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Lester Crafton and John Carey back to Pony Tales for nearly three hours of straight-through conversation. They start with the job that first put them on doorsteps and finish in the middle of a national-grid debate, showing—step by step—how those early summers shaped everything that came after.Lester explains the moment he realised energy was the thread connecting almost every modern problem and why he left residential solar to focus on utility-scale projects. John walks through the hard lessons of appointment setting, the day a remote firmware update shut off power to his own house, and the reason rural co-ops care more about peak-demand penalties than slick marketing. Together they break down how portable “energy trailers” can back up disaster zones, soak up excess midday solar and even feed power back to transformers that would otherwise overload at five p.m.The conversation drifts—from the first time either of them heard the phrase “grid security,” to an early field test where three kinds of solar modules were bolted to the same roof just to see what would survive a Carolina summer. Along the way they trade stories: a cash quote so high a homeowner laughed out loud, a USDA grant that sat frozen for a year, and the drone-monitored micro-grid they built as a sandbox for every new inverter they could find.By the last hour the talk shifts to leadership and culture: why commissions alone never keep a team together, how emotional intelligence shows up in metrics-driven sales, and the simple coaching habits—borrowed straight from the book field—that still anchor their companies today.It is equal parts technical deep-dive and field-tested mindset, and it shows exactly how two former door-to-door reps ended up solving problems that touch the U.S. power grid. Stream the full episode to see how it all connects.Big thanks to our sponsors over at Cardinal Senior Insurance — and shoutout to everyone who's been supporting the show!Get a sit down with their leadership and schedule an Interview with Cardinal Senior BenefitsGet info about BIZZLER in Greece here: cassandra@travodyssey.comWelcome to The Pony Tales Podcast, where we dive into the inspiring stories and unique experiences of Southwestern Advantage alumni. Each episode features candid conversations with former book-sellers, exploring how their time selling books shaped their personal and professional lives. From incredible career journeys to valuable life lessons, our guests share the habits, mindset, and challenges that led them to success. Whether you're a former book-seller or just looking for some motivation and wisdom, you'll find something to relate to and learn from in every episode.
Victoria Varberg works in conservation now — specifically raising money to help protect rhinos at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. In this episode, she talks about how she got into that world, what it's really like working in international fundraising, and how much of what she learned from selling books still applies.She also tells the story of her craziest week on the book field — a stretch that included a cult, a broken-down car, and one of her biggest sales weeks ever.Big thanks to our sponsors over at Cardinal Senior Insurance — and shoutout to everyone who's been supporting the show!Get a sit down with their leadership and schedule an Interview with Cardinal Senior BenefitsGet info about BIZZLER in Greece here: cassandra@travodyssey.comWelcome to The Pony Tales Podcast, where we dive into the inspiring stories and unique experiences of Southwestern Advantage alumni. Each episode features candid conversations with former book-sellers, exploring how their time selling books shaped their personal and professional lives. From incredible career journeys to valuable life lessons, our guests share the habits, mindset, and challenges that led them to success. Whether you're a former book-seller or just looking for some motivation and wisdom, you'll find something to relate to and learn from in every episode.
Eric Hampton is an AE and RevOps Manager at Lemony.ai, and he's carved out a career in one of the fastest-moving industries out there: AI startups.In this episode, we talk about what it's actually like working in tech after the book field — how sales cycles are different, how to position yourself to get hired, and how to figure out which startups are worth jumping into (and which are a dumpster fire in stealth mode).We also get into a story from his first summer that involves a totaled car, a Pontiac Trans Sport van, and more than one person assuming he was absolutely up to no good.This one's a mix of strategy, career advice, and a little chaos — just how we like it.Get info about BIZZLER in Greece here: cassandra@travodyssey.comIF THIS IS YOUR FIRST EPISODE: Welcome to The Pony Tales Podcast, where we dive into the inspiring stories and unique experiences of Southwestern Advantage alumni. Each episode features candid conversations with former book-sellers, exploring how their time selling books shaped their personal and professional lives. From incredible career journeys to valuable life lessons, our guests share the habits, mindset, and challenges that led them to success. Whether you're a former book-seller or just looking for some motivation and wisdom, you'll find something to relate to and learn from in every episode. Tune in and be inspired!
In this episode of The Pony Tales Podcast, we chat with Joe, who sold books for three summers in the 1980s and went on to build a remarkable career. Joe is the author of Habits Driven is the Game Changer, where he shares how the habits he developed during his book-selling days paved the way for his success in business. He's now the founder of Live Better Financial in California, specializing in Divorce Lending, a unique niche in the mortgage industry. This episode offers a fascinating look into Joe's career journey and the impactful lessons he's learned along the way. Tune in—you won't want to miss it! A big thanks to our sponsors over at Cardinal Senior Insurance. Get a sit down with their leadership and schedule an Interview with Cardinal Senior BenefitsIF THIS IS YOUR FIRST EPISODE: Welcome to The Pony Tales Podcast, where we dive into the inspiring stories and unique experiences of Southwestern Advantage alumni. Each episode features candid conversations with former book-sellers, exploring how their time selling books shaped their personal and professional lives. From incredible career journeys to valuable life lessons, our guests share the habits, mindset, and challenges that led them to success. Whether you're a former book-seller or just looking for some motivation and wisdom, you'll find something to relate to and learn from in every episode. Tune in and be inspired!
Get ready for a marathon episode with Ella Roach! Ella brings a unique perspective, being the daughter of a book-seller. In this conversation, we explore the balance between independence and self-advocacy, all while staying coachable. If you know Ella, you know this episode comes with some bold opinions and unfiltered takes. And if you don't know her yet, you'll be sure to after listening!A big thanks to our sponsors over at Cardinal Senior Insurance. Get a sit down with their leadership and schedule an Interview with Cardinal Senior BenefitsWelcome to The Pony Tales Podcast, where we dive into the inspiring stories and unique experiences of Southwestern Advantage alumni. Each episode features candid conversations with former book-sellers, exploring how their time selling books shaped their personal and professional lives. From incredible career journeys to valuable life lessons, our guests share the habits, mindset, and challenges that led them to success. Whether you're a former book-seller or just looking for some motivation and wisdom, you'll find something to relate to and learn from in every episode. Tune in and be inspired!
Brought to you by Diesel David and Main Street Warriors Gaby Evers is the founder of GBF Translations, a Spanish translation and interpretation business based in Woodstock, GA. With a strong background in immigration and medical fields, Gaby has years of experience helping individuals and businesses navigate the complexities of cross-cultural communication. She offers professional services in translation, […]
Brought to you by Diesel David and Main Street Warriors Gaby Evers is the founder of GBF Translations, a Spanish translation and interpretation business based in Woodstock, GA. With a strong background in immigration and medical fields, Gaby has years of experience helping individuals and businesses navigate the complexities of cross-cultural communication. She offers professional services in translation, […] The post Gaby Evers with GBF Translations and Colby Passman with Southwestern Advantage appeared first on Business RadioX ®.
Send us a textStruggling to juggle the demands of work and family while trying to lead effectively? In this episode, I'm thrilled to chat with Josiah Fogle, a dynamic author and entrepreneur who's mastered the art of retaining 100% of his team. Josiah's story—from his upbringing in the Philippines to becoming a leading figure in his field—illustrates the profound impact of mentorship, resilience, and creating a supportive work culture.Join us as we explore the vital balance between meaningful relationships and family time. Josiah's journey with Southwestern Advantage and his leadership strategies reveal how prioritizing personal growth and team collaboration drives exceptional results.We also delve into insights from Cameron Harreld's "Second in Command," offering valuable perspectives on how to support and complement the primary leader's strengths. Discover how setting clear family and business goals can guide your decisions and actions, fostering both personal and professional success.Tune in to learn how intentional leadership and balance can elevate your effectiveness at work and enrich your personal life.Connect with Josiah Fogle:To connect with Josiah Fogle, email him directly at josiahfogle@gmail.com. For more information on ghostwriting, collaborative writing, or to discuss your book ideas, visit his website at mystorybuilders.com, where you can schedule a call with his team.Books Mentioned: Second in Command by Cameron HarreldNever Split the Difference by Chris VossCrucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al SwitzlerHow to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale CarnegieReady to Finish 2024 Strong?Don't wait until December to address your challenges. There's a few months left in 2024, now is the time to plan for a strong finish! Book a free strategy call with Dr. William Attaway to create a plan for impactful results. Support the showJoin Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence. Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success. Special Offer:Get your FREE copy of Catalytic Leadership: 12 Keys to Becoming an Intentional Leader Who Makes a Difference. Connect with Dr. William Attaway: Website LinkedIn Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube
In the debut episode of The Enablement Edge, hosts Steve and Heather chat with Nate Vogel, VP of Global Sales & Partner Enablement at Databricks, the world's first data intelligence platform powered by generative AI. Nate shares insights into his career journey, highlighting what sparked his passion for data, the skills and experiences that have propelled his success, and the innovative initiatives he's implementing at Databricks.Throughout the interview, Nate emphasizes the importance of data in securing a "voice at the table" within an organization. He offers practical advice for viewers looking to enhance their own enablement strategies and underscores the importance of “being the truth-tellers” on your team. By leveraging data in decision-making processes, Nate explains how businesses can pinpoint opportunities, predict trends, and mitigate risks more effectively. This approach not only fosters innovation but also equips teams with the insights they need to drive strategic initiatives. You'll hear real-life examples from Nate's experience with Databricks to further drive his point home.Additionally, Steve and Heather ask about Nate's other passion – mentorship. Nate shares personal anecdotes about the mentors who guided him throughout his career, and discussed how mentoring relationships can help mentees navigate challenges, avoid common pitfalls, and seize new opportunities. They underscored the dual benefit of mentorship, noting that while mentees gain knowledge and support, mentors also refine their leadership skills and broaden their perspectives. —Guest BioMeet Nate Vogel, an accomplished professional with an impressive track record in the field of sales enablement with 30+ years' experience leading teams at Southwestern Advantage, Tableau, Salesforce, Gong, and now Databricks as the Global Vice President of Sales Enablement.Before joining Databricks, Nate held the position of Global Vice President, GTM Enablement at Gong where he excelled in fostering growth and sales development within the organization, along with being a thought leader in the enablement community.Prior to that, Nate's expertise in enablement flourished during his nine-year tenure as Global Vice President of Sales & Partner Enablement at Tableau and Salesforce, where he spearheaded sales training, partner, and leadership development programs. Under his leadership, Nate expanded his team at Tableau from three enablement professionals to over 80+, empowering them to efficiently train thousands of sellers, leaders, and partners worldwide.—Guest Quote“In enablement, something that is important is to be truth tellers, to lead with data. Sometimes that data is ineffectiveness, and ineffectiveness of adoption. So this idea that you can go out and see adoption metrics and see what your customers are saying is super important.”—Timestamps *(00:00) Episode Start*(01:10) Today's Topic*(02:50) Introducing Nate Vogel*(04:36) When Nate first realized the power of data*(07:40) The right enablement for the right people*(11:10) Why enablement starts with managers*(15:00) Measuring and doubling down on behavior changes*(19:10) Becoming truthtellers with data*(23:30) The strength of mentorship*(29:29) How to effectively scale mentorship programs within your organization*(32:25) What it means to have "no sharp elbows"*(35:35) Rapid fire questions—LinksConnect with Nate Vogel on LinkedInCheck out DatabricksConnect with Steve Watt on LinkedInConnect with Heather Cole on LinkedInCheck out SeismicSeismic's Enablement Maturity Assessment
