← Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
Confidence Classic: Opportunity, Visibility & Timing with Heather!
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You've seen the buzz, but let me give you the inside scoop. Live shopping on Whatnot is exploding right now. I've watched the shows firsthand. I've seen Whatnot climb to the top of the App Store and I've looked at the seller earnings. Small, medium and multi million dollar businesses are seeing real growth. If you're selling online or out of a storefront full time or as a side hustle, you already know the challenge. You're hoping for people to find your listing or waiting for them to walk in. Whatnot flips that I on whatnot. You go live and sell directly to people in real time. They see what you've got, ask questions and buy. And they keep coming back. Whatnot is a largest dedicated live shopping platform. Whether it's beauty, collectibles, electronics, luxury, fashion, even cookies, sellers are building real, thriving businesses. Whatnot buyers spend more than an hour a day in the app. They're not just browsing, they're bidding, buying and coming back. You go live, show off products in real time and turn what you love into real income. People selling on whatnot sell 10 times more than on other major marketplaces. That's because you're not just listing products, you're building real connections with your buyers across whatnot. The number of sellers making over $1 million a year has doubled. Some make more, some less, but consistency pays off. This isn't a side hustle. It's a real path to building something that lasts. And for a limited time, Whatnot will match your first $150 sold in the first month. Visit whatnot.com sell to start selling. That's W-H-A-T-N-O-T.com sell whatnot.com sell one marketing and CRM platform built to help you connect with customers, boost engagement, and grow your business smarter. Just head to www.bravo.com confidence and take your marketing further. With Brevo and Aura, join the millions who are already banking. Be free today. It just takes a few minutes to sign up. Head to chime.com that is chime.com competence. Don't risk your business on unreliable lenders. Go to nerdwallet.com confidence to find the funding you deserve. Fundera Inc. N m l s id number 1240038 don't keep settling for clothes that don't last. Go to Q U I n c e.com confidence for free shipping and three returns. Quince.com confidence. You've seen the buzz, but let me give you the inside scoop. Live Shopping on whatnot is exploding right now. Visit whatnot.comsell to start selling. That's w h a t n o
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t.com sell often we'll say like, oh, I'm too tired. I don't want to try to, you know, go to one more thing. I never know if it's actually going to result anything. Yeah, it might not. There's plenty of things that I've gone to that I don't know if ever result in anything. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. But I know if I'm going to put my best foot forward, I'm going to create more opportunity for myself. And the more opportunity that you create, the more potential there is for whatever that dream is that you have inside or that big stage that you want to take. Success isn't easy. If it was, everybody would have it. There are moments you also have to put in the work. Wherever you are on your journey, make sure that you realize the timing is not always our own, but good things still can come. Even if it's a little late, right? Good things take time. Great things sometimes take a little bit longer. Come on this journey with me each week when you join me, we are going to chase down our goals, overcome adversity and set you up for a better tomorrow. I'm ready for my close up. Tell me, have you been enjoying these new bonus Confidence classics episodes we've been dropping on you every week? We've literally hundreds of episodes for you to listen to. So these bonuses are a great way to help you find the ones you
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may have already missed. I hope you love this one as
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much as I do. Hi and welcome back. I'm so excited you're back here with me today. Okay, so I'm a big fan that stories sell, facts tell, right? So we can sit and look at data and tell people, you know, my product works and here's why. Look at the facts and it's true, right? And it's great to have data and it's great to have facts. But sometimes when you hear a story, it really allows you to imagine what's possible for you. It allows you to put yourself in the shoes of the person telling the story and relate to it. So first and foremost, you know, I tell you this all the time. Get testimonials of your work, get your clients stories you want to hear about their success stories and what role you and your products and services played in allowing them to achieve their goals or accomplish whatever it is they're trying to trying to do. For me, I'M very lucky. And you're probably lucky too. If you look on