Everybody, welcome back 20, 25 minutes of the podcast. My name is Ollie. It's not sure, he's not here this week, but you kind of used to it by now that's just kind of a thing. He's always doing something, but you just got me today and I'll finish the rest of the Steal. This chart is brought to you by owner colors of vanilla soft company. Now we would normally stop by so olly. Tell me about today's guest and then I would rub it into a but you can probably, do you say it's Leslie. I know I have the pleasure of meeting up for the first time right now, so she's wanting to see. If I'm sure that you seen a bunch of these people as well, you know, the face, you know, the name you've never told you see them all the time on social media and you think I know them and then, oh, yeah. Actually have an HD totes of ever, and it's the first time. So you are so welcome to the show. Me how you doing? Why I play the co-host? / Ali. I don't know that much about how many things a fractional sells it.

I'm tired of seeing more uncf or I have ever seen before in that sense. Is that right? Or no.

I didn't think I mean a lot more, but it is it is newer. I'm so you're you're not wrong there. I'm I'm really lucky to be in a couple of communities of fraction l so I I think I did a little bit more exposure to the fractional, like Revenue leader cohort than than the average, the average, Joe or Jane. But yeah, it's there's a growing contingent of us. And I anticipate with an eye on the recession that companies will be no extra Keen to access a caliber of talent that they could not afford to have in-house full-time.

So we'll see, we'll see it. Yeah, I'm with all the benefits and all of the other things that come with it's not just a passing it.

United Healthcare, and loads, and loads, and loads of things of the finest thing and all that stuff. I buy Zagnut. I've been in agencies before and that's kind of the same thing as we don't want to have to hire all these people and do what he sings. It's a little walk without the stage, so if you come in, do the job, same way. But, I know you've been doing this for a few years, but I thought I gave you the moment. I saw, you know, do this whole time, but let's do it. I just left corporate.

Last January through January 2022. I've been growing the business on the side for about 4 years before that, and it started because I join a start-up an employee number one, just in the same choice in hindsight, but I was responsible for creating the entire go to market and it was an incredible. But obviously, I do really exhausting thin. And when I was getting ready to leave that organization, I sort of thought to myself if I can do that for somebody else or somebody else's idea and product in the stops rated Market, I surely can do it for myself. So I'm headed to create sales. Frankly didn't have a clear direction for it. I was doing a lot of likes for mentoring for free and I'm speaking for free donated a lot of time.

Dafran. I'm in a really ever pictured myself, a full-time entrepreneur, but the business kept growing and growing. I think I mentioned it a growing appetite for fractional sales leadership and I also think that during the pandemic there was a much bigger appetite for remote support. So my my total addressable Market exploded, I didn't have a lot else to do. So I really don't know hun on the business while still working. My my full-time day job and it got to the point where my I meant or said to me like two years ago, I was applying for jobs and I'm not enjoying the process and he said to me, do you think it's a bigger rest?

Put all your eggs in one basket and work for one company that can fire you any day of the week for no reason. Or do you think it's a bigger risk than fat on yourself and be in complete control of the product to be able to spread out over multiple clients? And frankly, it was the first time I ever really thought about it and in that kind of black and white lens. And it became a pretty easy decision after that, for me to leave corporate and buy myself a different and covid-19 listeners. This is my PlayStation controller. You started to ignore your business. I wish I would have had them has been doing a couple years longer than that boat. But now when you swing that way, I see it look like to me. They seem price tie, do a full-time for about four or five years with us, even doing it. So what was your incentive to do it for you?

Elvis the time you wanted to, but I mean it, if I was to stop my inside company now, it would be for that show, I know. So I'd have to have kind of a passion project element to, I could just walk an extra 5 hours a day and I kind of thought I'd get tired, but I'll be all right. So what kind of motivation do you have to do it? And it was really from a place of my experiences as a woman and sale. And so when I think about the mentoring, I was doing the speaking, I was doing it was very much to help transform sales into a more inclusive profession into a more respected profession. So I'd like a love on sale to the profession, but also in honesty that it's been a pretty rough road for me, and forms of harassment, and discrimination and, you know, all of us.