On this episode of The Founder's Sandbox, Brenda McCabe speaks with Kelly Breslin Wright, Founder & CEO of Culture Driven Sales. They discuss resilience and purpose related to the Culture Driven Sales methodology where Kelly Breslin Wright operates as a C-level executive, board director, advisor, and adjunct university professor. Kelly Breslin Wright is an experienced executive and corporate board director for both public and private companies, with over 30 years of experience in leadership, sales, operations, and strategy roles. She has served as an Independent Director and Advisor for multiple Boards and has helped companies navigate multiple stages of growth. These include IPOs, enterprise expansion, CEO and leadership transitions, globalization, M&A, financings, business model changes, and global crises. She has a unique mastery of sales, go-to-market, leadership, transformation, strategy, growth and scaling, data and analytics, and culture. As an operator, Kelly Breslin Wright served as President and COO of Gong, an artificial intelligence platform that serves revenue organizations to deliver insights at scale. There, she managed all go-to-market functions, including Sales, Customer Success, and Marketing. For nearly 12 years prior to Gong, Kelly Breslin Wright was Executive Vice President of Sales (Chief Revenue Officer) at Tableau Software (formerly NYSE: DATA). She joined as the company's first salesperson, where she grew Tableau's worldwide sales and field operations from zero to $850M in revenue and managed over half of the company's 3,400 global employees. Tableau was purchased by Salesforce in 2019 for $15.7B. Before Tableau, Kelly Breslin Wright spent time at Bain & Company, McKinsey & Company, Bank of America, Dale Carnegie Training, AtHoc, and Southwestern Advantage. You can find out more about Kelly Breslin Wright at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellybreslinwright/ Culture Driven Sales Website: https://culturedrivensales.com/ University of Washington Foster School of Business Website: https://foster.uw.edu/faculty-research/directory/kelly-wright/ Winning the Board Game: How Women Corporate Make THE Difference Show transcription: 00:04 Welcome back to the Founder's Sandbox. The Founder's Sandbox is a podcast now in its second season. It's a monthly podcast in which I reach entrepreneurs and business owners that want to learn 00:33 about building resilient, scalable, and sustainable businesses with great corporate governance. I am Brenda McCabe, your host on the Founder's Sandbox, and my mission is really simple. By interviewing guests through their stories, I want to assist entrepreneurs in building those scalable, well-governed, and resilient businesses. Guests to my podcast are founders, business owners, corporate directors, and professional service providers 01:01 who like me want to use the power of the private enterprise, be it small, medium, or large, to create change for a better world. Through storytelling with a guest that will touch on topics that include resilience, purpose-driven enterprise, and sustainable growth, my goal is to recreate a fun sandbox environment where we can equip one startup founder at a time to build a better world through great corporate governance. Today, my guest is Kelly Breslin Wright. Thank you, Kelly, for joining me today. 01:31 Thank you for having me. I'm excited for the conversation. I've been pursuing Kelly for a number of years. And finally, we're making it happen today. So Kelly and I are going to talk about purposeful, culture driven sales. I'm going to give you a little background on Kelly. She is founder and CEO of Culture Driven Sales. She has promoted and led the Culture Driven Sales methodology as a C level executive, 02:01 public and private company board director, advisor, and adjunct university professor. She is an experienced executive and corporate board director for both public and private with over 30 years of experience in leadership, sales, operations, and strategy roles. We actually share a common past. We both originated from McKinsey and Company, where are paths crossed there. She has served as an independent director and advisor for multiple boards. 02:30 She's helped companies navigate multiple stages of growth, including IPOs, enterprise expansion, CEO and leaderships transitions, globalization, M&A, financing, business model changes, and global crisis. So we're in for a treat today. I asked Kelly to come because she really has a unique way of bringing in culture 02:58 behind sales. I think sales often times is a hidden or unwanted child. And I was amazed that none of my guests up until now has the expertise nor did they speak about sales. So it's the first time, Kelly, that you're gonna be talking to my listeners around your 30 years experience in sales. As an operator, Kelly served as president and COO at Gong, an artificial intelligence platform. 03:28 And we're going to talk a little bit about AI today. And prior to Gong, Kelly was Executive Vice President, Sales Chief Revenue Officer at Tableau Software. And it is formerly was on the stock exchange with the sticker symbol DATA. She was there for nearly 12 years. And she joined that company as the 10th employee. And we're going to listen to her story and what brought her to them. 03:57 So thank you again for joining me on the Founder's Sandbox, Kelly. Thank you for having me. You know, when we were just prepping for today's podcast, Kelly said, what actually made you wanna reach out to me? And it goes back quite a few years. Our first encounter was through a common passion serving on corporate boards. And you reached out to me to thank me for sharing my experiences that is in a book. 04:26 published and written by Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire, winning the board game, how women corporate directors make the difference. So I'm always thankful to people that do reach out unexpectedly and just thank you. And I finally, two years later, I've achieved what I wanted to get you on my podcast. So I am honored that you agreed to share 04:56 quite a few real world experiences that started while in undergraduate days and informed your career choices that led you to be the first sales person to join Tableau and number 10 employee. And while you were the CRO, the company went public. The learnings you continue to share as advisor, educator, board director, and executive to private and public companies are centered around your passion for culture-driven sales. 05:26 In preparation, I listened to a recent podcast interview on operators, building and scaling companies and your recruitment to Tableau. It had something to do with educational books. It also had something to do with grit and resiliency. And I work on resilience with the founders I serve as the foundational piece. And I wrote an article myself on empowering resilience 05:54 by unlocking your personal and enterprise value. I touch on three things, Kelly. I'm knowing oneself as a leader, having options and making choices, and finally being thankful. So can you share why Tableau asked you to join as employee number 10? That's going way, way, way back to the beginning of the career. Well, so, 06:20 it's interesting, you mentioned about selling books door to door. When I was in college, I knew I wanted to do something entrepreneurial and I wanted to be independent. And I came across this opportunity to run my own business selling educational books door to door. And that's what I did for my four summers when I was in college. And I think there are a lot of things, Brenda, that you had touched base on. One was sales. And we'll talk about that a lot today. 06:49 The second was resiliency. And I appreciate that you're always talking about resiliency because it's so critical, not only in business, but in life. And selling educational books door to door, when you show up at someone's house, you're not the most welcome person that they want to see that day. So there's a lot of doors that are slammed in your face and a lot of adversity that I dealt with in my 18 to 21 year old formative years. 07:20 taught a lot about resiliency of how to get yourself back up, keep on going, being able to learn to control what you can control and not worrying as much about the rest, a whole bunch of things. So we could talk about resiliency. Anyway, going back to how I started at Tableau, because when I was in college, I was known as this person that while everyone else was doing these cool internships or 07:48 They were lifeguarding at their home pool. I was talking to thousands of families, working 80 plus hours a week, running my own business. And people thought I was crazy, but I ended up making quite a bit of money. I paid for my undergrad, it paid for my first car, paid for my first house, paid for most of business school. And so later on in my career, when people were starting their first, 08:17 their startup or starting their own entrepreneurial venture. Oftentimes people would call me and say, hey, Kelly, you did that crazy job in college. They'd say, you sold all those books. Maybe you can help us. And that's exactly what happened at Tableau. So what happened at Tableau was the CEO of Tableau had gone to Stanford Business School and was classmates with a friend of mine from undergrad. 08:45 And so I had met him multiple times as Tableau was an incubation idea. And we had met actually at an Oscar party. And so when it came time to, to hire the first salesperson, there was this conversation of, Hey, maybe you should go talk to Kelly. And I remember thinking about resiliency and just raising your hand. When I first had that conversation and I looked at the job requirement. 09:14 Brenda, I literally didn't match anything on there. It was understand a lot about data, has taken multiple companies public, has been at companies that have grown to sizable amounts of revenue. And I had done none of that. So I think I'd had sales and hopefully the, smart and can think on your feet, hopefully that matched, but I didn't match any of the other things. And it really came down to, 09:41 having a passion about what the company's mission was and alignment of the values and how we wanted to work, which is how I ended up joining as the first salesperson. And then the story goes on from there. Wow. And you did just touch briefly on mission and we're gonna get to that in the next question. Okay. Yeah. So, so Tableau, 12 years, amazing. I admire that company. 10:08 A piece you wrote back in 2021, it's on your website and it will be in the show notes. It's called creating winning company culture by perfecting these two elements. You touch on mission. Often founders wait for later in creating a mission statement. And that they're either focused on for a client, a customer, their product or service, hiring a few of their team members 10:39 When does it make sense in your experience, Kelly, to create a mission statement? And what are those two elements you believe that create a winning company culture? That's a loaded question, but you've written about it. We're gonna hear it here on the founder's sandbox. Well, Brenda, I think that it's really important to have a mission from really early days. 11:04 And I think you're right in that companies often feel like they need to have, they need to figure out their product, they figure out the service, they figure out their operational cadence, they go get the first customers. But it can be very confusing if you don't understand where you're going. The way I like to describe it is building a business as you hire employees and as you get investors and 11:32 as you find your first customers and partners, it's building with these building blocks, similar to having a map. Okay. You have a map, you have to have a destination, you have to know where you're headed, because otherwise you can get very lost. And so although companies might not have their exact wording of a mission statement from very early days, it's important, I mean, I think it's important to have a mission right from the beginning. When I talk about Tableau, 12:02 Tableau from the time I started, the mission was help people see and understand data. And that was something that I really was drawn to, which is how I ended up joining as the first salesperson and employee 10 before we even launched version one. Because everyone then that we were hiring, our customers, the whole team was aligned on what it is that we were doing. What was the company's purpose? What was our why? 12:31 And what ends up happening is when companies are not clear on what that is, you might hire different people that all know you're building something in this space, but they may have very different ideas of the reason and the purpose of the company, the why of the company. And so it's really imperative to not only drive the alignment, but to also... 12:57 be able to make sure that the people that you're hiring to go on this journey with you are passionate and committed to what it is that you're trying to build. And if you don't have a stated mission, then everyone will come up with their own definition and reason for why you exist. And it's not always the same. And one thing, Brenda, that I really liked, like for instance, when you started off and kicked off this podcast, the first thing you said is at the Founder's Sandbox, our mission is this, and you explained it. 13:28 So everyone knows what it is that your, what your purpose is and why they're listening. And it's really important for companies to do that. But the mission isn't the only important part. So the two things is there's a mission and then also core values. Okay. Any companies that I meet with, they'll say, we're not gonna spend that much time on mission and core values, because then they're just words on the wall. You throw it up and it doesn't mean anything. Well. 13:54 If you're going to have mission and core values and they're just going to be words on the wall, yeah, then they're not going to work. They're not going to work and it's not going to mean anything. But it is actually really important to have them and help them guide and advise how you build your business, how you hire, how you engage with your customers, and then holding yourself and your teams accountable. 