social media, we get DMs, we get messages, we get emails, inquiries to our website where people are offering their feedback for us. They're sharing their stories and testimonials. Hopefully you're creating an environment like that. If not, start asking for that feedback and those stories. Today I wanted to share with you too. I'm just so proud of. And I also want you to know that one of the people that is sending the feedback, I know, one I've never met before. Right? So the point of this is you can impact and touch people's lives you don't even know because of the content you create. That's pretty mind blowing. Hello. You can make a difference in the world by just being you and showing up and sharing your message. And you may never understand how many people you impact or help or even if it's just one person, you made the world a better place. So don't hold back. Create content. Put yourself out there. Shine that light on who you are. Start holding the pen when telling the story of your life instead of allowing others to, to talk about you and build your brand for you. Build your own, create your own narrative and have an intention when you do it. I'm so glad I started doing that. I started my personal brand five years ago before I got fired. It's basically why I got fired. But that's okay because it all happened for a reason. I didn't know it at the time. That's important to know. I was a disaster, beyond stressed out and scared. But here we are, you know, years later and I'm so grateful that finally having gotten through a global pandemic. Now things are really starting to come together and I'm super, super proud of that. None of it would have happened if I hadn't made the move or, and or had gotten fired. So those low moments that you have in your life, even though you don't know it yet, those could be the most pivotal moments, life changing moments of your life, setting you free for a trajectory that sets so much greater than you had ever imagined. Okay, so I want to share two stories that I received in the last week that made me so happy. Okay. This one is someone who I've known, I've done some work with personally. As you know, I do some one on one executive coaching and earlier on I also did a group coaching program and then of course my podcast. Hello, you're familiar, you're here with me right now. And my books and My courses, et cetera. Okay. So I got an email from this person. I have not heard from this person in six months. Maybe. Right. So I had no idea what was going on with her. Hey, I know it's been a while, but I wanted to reach out and let you know how much you have changed my life, which, first of all, never underestimate the impact your words have on someone else. I literally teared up reading this message because it just reminded me, number one, it told me this, Heather, you're on the right path. Right? This is a sign to say, okay, you're doing good work. I don't always recognize it or see it. You know, day in and day out, I get stressed out and struggle and frustrated with revenue and frustrated with how things are not progressing at the rate I think they should. But I get messages like this, and it just reminds me, this is what life is about. Life is about making the world a better place. Life is about impacting another person in a positive way because of the things you've learned and how you have a chance to pay it forward. And. And it truly, I'm so grateful this woman took the time to write me this note because it meant the world to me, and it reminded me that I am on that right path. Okay. But it's been a while since we've connected. I wanted to let you know how you've changed my life. Okay. Since that time, since last time I seen her, she told her leadership she wanted to be promoted. And although they recently said no, which made her really mad because her work is exceptional, she goes on to detail a little bit more about that. You know, that all the feedback she's ever gotten has been so positive. She has skills that other people don't even come close to. But she's been told she makes leadership nervous because they think she's rogue, which she says I have corrected and I now call innovative. I love that word choices are powerful. I have them now. Building me a roadmap, extending my coaching, and finding me leadership to advocate for me. Rachel, this is so good. She faced a challenge, and she found a way to make it into an opportunity. We all have that chance. Because, Heather, if you forgive me, honestly, F that. Okay. She's pissed. I have amazing reviews from everyone at work. Listen, this happens sometimes when you're in corporate America. People are telling you you're doing a great job, but when push comes to shove, you haven't been asking for what you want. When you go in and put that ask in place, they kick back and say, no. Right. And that's our chance and opportunity to hold people accountable and say something like this. I'm confused. Every review I've received of my work thus far that I have a folder on is exceptional and constantly notes the job