That job is a fairly common story for for women and sales. Not just me. And when I was thinking about,

Doing it full-time. Becoming a full-time. Found her instead of just working two jobs, she had just, just casually casualty to, and maybe a third is like a content creator, really got me. Excited, was the opportunity to make an impact in a lot of businesses. Instead of just one, I knew that I clearly had the ability to make an impact within one organization. I've done it for 15 years at times, but bringing that sort of fire Centric mentality into multiple businesses routing their sales practices. Particularly like, they're cold Outreach, called outbound sales practices. In a lived, experience of the sales rep, and give him some space to connect with customers and maybe a few more creative, or meaningful way it was.

How's it going into your point? Like that was really exciting. That was something that made me want to get up in the morning and do the work.

Trust companies are trying to picture of the storyline hat. So you started doing this on the side and you men doing doing talks a nice things and that's kind of all of, you know, goodness of your heart, full of people who want to be helped and that kind of stuff loan, develop I know. So you have your passion to adjust the market that you serving, that's but free stuff that you doing, it's could be got on a book cost could be doing a talk for a group. When does it become paid to do a gig, or what was that, one of the other things to be doing at the time? Was it Consulting plus some of those things to build your name and brand to it? First it was like I wasn't looking for money. I mean I had like a big Tech sales job. I was making all the money. I felt like I I needed to make though I certainly started the company just to have the brand. I like I just in case a Fail-Safe. I have the brand am growing. It is if there are they I need it. And what happened very organically is that I started

People wanting to hire me and that really ramped up on in 2000.

21. 22 years ago like 2 years ago when I started at my Tik-Tok Channel. I say let's talk. And I would like very much an early adopter of Tik-Tok really from like a B2B sales perspective, I was the first person that was doing it. Other people were going to talk to you about how to break into text sale. But nobody was talking about how to do to be sale. Since I gave me a credible inbound, leaf blower blow me away again 2021i. I build like 46kg from inbound Tik-Tok please from tiktok Francis Lando be great for your business. I was like, yeah, I'll put some stuff on there and you'll get some lights.

I suppose it's different. I'll give you a company. You know, you call like multiple tracks to money Avenue. Where is? If it's you and you provide the service and you literally talking about it, it's kind of like it's in the same as you look. You saying you can buy if you want to buy it. Absolutely is not existent on LinkedIn, which is your hearing me say that your steering. You seen me like there's a bit more credibility inauthenticity where anybody can kind of post whatever BS they want on LinkedIn and get away with it like we've all seen it, right? Like a person with one year of experience that they got thirty thousand followers and everybody thinks their their marketing or whatever and what do they have? Literally no idea what they're talking about. I'm but if you're you're doing it more in that like, live video way, I just I think that there is a default on a bill

Relatability built-in that lends itself to creating of inbound lead float for me and I was the end of 2021 and I had decided that I was was not happy with the interview process. He's so I was in, there was just a lot of inherent like sexism and discrimination like gender aside to sit like a deep disrespect for sales as a profession because I was interviewing with a lot of early-stage. Founders only, they were sales expert and it's like, I don't know how to tell you that when all your closing, her deals with your friends, with complete control, over pricing on the product roadmap. That's, that's not a replacement for seniors of somebody holding that says, as a crap. And I

. A job offer that I can only describe as what I thought was my dream job offer at the time that I spent my entire career path Imports cro. This was it like huge step in a 460 a job offer which is a life-changing amount of money. Like, it would have been a huge, huge jump for me, what are you reporting to the CEO? The first for this job. All of my bosses, I got that on a Friday on Saturday. I won a deal with the but the biggest bill that I had one for sales team Builder woman, don't business, queer woman, don't business like really exciting work and it was really in that 24 hours that my top like crystallize. So clearly I talked about the job is like well if you don't would be the right slick, the responsible thing to do, it is what I've always said, I want it. And when I talked about the opportunity to partner with

The company through sales team. Oh my God. That I had to say yes, but they all seem older and betting on myself.

