EP 382: The Path of the Successful Speaker

[00:00:03] Deborah, with her 30 years of being an entrepreneur and creating over seven companies, knows exactly what it means to accept the mission. When you make that decision, when you accept the mission to become a solopreneur, to take yourself and your talents to market, then you embrace a life of not only unlimited possibilities, but also the unknown. It's an elixir of fear and bravery that only someone who's taken the leap really understands.

[00:00:28] On our show, Deb digs deep with her guests to highlight what you, the listener, wants to know. The stories, the whys and the hows to navigate the journey to success. Get ready to hear from some of the most incredible mission takers from Generation Z to boomers. So sit up, perk up and get ready to be blown away. Now here is your host, Deborah Drummond.

[00:01:13] Welcome, welcome, welcome. Welcome back. Thank you so much. And I say this with grace because I have an incredible woman that does similar things. And that is all about visibility. And I'm sure she has an audience that she loves as much as I love you guys. But I got to tell you, you are rocking it right now. Congratulations. Top 3% of all podcasts. And you are sharing the shows and you're commenting on the shows and we're bringing in exactly who you want. So we have a beautiful relationship.

[00:01:43] Thank you so much. We are going to tell you what it is you're going to feel today. Okay. So after listening to this incredible woman, Leah Woodford, you are going to feel more seen and feel like you have the right to be seen more than you feel in this very, very well. So let me introduce you. She is the founder and really visionary. What did I think about you, Leah? I think about the word visibility. I think about the word extension. I think about the word collaborative. I think I'm like your solidarity sister.

[00:02:12] It's like, how can I help you so that you can help them? You know, there's a grand way to your thinking. But you have been a professional speaker for many, many years. Yes. And you were about getting people seen and heard and booked. I love that. All they all things. So we obviously there's no surprise to you audience why we've had many conversations.

[00:02:33] And you are going to graciously see this woman rock our stage at the grand finale International Women's Day Summit of this year. So you will also see her up on the Women's Channel. I will give you all those deets in the show notes. But Leah, thank you so much for taking some time to come share about your thoughts on visibility and speakership. Maybe let our audience know a little bit about you. Well, thank you so much, Deb. It's a pleasure to see you again. And I appreciate you bringing me on your podcast.

[00:03:03] I love your mission because it's so closely aligned with me. I've been a professional speaker since 2003. And what I've seen over the last, you know, 15 years is there's been a decline of women on the stages. And so in 2019, I created Speaker Life magazine, which is fabulous.

[00:03:27] But we also are creating our ninth annual Speaker Life Summit, which you will be one of our our featured guests. But we also have a new podcast. So there is no reason in the world every woman with a mission, you know, can't speak. I'm giving her I'm giving her permission. I'm giving her a safe place. And I'm giving her a platform, multiple platforms.

[00:03:56] And I think the beautiful thing about that is that we are seeing at least I'm seeing from an entrepreneurial standpoint, people asking questions about visibility, visibility. And that's where, you know, we always say that. Honestly, I was on a show this morning talking about borrowing bravery. And you're also seeing people not just step up into visibility, but we're also seeing people that are willing to tell a little bit more of the personal story.

[00:04:20] I'm edging that in getting into publications and letting people into their inside world to the level of comfort that they do. So what is that about I mean, for you, you've been hitting the stage for quite a time and you're talking about how you're seeing a decline. Yes. Going on for you at that time when you decided to become a speaker that that makes you say that now.

[00:04:44] Well, and I'm going to tell you the impact that I saw in 2008 because it really helped me to ship my business. I had only been a speaker for a year. I had been on like an eight city tour. This was December 13th in 2008 when there's one of the biggest recessions. And I am speaking in Salt Lake City and there was only one woman in the audience. Oh, wow.

[00:05:13] And, you know, there were only a couple of women on the stage. You know, it was just really, really different and people were really preying on people's vulnerability. And it just made me step back and say, you know what? This is not my kind of speaking. And I stepped back for a couple of years and had to rethink, you know, how do I want to be seen? How do I want to be heard? And what kind of message do I want to leave?