that I'm doing. If that's the case, then why wouldn't we be advancing me? Right. And put it back on that other person again because you're just getting a blow off. Okay. She goes on to say she's actually been pursued by another bigger and better company and now she's going to start interviewing with them. So smart. Never pass up an opportunity to interview with another company and see what's out there. Right. Let me tell you, companies move through people so quickly, they're always looking at the bottom line. In business, you should be looking at your bottom line. What are the best potentials and opportunities out there? Don't make it personal. Keep it business and look at business opportunity and be willing to hear how other people perceive you. There may be a better fit for you somewhere else. She's starting to launch a teachable school which is a whole side hustle and is so cool. And if you're not launching a side hustle yet, start thinking about what problem you can solve that is unique to you that you could potentially earn income from. Because you never know what could happen in your industry and you want to empower yourself to have options. Options are really important. She goes on to say how she just needed a little push to do it and now she's editing it and she's going to publish it. She's a one woman shop and she's doing this after she puts her kids to sleep at night. And she's so proud of herself and she's launched personal branding initiatives on social media. And she said it's messy but it's a start. And I'm so proud of her. Right. So many people that I work with will talk about all they're going to do, but when I catch up with them a year later, they haven't done it. And this woman is doing it on her own and holding herself accountable, which is incredibly impressive. But if she can do it, so can you. That is truth. Okay. She's accepted a LinkedIn Live account and she's held three live sessions which had made her nervous. Right. To do. She's stepping into the unknown, but she keeps showing up and she talks about how it's not huge yet, but she's working on it. She's committed to being consistent with it. That is the key when I joined LinkedIn. I didn't have 250,000 followers. I had zero. Right? I've been on LinkedIn for seven years now. You need to show up, be consistent, and be in it for the long game. That's how you get results. Okay, she set some big picture goals. She wrote the numbers down that she's going after. If you have not done that in your life, you're constantly writing down the grocery list. You're constantly writing down what your boss wants you to achieve. Take the time today after you listen to this podcast and go write down what are your specific goals for the rest of this year? What do you want to achieve for you, not for anybody else. That can be health and wellness for yourself. That can be fun times with your friends. That can be making yourself a priority with your workout or meditation, or spending more time with your family. That could be selling your condo. That could be asking for a promotion. Whatever it is, write it down, give yourself a deadline, and hold yourself accountable. Just like this woman did here on her own. I'm so flipping proud of her. And her life is changing. That was the subject line of her email. Her life's changing for the better. Okay, the personal branding book that I wrote is coming along. And she goes on to say that, you know, she's in the final edits now. She had no idea how much rewriting it was gonna take. It's been a lot more than she thought. But she doesn't want to rush it because she knows it's going to be so good. This woman, not only is she pushing herself for advancement at work and doing all the right things along the way, she's open to new opportunities outside of her current employer, and she's exploring those. She's launching a side hustle. She's written a book. She's launched a personal branding initiative. I mean, this lady has done so much in six months time. And when I met this woman, she did not verbalize aspirations for any of these things. Then she just goes on to say, so anyway, these are just a handful of things that your work has encouraged me to achieve. I thought you should know. So this was really impactful to me. If you have positive feedback to give to someone who's touched your life, don't hold it within you. Don't wait to give that feedback. That made a huge difference in my life. The day I read that email, it made my day. And it really said to me, no matter how frustrated I was with my business that day, no matter how frustrated I was of the failed businesses that I've launched that haven't come to fruition. That note reminded me that I was on the right path. So if you have some feedback to give someone in your life, do it now. Do it when you get off this podcast, send the note, send the text, send the email, make the call and let them know the impact that they are having on you because you can make a difference in their life and that is paying it forward. Meet a different guest each week.