I can just see it in your face. You made the right choice, you're beaming when you talk about it and that's like it's a difficult. Because I think there's so many wooden, I think a lot last bowl and I look like the, the mentality, describes and cooled yourself out for. So if it was me, you'll be off to full house. So you finance is a pretty important to me. You know, I should probably take that, but I think it comes with, like, a bit of situation. So I just bought a house. My savings are a bit down, the used to be over, then then it's a bigger risk depending on how much money I'm going to make doing the new thing I want to do. So like how big a drop-off drop-off was that big dream job to where you why you are up there where you work heading in the kind of near future cuz it cuz that's a really big difference. If you've got no savings about you often victimized,

Huge huge, huge difference. I mean I'm very lucky because I felt myself quite a Runway where I could have very literally made no money last year and I would have been okay when I would have had to have a hard look in the mirror at the end of the year and then like you're not cut out for this, but it was very scary. I don't want to pretend like I made the leave without hesitation or fear or doubt. I experience all of all of those things and end you had to make. I had him before. I I moved over. I had done all the budgeting. Like I knew it was going to be a dramatically different Lifestyle on paper. I don't think I realize like emotionally mentally, how much different it was going to be for me to have to be like

I can't afford that. Sorry, I can't join and I can't do that thing. That was that's going to be a pretty big ship for me. As I mean, an amazing trade-off for the mental health of being my own boss and the freedom. And look at the trade-off, I'm, I'm grateful that I made, but it was an adjustment to be able to do whatever I wanted because I was making so much money. Do you like I can't do any of that? Thank you. And I think also a bit of an adjustment Ali to like I already odd like

Very few people that just like one day. I decide to leave corporate to become an entrepreneur. Like they don't, they don't have that Foundation. But my goal for your one, was your agency didn't? Did that? Did that was smashed smashed that goal.

And then my goal for this year is to double that and even if I'm double that which is just Isabel, I feel confident, I'm going to do it, I'm still not even close to replacing my salary.

So I'd is one of those things where I know the long-term potential in the long-term upside financially is so significant is more than I could really ever make even in like a the back of jobs but it's a three to five-year Ram.

And I in conversations with other folks that are thinking about leaving for printer, I have recently left corporate. I so often see, just like a true lack of understanding of how much effort it takes Grandpa much time. It takes to Ram, even even if you are ramp to the point that you're like, getting his effect clients and eating gold like what it will take to replace where you were if you eat them came out of it at Excel job. So all worth it. I don't want to scare people away, but I would really encourage people to like, sit down and have some of those honest conversations with themselves. About what it means, financially, mentally, emotionally before they just a life. You know, who you screw used for you. I'm out. I know what you mean, on a slightly. Lesser Scout. I just started YouTube channel and it's like you have to upload a certain amount, which takes you a couple of walking months worth of hours outside of your work. And I was out.

Sleeping and having fun before you can even know if you've done it wrong and that's like .0001 before you even get to one before. You might maybe make it. I make 20 bucks a month, do you like wow this is really long but you know that that's part of it. So if anybody has done it my business. So however they're going to do it, when you take your pay into and you just say, I'm going to leave my job. What am I seeing my sister? Because of all the people that I've heard of a lot less. And that terrifies me that I'm quite risk of us with my money and my heart rate. So I could also do not see you hit 60 seconds. You want a double that? What's difference between now and what you did last year are the new things you doing? You trying to take more clients, right price? Something else. All of the above

What's the last year? That a lot of time creating

And now I have them. So that's a huge. I would like to your plan about the YouTube channel like that process of creation.

Is hugely time consuming and that's true for. Like I'm really well-known for an interactive coaching Workshop series, I do. And so I filled out a ton of additional training than that. So that that was more robots and I can meet the needs of more clients. That that stuff takes a really long time maybe longer for me because I do still struggle to Perfection as I'm I'm very much looking over South. I can under under sell so I can over deliver sort of sort of person. I mean, I think it's huge stomach time. Last year was creating things and stuff like figuring out figuring some of where I wanted to take the business out. I gave myself a lot of permission in year. One of the business to say yes to anything that sparked interest

Sure, I'll try that like we can partner on that so that I could look back at the end of your wannabe. Like what did I love doing the most, where did I deliver the most against my client, be the greatest r, a y and then have a lot more clarity in my focus going forward. So I think all those things I simply will have more time to spend less time creating the foundation and I have a lot more clarity and what I'm going to say at 2 and what I'm going to say no to and since you like I can increase my price is. Because I have a bunch of additional testimonials. And I have all of all of this work and I'll be able to show to clients so little bit of everything increasing price, increasing margins.