14:22 to make sure that you're behaving in a way that's in accordance with your core values or your operating principles. And I'm sure we can talk about that more as we go through. But each company that I have joined is very intentional about their mission and core values. And that helps them to be very intentional about how they build their culture and how they're guardians of that culture. Yes, and you actually, for your... 14:52 the course you're teaching in the Culture-Driven Sales Institute. You did a lot of surveys and interviews. Can you shed some light on some of the background? I think you talked about the 85 companies at different stages of growth. Tell us a little bit about what you found, those aha moments of particularly back to mission and core values. Yeah, well, so at Tableau, just to go back a little bit. 15:19 So at Tableau, the management team at Tableau had not built a business of that scale before. We were all doing it for the first time. And so we were in a space that was very disruptive and transformative. We were in business intelligence, we were doing data analytics in a different way. We had a different go-to-market approach of how we were actually handling sales. And there weren't companies to go look at to how to do it. So the way we were doing it as, 15:49 first time executives in a first time team is we were very clear, I mentioned on our mission, to help people see and understand data. And we had very specific core values that helped to drive the way that we were behaving. We were on a mission, we used our products, we kept things simple, and we could go through and talk about a lot of these other core values. Well, that is really what helped us to go build this 16:19 really transformative company. When I finished at Tableau and decided that in this next stage, I wanted to be able to help other companies to grow and scale and do work both in teaching as well as an advisor or board director. I wanted to figure out, well, how can I be the most helpful? What is it that companies actually need? And so I ended up meeting with the whole slew 16:47 of founders, go-to-market leaders and CEOs. So in that first year, I did, I sat down with about 85 founders and CEOs over the course of the next few years. I've met with maybe 135, 140. And I asked these companies some very specific questions. One of the first questions that I've always asked, because I'm so passionate about mission, and I just assumed that companies were doing it in the same way we did at Tableau. And I found out, 17:16 that that actually is not the case. So when I was meeting with companies, one of the first things I would ask these CEOs is, well, tell me about your mission. Tell me about your company why. What I learned was actually quite eye-opening. Some of these founders would say, our mission is to get 30% market share. Our mission is to get to profitability in X number of years. 17:45 or very operational KPIs. And so I'd say to them, that's not a mission statement. That doesn't rally around the purpose of what you're doing. And sometimes these CEOs would say, no, that is our mission statement. That's how we're rallying our team. And so that I kind of was scratching my head. That's not a mission statement. Even more interesting to this though, is often times these CEOs or founders would say, hey, Kelly, you're an expert in go to market. 18:13 we're having some lack of alignment and we need help of why we have our salespeople don't want to sell what it is our product team is building or our sales team is trying to sell something that's different than how the marketing team is marketing it. Got it. And so then I would say, well, let me talk to some of those other leaders. And I would ask everyone that I talked to, first question is, what's your mission statement? And this was what was so... 18:42 crazy. I would ask the CEO, I would ask the co-founder, I would ask the chief revenue officer, I'd ask the chief marketing officer, the head of product, what is your mission statement? And guess what? Almost all of the time, each executive that I would ask would have a different answer to what their mission statement was. Wow, at the same company. So crazy, even if they had a published mission statement. And that's when I realized, oh, 19:12 People are just using these as words on a wall. And then you wanna know, well, why is a company not aligned? Well, if you have a product leader who is driving the engineers according to one mission statement, and you have a sales leader that's going and trying to engage your customers with a different mission statement, well, duh, you're not aligned if you're actually training your teams and advising your customers that you do something different. 19:42 And that was a huge aha. And the same thing was true for the core values. And so it is actually, here's just a main takeaway. Okay. Companies need to realize that the corporate strategy is very intertwined with the go-to-market strategy. Got it. Many companies think of their corporate strategy is often very aligned with the... 20:12 product strategy, but it all trickles down to how are you hiring? How are you engaging with customers? How are you making sure those customers are successful? How are you telling your story on your website and how you engage with your investors and in the world? And that go to market strategy goes all the way back up to the corporate strategy and all starts from mission, vision. 20:41 What is your company's story? What is your company's why? And we need to roll that all together. And that's a lot of what I teach in my course on culture-driven sales. That's a lot of how I end up helping companies when I'm advising or on the board. All right. So I often pride myself on my guests bringing in some practical tools while in the interview. 21:11 alignment of strategy with the culture. All right, we get that. Corporate strategy is very intertwined with sales strategy. And again, depending on the stage of the company, what do you see as key takeaways? I mean, how do you recruit? Is it dependent upon stage of the company? What are those KPIs or what are those core values? How do you measure? So can you walk us through some specific examples and tools that you perhaps used at Tableau? 21:42 on bringing in the mission to the core processes, hiring, training, the sales motion. What are those behavioral elements that you would include in your managing your teams, as well as growing the company? Yeah. Well, Brenda, I think it is really important to be able to have very specific hiring and performance management tactics that help to make sure you're managing that. 22:11 bar of your mission and value. So here are some very specific things. And I can give kind of tangible examples. Like for instance, companies should be using behavioral interviewing. And what happens is many companies are focused so much on the experience and the resume skills that they're looking at, has someone done this job before? Have they been successful in doing this exact 22:40 thing that I need, whether it's enterprise sales or have they been a CFO before, depending on whatever the role is. But it's really important that everyone can do behavioral interviewing. Now behavioral interviewing can be kind of tricky. The first thing you need to do is you need to make sure that you understand what behavioral traits you're trying to flesh out and be very specific on that. And then training everyone that is in the interview process on 23:08 How do you do behavioral interviewing? Now, some of the things that to do with behavioral attributes is look at the most successful people in your company, what are the behavioral attributes that they have, and then how do you interview and flush that out in the interview process? So that's example one, and we can do a little bit more there. Number two is how... 23:36 can you make sure that your core values are being identified and fleshed out, not only in your interview process, but in performance management? So I'll give a very specific example. At Tableau, one of our core values were like the first core value was we build great products, second core value, we use our products. How do we flush that out? In at Tableau, I had. 24:06 at the end, maybe 1800 people on my team in the GoToMarket organization. Virtually every single one when they were hired during the interview process had to do a demo on Tableau because our mission was we help people see and understand data. Our product was so easy, everyone could use it. And typically in software sales, it's the sales consultant or the sales engineer 24:34 that does the demo. But in Tableau, it's so easy, we wanted everyone to use the product. So here's an example of what often would happen, especially for someone that was more experienced and further along in their career, we would give them the assignment of, we need you to go download the product, takes 90 seconds to download, go find your own data set or you can use our sample one and do a demo. And this is gonna be one of the interview stages. 25:04 And sometimes people would be very excited about it. Other times people would say, hey, you know, Kelly, I'm interviewing with a ton of companies. And if you hire me, then I will learn the product, but I'm not gonna spend tons of time to go learn the product in the interview process. And the answer there, you can imagine Brenda, was thank you very much. The interview process is done. 25:33 And yeah, because, and that was a few things. One is our mission is we help people see and understand data. We want people that are super excited about that. So if you want to work here, we want you to be very excited about understanding what it is that we do. And if you're not going to do that in the interview process and you're not really that passionate about our mission. But secondly, we wanted people who were going to be all in and be able to use our product. 26:00 And that was one of our core values that we fleshed out very early on. So there's ways that you can look at that. Another tangible is in the annual performance review, it wasn't just the work that you did, but in our annual performance review, at most of the companies that I've been involved in, one of the checks are how much are you abiding 26:28 and embodying the core values of the company. People didn't get promotions, they didn't get pay increases, they didn't get high ratings unless they were living every day according to the core values of how they interacted with the internal team and with the customer. So those are some tangible ways to summarize again, behavioral interviewing flesh out the core values in the interview process. 26:58 and make sure that those core values and adherence and passion about the mission are part of your annual performance review process. Thank you very much. Three practical tools when you're scaling your organization, not just in sales, the entire organization. That's very, very helpful. You've recently launched Culture Driven Sales Institute. 27:28 And I know in one of the podcasts that you've been a guest to, you talk about storytelling and that a salesperson has to have at least three stories. So I wanted to do a practical exercise here today. Give you a bit of your own medicine, right? Which is you've started a culture-driven 27:58 that you would tell about. Yes. Well, so let's back up a little bit and why storytelling is so important. Thank you. I think what happens is when companies think about selling their product, they often are so focused on the what and the how, they miss the why. And the why comes back to why the mission is really important. Because 28:28 Well, when you think about not only employees, but for customers, customers want to understand why a company exists. Because what people don't realize is that the whole process of purchasing is very emotional. People use logic to do their research, to make sure that that product or service has everything that they need. But the lion's share of why someone actually makes a purchase decision, 28:57 is actually emotional. And so companies need to be emotionally connecting with their prospect and their customers. Think about this on a very tangible level. Just think about it separately of why you as an individual would buy a house or why you would buy a car. If you're looking for a house, you know you want it in this neighborhood, you want this number of bedrooms, you want this amount of square footage, this amount of bathrooms, but in the end, 29:26 you have to like feel it with the house. It's an emotional connection with that house. And this is the same reason that people buy, even if it is a software or an enterprise product or whatever it is that people are buying, a system or consulting, you need to feel it with the person and company that you're going to be interacting with. And it's shown in, if you look at research, 29:56 had done a whole survey to understand why people buy a certain product or service, most companies behave as if it is the specs of the product or service and the price. And as it turns out, those are two reasons why people buy. But the largest reason why people buy is actually their engagement and experience with the company. So this is really important to think about. So now going back to the stories. 30:25 The stories are, well, you want to be able to communicate the company story. You want to be able to communicate the individual, your personal story, and then also your customer story. So three stories, company story, personal story, and your customer story. So if I were to talk about it specifically for me, the company story of why I founded culture driven sales in the first place was. 30:54 What I realized is companies were just focused so much on the what and the how, focused so much on operational processes and operational execution and all these tactics. And they were missing the real reason of why companies buy, which is tied to 31:19 having an integrated go-to-market strategy that ties back to the corporate strategy, coming all the way from mission, vision, company story, values, but then how that ties into how a company tells their company story. What are your unique differentiated value propositions? Who is the ideal customer profile that you're trying to reach? 