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I asked you to try to find your passion. Okay, this is a person I've never met before. But thankfully because of social media I get amazing DMs from people that I don't know yet. And then I know them. I know their whole story right after I get the message. Which is so cool. Yet again, this woman took the time to send me this amazing note how my book Overcome youe Villains impacted her life and same thing it told me I'm on the right path. Don't give up Heather. It gave me that encouragement and push that I need. Everybody thinks that, oh, that person has it all set and figured out and they're motivated all the time. No, no one is that way. We all feel the same way. Discouraged. Down. We have up moments and great moments, right? If every day was great, then no day ever would be great. So there's highs and lows in everybody's Life. And that's what allows us to grow and change and evolve and celebrate and feel sad and live. Right? So when you send a note to someone, you could be catching them at just the right time, which her note caught me at an amazing time. Her note made my day and I'm sharing it with you. I hope it makes your day and I hope you share a note with someone that's impacting you in a positive way. Okay. Her subject line was overcoming your villains. Amazing. Okay, that just, I just smile when I hear that. When you write a book, by the way, it's like having another little baby. You put this little work of you, representative of you into the world and you're so proud of it and you have so many hopes for it and you're so excited for it. So when I get notes like this, oh my gosh, it makes me so happy because just FYI, I get lots of negative notes too. Right? There's always going to be haters for contrast, which is great. It means you're reaching beyond your little circle of fans, which is good. But it's also great to get the nice notes too, because it tells you your work is worthwhile. Right? And you're here for a reason. Dear Heather, I recently resigned from my position. I won't say the name of her company and I start a new position on Monday. I've always been successful, have amazing mentors. The past almost two years at the company I was working in have been pure hell, to say the least. Working 16 hour days, leadership, not having time for one on ones, not having time for real conversations, saying one thing and doing another. Okay, I completely understand this. It's called a toxic work environment. She goes on to say, I was always a glassful kind of person, super positive. But after the past year, I'm one of those people that I can't even deal with the challenges I'm facing anymore. I've found myself down, unmotivated, doing seven jobs and continuing to feel like I can't take care of myself or anything else. You know, this is what happens. It's like over time, very slowly, you chip away at your confidence. Cause you're allowing all these negative things to happen and then before you know it, you're immersed so deep in it you don't know how to get out. And that was definitely me at my old company. A few weeks back, I even told my husband that I would quit and just go get a job at Starbucks. Because yes, it is that bad. I get it, okay? I feel you. When you get to that point. Okay, that's breaking point, where you have to do something. And breaking point is good. Right? Even though it doesn't feel like it in the moment, that's the thing that's gonna get your attention to say no more. I deserve better than this. And today is the day it stops. I'm gonna go for a change. I'm gonna find another job. Okay? Luckily, I had reached out to my network.
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She had asked for help.
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She raised her hand. I did the same thing when I got fired. And she said, and I land job that starts next week. Hello. If you are not happy where you are right now, raise your hand, ask for help, and start finding out what is available for you in the world. There will be lots of opportunity. You just have to go find it. And like this woman, it didn't even take her long. Right? Right away, she found a great job, which is amazing. And I'm so excited for her. She had to tell the universe and herself, I am worth more than this. The minute she did that, an opportunity that was equal to her showed up for her. Think about that. Think about that for you. Okay? I'm gonna be working with people I know, people who understand me, encourage me, and respect me. They know my superpower. Most importantly, I know the culture that they have, and I know how positive it is. Super excited. So proud of her. So excited for her. You know, she got a couple of weeks off. In between, she said, I've purged, I've rested. And I read your book, Overcome youe Villains. It was recommended to me by one of my mentors and came at point some such a critical time in my life. In the past year especially, I lost my voice. I stopped speaking up, and I didn't stand up for myself or my team anymore. I had never been mediocre. And then I started feeling mediocre every day. Oh, my gosh. I so relate to this woman, guys. I just. I've been through that. I don't know if you've ever felt that way, but if you do, just know this. It is so possible to get out of it, turn it around, just like this woman did. You would just have to say, this is enough. This stops here. This is my past, but this is not my present and it absolutely is not my future. And you can completely change your life. Okay? Your book has been amazing in helping me prioritize me. Yes. Know my worth and the value I bring. It is helping me think through letting go of this last work experience, the villain that I had in my life and embrace this positive future with all that I am bringing to it. And that is so right. That is the right attitude. That bad situation was yesterday. That is gone. That is dead. That is over and we let it go. We step into our power today and the minute we start doing that, we start creating these amazing opportunities for tomorrow. Keep shining Heather. Keep sharing. Next up in my book docket of course, Confidence Creator. So this made me again, so happy. If you have something encouraging and positive to say to someone, please share it with them today. You never know what they could be going through, what hardship they could have in their life, and how much your words could impact them. I'm so grateful for these women sending me these beautiful notes and encouraging me and reminding me I am on the right path. And yes, anytime I get a beautiful note, I take a screenshot of it and I put it into a file on my phone called Fam Love. I encourage you to do the same. Basically, you go to that file folder anytime you're having a bad day and remind yourself you are making a difference. You do have a positive impact. There is a why behind everything you're doing. Sometimes we just have to be reminded of it. But we've got to empower ourselves to have a file or a folder or something to go to to say I can do this right now. I've received positive feedback before. I'm going to reconnect with it, I'm going to immerse myself in it and I'm going to remind myself why I'm doing what I'm doing. Meet a different guest each week.
