our resource page.

Well, shifting gears just a little bit, we like to ask our guests some fun questions, so question one, what are two things, most people don't know about you?

Barbara: [00:28:13] I am a recovering introvert.

Lori: [00:28:15] I would never have guessed that.

Barbara: [00:28:16] Yeah. I was a very shy child. Um, I it's not that I had low self-confidence. I don't think I had any self-confidence zero, zero. I never wanted people to look at me. I remember being in kindergarten. I had to come into school late. And, I remember this vividly. That I went to the door and I looked through the little glass window in the door to my kindergarten room and I saw the kids playing and so forth. And I froze. I was so afraid to go turn that knob and walk in there because I didn't want people to turn around and look at me. I stood out there till everybody took a lunch break. You know, I was so that's how shy I was. Yeah. It was tough. So that's why I'm like, wow. I can't believe sometimes I pinch myself, like, is this really my life? This is amazing. Um, so yeah, so that's the first thing. Let's see the second thing. I have a title. So a couple of years ago, my husband and I were knighted by the Pope. And so has a Sir before his name. And I have, when I was knighted, it was Lady. So Lady Barbara Fonti,

Lori: [00:29:26] Wow. Cool.

Barbara: [00:29:29] So, although these days, and I think this is a sign of my age, the mail is coming in with Dame in front of me, instead of Lady Judy, I'm like, Oh, okay.

I'll embrace it. Okay. Oh yeah. I don't usually tell people. It sounds so

Nola: [00:29:47] Oh, no. That's so too. That's too cool. That is too cool.

Lori: [00:29:50] Cool. Very, very

Nola: [00:29:52] And that's yeah. And that's something most people don't know about you, but that is

Barbara: [00:29:57] I don't really go, you know, throwing that out there. So yeah.

Lori: [00:30:00] As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Barbara: [00:30:04] I want it to be Martha Stewart before there was a Martha Stewart. I think, you know, I, um, I did, there weren't really any expectations for me. I think for, you know, my brother there was, but I think probably all they hoped was that I would marry, what they would call marry well,

Nola: [00:30:21] huh.

Barbara: [00:30:24] No. My favorite toy was like an easy bake oven and I loved my Barbie dolls. It's not like the I'm going to be a physician and I'm going to change the world's kind of person. But I knew I wanted to take care of people. I knew I wanted, I envisioned a home and, and I always knew I wanted to be a mother and I wanted to create like this, you know, story book, home where the kids would come home at the holidays. The smell of the meal from the driveway and be so excited and everything would be happy. No one would ever argue or anything like that kind of stuff, you know, which isn't reality.

Nola: [00:30:54] I used to watch Leave It to Beaver, too!

Barbara: [00:30:56] Yeah. And then life happens and you say, what the heck? So I always knew that's what I wanted to do. And then when I went to college, I was very fortunate that I went to school with, um, some really unbelievable women who really have changed the planet and they changed my life and perspective and, and, um, help me challenge my beliefs about what I could do in the world. So that, that helped a great deal, but kind of going back to that whole, like wanting to nurture, and I was the peacemaker and so forth. Again, those are great qualities for business people.

Lori: [00:31:33] Thank you Barbara, for being our guest. Thank you so much for helping us and our listeners kind of take on a new approach and see selling in a much different way than we ever could before.Um, and you had mentioned that you had an offer for our listeners, if you wouldn't mind sharing that, as well as telling them how they might learn more about you and your company.

Barbara: [00:31:56] Yeah, absolutely. And by the way, thank you for having me. I love you. And I love what you do for the entrepreneurial community. I think it's so great.

Nola: [00:32:05] Thank you.
​
Barbara: [00:32:06] so, okay. if someone needs some assistance in either, clarifying what they need to do. I'm in sales or wanting to practice their pitch with someone, or just kind of some help overcoming their fears or creating a roadmap, they can go to my website, big dream executive coaching, and they can book a complimentary coaching session. Um, sometimes that's all people need to sort of, you know, get them on the path to having a little more self-confidence in the right in order to move forward. But I also want to mention, um, an incredible program that I facilitate in positive intelligence and mental fitness. And it's a six week program. We're having incredible, incredible results. And I think it's so tuned into the different challenges and obstacles for entrepreneurs. And what we do in the program is we help. We basically give them the roadmap for how to quiet all that negative emotion, like stress and fear and worry and shame and guilt, and then how to engage the positive, sometimes untapped powers of your brain that put you in peak performance so that you can engage in the right kinds of innovation and creativity so that you can take action laser-focused action on the things that are going to move you forward. And it's really fun. We do it in a really fun way. So again, if they go to big dream executive coaching com click on the mental fitness tab and you'll have everything that you need right there to move forward. Uh, I'm also on Instagram, you can find me and LinkedIn. Those are the two places I hang out the most.

​Lori: [00:33:46] That's great. Thank you.

Nola: [00:33:47] So listeners, you can also get the links, details and, information that she just spoke about. Um, also at stickybrandlab.com/Resources. Be sure to come back next Tuesday and every Tuesday for another informative, inspiring and motivating episode. And remember. Action creates results. So tap into your desire to create a business and brand you love by taking 1% action every day, small steps, big effects.

Lori: [00:34:17] Do you have questions about creating a personal brand, side hustle or small business? Sign up for one of our clarity sessions. For more information, contact us at stickybrandlab.com/contact.
 (Out-take)

Nola: [00:34:32] Pregnant pauses are allowed.

Lori: [00:34:34] Pregnant pauses. Yeah. Yeah.

Barbara: [00:34:35] pregnant pauses, did you say?

Nola: [00:34:41] We're never too old for a pregnant pause.