31:48 And then what is the best sales approach to be thinking about it? Companies were often asking me, well, how can I go get my specific sales? Hey, Kelly, just help me with, should I be enterprise sales or a different motion? What should be on my sales operational tactics? And they were getting in at such a detailed operational level, they were missing that high piece, which helped guide the strategy on the go-to-market strategy. So this is why. 32:16 I founded Culture Driven Sales in the first place. The second reason of my personal story is why was this important to me? Well, when I talk about what we did at Tableau, remember we discussed how this was the first time I had built an enterprise software team. And the first time that I had been building a company from zero up to a public company. 32:46 We had a team that we were so focused not only on building a great company, but thinking about our high priority was we want to build a great place to work. We were intentional on creating a great place to work with a great culture where people felt like they could bring their authentic self and be able to really build their career at Tableau. That was as important a goal to us. 33:15 as it was to go build a huge sustainable business that was creating great products for our customers and good returns for our investors. And what I realized was not all companies were thinking about that, but we were creating this movement where our customers were really excited and our employees are really excited. And this is something companies want to do, but they just don't know how to do it. 33:45 by putting culture at the center is really important. And so having culture drive sales rather than just focusing on your sales and thinking culture will just fall out on the backside. Culture isn't just a derivative that happens. You have to be as intentional and thoughtful about culture as you are in driving all of your other strategic priorities as a company. So that is the whole company story. 34:12 And then my own personal reason, my personal story for why I did it for a customer story is customers are actually realized that they get better results when they do this. And so when I'm on these different boards, oftentimes companies are saying, you know, how, like what, what, one specific example is oftentimes a company will say, 34:41 Well, how can I do this myself? If you look at their website and then you look at the website of their five competitors, they might all look identical. You take their name and their brands off and they all say that they're doing the same thing. But when you weave the company's story into it and their unique differentiated value propositions, that company gets more of a personality. It actually is unique. And that is what... 35:10 can really help to light up these individual companies so they can be different, they can be unique, and they can understand how they're gonna go and differentiate themselves across everyone else in the noise when they go and focus on culture more than they have before. Yeah, so what maybe, you know, biodegradable chickens are largely made by emotional, right? Okay, so. 35:38 One of the things that we did that was very different at Tableau is we did storytelling training. Okay. Many companies, they do when they're training their salespeople, they do customer centric selling, they do spin selling. They're trying to talk about solution selling in a way where it's really more about pitching the wares of the company. When you're really focused on the customer more. 36:06 you want to do storytelling because we've already established that it's an emotional type of cell. So we did a very atypical type of training. We brought in storytelling training and we taught people, well, how can you learn to tell stories? More about the company's why, more about the customer story, more about your personal story. And it was very interesting what happened is after this two interesting derivatives came out of this is 36:35 Our employees said, wow, this is not a typical sales trading. This is a communication trading that's helping me to communicate with not only my prospects and my customers, but everyone in my life, my family, my kids, all these things, because sales is about communication and emotionally connected. So that was the first derivative of our employees said, this is really useful. 37:05 The second derivative that came out of this is we had our customers came back and they were saying to me and my team, huh, why is it that Tableau is selling in such a different way? It seems like the Tableau salespeople are understanding me and my problems and my company in a way that others are not. And it was because when you're storytelling, 37:31 you're really emotionally connecting in this more deep communication way. It's not just twitching your wares. This is why you should buy. Here are all the things that we should do. And companies want to really be able to strive to do that. And the companies that do this well, they're often talked about that they're creating a movement. They're doing something transformational and disruptive where they're bringing these customers in that really wanna be 38:01 part of that whole aura, rather than just buying the widget in a transactional way. It's a way to really connect with your customers in a much deeper, more meaningful way. Thank you. You heard it here. Storytelling training. This is fascinating. Going to switch gears. Let's get back to the corporate boardroom. All right. 38:28 The right you check so many boxes. So you with scaling companies. They start out with advisory boards, but when they're at their first fiduciary fiduciary board of directors, what would you be seeking in a high performing company, Kelly, for this important milestone in terms of all the nuggets you've provided today, mission, core values. 38:57 storytelling, what are some of the nuggets you'd want to bring into the boardroom at the fiduciary board level? 39:06 at the board level? Well, that's a really wide question. I think there's a couple things, Brenda, to consider, especially if people are considering adding board directors or for those in the audience who are considering maybe being a board director yourself. Okay. First thing is companies will often have a board matrix. They'll have their idea of what are the different skills that they want to have represented 39:36 on the board. And so if you're a company, you want to be able to be thinking of what are the different skills and experiences that you want on the board to be able to help guide your executive team and your entire company. So for instance, for me, I brought, I've been a strategic consultant, so there's strategy. Strategy is a very big part of what happens on the board to help 40:06 the company think about their short and long-term strategy. Two, I'm a go-to-market expert, I'm in sales. And many boards will have different experts in different disciplines. So pretty much every board will have a former or currently sitting CEO to be a CEO coach or mentor. Oftentimes there will be a financial expert who was a CFO or worked at one of the big audit firms. 40:36 because they might be chair of the audit committee to help drive all of the financial and regulatory issues that are on there. And then oftentimes they'll have a product person that helps them with the actual product. My expertise would go to market for sales and marketing and branding. And you want different members on the board to have different expertise. So you can bring that and have resources for all those different areas of knowledge 41:05 will help to upscale and scale your team. The next piece is you want to be able to have a culture in the boardroom that is reflective and complimentary to your culture as a company. So you just in the same way, you want to do behavioral interviewing for your employees to make sure that the employees... 41:31 are aligned and operate in adherence with your core values and are passionate about your mission, you want that in the boardroom too. You don't want people that are just gonna tick the boxes for experience and resume, but they're passionate about what it is that your company is doing and that they will behave in a way that will help to further those core values and the culture. The last thing that I'll say is, 42:00 You want to be able to have discourse and open conversation in the boardroom. Yes. And you want to be able to promote diversity of thoughts and ideas so that you not only can have different experiences represented in the boardroom, but you're going to be able to have different respectful conversation so that the best idea wins. 42:29 and that you can have board directors who will challenge your way of thinking and ask questions to make sure that you're getting that top performance. And many companies, they think they want that in the boardroom, but they actually operate in a way where they want more yes people on the board. Just people to validate and say yes and agree, that is not going to be the most effective board. 42:57 You actually want people in the boardroom who are going to be able to challenge your way of thinking to call you when there may be a better way to do things. And of course, they're not the ones ultimately making the decision. You as the operators are going to make the decisions, but you want to have a respectful discourse where people are going to be able to challenge the way of thinking. 43:27 rather than just have a stamp of approval. 43:32 Excellent. Thank you for changing course there. So skill matrix, largely functional, strategy, finance, go to market sales, prior CEO or sitting CEO, culture in the boardroom, that is reflective of the company. So actually choosing and through the interview processes, right? For the corporate boardroom. I like that. And then finally, diversity of thought. 44:01 Right. First thing you thought is really important, not only in the boardroom, it's important inside the company too. And that is when we go back to having the best culture and behavioral interviewing, all of those kinds of things. Remember when you're thinking about culture, companies evolve. So in the past, people talked about cultural fit. I don't like to use that term because cultural fit is they're fitting into the mold of what the company already is. It's more of. 44:30 Are they going to be culturally additive to help to abide by these core values and to help to continue to grow and extend the culture in a way that you're scaling and growing into your next space? Thank you, Kelly. I want to ask you a question because last night when I was preparing the Zoom, we record this on Zoom platform, 45:00 they now have generative AI. And it is the presence of AI for me as an operator on my podcast and other materials that I generate myself, it's quite overwhelming and kind of intrusive. So I tried to turn it off, right? I was unable to. So after this recording, we'll have AI generated summary. How do you see... 45:30 AI's role in sales motions. And can you share your experience while perhaps you served as president and COO at Gong, which is indeed an artificial intelligence platform that serves revenue organizations to deliver insights? Just bring some light and maybe I'll be less overwhelmed. Well, I think Brenda, anytime you're introducing a new technology, 45:58 There is a transformative time because things change. And a lot of it has to do with change management and people just accepting that new technology. And you can think about that with, it took a while for people to accept new cell phones and smartphones. If I think back to early days at Tableau, for people to say, wait, you're going to collect all my data? 46:22 Are you, oh my goodness, no, there's the privacy and all of that. Now that's the same thing that's happening now with generative AI. Okay. Saying, Oh, it's a little scary. It's a little big brother. I don't want someone to be looking at all of this data and information. It seems a little creepy. And this is just typical of technology evolutions. You have the first movers who are the early adopters. 46:49 And then you have the rest of the world you ask to get comfortable with that. So, so Brenda, you shouldn't feel bad. It's just, there's many companies that are saying, Hey, I'm not sure that I'm really comfortable with it. I think the next thing though, is it's interesting for companies to look at it in a different perspective and see generative AI and AI overall. It's here to stay. It is not going away. 47:17 and it's going to transform businesses and transform the way we do work in a pretty meaningful way. And so you can push it, but it's gonna catch up anyway. So the companies who are actually going to do the best are going to be those who embrace the new technology and figure out how they can make it beneficial to them and help get through that change management faster. 47:46 Now you asked a specific question about how is it going to transform and augment go to market and sales. Yes. If you think about a sales person, salespeople have to know so much. I mean, when you're interacting with a company and a prospect, you have so many conversations, you have emails, there's texts, there's so many different things and there's their. Customers are going to your website. They're putting in. 48:15 report and support questions and tickets and all of this. And it is very difficult for any one human being to actually recognize, synthesize, and know everything that's going on with all those customer interactions. Okay. And from a sales way, if you could as a sales person actually have a technology that would help you to understand 48:43 What is this customer a prospect? What are they most interested in? What are their key issues and problems and challenges? What are the main things that they've been bringing up consistently on all of these prior conversations and sales calls and interactions and support tickets? And it was able to say to you, Hey, this is what you need to know. Okay. Then it, then it doesn't become scary anymore. Then it becomes, wow. 49:11 I am helping someone as my own personal assistant to do my job faster and more effectively. And that is what AI does. That's what Gong does, is Gong takes all the interaction with the customer and helps to tease out what are the most important things that you need to know. And now it can even be more of an assistant of I'm writing an email to you as a followup for this call. 49:37 Well, the AI will actually tell me, here are the most important things we talked about. It might even draft the email. And then it allows me to have more time to help my customers and less time having to parse through all of these disparate sources of information and content to try to remember, or sometimes it's not even remembering because I wasn't even involved in all those conversations. So you should think about AI as a way 50:07 that is a personal assistant to help you be faster, more effective, and you can always change it and you can augment it and you can edit it, but it's helping you to do your work faster and better and more effectively. Excellent. Productivity. Productivity, yes. Helping productivity. Wow. So the show notes are actually generated in Zoom. I have... 50:36 use a different platform myself, Riverside. But you should see how it works. Yeah, and it's amazing. Yeah, and it was in beta and now it's fully, so I was like, oh, that saves me at least two hours of running things. It saves you two hours of time. So ask yourself, it seems scary and overwhelming, but if it saves you two hours, then one, you have two hours of your time back to do more meaningful work. 51:04 but it also might give you a bunch of good ideas of synthesizing the content in ways that you hadn't thought of, or it might actually bring up something that you would have missed. So it's making you more effective at your job, but you are still in complete control because you can use it or not use it, right? So it's just helping your productivity. Thank you, thank you. Well, we're... 51:28 This is the time that I want my guests to have an opportunity to provide some contact information on how to reach you. It will also be in the show notes. Would you like to share some contact details? Absolutely. There are two of the best places to reach me. The first is on LinkedIn. Please go find me, Kelly Breslin-Wright on LinkedIn. Connect to me. Reach out. Send me a message. And would love to be connected there. 