Increase Clarity in the direction. I'm going.

Okay, so I can think of when I hear that is no reason why. It doesn't go to Alpha Mill. W Target you hit it then. Walk like the 50-year plan here cuz no one knows maybe on 12 months if they could all change. But you know, I want to hire and then that's my way of expanding or no. I never want to hire and I want to have even more streams of income, which will then X-Men sheets of Rising by a rising tide lifts all B. I think. What? What's, you're like a long good times of ideology about him intentionally? Not hiring like Barry intentionally remaining a company of my laundry.

A newer, which is something I really struggled in the first days of becoming a full-time. The moment, you get married and start a family. The moment you become a full-time father, when are you going to stay off? And it's the default assumption. And I have one of my mentors recommend a book to me called the company, one by Paul service that I read, you know, right after leaving for court, and it was so refreshing to have an alternate narrative, and the kind of Promise of the book is that figure isn't always better, but having come out of that, like start of World out of that, like, you know, SAS world. It was always a Seal Seal Seal to the Moon next round of funding and

I realized the reason I wanted to be on my own boss was for freedom.

And once you decide to hire employees, you are taking on an incredible at least in my estimation, an incredible amount of responsibility for their well-being.

That's a lot and I don't want to do that. I'm so I work with a lot of Freelancers, which is great. So that I can you do at least Outsource some of those like admin Tasker low-value tossed, but the forward is partnership for me, finding new revenue streams additional revenue streams, diversifying my income, I am craving more passive income streams for myself, which is something that's really high on my list. This year, I want to scale, I want to steal mergens. I want to steal Revenue. I want to kill impact. I do not want to stay all my human resources in the terms of that to you.

I like it, people say that. I know I've read, I thought I remember the name of the book. She is a guy now and might have been subscribed by but that was like a shrine business. You have a whole people, you put them 3 and in the back and you will back feeling the next car or the one book. And you only ever have a certain amount of people going through his, you have 50 clients, but you've already got 60 ready cuz you do 50 and 10 for the one off of that and you never have any more people than I think it was 8, cuz off the IU, never ready, become more profit, boys, that I did sit. And think about the time, I see if three people like, if we have to have middle managers to cope with the next 6, people really sick? See how much better is that? So I could also have no radioactivity people, especially on the SmokeHouse talk about it. Yeah, I need to build a soft white, so I got the higher developer account. Also, stopped on the freeway on Swype. Potentially, you could buy.

By the way you're doing it.

Now that I know I'm with Lizzy sad that I can't go to watch the clock. I hate this about my job are always have to say. That's the end of the episode bought before you go. Buy one quick question, how do you spell educate courses that you try landera books? Something else on educating but the more important actually taking what I've learned figuring out. If it works for me, if it doesn't answer 18, and I think that's the piece that most people Miss, we consume consume consume and never use. I love books, I run of monthly business. I love books so much. I also love masterclass. I think there's fire. I'm just like, so smart. So, lot of books, a lot of podcast masterclass, I absolutely loved and you don't say what you will about LinkedIn. I still find them.

What my community shares to be thought-provoking and, and valuables. I still find that to be a good source of information. Why can people find you? If all of you find out more about what you do and they're under my name, Leslie been on Tik-Tok. If you prefer video at sales tips, talk, if you're interested in the book club, to search business book club on a tree on the Prairie episode. Thanks so much for calling him. I appreciate it. I'm inside one. That is the end. I'm sure you guessed that by now, but before you drop, make sure you leave a subscribe or like or follow whatever problem you on. I don't know if that's up to you, I know them.