How to Accelerate Your Speaking Career - With Bri Seeley
Sep 21, 2021Tom Bailey, founder of Succeed Through Speaking, interviews Bri Seeley.
Google’s #1 Entrepreneur Coach, Bri Seeley, helps entrepreneurs create long-term, sustainable and scalable success… on their terms! Bri distils her 14-years of real world experience into digestible, tangible tools to help entrepreneurs thrive and profit. Bri is a 2020 Stevie Award winner for both Coach and Woman of the Year, a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, and author of the best-selling Permission to Leap. Her expertise has been featured in over 50 press outlets and hundreds of podcasts.
Why you've got to check out Bri's episode:
- Learn how Bri helps entrepreneurs develop key strategies based on their own unique abilities and zones of genius.
- Discover why believes there are hurdles for entrepreneurs to authentically be themselves when it comes to business growth and success. Bri helps you find your own path to success and means you don't need to follow the mould.
- Why it is so important to create your own marketing materials and approaches and not follow the copy and paste strategies of so called gurus.
- How Bri helps people identify their core values and ensure that their business and lifestyle are aligned to these values, even if that means making difficult decisions.
- Get access to Bri's incredible new program using the link below.
Resources / Links
Transcript
Tom Bailey: Hello and welcome to Succeed Through Speaking the place for experts and entrepreneurs who want high value ideas to boost business results.
Hello, I'm Tom Bailey. And for the second time on our show, I'll be catching up with Bri Seeley, who is Google's number one, entrepreneur coach, the 2020 Stevie award winner for both coach and woman of the year, a Forbes coaches, council member, and the author of best selling Permission To Leap. So, Bri, hello, welcome back and how are you today?
Bri Seeley: Hi, good morning. I'm good. I'm excited to be here with you. Pleasure to be back for a second time. Excellent.
Tom Bailey: Really appreciate it. And just out of interest for people who haven't met you yet. Whereabouts are you in the world right now?
Bri Seeley: Currently in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I relocated here from Manhattan during the middle of the pandemic.
Tom Bailey: Incredible. Why not? Why not move while we’re having a pandemic. So, I was gonna share a little bit more about you before we do get started. So Bri helps entrepreneurs create long-term sustainable and scalable success on their terms. Bri distills her 14 years of real-world experience into digestible and tangible tools to help entrepreneurs to thrive. And the title of today's episode is How To Accelerate Your Speaking Career. And Bri is going to show us how to do that in just seven minutes. Question number one today is who are your ideal clients?
Bri Seeley: Well, this is what I think is so brilliant about you and I reconnecting and having the conversation we had a few weeks ago is that, you know, you help so many people with like that inner confidence about how to be speaker. And then I get to come in and help them with like, okay, now what's your strategy. And one of the things that differentiates me in the marketplace is like, I see every single entrepreneur as their own individual unique person. Right? So, the way that you're going to accelerate your speaking career, Tom is going to be different than the way that I accelerate my speaking career.
We're different people. We have different zones of genius. We have different ways that we like to communicate with people. And so. I like to work with people that really want to unapologetically be themselves in their speaking career. Not only in what they're talking about, but in how they're getting out there as well.
Tom Bailey: Got it. And when it comes to unapologetically being yourself, do you find that there are sometimes challenges or hurdles or barriers for people to be themselves when it comes to being.
Bri Seeley: Absolutely. I mean, I think there's hurdles in that no matter what, whether or not you're an entrepreneur. And so much of it is, you know, we're fed all of this information. I was just reading some stats about how many advertisements we see every single day. And like, it's mind blowing how many people out there telling you who you need to be in the world and how you need to do it and how they know better than you. What your best path is. And my answer to that is BS, like again, every single person is different. I always say like every single person has a different thumbprint. So, like you’re so unique, you are one of a kind in the world. Why would you try to fit yourself into someone else's mould? Would you ever rip off your thumbprint and try to put someone else's on unless you were into like nefarious things, right.
You have to allow yourself to be you in the process. And the coolest part is when you can do that, people are going to resonate with you more and more, and they're going to be way more likely to book you because they want you, they don't want some carbon copies someone that's going to talk about the same. Stuff that everyone else is talking about. So, I think it is really difficult. And when you can step into that place, it revolutionizes your entire life and your business.
Tom Bailey: Absolutely. So, let's just dig into the problem just a little bit more, and then we'll look at the opportunity. So, if you're not yourself and if you're trying to be like everyone else or being a people pleaser, let's say, and you know what negative impact it's going to have on you or your business?