[00:05:41] Because there's a lot of predatorial speakers out there that, you know, hey, for $30,000, I'm going to fix your whole life. And I don't want to be that kind of speaker. I want to be a speaker who provides value. And if you like what you see, come talk to me. Let's see if we're fit, you know, and let me see if I can help you. I might not even be able to help you, but I don't like that predatorial sales. And that kind of turned me out. And I, I'm a feminine woman.

[00:06:11] So I kind of like to lean into that. I don't, I don't go on the stage gun as blazing because that's just not me. Right, right. So when you started there was very few people in the audience as well. That's when I was like, wow. So that really, that's very telling. So as we start to move forward and you're seeing women start to be able to have their own style. It sounds like when you pulled back, you really thought about who am I? What is it that I want to do? And how is it that I want to do that?

[00:06:41] And I think we saw a lot of that for a long period of time where it was running to the back of the room or what have you. That was more of the masculine piece coming in. And how did you actually be able to formulate that and then bring yourself up? Like, where did you get your bravery? Where did you get your place? I mean, clearly you were in a stage where we're in a space where there was very few options to begin with. So what was it like trying to claim that for yourself and being comfortable in that?

[00:07:06] Well, being a being raised as a military brat where you're having to move every two and a half years and you're always the new kid. You kind of find the courage because you're always having to create conversations and you're the new kid. So I think I've always been kind of comfortable with stage. As a matter of fact, I get uncomfortable if it gets stagnant.

[00:07:33] I like change and I thrive in it because that's all I know. Mm-hmm. And I get bored. Yeah. I get bored. So I like challenge and, you know, I think it's just a matter of being set. If you tell yourself you want something. And I've known at a very young age that I was not going to be like everybody else with my family. And I haven't been. I always knew I was going to carve my own path.

[00:08:02] So you just do it. Yeah. So tell us then what is carving your own path mean? You obviously are very active in the world of having this incredible event where people are speaking live. You have an incredible podcast, right? So you're all about visibility from the first time that you stepped in and kind of took a look at the speaking platforms that were being offered to kind of going back in and seeing how you wanted to come back out into that.

[00:08:32] What have you seen from an industry standpoint that either needs some working or deserves celebrating? I think there's been some really great conversations. I mean, I just recently today earlier, I had Daryl Leaves on my podcast. The Godfather of YouTube. Godfather of the Vid Summit. What an amazing man. I love what he said about create the value and the people will show.

[00:09:01] And I really think so many people want to talk about what they want to talk about without bothering to figure out what the audience needs. You can't be the solution provider if you don't know what the problems are. So clarity is number one. But also, I think everybody is an authority. Let's face it.

[00:09:25] They everybody is promoting themselves as an authority and they think because they have chat GPT. It makes them an authority. But it doesn't. Wisdom only comes with experience in years. And I've been doing this since 2007. So I might know a thing or two about a thing or two. But here's the here's the beauty like marketing everything. The minute you figure something out, it changes.

[00:09:54] So you have to have a flexible mindset. You have to be willing to go the extra mile and do the things that people want you to do. I got to ask you, some people learn to curve this. Some people never were. But do you still get a little funny feeling in your tummy before you go up on stage? Always, always. Yeah, right. Oh, always. And that is excitement. You know, I have done a lot of work on my vagus nerve. So I understand how to calm.

[00:10:24] And I've gone from 30 seconds of panic to maybe 10, you know, and and it's real. It's breathing and it's realized like, you know what, this isn't about me. Right. This is I'm here to serve. You know, I'm just the conduit. I am just the vessel to serve here today. And that takes a lot of that pressure off. Yeah, it's really interesting. Right.

[00:10:47] I think it's always worth talking about because the assumption that the more you speak or someone like yourself who's organizing speaking is that it's not something that you experience anymore. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. The dead speakers always get nervous. But the passion takes over. Yes. Yeah. And if you know your stuff, it doesn't matter. Let's face it. Tech goes away. Sometimes it breaks down. You have to be able to talk. Right. It's true. It's true. And I've seen it.