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I asked you to try to find your passion. Okay, so that was reviews, testimonials part that I wanted to share with you next. This is so crazy. A couple of crazy things. First of all, all right, I want to talk about progression and how it doesn't happen necessarily the way we think it will. Right? So here's a couple of different situations. First of all, in 2018, I think it was is when Confidence Creator came out and when I started finding out about the speaking business and that, you know, you should get a speaker agent, I knew nothing about the speaking business. I didn't even know it was a business in 2018. And so I googled it. I figured out there were speaker bureaus. So I started pitching myself to different speaker bureaus. And they told me I wasn't unique, I wasn't different. And to come back when I was special and unique and different. And then my book, Trump, Donald Trump's book on Amazon, the Business and motivation and autobiography list on Amazon, I was number one, and he was number two at the time he was president. I took that screenshot, I sent it to the president of a speaker bureau, and I said, I'm unique. I'm different. You don't have any authors on your roster that have trumped the president. And he laughed and said, oh, touche. Well done there, missy. Okay, I'm gonna add you to my roster, but I don't know how much business we'll get for you. But it was more. I just wanted to be the more I could see myself next to whoever it was, Bill Clinton or any of these other huge speakers that garner massive amounts of money for their speaking. It put me in another league, and I wanted to see myself in that league. Right. For me to believe it first and foremost, but then for other people to say, oh, wow, Heather's at the next level, already in good company. Good for you, Heather. Right. Okay. So I then leveraged that, getting that one speaker bureau. I started pitching myself to all the speaker bureaus, saying, oh, hey, I'm with APB speakers, gda Harry Walker. And then, you know, I thought you should know, maybe you'd want to add me Too, right? I was trying to create this FOMO for these other bureaus. It worked. The majority of them, not all, but the majority, ended up adding me. Okay, so from the end of 2018, I was with a number of speaker bureaus. And it's so crazy for me, Harry Walker Speaker Agency was always just one of this. The really elite of the elite. Just in my mind, right? I don't know why speaker bureaus. And so I thought, oh, I can't wait to the day I get booked by Harry Walker Speaker Agency. They have a lot of, you know, presidents on their line, really impressive speakers. Not that all the speakers bureaus don't. They do. But this one, for whatever reason, it just kind of struck me. It was one of the first ones I discovered when I was researching and I had no idea about the business. Okay, So I was with the Speaker Bureau since 2018. Nothing. Crickets, right? Then the pandemic hits. Everything disappeared. The speaking business for a while just completely shut down. There were so many layoffs in the speaking business. It was awful. And then slowly things started coming back in 2021 and a lot of virtual speaking was going on, right? But still nothing like how it had been. So during these times, I just was primarily landing speaking business because my social media, right, people would reach out to me on LinkedIn, the place where business gets done. If you are not active on LinkedIn, get active. Whether you're B2B or B2C, that is the place to be, pull business towards you so you don't always have to chase after it. So the majority of my business was coming from my LinkedIn feed and I was getting booked a lot and booked with amazing companies, Amazon, Google, you know, so many crazy huge companies and starting to enjoy some success. I was named top 40 keynote speaker in 2020. I was named top 50 overall keynote speaker 2022. Shout out real leaders. Okay, so things were getting better, but I still, in the back of my mind, right, I was still kind of bummed that, wow, those really elite speaker bureaus, they just had never booked me. Now I remember when I first started out in the speaking business, someone who had 30 years experience said, said to me, here's the best thing I can teach you, Heather. You'll want a speaker agent, you're going to want a speaker bureau until the day you've hit it, you've made it right, and everybody knows you. And then you won't want a speaker bureau, you won't want an agent, because everyone and every opportunity will be coming to you and it was frustrating to hear that at the time. Right? Because when you need an agent is when you haven't hit it yet, you haven't made it yet. That's when you need someone