health – Sales for Nerds

099 Lydia Lee on screwing the cubicle and creating the life you want

If you prefer the video…

In this episode, Lydia Lee from Screw the Cubicle (what a great name!) takes us through her journey of overcoming burnout and creating a fulfilling, sustainable business that works for her, instead of her spending her life working for it. She now “works” most of the year from Bali, but travels around the world, having started before being a “digital nomad” was a thing.

She burned out of her corporate job, but then found herself burned out working for herself, feeling too much pressure to work on projects just to make rent. She wanted more time for hobbies, play, and fun, integrated into daily life, instead of waiting for a vacation.

She did an experiment to work from the road– she didn’t just move to Bali. (Although she had planned to work on the road, with her partner, but then they ended up breaking up just before she was suppsoed to leave.)

But she did end up starting her Screw the Cubicle blog from Bali.

If you want to think about setting up a base somewhere else, try it for a month or so (or even a week). See how it goes. It doesn’t have to be permanent. And of course, life can get in the way (listen for the literal exploding toilet story).

Speaking of the exploding toilets, Lydia had to generate cash, so she partnered with her web designer in the Philippines, and put together a website package for coaches to make some quick cash.

Moving to a new place, learning a new language, a new culture (“yes” might be a polite “no” or “maybe”).

In 2015, she made the most revenue she had ever made, but hit a health scare and felt burnt out all over again. She had too many programs, too many balls in the air.

She realized that while she was a minimalist in her personal life, she was a maximalist in her business, always trying to do more. She then realized that success was not just about money, but about having free time and a feeling of spaciousness. What might a business look like that would be optimal for her life?

What boundaries would she need to put in place, on herself and her clients? (Being asynchronous in client communications has been a huge help.)

While money isn’t everything, we shouldn’t be afraid of it, either. We need to get clear on how much money we need– what’s your “enough” number (which can change over time)?

Your costs that you need to cover. (You may also find that you can eliminate a lot of costs that aren’t essential and aren’t making your life better.)
If those basic needs are met, what about the things we’d like to do– remodel the house, take a long vacation, etc.

Given a certain amount of money that Lydia wants to make, how can she make that money most effectively and efficiently, instead of assuming that she has to keep her nose pressed to the grindstone. (For example, she takes the month of December off from client work to “Marie Kondo” her business, eliminating work and delegating tasks.)

Lydia also reminds us that being an “expert” means different things to different people– if you’re helping people in first grade, being in second grade is perfect– you don’t have to be a professor. Being too advanced might actually get in the way.

When getting started, don’t over-invest in superficial stuff like a fancy website. Make sure you’re doing great work for people.

“Success” doesn’t necessarily mean becoming a billionaire. Lydia knows people who work 20 hours per week and live by a lake. Define what success means for you, and follow that.

The Wine

Reuben is having a glass of Petroni Sangiovese from California (!!), not usually known as a hotbed of Sangiovese. Lydia is having kambucha.

Where to find Lydia

ScrewTheCubicle.com

YouTube channel (make sure to check out the various playlists)

listen-on-apple-podcasts-sales-for-nerds

Where to find Reuben

@Sales4Nerds, @Mimiran, Mimiran.com.You can also listen on Overcast, or Subscribe on Android, or Player.fm.

Want a way to make sales and marketing fun, without being “salesy”? Try Mimiran, the CRM for elite solo consultants who love serving clients but who hate “selling”.

Unlike CRMs built for the VP of sales to keep track of a sales team, where contacts are just statistics, Mimiran is built for relationships, networking, and referrals.

(In Mimiran, use the Pipeline Planner to figure out how to translate your “enough” number into the number of leads, conversations, average sales price, etc, that you need to meet it.)

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091 Rachel Nigro on taking care of your body for optimal performance

If you prefer the video…

Rachel was a competitive horseback rider as a child, but never felt fit enough. She tried to count and cut calories.

She wanted to help people but didn’t want to go into medicine. She was intrigued learning about how foods fuel our bodies and graduated with a degree in exercise science.

She became a personal trainer, but Covid happened and she realized her impact (and income) were limited, so she started working for herself. In the gym, she just got paid for a bit of exercise training– she didn’t get the chance to treat people holistically.

In a culture obsessesed with weight loss and “health”, we are deeply unhealthy, and we tend to do things the wrong way.

We start at the wrong end, and often make things worse, trying to pile exercise and crash diets onto lives that are already stressful and sleep-deprived.