51:57 The second is on my website, which is cult Just the three words, cult There's tons of content there. There's a lot of tips and tricks and podcasts and speaking bits of what we have talked about there. There's also a contact form on that website. If you would like more information, if you would like to do one of my workshops for your company, if you have any kind of questions, 52:26 or would like to engage in a different way, please go visit the website and I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you, Kelly. So I'm bringing it back to the Founder Sandbox now in the second season. I do ask each of my guests to share what the meaning is of certain areas of work that I work with founders on, which is resilience. 52:56 purpose-driven enterprise and sustainable growth. So not one guest has the same definition which makes it so rich. What does resilience mean to you? We kind of started the interview around the grit and resilience you had selling educational books. I think resilience, if we go back full circle to where we started, resilience comes back to one, being able to bounce back, being able to 53:26 control what you can control because there's a lot of uncontrollables. But resilience also means embracing failure and growth with the growth mindset because we learn a lot more from our failures and where things go wrong and our challenges, often than we do from what goes right. And resilience is being able 53:52 to be elastic in that way of not everything is going to be perfect and be able to continue to grow and develop. So that would be my answer on resiliency. And what about purpose driven enterprise? What does that mean to you? Well, purpose driven enterprise. I mean, this is a very easy one for me. I teach class on culture driven sales. Much of that is helping companies to really think about 54:20 What is their mission? What are their core values? So that they can understand and operate in accordance to their company's why, be able to communicate that. And so much of this means is, if you look at what is engaging employees the most now, yes, employees want to be employed at a company where they can identify with the mission and the purpose. 54:48 where they can see how the work they're doing, they're not just a cog in the wheel, but they're actually contributing to have an impact on a larger purpose. So this is important for the employees. The thing though, when it comes to purpose-driven enterprise, it's important for all of those different communities as well because it's not only the employees, it's the prospects, it's the customers, it's the investors. 55:17 it's the communities in which we serve, people want to understand who is it these companies that they're dealing with? And do they believe in the purpose of what that company is? So it's important for not only the culture side, but these purpose-driven enterprises, they're the ones that are getting much better, proven, factual results. The data shows. 55:46 The person driven enterprises are actually the ones that are doing better, getting better performance. Amazing. Sustainable growth, not to be confused with sustainability, but sustainable, scalable growth. What's that mean to you? Yeah. Well, with this for sustainable growth, it's interesting because there's always a balance between doing what's important right now for the short term. 56:15 And also making sure that you're looking far enough out into the future. And the things of this is if you think about companies, companies are building day by day. So one of the tidbits that I often will give companies is don't get too ahead. Don't go too far over your skis because companies are built day by day. And oftentimes there might be a smaller company. I deal with a lot of 56:42 startups or hyper growth companies and they'll say, hey, I want to be a public multi-billion dollar company and they might be at a hundred million now. Well, you're not going to get there overnight and you have to remember that companies are built one day at a time. So make sure you don't go too far at the same time though. You need to balance and say, okay, sometimes people get so looked at what is sitting right in front of them. 57:11 They forget to see the forest between the trees and they're only focused on, well, I'm gonna do this today, I'm gonna do this this week, I'm gonna do this next month. And they end up adding a whole bunch of operational processes and systems that then in six months or a year or two years from now, they're gonna have to rip out and redo. And so we need to be thinking, well, as we add, is this something that is going to help create 57:41 like the baseline of where we're going to go. So it's always a balance of make sure you're not getting too far in advance, but make sure you're not getting too stuck in the weeds today. And I think that if you can balance out those two, then you can really have sustainable growth. Yeah, so thank you so much. This is truly from the voice of an operator. I appreciate that. Last question, did you have fun in the sandbox today? 58:09 I did have fun in the sandbox and Brenda, it's always good seeing you. I appreciate the conversation and looking forward to continuing to connect with people that are going to go play in your sandbox. Thank you. So to my listeners, if you liked this episode with Kelly Breslin, right? Sign up for the monthly release. We're founders, business owners, corporate directors and professional service providers. 58:37 help to share their lessons on how to build with strong governance, a resilient, scalable, and purpose-driven company to make profits for good. Thank you, signing off for this month. Have a great day.
Inspired by Lee's original "Dirt Pile" story, we decided to ask the crew about their toughest personal moments since leaving Southwestern. This will be a Part 1. Enjoy the stories from Pat, Andres, and Alecia. Lee's original story - https://youtu.be/sTQNQ7x5gIU?si=S4HjfdWmEjpoo6Zy About our panel: Alecia Huck is the founder of MAVERICK & Company, a management consultant, sought-after speaker, and author. She specializes in helping leadership teams of fast-growing companies build the critical skills, tools, systems and processes they need. She is known for working closely with leaders to customize solutions, protect existing culture, and fix what is broken without “going corporate.” Experienced in industries from construction to criminal justice, Alecia is proud to work with entrepreneurs so they can spend less time fighting fires and more time building what matters. Though he studied astronomy & meteorology as an undergrad, Lee received a Master's degree in English from the University of Kansas. While he was there, Lee was a mild-mannered lecturer in the English department by day, and a member of a touring glam rock band by night. Complete with pyrotechnics and makeup. His band just finished their Final Reunion after playing 45 years together—see Facebook. As an undergrad, he traveled a thousand miles away from home and ran his own business selling books with Southwestern Advantage—which is a direct sales program. Lee was a top salesperson that summer, and over the next seven years, was a top experienced salesperson, recruiter, and manager every year. Southwestern promoted Lee to Director of Marketing & Sales Development, in charge of Southwestern's training, and finally became the Director of Leadership Development worldwide. He helped train more than 100,000 college students there over the course of 36 years. In addition, Lee has taught at Vanderbilt's Owen School of Management and is currently a professor at two universities in Nashville, teaching business, literature, & communication courses. He also is a certified John Maxwell trainer and life coach.In his non-work life, Lee trains and competes with the U.S. Masters swim team. He is a deacon at his church, is a certified storm spotter, and also a face reader…. His wife is a physician at Vanderbilt, and they have three grown children who enjoy rock music and correcting people's grammar. Patrick Roach started Southwestern Real Estate in 2007 at the request of the CEO of Southwestern/Great American Inc., Henry Bedford. When I started SWRE, I was brand new to the industry. I decided to learn the business by interviewing other Managing Brokers in my market to learn what it takes to be successful as a Realtor. Office to office, I found myself hearing some of the same principles, but as I looked around those offices I saw A LOT of unsuccessful Realtors hanging around the office. I knew then that if I was going to succeed, I would need to insulate myself from that type of mediocrity. I created a set of principles that would chart my course so that I would become excellent at the work of a Realtor, keep my clients' interests first and foremost, and earn my future business by the referrals of happy clients. Today I am one of the top producing agents in the Chicagoland market and I've surrounded myself with others that are focused on becoming truly great at this career – I find that inspiring. Patrick has a bachelor's degree from Wheaton College in History/Social Science. He paid his way through college by selling educational products door-to-door in the Southwestern Company's summer internship, which led to a 10-year career as a District Sales Manager helping to lead that program. He lives in Glen Ellyn with his wife Jenny and their three children. He is an avid music enthusiast and is happy to pass along his newest find. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pony-tales/support
Our guest for Episode 6 is Nate Vogel, VP Global GTM Enablement at Gong. Nate brings more than two decades of sales experience to the conversation, with a background at Southwestern Advantage, Tableau, Salesforce, and Gong. In this episode, Ross talks to Nate about how data drives insight into adoption and why it's crucial to train leaders first. Nate brings more than three decades of sales experience to the conversation, with a background at Southwestern Advantage, Tableau, Salesforce, Gong, and now Databricks.
In this episode of Inside Great Minds with Adam Outland, we have a special guest I have looked up to as a mentor and example. Dan Moore joins me and shares incredible nuggets of inspiration from his new book, Control, Influence, Accept (For Now) Coping with a Future No One Can Predict. Dan grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and was an honors graduate of Harvard. He holds an MBA, with honors, from Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management, where he was named class speaker. He started in the business world the same way many of us have: as a college student running his own business -- in the Southwestern Advantage Summer Sales and Leadership Program. Southwestern Advantage is the oldest direct-selling company in America and the founding member of the Southwestern Family of Companies based in Nashville. Dan paid his tuition to Harvard by selling educational books door-to-door to families and building sales teams. Dan was promoted to District Sales Manager with Southwestern Advantage upon graduation. He pioneered many roles within the company, eventually serving as Vice-President of Marketing for many years. He is credited with modernizing the company's sales school and mission statement, developing its highly-regarded product line, and helping to launch new businesses within the company. In July of 2007, he was named President of Southwestern. From an 18-year-old summer intern to President, he never worked anywhere else. He served on the company's Board of Directors until his retirement in January 2023. He presently serves on the boards of the Direct Selling Association and the Direct Selling Education Foundation. He is also a Co-Founder of SBR Consulting and Southwestern Consulting, also members of the Southwestern Family of Companies. These firms are dedicated to elevating sales globally by transforming the culture of sales and sales leadership within their client companies. In total, he taught more than 100,000 people how to sell, how to lead, and how to get on the path toward achieving their goals in life. Dan also served as an adjunct faculty member at Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Business and speaks regularly to business and collegiate audiences. In his spare time, he enjoys playing the guitar and piano and is an avid runner. Since the age of 51, he has completed 24 half-marathons in four countries and also completed in the 2011 New York City Marathon finishing in the top half out of more than 46,000 runners. He is a past Master of Ceremonies for TEDx Nashville. Dan met his wife, Maria, through selling books together when they were students. She is from Portugal. They have been married for 45 years and have three adult children and one grandchild.