[00:11:17] I've seen it many times. It's happened to me. Oh, wow. I had an A&V guy panic and just leave in the middle of my presentation. I said, well, guys, you know, on with the show. And I just walked him through my presentation with, you know, a flip chart. Yeah. You have to be able to, you know, that stuff happens. Yeah. My background is live television. Sometimes we lose the feed. You know what? You got to roll with the punches. Oh, my goodness.

[00:11:46] Tell us a little bit about your background. Tell us a little bit about your background before you hit the stage. I was, it's kind of an interesting story. I studied journalism. And first of all, they don't pay local anchors any kind of money. And I was a single mom. So I knew that was going to work for me, but I knew I still loved it. So I became a dating and relationship correspondent. And I wrote four columns.

[00:12:15] So it was great. I could go and do my show, but people knew me. In the meantime, I had a side hustle, which was I put LLCs together and marketing for entrepreneurs and businesses. So that was it. Wow. I always find it interesting on what people did before or what they thought they were going to be. I was talking, I was on a show this morning and we were talking about how, you know, they give you these career choices at school.

[00:12:43] When I was in school, they've heard choice was, you know, teaching, you know, teaching, nursing, administrative. And so I was smart enough to throw in flight attendant. And I was like, I'll do that one. Now I never became a flight attendant. It clearly knows looking for something a little out of the box. I think it's very telling. And on, on, on how we got to where we got to. It's just, well, you know, here's what, here's what I love about doing what I did. First of all, I wasn't dealing with the trauma.

[00:13:12] When you're talking news and you're, you know, you're at a murder scene or you're talking news, it's depressing. I mean, one of my good friends I went to college with, she just had a baby. She just had to go report. And she's calling me in tears because she had to report on the Susan Smith trial. Oh, wow. And she told me, you are so lucky you didn't go into this. So that was one, dodge that bullet. But number two, when you're an anchor, they own your image and your name.

[00:13:41] You cannot use it for marketing purposes. So that automatically, because I've always been a real estate investor on the side as well. So I just said, nope, I can't do that because I need my name in my face. Yeah. You know, and when people see you coming into their living room, they trust you. There's a no like trust factor and it, it always helped me get work.

[00:14:09] So what was the, you know, this is the ninth annual incredible event that you're putting on that is all based around speakership. So what was the first one about? Was it, was it fueled by this? It's just, it wanted to see like, what is, what's behind the speaking of it? Well, I had another company called Smart Fem Media. And I, it came about in 2009 because my daughter was a freshman in college.

[00:14:39] And she called me and remember, I'm doing dating a relationship stuff. And she called me and said, Mom, you got to stop this. You're perpetuating the man's, the plan, you know, and that's incongruent with the way you raised me. So I thought about it and I thought, you know what, she's right. She goes, I, I am focusing on the education you're paying for. But most of the girls I go to school with have no idea what they want to do, but they can describe every single second of their wedding day.

[00:15:09] Oh, wow. And if you think about that with shows like The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, it's still going on. We're still making the man the plan. The man's the bonus. He is not the plan. And therefore the desire. That, that, that is always. Is voice to women. It is voice to women, but I realized I needed to go.

[00:15:35] So I really think the only way you can position yourself as an expert is to speak. Instead of speaking one to one, speak one to many. Amplify your authority, get on more stages and help more people. Yeah. Did you ever have a go big moment? Did you ever have a moment where you were doing what you were doing and you knew there was a different place for you to go or you were up against your own ceiling,

[00:16:02] not just the ceiling of circumstance, but the ceiling within yourself? Like, was there ever a time that you decided to go bigger? Yeah. To walk through. Can you share with us a little bit of what that's like? Because when we're sitting encouraging people to speak and to become visible, we're actually asking them to extend themselves and more than likely go bigger. Talk to more audiences. What was that like for you? You know what? It was a lot of mindset shifting.