What are we doing wrong:

“Diet culture”. There’s a huge industry that tries to make people feel bad about their bodies.
One size does not fit all. You need to start where you are and don’t compare yourself to others who may be in a different place.
Quick fixes and crash diets. They aren’t sustainable and they often do more harm than good. It’s not about the quick fix, it’s about living well.
Too many processed foods (if you can’t pronounce and recognize the words in the ingredients list, you probably shouldn’t put it in your body, but it’s easy to get addicted to them).
Waiting for something to be really wrong to “go to the mechanic”.

Why the conventional wisdom is wrong

Most people try to start with working out more and eating less.
Instead, start with sleep. This is the foundation for everything else. Put your phone away. Don’t drink too much fluid in the evening.
Then go to stress management. Listen to what your body is telling you. Are you feeling overwhelmed? Our brains perceive mental and physical stress the same way. If you’re already stressed, make sure exercise is fun and not an additional stressor.
Then get to nutrition. If you don’t know how to fuel and nourish your body properly, you’re doing to waste your time in the gym. Track your macros. Carbs provide energy. Fat balances our hormones. Protein helps you build lean muscle. Figure out your goal for different macros, using something like MyFitnessPal. It’s not just about minimizing calories. You can find online macro calculators, but you have to know how to use them right.
Generally, ~0.7-1.1g of protein per pound of body weight.
For women, a good rule of them is to not have less than 150g of carbs per day.
Fat should generally be about 25-35% of your body weight in pounds, in grams of carbs. So a 150 pound person might have 50g of fat.
When you’re looking at nutrition labels, avoid foods with “Added Sugar”. Push yourself for 30 days, knowing that you will crave the sweet added sugars your taste buds are used to. Then your body will adjust.
Don’t deprive yourself of everything all the time.
Do it for yourself, for your life, not for anyone else and not for any short term goal.

(More nerdy info on the “hunger hormones” leptin and ghrelin on Wikipedia.)

The Wine

Rachel enjoys some Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon.

Reuben has a Sbragia Carignan from Napa (interesting grape).

Where to find Rachel

Diet Starts Never podcast.

@RachieJo on Instagram

@RachieJo on TikTok

RachelJoCoaching.com

Where to find Reuben

@Sales4Nerds, @Mimiran, Mimiran.com.You can also listen on Overcast, or Subscribe on Android, or Player.fm.

Want a way to make sales and marketing fun, without being “salesy”? Try Mimiran, the CRM for elite solo consultants who love serving clients but who hate “selling”.

It also has a “mad-libs” style wizard to help you lay our your mission and positioning, including your origin story and customer stories so you can hone and share your unique perspective. Plus, Mimiran makes follow-up a breeze, so staying on top of those busy editors is easy. And lead magnets let you convert your exposure into leads and conversations.

Get alerted when there are new episodes (1x/month):

088 Bridget Hom on hiring and firing the right mental team

“When you’re feeling out of your mind, you’re probably in somebody else’s. And when you’re in someone else’s mind, you’re out of your own.”
Bridget Hom

Bridget Hom’s mom was in public relations, her dad was in sales, and they had scheduled family meetings every Sunday, so you might think she was destined for entrepeneurship.

But she started her career as a journalist. And then got a masters in theology, planning on going into the ministry. She realized later that journalism, ministry, and marketing all share a similar theme.

In her twenties, she lived a self-described “bougie” lifestyle with 3 nannies, house cleaners and traveled the world as a stay-at-home mom (“domestic engineer”).

But she got Zoom-divorced and moved into a small apartment with her 3 boys.

She got certified as a coach and met a man while salsa dancing who became her business partner in a placement agency, but that dried up with the pandemic.

Fortunately, that dance partner gave her the best advice she ever receieved:

“Wherever you go, just be you.”

In this episode, learn:

How Bridget showed up and started her “Bridge to Freedom Coaching Program” and how you can apply her techniques to your program(s).
Why being “Stuck on Ready” (the title of her book, btw) is so important for an entrepreneur. In other words, always be ready to take (imperfect) action, instead of waiting for perfection.
To hire and fire the right mental team, before you try to sell your prospects your own limiting beliefs.
Why feelings aren’t your friends– action is your friend.
How to create empowered referral partners. (Hint, it has a lot to do with some of the core concepts about referrals and conversations in Mimiran.)
Why having an ideal client profile is important, but why you shouldn’t get wrapped up in that idea when you start. (And how to figure it out. Hint, it’s really easy, especially with the right (anti)CRM.)
Why you need to look and feel “the part”.
How to stay accountable and on track (and why a 1% deviation from your course will lead you miles astray). (You do have a destination and a course, right?)
To make sure your actions are moving you towards your destination.
To address your headspace every single day. Be intentional. Brain dump. Hire and fire the right mental team. (See video below that Bridget mentions.) “As entrepreneurs we’re typically in relationships with our thoughts about people, versus people themselves.”
Why if you have an endless todo list, if it’s not digestible each day, you’re going to think you’re a failure every day. Set a 2 minute timer and write for 2 minutes (pen & paper). Then hire & fire the right mental team. Shift negative ideas to positive, with action. For example, if you’ve hired “resentment” on your team, fire that and hire “motivation” or “serenity” and then do something in line with that team member.
How to know if and when to actually change course.