Overtime with Outland is Action Catalyst host Adam Outland's reflections and commentary on discussions with each of his esteemed and accomplished guests. In this segment, Adam dissects Episode 435, with author, speaker, former Action Catalyst host, and past president of Southwestern Advantage, Dan Moore.
As he exits his role as Action Catalyst host, Dan Moore shares his wisdom from spending half a century with the same company, helping young people grow, bringing a 150+ year old institution into the modern age, his shared past with Bill Gates, some of the most impactful lessons learned from 5 years in the host chair of The Action Catalyst, the value of wearing emotional blinders, and digging for acres of diamonds.Mentioned in this episode:This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage.Southwestern Advantage
Leaving your comfort zone is one of the scariest things a person can do. And for a college student, relocating to an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces for the entire summer is a terrifying thought. But action cures fear when you Do The Thing. It was a pleasure to speak with Danny Gamboa—Senior District Sales Leader for Southwestern Advantage—about how a summer job changed his life. When he was only five years old, he and his parents fled Colombia for the United States with only $50 in their pockets. His father's determination and drive to help others impacted young Danny's mind. Determined to create a successful life for himself, he entered the Southwestern Advantage Program while in college. But would new surroundings, door-to-door sales, and grueling 80-hour work weeks be too much to handle? Here's how Danny turned a college internship into a full-time career and why he now helps the next generation do the same.
Jordan shares his incredible journey from dropping out of college to leading a marketing sales team, working at Google, and finally pursuing his passion for photography as an artist in NYC. As a former bookman with Southwestern, Jordan credits the principles he learned during his two summers selling books as the foundation for his success along the way. He's got some fantastic Pony Tales to share, including selling books with his dad following him and the day he was casually kidnapped! Join us for an inspiring conversation with Jordan about his career path, how Southwestern Advantage set him up for success, and what's next in his journey as an editorial photographer. Follow Jordan on Instagram to keep up with his latest work. - Links Mentioned on the show: @jordanowen.nyc - Want to join forces with our amazing partners? Click below to learn more about our partnership and become part of the squad. Cardinal Senior Benefits Southwestern Real Estate --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pony-tales/support
Get ready to meet Eric Plantenberg – a former bookman who has gone on to build an international beverage company with principles he learned selling books. In this episode, he shares his journey with us, along with the lessons he's learned along the way. Based just down the road from us in Bend, OR, Eric is the co-founder of Humm Kombucha, a thriving company that's making waves in the beverage industry. He's also ventured into personal development with Roger Seip (featured in episode #109) and has a few exciting new projects on the horizon. As a four-and-a-half-summer bookman, Eric has some fascinating stories to tell about his time selling books, and he shares how the elemental principles of Southwestern Advantage set him up for a successful career post-books. He also talks about how failures along the way have shaped his life for the better. Don't miss this inspiring episode! Follow Eric on LinkedIn and stay tuned for more exciting ventures from this bookman-turned-entrepreneur. - Links Mentioned on the show: Michelle Mitchel Episode Roger Seip Episode - Want to join forces with our amazing partners? Click below to learn more about our partnership and become part of the squad. Cardinal Senior Benefits Southwestern Real Estate - Topics and Chapters 05:10:00 Travel 11:18:00 Leaving SW 24:40:00 Unforeseen aspects of starting a business 39:40:00 Building a business with Roger Seip 57:40:00 Going to Prison 01:16:47 Building Humm Kombucha 01:32:15 Upcoming new ventures 01:40:30 RAPID FIRE 01:44:00 PONY TALE --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pony-tales/support
Nathan Foy, author, entrepreneur, and the CEO of Fortis, talks about overcoming your "milkshake moments", how 9/11 almost toppled, then helped rebuild, his business, being relentlessly skeptical, "failing into" things, using their resources to help out during the pandemic, and channeling the Founding Fathers when creating a leadership team.Mentioned in this episode:This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage.Southwestern Advantage
Go to http://hellofresh.com/mlm50 and use code mlm50 for 50% off, plus your first box ships free! Go to http://joinhoney.com/mlm to get PayPal Honey for free. https://www.makeship.com/products/iilluminaughtii-2-0-plush Welcome to Multi Level Mondays, a weekly series all about multi level marketing, pyramid schemes, and ponzi schemes. If it exists, there's an MLM for it. In this case, we're talking about Usborne Books, now known as Paper Pie, and Southwestern Advantage. Both of these book MLMs have made questionable income claims, but it's their worrying messages, whether in their books or in their businesses, that has people wary. While Usborne books may be steered toward children, Southwestern Advantage targets college students to sell their products—and they don't seem to care about the safety of their distributors, either. Connect With Me: https://linktr.ee/iilluminaughtii' Sources: https://justpaste.it/b4pzz Writers/Researchers/Helpers: Ali Z-B This episode was edited and mixed by: G. Thomas Craig Album cover art created by: Betsy Primes Intro Song Credits: Last to Fall- Will Van De Crommert Outro Song Credits: Sacred and Profane- Nicholas Rowe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Stephanie Maas, Executive Search Partner with ThinkingAhead Executive Search, one of the top 10 executive search firms in the country, and a Certified Personnel Consultant, speaks on getting her start selling books door-to-door with Southwestern Advantage, knowing your weaknesses and strengthening your aptitudes, following the “Jerry Maguire philosophy”, the definition of "talent", what one of the nation's top executive recruitment firms looks for, and address the question of when DOES a business need an executive recruiter, and why the secret to success lies in planning your bathroom breaks?Mentioned in this episode:This episode is brought to you by Thinking Ahead.Thinking Ahead
Martine Cao was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He's a sales manager for the Southwestern Advantage summer internship and a good friend of mine for several years now. In this video, we talked about some of the knowledge gaps that Martine experience throughout his life, especially as an immigrant. We also shared some crazy things we experienced with the people we used to hang out with. If you feel stuck right now, you need to find new friends. You have to be objective about who you spend your time with. If you are new to the podcast, The Knowledge Gap Show is a guide to mastering your purpose. We believe that self-help is just one step in growth, but better yet, helping others should be the goal of almost anything we do. Join the community of optimistic and driven people focused on mastering their purpose in the pursuit of helping others. https://discord.gg/nmfXtux7YD SUBSCRIBE OR I TAKE YOUR CAT ╔═╦╗╔╦╗╔═╦═╦╦╦╦╗╔═╗ ║╚╣║║║╚╣╚╣╔╣╔╣║╚╣═╣ ╠╗║╚╝║║╠╗║╚╣║║║║║═╣ ╚═╩══╩═╩═╩═╩╝╚╩═╩═╝ SOCIALS: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6U7aRXPJxMZaZNcUotIAXi Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-side-of-truth/id1634049549 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/joe.ignace/ and https://www.instagram.com/theknowledgegapshow/ The Discord for only the coolest Knowledge Gap Fans: https://discord.gg/nmfXtux7YD THE MOST INCREDIBLE WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL EMAIL: joeignace.com/subscribe Consulting Services: If you want to start a podcast, I'd love to talk to you about making your idea into reality! Book a call with me here: https://calendly.com/josephignace/freeconsultation My charitable foundation: Donate to the Knowledge Gap Foundation that is starting high school clubs geared towards helping students network to get better jobs and figure out their purpose earlier in life: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/ee7c2b06-e2d5-4f18-a60c-ab55a6e2e535 Learn more about Joe and the Knowledge Gap Consulting Services at joeignace.com
Magnolia co-founder, TV personality, bestselling author, and proud Southwestern Advantage alumni Chip Gaines recalls the best day of his life (which sort of wasn't so great), reflects on being too broke to declare bankruptcy, and how he initially thought the offer for Fixer Upper was a scam.Hear Chip's full interview across Episodes 417 and 418 of The Action Catalyst.
Overtime with Outland is Action Catalyst host Adam Outland's reflections and commentary on discussions with each of his esteemed and accomplished guests. In this segment, Adam dissects Episode 419, with former Tennessee State Senator, U.S. Representative, 4-summer Southwestern Advantage alumni, and now United States Senator, Marsha Blackburn.
Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee State Senator, Tennessee Congressional Representative, 4-summer alumni of the Southwestern Advantage program, and now United States Senator, chats about being only the fourth woman elected to Congress from Tennessee, and the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee, her surprising early role as a pioneer in digital entertainment, the importance of leadership on a national scale, how you lead people / you manage assets, and upholding her 5 personal pillars of Faith, Family, Freedom, Hope, and Opportunity.Mentioned in this episode:This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage.Southwestern Advantage
Overtime with Outland is Action Catalyst host Adam Outland's reflections and commentary on discussions with each of his esteemed and accomplished guests. In this segment, Adam dissects Episodes 417 and 418, with Magnolia co-founder, TV personality, bestselling author, and Southwestern Advantage alumni, Chip Gaines.