pitching and selling you, someone who knows how good you are, that cares, that says, no, this woman might not be known like, you know, Oprah Winfrey, but she can have a massive impact on your audience and you need to see her. And that person didn't exist. Right? So I knew in the back of my head that, you know, the way that everybody says they're gonna start showing up when you really started making it. But wouldn't you know, what a surreal moment. This week I received an email from Harry Walker Speaker Agency reaching out as if it was, you know, they had just signed me yesterday. Hey, Heather, we have a firm deal for you for two different speaking engagements. Wanda's send you both of the offers. Let us know if you have any feedback changes, and then let's go ahead and get the contract set up. And it was just this crazy moment. Remember I told you I signed with them in 2018 and here we are, it's 2022, and I'm getting my first couple pieces of business from them, which I'm so proud of, so grateful for. And I'm thinking about that conversation I had with that gentleman that when you really start making it, that's when you won't be so desperate for wanting the agent anymore and they're just going to start showing up. I'm starting. I'm not there yet, Right. But I'm starting to see how that's playing out. And as my business has picked up because of my LinkedIn, because of all the content I'm creating and putting myself out there and talking about my speaking business and getting recognized, obviously by real leaders twice was a huge deal, Right? So that was in good company. And headlining the event expo with Dame and John was huge. I've had a couple of really surreal big moments along the way that I understand how it's happening, but nonetheless, it's surreal. This is not the way I ever expected it to happen, by the way. I thought all this stuff would have happened back in 2019, the latest 2020, but no one could have predicted the things that were gonna happen. And the reason I share that story with you is just because you have a big goal and it doesn't happen for a while, in this case four years. Right. Doesn't mean it's not going to happen. Things don't always happen in the timeline we think they should they happen as they're meant to be. I can tell you this. I am so much of a better, more powerful, deliberate, intentional, successful speaker today than I was in 2018. And maybe that's why I didn't get booked back then. Maybe that's a gift. Because imagine if the biggest speaking bureaus in the world started booking me back then and I wasn't as good as I had the potential to be. The difference is, over the last four years, I've spoken for, I mean, literally a thousand, at least, different events, companies, summits. I can't even tell you how many. That's what I've been doing now for four years. So maybe this window of time and this waiting period was allowing me to build up my competence and put the reps in and put the time in to really refine my craft and become the best that I could be. So that's how I'm choosing to see it. So if you're waiting on some big goal and you're starting to forget about it, don't forget about it. Even if it is four years or six years or whatever it is, keep putting the reps in, Keep putting the work in. Don't give up. It could be right around the corner because it literally just happened for me this week, which is so crazy. Okay, here's another progression, one that I wanted to share with you, and then I promise I'll let you go. Okay? So back in, I don't know if it was 2018 or 2019, I don't remember, a professor from Harvard sent me a DM on LinkedIn in response to a video I created about sales. So I created content, which started the domino effect. He responded to that content I created and said, hey, you'd be a great guest speaker for my class at Harvard. Would you come in and teach a class for me? And I was beyond overwhelmed. I was so nervous. I had Harvard on a pedestal. I put him on a pedestal. I put me beneath everyone, right? The minute we put others on a pedestal, we're putting ourselves beneath them. So it's super important, especially in this day and age, we want everyone to be seen as equal. That means ourselves, too, right? So we have to stop putting people on pedestals. Just because they had better SAT scores than I did and they could get into Harvard doesn't mean that, you know, I'm not equal to them. What I ended up finding out when I taught that class is I'm a lot better at sales than they are. That doesn't make me better than them. Right? Remember, they have better SAT scores. Everybody has different things they're better at or different at or unique about them, and that's okay. But we all belong on a level playing field. So I had been so nervous to teach that class. I