Why you need to keep having conversations.

“As entrepreneurs we’re typically in relationships with our thoughts about people, versus people themselves.”

What do you think I do? Let people tell you…

Look at your day– do your actions line up with revenue– clients, prospects, prospecting, and content creation.

Is there an even exchange of energy? Especially with collaboration partners. If you’re not talking about profit in your collaborations, you’re not being serious.

Put that energy into your business development.

Be problem aware and solution seeking. Be aware of anything that keeps your from limitless potential. A lot of entrepreneurs have the wrong mental and they don’t reach out to anyone.

Here’s the Juggling with the Jenkins– if my brain had a morning meeting video.

The Book

Stuck on Ready: Master the Entrepreneur Mindset, Break Free from Self-Sabotage, and Access Your Limitless Potential

The Coffee & Tea

Bridget is in recovery so we’re not drinking alcohol today. Bridget has some coffee, and Reuben having already had his coffee, has moved on to tea.

Which brings us to Bridget’s version of the Serenity Prayer:

“Give me the courage to accept the people I cannot change… the courage to change the people I can, and the wisdom to know that that’s me.”

Where to find Bridget

BridgeToFreedomCoaching.com

LinkedIn.

Brigethom.me (direct calendar link)

https://www.bridgetofreedomcoaching.com/about-4

Where to find Reuben

@Sales4Nerds, @Mimiran, Mimiran.com.You can also listen on Overcast, or Subscribe on Android, or Player.fm.

Want a way to make sales and marketing fun, without being “salesy”? Try Mimiran, the CRM for elite solo consultants who love serving clients but who hate “selling”.

It also has a “mad-libs” style wizard to help you lay our your mission and positioning, including your origin story and customer stories. And great ways to help you have more conversations, as Bridget recommends.

Get alerted when there are new episodes (1x/month):

085 Tom Jackobs on selling with storytelling

Tom Jackobs never set out to be a sales coach. He started a fitness business because fitness had made such a big difference in his life.

Unfortunately, he almost went broke because he didn’t know anything about sales.

Learn how he turned sales from a weakness to a strength, without becoming “sales-y”, by connecting via storytelling.

Storytelling isn’t a new topic for Sales for Nerds, but you’ll appreciate how Tom guides you to find the right stories for you, and how to tell them.

Tom joins from Taipei, where a 2 day layover turned into 3 years and counting, thanks to COVID.

In this episode, learn:

How to make sales about solving people’s problems. (No one wants to exercise, they want to lose weight, get in shape, etc.)
How he became a sales coach for the company that he hired to coach him in sales.
How having a process let him sell without stress and much more effectively.
How to use your story and your clients’ stories to help prospects.
How you can succeed in sales as an introvert
How to pick a story and tell it the right way.
Don’t forget to have 3 versions of that story– from about a minute, to about 5 minutes, to a 10-15 minute version, for different situations.

P.s. Here’s part of Tom’s story that made him good at selling personal training:

And if you’d like to watch the episode, here’s the video:

The Water

Due to scheduling challenges between Austin and Taipei, we are both drinking water. 😉

Where to find Tom

tomjackobs.com/storybook for a free workbook on story telling
LinkedIn

Where to find Reuben

@Sales4Nerds, @Mimiran, Mimiran.com.You can also listen on Overcast, or Subscribe on Android, or Player.fm.

Want a way to make sales and marketing fun, without being “salesy”? Try Mimiran, the CRM for elite solo consultants who love serving clients but who hate “selling”.

It also has a “mad-libs” style wizard to help you lay our your mission and positioning, including your origin story and customer stories.

Get alerted when there are new episodes (1x/month):

080 Franklin Taggart on creating a creative (and profitable) business

Franklin Taggart, host of the “Your Own Best Company” and the “Daily Virtual Coffee Break” podcasts, coaches freelancers, solopreneurs, and artists on how to connect with audiences and find clients, in a way that suits their skills, personality, and lifestyle.