[00:16:31] I decided to go for an Amazon Prime show and guess what? I got it. But it was based on the premise. I was interviewing celebrities and behind the scenes and the stuff that you never hear about. And it was great up until COVID. But it really forced me to go, oh, my God, who am I to interview?

[00:16:55] I mean, I had the very last interview with Suzanne Summers, who I have loved my whole life, you know, and I'm so blessed that I got to have that conversation and tell her what she meant to me. And, you know, her company still advertises in her magazines. I mean, she was such a role model for women. People think of her as Chrissy Snow, but no, she got fired because she asked for a raise.

[00:17:24] She hadn't had a raise for six years, you know? And then what she do? She partnered with someone, did Thighmaster and just did it on her own and blew up and became a bigger star than she was before. Yeah. Yeah. So I interviewed the people that I want to become or be more like.

[00:17:47] And that process for yourself, was it when you said mindset, it was about making yourself feel or getting in touch with that you had a bigger calling or. It really was, you just channeling, you know, God, this is, this is a really special person. What are the questions that I should be asking that are not only going to create value for them, but also for our audience? You know, it's not about me.

[00:18:16] Get over yourself. Yeah. It really is about creating something magical that is going to change somebody's life. Absolutely. And I don't think that we can, you know, I was listening to a couple of speakers the last couple of days and there was that conversation around so many people have written a book or so many people have spelled before or I speak in a scepter that's kind of noisy and there's a lot of coaches in this area. And the conversation was, but there is an audience for everybody.

[00:18:46] And more, do you know what I mean? It's like, yeah. Yeah. I think really, I think really, I don't know that there is. I think you have to create that audience. I don't think there is.

[00:19:03] I think that you have to lead with value and you have to really care because people will know, you know, if it's all about you and it's not about them, they're not going to connect and you're not going to get asked back. Right. True, true. Sure, true. Sure.

[00:19:23] And I, when we think about, when you think about some of the people that have made an impression upon you, whether it's speaking or reading or what are some of the people that really made an impression upon you that to this day you still remember? Well, I never in a million years thought I would interview Alice Cooper. Sure. Yeah.

[00:19:54] I mean, I love Alice Cooper. He's a little before my time. I mean, we all know who school schools out and stuff. I had no idea. Guy Fieri. Oh, my God. He is brilliant. And I really loved him. I loved his passion. And I loved his passion. I had no idea the lengths he went to to take care of his family. Mm-hmm. You know? I mean, and then he studied.

[00:20:25] I mean, it was drive-ins and diners, but yet he studied in France. I had no idea. It was such a fun ride. I think interviewing somebody, it should be a fun journey. Yeah. You know? And you have to be curious. I think the only person that ever really starstruck me was Chris Voss. You know? The FBI negotiator who had the end of my stage. I know.

[00:20:53] I was like, you know, when you said that name, literally about a month beforehand, I was listening to him going, I'd love to have him on my show. I'd love to meet him. And you're like, no, Chris Voss. And I was like, you had me on hello. You had me on hello. Well, I think we've all seen these FBI shows. So we have this preconceived notion of what they're going to be like. And he was so not like that.

[00:21:18] And when he went into his, his FM late night DJ voice, he was just amazing. And I had discovered him. It was very serendipitous how I met him. I watch a lot of TEDx talks and I watched his. I'd never heard of him. And it's just like, oh my God, this guy is amazing. And then my client, Dave Sanderson calls me and said, hey, would you like to come to dinner with Chris Voss? And he's just like, the FBI negotiator? And he said, yes.

[00:21:48] And so we're at a big dinner. And this is what I always do. I put people on the spot. I did it to Daryl Leighams today. And I interview you for the magazine and the podcast. And he said, yes. And he's been on my show twice. And I got my asking gear again and asked him to be at the summit. And he said, yes. So I think that's the biggest thing is people just have to get their asking gear, you know,

[00:22:18] feel the fear and do it anyway. But what are they going to do? Say no? Yeah, I would. That's funny. That literally was the next step that I was going to ask you when we were having a bit of a pre-show conversation about going big. Like, it's not. There's so many aspects to going big. Because once you get your head in the game or semi in the game, it doesn't mean that you don't feel nervous or anxious or a little bit of each of those. And then what is the next step? And that literally you just, I mean, we're big ask people over here.