walked away with this amazing feeling of I added so much value. These kids were so book smart, but I'm real life smart and real life savvy, right? So I was able to. They had read every textbook in the world about sales, but they didn't understand how to apply that in real life. I come at everything from a real life, you know, business acumen type experience. I've lived it, I've done it. Here's what it's really like, and here's how you really can apply it to leverage your success. And they got so much value from it. So that experience taught me that, yes, I had to channel my inner Beyonce to get myself in front of the class that day. Yes, I was completely nervous. I practiced so much, I was sweating, right. The whole thing, but I did it. And when you move through those moments of fear and self doubt, you build confidence in yourself. And the more you do that, the easier it gets. So in 2020, when the pandemic hit, that same professor reached out to me and said, hey, I'm teaching a class, Professional Selling and Sales Leadership at Harvard. Would you be willing to be my teacher's assistant? I just got funded to have an assistant on this year because the class is so big. I said, yes, of course. I was nervous again, right? It was one thing for me to teach one class, but now for me to teach a whole semester, I didn't know what I was getting into. But anytime I feel fear, I know that is the green light that I need to go and go faster and step into it to create confidence within myself and go to that next level. That's my chance to grow. And I'm so glad I did. I had a great experience. It was way too much work, way more than I thought. And the money was too small. Right. The professors get paid well, but not a first time teacher's assistant, which is fine. I did it for the life experience. I made great contacts. I learned a lot about myself, but I became incredibly comfortable about Harvard. Right. Because now every Monday, I was teaching a class at Harvard, so it wasn't as scary as it had been before. Then that same professor does a lot of workshops for Harvard and speaking engagements, and so he started wrapping me into all these different things. So, you know, I have an app on my phone from Harvard and Just crazy. It became very normal. Like anything, the more you do something, the more normal it becomes. At one point, it was really scary, and now it's fine. You put the reps in, you know, you became competent. Now you're competent. So it was funny. Harvard graduate program, which was led by a recent Harvard graduate student who happened to be one of my former students, reached out to me, and they wanted to bring me in for a speaking engagement for women in leadership and an open Q and A. And I was not scared at all.
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I hadn't been working with Harvard now in over a year, but it was cool to be picked to feature my book and have me, you know, with the group. And it just. It's so funny how in a really short period of time, things can change dramatically. If you keep stepping into that fear, keep putting the reps in, you will become competent, which will essentially mean you're gonna become confident. So I showed up for the event. I wasn't nervous at all. And I. You know, I just laughed to myself at how much that same school had changed in. Well, the school hadn't changed. Let me redirect here. I had changed so much. I changed in regards to the way I saw it. I used to have them on a pedestal. I've now taken them off the pedestal. Doesn't mean I don't appreciate them. I think they're amazing. I think the kids, the students are amazing. I'm grateful for the opportunities, but I appreciate me just as much. Right. So there's no longer this fear. Instead, there's an appreciation and gratitude. And it's just. It's been such a wild ride to know how quickly things can change. Like in this instance versus within the other instance with my speaking bureaus, that one was a lot slower. So you never know the speed at which things are gonna happen. Okay, and then this is the final thing I'm gonna say. Sometimes I think, oh, gosh, Heather, why are you putting all this time in, doing all these events, going to so many things? You know, I'm always trying to put myself out there and show up for something if I can. And the Chamber of Commerce had reached out to me maybe six months ago, and they'd wanted me to do an event with them. And the key thing that got my attention was it was with books and Books, which is a partner of mine. If you ever want an autographed book from me, Competence, Creator or Overcome youe villains, go to booksandbooks.com, google Booksandbooks Miami. They have cases and cases of Autograph books. They will sell you autograph books. You want it personalized? They'll