Bri Seeley: You know, for me, what I see, cause I get pitches all the time. Right? Like I also have a podcast, I'm sure you get them as well. And I scroll through them and I'm like, this is no different than the 50 other pitches I just got or I go to someone's Instagram account and it's no different than everyone else's or, you know, I get so many pitches in my DMS all the times and they're literally word for word, the exact same or LinkedIn outreaches. And I'm like, yeah, it's, you know, if you're just looking to be someone else or if you're looking to be just a carbon copy of something, like it just, it doesn't make an impact. Right? Like your story, your values, who you are is what gets people to really. Like it moves them. Right. And the speakers, isn't that our job is to move people and to get them to act and to get like, to ignite something within them. And you can't do that if you're just sticking in like a sterile box, trying to regurgitate the same things that everyone else is.
Tom Bailey: Yeah, of course. And one of my mentors once said to me, and why are we trying so hard to fit in, when we were born to stand out and that's really resonated with me, especially from this conversation. So, somebody listening to this episode, then the feels like they want to be themselves and they want to just step into their own power, I guess, what's that piece of advice you'd give them to help them do that or get started?
Bri Seeley: One of the first things that I always recommend to people is that obviously, like you have to know who you are in order to know how you're going to move forward. And so core values is a huge, huge thing that I teach. And I give the example that I realized in 2016, my top core value was freedom. Well, prior to 2016, I was running my own fashion label. And I like when I realized my top core value was freedom, I looked back on that fashion label. I had to have an office in downtown L.A. I had to have so much machinery and equipment. One of my machines alone, I think weighed 500 pounds. I had to have fabric. I had to have supplies. I had to have stock. I had to have patterns. I had an all these things. And so, like for me right now, my business is just my laptop. So, you know, my cat and I just drove up to Minnesota for 10 days to see my parents. And I just got to go because I can go. So, if you are looking to take that step, you have to do the inner work first. To figure out who you are and what's important to you, to then know how to move forward, right? Like what are the things about you that just make you unapologetically you, so core values, and then also just assessing, like, what are the things that make you super unique?
Like I have 10 tattoos. I'm obsessed with my cat. In fact, you guys. But like she's in my lap right now. You know, like I wear crop tops all the time. Hot pink is my power color. Like there's so many things about me that just make me stand out. That I'm not just one of the pack, right? Like I'm me and people know these things about me. I also swear a lot, which I'm being very respectful. I'm not swearing. So those are kind of the things that I've identified within myself. And then the coolest part is I just get to show up every day and be me. And because I'm being me, people resonate with that because they want to be themselves. So, it's like, I am an essence and you give them permission to be themselves.
Tom Bailey: Okay. So, thanks so much for sharing that. What is one valuable resource that you can share with people to really help them solve that problem? Or at least make a start in moving in the right direction?
Bri Seeley: Yeah. So, another thing that I really like to offer to people too, is to go through your zone of genius as well. Right? So, you know, your core value. I don't know who you are in the world. You also kind of need to know how you best deliver that into the world. Right? So, the zone of genius is kind of not only what you like to do, but what you're good at and what you can get paid for. And usually it's something that comes really easy to you as well.
So as a speaker, there's so many different modalities that you can deliver your speaking through, you just need to know which one's going to be best for you, which one excites you, which one feels easy, which one resonates the most with your audience. And so, I have a free resource on my website. If people are interested in it, it's a free ebook. And so if you go to briseeley.com/free-resources with an S there's an ebook in there to help you find your zone of genius, that will really give you what you need to. Identify that hone in on that and then bring it all together with your core values and who you are to deliver it out in the world.
Tom Bailey: Excellent. Thanks so much. What I'll do is I'll drop that note into the show notes. briseeley.com forward slash free hope and resources. I think it was and put that in the show notes. People can click on that and they can dive right in. And is it also worth mentioning the new hot off the press program that you're looking at as well? If you want to just dive into that a little bit more, that.
Bri Seeley: Yeah, absolutely. So, one of the things you know, that I talked to a lot of entrepreneurs about is that they need help developing that custom strategy, but maybe they're at a point where they're just not ready for like a year long container, or you don't want to go into one of those generic five step programs. Right. And so, I listened and decided to launch just a 90 day immersion and what it is, is it you and I, or you know, your listener. And I would have a one-on-one session where we sit down and we really hone in on like, what is your next. Again, not generic, not the same stuff that I tell everyone, but what is your specific next step for your vision and your business?