Magnolia co-founder, TV personality, bestselling author, and Southwestern Advantage alumni Chip Gaines chats with host Adam Outland about nature vs nurture and chicken vs egg, recalls the best day of his life (which sort of wasn't so great), shares his Austin Powers moment, reflects on being too broke to declare bankruptcy and how he initially thought the offer for Fixer Upper was a scam, and talks about deploying his secret weapon: Joanna Gaines.Mentioned in this episode:This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage.Southwestern Advantage
Magnolia co-founder, TV personality, bestselling author, and proud Southwestern Advantage alumni Chip Gaines talks about his beginnings selling books door to door, his true calling as a “riverboat pastor”, the hybrid of James Dean and the Marlboro Man that he called his grandfather, awakening the grizzly bear of work ethic, what L.U.C.K. really stands for, plus shares some "breaking news" about his family.Mentioned in this episode:This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage.Southwestern Advantage
In Today's episode, I get to hang out with my brother! Nick and I had a ton of fun! Josh is a total badass, and he is a recruiter for Southwestern Advantage. He played college soccer, graduated debt free, and mentors college students to reach their goals in life. We talk about his story and how to graduate debt free from college. Email josh at joignace@southwestern.com for more information on the internship. The Knowledge Gap Podcast is a young person's guide to mastering their purpose. Join the community of young adults living life to fullest by focusing on their purpose. SOCIALS: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theknowledgegap Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6U7aRXPJxMZaZNcUotIAXi Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-side-of-truth/id1634049549 Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/joe.ignace/ and https://www.instagram.com/theknowledgegapshow/ The Discord for only the coolest Knowledge Gap Fans: https://discord.gg/nmfXtux7YD THE MOST INCREDIBLE WEEKLY MOTIVATIONAL EMAIL: joeignace.com/subscribe Consulting Services: If you want to start a podcast, I'd love to talk to you about making your idea into reality! Book a call with me here: https://calendly.com/josephignace/freeconsultation My charitable foundation: Donate to the Knowledge Gap Foundation that is starting high school clubs geared towards helping students network to get better jobs and figure out their purpose earlier in life: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/ee7c2b06-e2d5-4f18-a60c-ab55a6e2e535 Learn more about Joe and the Knowledge Gap Consulting Services at joeignace.com
#RealEstatePodcast #TopProducers #Coaching In this episode, I bring my personal business coach on to discuss habits of top producers, what others are doing to adapt to this crazy market, and how to overcome what we are all in the industry going through. Plenty of needle moving activities, best practices, and much more to pick up in this discussion. Guest : Katie Hasson Southwestern Coaching Elite Level Coach Get in Touch with Katie - https://southwesternconsulting.com/coaches/katie-hassonWho is Katie : As a professional Sales and Leadership Coach for Southwestern Consulting, Katie enjoys coaching, motivating, and cheering her clients on to unprecedented success. Katie began her sales career working for the Southwestern Advantage college program in 2012. She sold educational materials for four years, relocated to four different states, knocked on more than 20,000 doors, worked on straight commission, and recruited a top-performing team. During that time, she ranked 26th out of more than 2,000 first-year salespeople.During her career with Southwestern Advantage, Katie personally conducted more than 400 one-on-one interviews. She not only recruited top teams but also recruited the #1 first-year salesperson in the company in 2014. Katie has earned the Spencer Hayes Award—the highest award in recruiting at Southwestern Advantage, which is the oldest direct selling company in the United States. She also received the Gold Certification in sales and recruiting, progressing through sales management positions rapidly with a record of outstanding organizational growth and exceptional individual sales performance. Katie graduated from the University of South Florida with degrees in International Business and Spanish. Her passion comes from being able to help others reach new potential and expand their positive mentality. One of Katie's favorite affirmations is, “Hope is a combination of setting goals, having the tenacity and perseverance to pursue them, and believing in our own abilities.” In her spare time, Katie loves being active and enjoys running and watersports. She currently resides in Florida.Host :Mark JonesFounder of https://reviewmymortgage.com/Branch Manager Directions Home Loan La CanteraTop Producing Loan OfficerNMLS# 513437Branch NMLS#206229615900 LaCantera Pkwy #26225 San Antonio TX 78256Equal Housing LenderGet in Touch with Mark.https://lacanteraloans.com/loan-offic...Disclaimer:Mark Jones is not a practicing tax accountant or a licensed attorney or financial adviser. Therefore, the information in these videos shall not be relied upon as tax, legal, or financial advice from a qualified perspective. If you need such advice, please contact a qualified tax accountant, attorney, or financial adviser. We have taken reasonable steps to check that the information in this video is accurate but we cannot represent that it is free from errors. You expressly agree not to rely upon any information contained in this video - it is for entertainment purposes only. This video description may contain affiliate links that allow you to easily find the items mentioned in my videos as well as support the channel at no cost to you. Thank you for your support! Mark Jones is a licensed Loan Originator with Directions Home Loan NMLS# 513437.
Chase Bridwell, insurance producer and Business Development Manager at Southwestern Insurance Group, talks about going through "business bootcamp" with Southwestern Advantage, the lessons learned from watching his dad's business, how insurance agents can be hugely integral in the community, motivation from Will Smith, making insurance cool again with a young team, getting to know clients like family, and helping them build and protect their legacy.
It's the most wonderful time of the year! The whole team (minus one) joins the show for a special Christmas episode, including our non-bookgirl producer, Amy Lester. The team quizzes Amy on some Southwestern lingo to see if she's been able to put the pieces together of the "cult"ure of Southwestern Advantage. Jacob, Avery, and Andres either confirm or deny her guesses. Along the way, there are many more stories of their days on the bookfiled from amazing host family stories, super pony buyers, and a lot of gratitude for where the show has come. We are honored and blessed to get to bring this show you to week in and week out. Happy Holidays - and we're really looking forward to our next season! Enjoy! Check out our merch here: Will Metscher Southwestern Real Estate Greta Huerta/ Quintin Roberts and Cardinal Senior Benefits EnLight.Energy
Leaving your comfort zone is one of the scariest things a person can do. And for a college student, relocating to an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces for the entire summer is a terrifying thought. But action cures fear when you Do The Thing. It was a pleasure to speak with Danny Gamboa—Senior District Sales Leader for Southwestern Advantage—about how a summer job changed his life. When he was only five years old, he and his parents fled Colombia for the United States with only $50 in their pockets. His father's determination and drive to help others impacted young Danny's mind. Determined to create a successful life for himself, he entered the Southwestern Advantage Program while in college. But would new surroundings, door-to-door sales, and grueling 80-hour work weeks be too much to handle? Here's how Danny turned a college internship into a full-time career and why he now helps the next generation do the same.
https://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/blog/admissions-news/who-is-jamie-beaton/ (Jamie Beaton), co-founder and CEO of https://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/ (Crimson Education), the world's leading US and UK university admissions support company, talks about his new book, “Accepted”, increasing student admissions, helping exceptional students overcome self-doubt, the “Moneyball” approach to college acceptance, the role that parents should play in the process, tackling ageism and skepticism, and geeking out to Warhammer with host Dan Moore. Mentioned in this episode: This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage. https://the-action-catalyst.captivate.fm/southwesternadvantage (Southwestern Advantage)
Our interview guest today is the Global Director of Campus Relations for Southwestern Advantage. For the past 20 years he has been in charge of the company's relationships with over 200 universities in North America, Europe and Asia. Ralph has been invited to speak to students at universities across the United States and in France, England, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and the list continues to grow. Ralph has served as the president of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), which includes about 13,000 careers center professionals and campus relations directors. And, in 2013 he was inducted into the NACE Academy of Fellows, the organization's highest honor. Prior to his time with Southwestern Advantage, he was the director of career services at Montana State University. He is currently serving as Professional Vice President of the National Council for Pi Sigma Epsilon, the professional sales fraternity. And, was recently elected Vice President for the Employer Network of Cooperative Education and Internship Association. In 2019 he and Southwesten Advantage were named the Charles Kettering Outstanding Internship in North America. Ralph is a certified life coach and coaches students and professionals in topics like finance, career and relationships, but he most likes to help them in developing habits for life success. In addition, Ralph has: Run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, twice Seen Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix live in concert Is a champion axe thrower Skied the tallest mountain in Germany Run a marathon in 3 hours, 11 minutes Swam in The Dead Sea and he rocks the socks. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphbrigham/ Don't forget to like, subscribe, and give the podcast a 5 star rating! Share this with a friend, and follow the page. Thank you for your support! If you believe in our mission, consider supporting the podcast here: https://anchor.fm/onthesideoftruth/support Follow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/on_the_side_of_truth/ Follow us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onthesideoftruthpodcast Follow us on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/onthesideoftruth Follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTz3hWH1ZFmAkB0aFKSOTVQ Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/onthesideoftrut website: https://onthesideoftruth.mailchimpsites.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/onthesideoftruth/support
Trey lives near Nashville TN, he has served as the Director of Communications and worked with young people with Southwestern Advantage for nearly 24 years. His role has him focused on PR, reputation management, government relations, and community outreach, but his passion is impacting young people and helping them navigate life. He has motivated and encouraged over 35,000 students in his tenure with Southwestern Advantage.Trey is the Mission Leader for Southwestern Travel where he invests in communities around the world. He is an author of three books and the fourth is on the way. You can connect with Trey at tcampbell@southwestern.com Popular Books: 12 Jars 72 Days Follow us on social and subscribe! Follow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/on_the_side_of_truth/ Follow us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onthesideoftruthpodcast Follow us on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/onthesideoftruth Follow us on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTz3hWH1ZFmAkB0aFKSOTVQ Follow us on twitter: https://twitter.com/onthesideoftrut website: https://onthesideoftruth.mailchimpsites.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/onthesideoftruth/support
https://advisorygroupsf.com/our-team/greg-patterson/ (Greg Patterson, CEO of The Advisory Group of San Francisco), covers business lessons from time spent abroad and as a triathlete, including how overtraining and overconfidence can be tragic flaws, the “gas pedal risk”, determining what mile you're on in the Ironman of life, and adopting the Spiderman principle of power and responsibility. Mentioned in this episode: This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage. https://the-action-catalyst.captivate.fm/southwesternadvantage (Southwestern Advantage)
Our very own Dan Moore joins https://www.insumo.io/ (Insumo)'s Habit Talks podcast as a guest, exploring different aspects of finding and maintaining inspiration. Among the topics he discussed were practicing gratitude and grounding techniques such as box breathing, as well as some advice around adapting to the pandemic. Habit Talks host, Ceylan Ersoy, discusses how she seeks meaning and inspiration, how to leave a mark, pivots, and how to balance life. It's a great talk! Mentioned in this episode: This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage. https://the-action-catalyst.captivate.fm/southwesternadvantage (Southwestern Advantage)
One of the most vulnerable populations of people being sucked into MLM schemes are students, naïve, eager and looking for opportunity everywhere. That's how Ance Vanaga found herself in strange country at the age of 18, going door to door selling books for Southwestern Advantage, maybe the oldest MLM company we've found so far. Over the years of unpacking her experience, Ance started looking into the mental health side of it, and was shocked at what she discovered. So we sat down with each other and had some deep, enlightening and hilarious conversations about MLM's, cults, gaslighting and what we both went through. Show Notes Fill out the Podcast Listener Survey! - https://forms.gle/mC1YiMVhEzccLTWX8 Join our Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/robertablevins Conversations with my Mind : The Learning Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/conversations-with-my-mind-the-learning-podcast/id1565402796 My interview with Ance on her show - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/am-i-a-boss-babe-or-a-cult-member-with-roberta-blevins-s2-ep8/id1565402796?i=1000568083656 Ance on IG - https://www.instagram.com/conversations.with.my.mind/ Family Guy Latvian Athletes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlsQfCtWsfw Southwestern Advantage - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_Advantage Dr. Steven Hassan's BITE Model - https://freedomofmind.com/cult-mind-control/bite-model/ Ponzinomics by Robert L. FitzPatrick - https://amzn.to/3q16oJb How can you help? Report false income and health claims here: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/ Or go to: https://www.truthinadvertising.org You can also report to your state Attorney General's office! https://www.naag.org/find-my-ag/ Not in the U.S.? Go here: https://www.ftc.gov/policy/international/competition-consumer-protection-authorities-worldwide Support the Podcast! Buy me a Taco and leave me a note!