He was a professional guitar player, and still teaches and also helped kids with anti-gang interventions. He fell into coaching accidentally, after a friend asked him to help facilitate a coaching retreat.

In this episode, learn:

How Franklin fell into coaching, and why he didn’t even think of it as “coaching” (plus, why he’s still suspicious of coaches, and what’s a sign of a good coach).
Why you’re not a “thought leader”, and why humility is important for successful work.
How to ask the right questions to find the people you really enjoy working helping (and the questions Franklin asks).
Why “following your passion” is not good advice, and what to do instead.

The Wine

Reuben enjoys Prodigal Pinot Noir while Franklin is still working on his coffee.

Where to find Franklin

Where to find Reuben

@Sales4Nerds, @Mimiran, Mimiran.com.You can also listen on Overcast, or Subscribe on Android, or Player.fm.

Want a way to make sales and marketing fun, without being “salesy”? Try Mimiran, the CRM for elite solo consultants who love serving clients but who hate “selling”. It tracks referrals and helps you grow and nurture your network. Plus, the “Mission and Positioning” screen will help you refine your message, and give you lots of ideas for videos.

Get alerted when there are new episodes (1x/month):

073 Ashley DePaulis on treating your body better

As business owners, we spend a lot of time trying to make our minds more productive, often without considering that our minds are connected to our bodies. But if we don’t take care of our bodies, we miss out on joy and productivity, and we load up on stress. Ashley DePaulis, who helps large organizations prevent burnout and turnover, is here to give you tips that will make not just your business, but your life better.

Ashley was a recreational athlete, but didn’t envision making athletics and movement a core part of her life (although she did put a friend through bootcamp in 3rd grade– make sure you catch that part of the story). While she was getting her master’s degree in public health, she started working as a fitness instructor on the side, just for fun.

While working in public health policy, she kept picking up fitness clients and health coaching clients. Like many people, she accidentally started her business…

Meanwhile, when she 19, Ashley was in a severe car crash and had a case of PTSD, which returned when she got into another car crash and her PTSD came back. She did EMDR (Eye-movement Desensitization & Reprocessing) therapy, and got turned on to the capabilities at the junction of mind, body, and spirit.

“Movement is my jam.”

We have become sedentary creatures, at least many of us who work in front of computers most of the time. And this leads to chronic pain, reduced productivity, reduced joy, and a host of other problems in modern life.

To avoid this, we have to realize that our minds aren’t abstract things, they are part of our bodies. And we have to be aware of the body.

How do you know if you’re having problems?

Are you in pain? This is our body’s way of telling us that we need to change something.
Are you having trouble sleeping?
Are you anxious?

How can you do that? Ashley shares some great tips, including:

Get outside, or at least look outside, or even just look up. (Every 45 minutes of screen time should lead to 5-10 minutes of these kind of breaks for our eyes, minds, and posture.)
Note that these days people often take “breaks” by taking out their phones, which just increases the screen time and posture issues, and also tends to rev us up more, instead of reducing stress.
Breathe deeply, all the way to your belly.
Be aware of how your body is feeling. Notice what you’re noticing. Set an alarm on your phone to do this 1-3 times per day.
Drink water before coffee in the morning (I’m working on this).
Power down before bed time– a bed time routine is even more important than a morning routine.

Ashley argues that the body is not a machine (I disagreed) and it doesn’t need to be fixed. The body is always working for your survival. Pain is a signal– your body is wise and is telling you something. Pointing out that you need to take action. Pain is last signal– if you can pick up on earlier signals, you can avoid things getting bad.

So take good care of yourself– be a kinder, gentler boss to your body, and literally feel better every day.

The Wine

Reuben is enjoying some Bergevin Lane Moonspell Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington State.

Where to find Ashley

Where to find Reuben

@Sales4Nerds, @Mimiran, Mimiran.com.You can also listen on Overcast, or Subscribe on Android, or Player.fm.

Note, speaking of stories, a good proposal is a story, not a brochure– get your “Fill in the Blank” Consulting Proposal Template.

Want a way to make sales and marketing fun, without being “salesy”? Try Mimiran, the CRM for elite solo consultants who love serving clients but who hate “selling”. (Including the more powerful than ever Free Edition.) Mimiran can help you implement a lot of Shaily’s ideas not only more efficiently, but more effectively, including telling your Origin Story, coming up with your Superhero Name so you’re unforgettable and more referrable, and much more.

Note this GQ article on training for boxing matches, especially where he discusses reducing his training load as the fight approaches: https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/sport/article/conor-benn-boxing-workout

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