do that, too. I go in there once a month and write out books for people all the time. So they've been a great partner for me for years now, since my first book, since 2018. And so when I saw their involvement, I'm like, count me in. You know, this is something I'm gonna do. But when I do some of these things, even though it's with partners and whatnot, which is the right thing to do, you wonder, right? I had to do this pre call, whatever. Like, it just takes your time, and you're saying to yourself, was this valuable? Was this worth it? I don't know. I did it for my partner. So then to me, it's worth it, and I move on. I forgot about it, frankly. But I do often ask myself, gosh, I wonder if I'm wasting time, you know, running around like a maniac, doing all these different things, trying to see if I can connect some dots somewhere. Well, wouldn't you know, I get a message a couple of weeks ago at my website from a woman saying, I've read your books. I've seen you speak. You've literally changed my life. Like, such an amazing message similar to the ones we were reading earlier. And she details what's changed in her life. Anyhow, I had no idea. Find out. She works for this huge company which has huge speaking engagements, you know, huge programs for that I could potentially lead. I mean, there was so much opportunity, and it was just serendipitous that the way she originally found me was through that Chamber of Commerce event that I had wondered, would anyone, you know, would this ever lead to anything? Oh, well, chalk it up. I'm just doing it for my partner and move on. But in fact, it did. It led to this woman. And then once she saw me speak at this event, she went and bought my book, started listening to the podcast, and then it had a direct impact on her life in an extremely positive way, which is amazing. I'm so proud of. I'm so proud of her. But then she said, I want to pay it forward. I want to bring you into my company and expose you to the highest leadership in my company and see what doors we can open for you so you can impact and help more people. And so this domino effect was crazy that I never would have been able to partake in if I hadn't showed up. Just to show up for, you know, something that I didn't know if it would have impact. Really, I showed up for my partner. And, you know, I share that story with you because so often we'll say like, oh, I'm too tired. I don't want to try to, you know, go to one more thing. I never know if it's actually going to result anything. Yeah, it might not. And there's plenty of things that I've gone to that I don't know if ever result in anything. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. But I know if I'm going to put my best foot forward, I'm going to create more opportunity for myself. And the more opportunity that you create, the more potential there is for whatever that dream is that you have inside or that big stage that you ought to take or the big partnership you're trying to land. You know, it's a numbers game. And yes, we all get tired and we need to rest, but success isn't easy. If it was, everybody would have it. There are moments you also have to put in the work. And I'm so glad I did. Not only because I got to have this impact on this woman, but because of the opportunities she's now, you know, opening doors for me. So wherever you are on your journey, make sure that you realize the timing is not always our own. But good things still can come. Even if it's a little late, right? Good things take time. Great things sometimes take a little bit longer. Okay, until next week, please share this show. If you love it, if you like it, if you want a free copy of my Audible version of Confidence Creator or an audio version of Overcome youe Villains, post about this episode, tag me and you will win a copy. This is your girl coming at you. If you love the podcast, you will so love my books on Audible. By the way, they're both bestsellers on Audible. Super, super proud of him. I narrate both of them. And on Overcome youe Villains, I actually give you I go rogue at the end of every chapter and give you complete behind the scenes. That is not in the actual book. So it's pretty cool. Shout out to David Goggins. That's where I got that idea from his book you Can't Hurt Me. Okay, so share the show, tag me in it, and you get to win an audio version of either one of my books. I can't wait for you to hear it. And until next week, keep creating your confidence. You know I will be. I decided to change that dynamic. I couldn't be more excited for what you're gonna hear. Start learning and growing. Inevitably, something will happen. No one succeeds alone. You don't stop and look around once in a while. You could miss it. Come on this journey with me.