And then let's have a 90 day container where you get to execute that next step. Right? So every other week we have group coaching sessions and every other week we have group action blocks. Right? You're getting shit done. You have support, you have accountability. And if you get stuck along the way at all, you have someone to ping and be like, Bri, this thing, isn't working out the way I thought it would, you know, can we readjust my strategy a little bit? Right. So, it's just a really supportive inclusive container to help people both with like the inner work, like identifying those next steps and then executing it into the world.
Tom Bailey: I love it. Absolutely. You can make huge progress in 90 days and why, why not do it with a team around you that can help you along the way?
Bri Seeley: Well, and what I love about the timing of this too, we're starting at the end of September. And so, we're going to end right before Christmas, which then means you get a nice break and then you dive right in to the brand new year.
Tom Bailey: I love it. And how can people find out more about.
Bri Seeley: So that one, if you go to dot com slash quantum Q U A N T U M, I realized I was like, people I know, know how to spell quantum. I maybe I should've picked a different word.
Tom Bailey: Quantum I'll also pop that into the show notes to ask people to click on that one. So quick question then about yourself obviously. And you've been on a journey over the years as an entrepreneur. So, what would you say is one of the key, either learnings or mistakes or failures that you've made either in life or in business and what did you learn?
Bri Seeley: You know, I think one of the things that gets really, that's a little underestimated, it's talked about a lot, but I think people really don't understand the gravity of it. And you and I were just talking before we hit record is like really mindset and mental health and entrepreneurship. And you know, those of us that talk a lot about this, don't talk about it because we think it's like trendy. It's literally because my mindset right now in is like saving my life. And so, I think that it's just something that a lot of entrepreneurs underestimate. Like I have so many entrepreneurs that come to me and say, Bri, I don't want to talk about my mindset. I've got it. It's fine. Like, I just need a strategy and to like execute and I'm like, you literally can't have one without the other. And to be honest, I don't, I know for a fact I wouldn't have made it through the last 18 months, if I hadn't been working on my mental health and my mindset and my inner world. Since 2009, I had, you know, 11, I don't know, simple math, 11 years of practice, like leading up to the pandemic to help me be in a place where like my inner world was so strong. And even then I just shared with you, July was the worst month that I've had mental health wise since 2012.
And so like, you know, those of us that talk about mindset and that talk about mental health, we don't talk about it because it's fun or trendy or whatever. Like we talk about it because it will literally save your life as an entrepreneur. And so I want, I'm coming up more and more talking about this because I just think it's so important. You have got to take care of your inner world as much as you take care of your strategy and your outer world, you just have to.
Tom Bailey: Absolutely. And like I said, one without the other won't work for you. So yeah. So important. Thank you so much for sharing. I'm looking forward to finding out more about that one as well, as you can continue to talk about it on clubhouse and on your podcast. Okay. So, I do have one final question for you today, and that is what is the one question that I should have asked you that also brings some great value to our audience.
Bri Seeley: I just got asked this on a TV segment the other day. And I thought it was a brilliant question. I got off the segment and was just like mind blown. So it was, it was, the segment was about how, what entrepreneurs can learn from Olympic athletes. And she asked me like, okay, Olympic athletes have, you know, coaches, why should the everyday person, or why should an entrepreneur kind of follow that advice? Like what is it about having coaches? So, I'm assuming you want me to also then answer that question.
So, one of the things I talked about was how, as an athlete, right? Like say. You are taking a swing and you keep your ball keeps like cutting to the left or cutting to the right. Right. And you're just swinging, like you always swing and you just can't figure out like why this is happening. Well, what a coach can do for you is they're standing outside of you. And there's something about having that outside perspective, looking in to say like, oh, your right foot is just like a little bit forward and it’s causing your hips to tell, which is, you know, like, and they can see the ripple effect of like, just that one small little action can have for you. And the same is true in your business. I can usually when speaking to someone within 20 minutes, be like, oh, if you were to shift that like one little thing right there, you could 10 X your business. Right. So, I think it's really important to just remember that, like again, the coaching industry. Has gotten very big and prolific and everyone says, get a coach. Well, there's kind of a reason for it. Right. So just making sure that you're getting the right coach, who can be the one to point out that your foot is just a few inches too far forward so that you can create that ripple effect and change your results.
Tom Bailey: Love it. Great analogy. And also about that, we've just had the Olympics here in 2021. So yeah. Thanks for that. Okay. So Bri, thank you again so much for your time today. I really appreciate you coming along and sharing such great value without audio.
Bri Seeley: Thank you so much for having me back.