In this absolutely mind blowing story, Kristel Tuul explains how she and the company she worked for, became caught up in a Sex Trafficking scandal in the US. Kristel had travelled to the United States each summer from Estonia, to work for a company named Southwestern Advantage, working as a door to door salesperson, selling educational books to families with Children. Somehow, somewhere along the way, Kristel explains how Facebook suddenly blew up with stories about how Southwestern Advantage was really stealing children and taking them to Russia. Join us for one of the most extraordinary stories of the year. Thanks Kristel for an amazing episode! Links from Kristel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristeltuul/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristeltuul/My website: https://www.kristeltuul.com/Support the show
Inventor and entrepreneur https://www.tumalogroup.com/about-us (Travis Rosbach) discusses the parallels between founding https://www.hydroflask.com/ (Hydro Flask) and the successful ascent of Everest, attacking brick walls with terror, passion, or avoidance, putting philanthropic power in the hands of the consumer, LITERALLY getting off on the right foot, knowing when to hold ‘em & when to fold ‘em, and the power of unseen forces. Mentioned in this episode: This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage https://the-action-catalyst.captivate.fm/southwesternadvantage (Southwestern Advantage)
In this special bonus release, we bring you an appearance by Action Catalyst host Dan Moore on Episode 12 of the https://experiencemag.org/category/podcast/ (Experience Magazine Podcast), hosted by Michael Sharp & Erik Alanson of the University of Cincinnati, and presented by https://experiencemag.org/ (Experience Magazine), a publication of https://www.ceiainc.org/ (CEIA (Cooperative Education and Internship Association)). You can find this and other episodes of the Experience Magazine Podcast at https://experiencemag.org/category/podcast/ (ExperienceMag.org/category/podcast). Mentioned in this episode: This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage https://the-action-catalyst.captivate.fm/southwesternadvantage (Southwestern Advantage)
Derek Pankaew, co-founder of NFT investment software https://mythia.com/ (Mythia), covers the brave new world of NFTs in this masterclass about what the emergent technology is, how it has come a long way from its beginnings in the art world, and how it can revolutionize businesses both large and small, plus the roles of cryptocurrency and https://discord.com/ (Discord) in NFT trading. If you've ever been curious about investing in this newest trend, this is a MUST-listen episode. Mentioned in this episode: This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage https://the-action-catalyst.captivate.fm/southwesternadvantage (Southwestern Advantage)
https://orenderunlimited.com/ (Donna Orender), former President of the https://www.wnba.com/#/panel2-1 (WNBA) and Senior VP of the https://www.pgatour.com/ (PGA Tour), and CEO of https://genwnow.com/ (Generation W), shares why learning is a superpower, and curiosity won't allow for complacency, how pandemic has defined the power of community, focusing on what's possible, the way that incremental steps make exponential change, and what Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Tiger Woods can teach about work ethic. Mentioned in this episode: This episode is brought to you by Southwestern Advantage https://the-action-catalyst.captivate.fm/southwesternadvantage (Southwestern Advantage)
Ryan Azus, CRO of Zoom, has been selling all his life, from baseball cards as a kid to ads in the school newspaper to — crucially — books every summer in college. Every year, he and and thousands of other young people would be dispersed around the country to sell books door-to-door as part of an entrepreneurial program called Southwestern Advantage. That experience taught him valuable lessons about his own strengths and weaknesses as a salesperson, the diversity of people's needs, and the joys of hard-earned time off.In this episode, Ryan and Joubin talk about the silver lining of growing up with divorced parents; what Ryan learned from his epic first job as a book salesman; how he talked his way into a job at WebEx after being screened by HR; the big thing a lot of people on the outside get wrong about working at a successful fast-growing company; joining Zoom in August 2019, right before COVID changed everything; what it feels like when your job is to keep the world connected; and why success is not created in a “sunny meadow.”In this episode, we cover: The biggest difference between Ryan's childhood and that of his own kids (04:18) Why selling books every summer in college was a lucrative, life-changing adventure (10:45) Where his competitiveness comes from, and being a “student of business” (22:01) The early days of teleconferencing at WebEx, and how Ryan started working there (27:17) Building RingCentral from zero to a billion-dollar run rate, and being a “headquarters person” (33:54) “Falling forward” and the myth of instant success in business (39:00) Zoom fatigue and virtual backgrounds (44:37) Keeping up with the explosive growth in demand for Zoom, and the intense pressure of the job (48:23) The most important traits Ryan looks for when hiring (55:05) Zoom's stock price and the “belief barrier” (01:00:05) Links: Connect with RyanLinkedIn Connect with Joubin Twitter LinkedIn Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
In this Episode I invite my personal growth coach, Katie Hasson, from Florida to share the importance of having a coach in any sales position. We may be able to make it far in this industry but if you want to level up... Invest in a coach. Katie began working with Southwestern Advantage in 2012. She sold for four years, relocated to four different states, knocked on over 20,000 doors, worked on straight commission, and recruited a top-performing team. During her career with Southwestern Advantage, Katie personally conducted over 400 one-on-one interviews. She not only recruited top teams but also recruited the number-one first-year salesperson in the company in 2014.Guest :Katie HassonElite Level CoachSouthwestern Consulting.Get in Touch with Katie https://southwesterncoaching.com/katie-hasson/Broker/AgentHost :Mark JonesFounder of https://reviewmymortgage.com/Branch Manager Directions Home Loan La CanteraTop Producing Loan OfficerNMLS# 513437Get in Touch with Mark.https://lacanteraloans.com/loan-officer/the-mark-jones-team/Daily Millennial Mortgage Update | Mark JonesAlso Now on YouTube - Millennial Market Talk - The Best Mortgage Podcast for Millennials with Mark Jones, Daily Mortgage & Real Estate Updates in Minutes from a Millennials Perspective. This is for Consumers and industry Professionals to stay current with what's going on in our world.Mortgage & Real Estate News & Updates, Daily Millennial Mortgage Updates, Industry Hot Topics, Tips, & Education for Consumers, Realtors, Brokers, & Lenders.Visit https://www.millennialmarkettalk.com Subscribe toApple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/3inymKB...iheart - https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-mi...
Another fun episode with another awesome couple from the book-field. Andrew and Jess share some fun stories about their time selling books and some fun stories about the experience with Southwestern Advantage. As always be sure to enjoy the episode and share to other book people who need to hear some fun stories of the door-to-door experience! If you want to keep up with our shenanigans, be sure to subscribe, follow, and like! INFO FOR BIZZLER BELOW https://youtu.be/C2feQ3rJ9w0 Be sure to subscribe, like, and share! Also, big thanks to our sponsors: Elevate Wellness Aptive Environmental Southwestern Real Estate Martine and Lukasz Historical Park Bulgaria EnLight.Energy VDisain
Rory Vaden is a best-selling author, Hall of Fame speaker, and Co-Founder of Brand Builders Group. Rory Vaden was born in Boulder, Colorado. He is a Magna Cum Laude graduate from the University of Denver (2006), where he earned a bachelor's degree in Management and an MBA concurrently. After graduating from the university, he was invited to start a speaking and consulting division of the company named Southwestern Consulting. He is the Co-Founder of Brand Builders Group and the host of the Influential Personal Brand podcast. While attending the University of Denver, Rory was recruited by another student to participate in a sales internship at Southwestern Advantage. As a top producer at Southwestern Advantage, Rory began speaking after being invited by the program to give a presentation. Before earning a fee, he took the stage a total of 304 times and earned enough recognition to receive his first paid speaking appearance. In 2014, Rory received the Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the National Speakers Association, the highest earned international recognition for professional speakers. Rory Vaden is the author of Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success, a New York Times Bestseller. He is a world's leading expert on overcoming procrastination, increasing productivity, and creating a results-driven reputation and influential personal brand. Rory is a frequent guest on national TV and his insights are featured regularly in media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Forbes, Fortune, CNN, Inc., and The New York Times. He has been named “One of the world's top leadership thinkers” by Entrepreneur and Inc. magazine. Rory's second book, Procrastination on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time is already a national bestseller, and his Ted Talk has millions of views. NEXT STEPS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO: 1. Go to stephenscoggins.com/brandcall 2. Connect with him on Instagram and all over. TOPICS DISCUSSED IN THIS VIDEO: – Intro – Personal Branding – Core Problem – Shehan's Wall – Find Your Uniqueness & Exploit It In the Service of Others – Brand DNA Helix – What Problem Do You Solve in ONE WORD? – What Are You Passionate About? – What Do You Research? – What Do You Have Results In? – You Are Most Powerfully Positioned to Serve the Person You Once Were – D A R E S – 5 Ways to Monetize a Personal Brand - PAIDS – Product (physical product) – Ads & Affiliates – Information Products – Deals – Services – DARES - What Type of Business Do You Want to Create Next? Look for the DARES. – DIGITAL – AUTOMATED – RECURRING – EVERGREEN – SCALABLE – One Stream of Income ABOUT ME: Hi, I'm Stephen Scoggins. After fighting from homelessness and depression to build multiple businesses employing hundreds of amazing people, I've learned a lot about what it really takes to overcome your limitations and build your dream life. Now, my goal is to help 1 million people get from where they are today, to where they want to be in life. To help with that, I'm releasing videos on this channel several times per week and posting regularly on social media. On this YouTube channel, I interview the world's foremost thought leaders on what it takes to master your life. I also have a library of free resources, downloadable eBooks, and personality tests to help you become the person you always wanted to be. Just check out my websites below! MASTER YOUR LIFE WITH FREE RESOURCES: My website: https://www.stephenscoggins.com Free eBooks & Resources: https://www.stephenscoggins.com/resources My Blog: https://stephenscoggins.com/blog/ Stuck to Unstoppable Podcast: https://stephenscoggins.com/stuck-to-unstoppable/ CONNECT WITH ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephen_scoggins/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephenscoggins/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenscoggins Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephen_scoggin
Years before taking his place at the state capitol, https://www.governor.ok.gov/about/governor (Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt) sold books door to door with https://southwesternadvantage.com/ (Southwestern Advantage), an experience that he directly points to for teaching him the skills that would one day lead him to the Sooner State's highest office. He shares some of those lessons from his days in the book field (spoiler alert: he crushed records) with https://southwestern.com/ (Southwestern) https://southwestern.com/dustin-hillis-bio/ (CEO Dustin Hillis), as well as how he co-founded and grew https://www.gatewayfirst.com/ (Gateway Mortgage Group) from “$1,000 and a computer” to the 2nd most profitable bank in the country, how he's working to make https://oklahoma.gov/ (Oklahoma) a "hope-centered" state, and his odds for a future presidential run.
Established in 1855, https://southwesternadvantage.com/ (Southwestern Advantage) is the oldest entrepreneurial program in the world for university students. The program has given hundreds of thousands of participants the opportunity to graduate debt-free with transferable personal and professional skills, and has earned praise from everyone from Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, to financial expert Dave Ramsey. Student Reps spend their summers building their businesses in a community away from home, demonstrating a learning system that is a trusted industry-leading resource for students receiving any public, private, or homeschool education, with apps, websites, and books designed by a national board of top educators. Millions of families across the US & Canada have added Southwestern Advantage products to their home. Be on the lookout for Student Reps in your community this summer, and learn more at https://southwesternadvantage.com/ (SouthwesternAdvantage.com).
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