[00:22:46] If you know anything, we do these ask round. Like we do these, we do ask parties where people just go and ask for what they want. And I'm telling you, it's one of the things in our, like, we've had 1400 speakers and we'll have an ask party. And there, in my opinion, there should be 1400 people there, but there's not. No, there isn't. No. And what is it about asking? What is it about asking for what that makes people? People are afraid of rejection. They're absolutely afraid of rejection.

[00:23:16] And I feel it. And then I start telling myself, well, Suzanne said yes. Daryl Lee said yes. I was really excited about that. Chris Voss has said yes. And Food Network and Warner Brothers said yes to guide daddy. So you know what? You just got to do it. And then every time you have that fear, you just remind yourself. But the other thing is, if you're not in the right mindset, don't make the call.

[00:23:47] True, true. And I think once you surround yourself with people that can help elevate your mindset, that you just even, you don't even have to call them. You just know that they're there. And once you start to break that open, it starts to open. Don't you find that? Like once you start to break the code a couple of times, it starts to come to you. Well, you are who you hang with. You know, so you need to think bigger. And my husband and I owned our, this is our second jet charter company.

[00:24:16] And we fly celebrities and athletes and C-suite people around. And so I've gotten to know so many of them. And I'm amazed at how many of the things that Paul and I have adopted by spending time with them. You know, they'll invite us to go skiing and bail or Aspen or, and you know, they have a different mindset. They don't look at those things the way we do.

[00:24:44] I mean, everything is on a completely different level. And it's really important to surround yourself by people who've gone where you want to go, because it opens the door to let you do the same. Mm hmm. And I think the misstep can be for when people are questing for different, right? When someone is questing for different. And because that person is the head of your different, the assumption is that they never went through that experience.

[00:25:13] And while we're always comparing our humble beginnings to their final chapter. And you can't do that. You absolutely, you know, I, I mean, I was probably a little bit of a fangirl with dear reliefs today because I, it took me three years to get the guts to do a YouTube channel. And I told him and he goes, yeah, but look at it now. And why? You did television. Yeah. It's just like people think it's a, it's a really, it's a different medium though. It's completely different.

[00:25:43] But, um, I think the, you can, you just have to go. Yeah. And I feel like a lot of people trip themselves up in the head before they ever start. You know, if you make a mistake, you can do a course correct. But if, if you never make the decision, then there you are. You've made the decision. You've made the decision. You have a few, you have a few things going on.

[00:26:11] You've got a few things going on and you've got this incredible summit. Yes, I do. You also have a company that has a beautiful magazine. Right. Okay. Well, we have two speaker life as a magazine, but we also have our jet charter magazine then by do for legacy quarterly. And I'm really, really proud of that too.

[00:26:33] Um, because I feel like, especially in jet travel, the more we can educate the buyer or the customer, cause it's an, it's not a, it's, it's not, you know, a Southwest zero line ticket, you know, and if we can educate them, like a lot of people have bought into jet, uh, a car companies and most of them fail.

[00:26:57] And so I leveraged the magazine to do educate them on travel, on business, on wine, on luxury, but also something aviation related. It's, it's a passion and I get to discover things. I mean, I did a story on Rolex. I had no idea that was such a history was my favorite subject. You want to find a really cool subject study Rolex. Their history is unbelievable.

[00:27:28] Wow. Okay. We'll do because I let X you, I love that. I love the behind the story and things that you never, and things that you never knew. And it gives you a whole new respect. So as a band of diners, drive-ins and dyers, whether I'm doing work sometimes, because I'm a foodie, like I, I'm a foodie. I think the, the biggest, uh, me and my son did, I think we did a 16 course dinner once and we're a foodie. So we're, you know, I always have something going on in the background around food. And I, and I love that.

[00:27:56] And I love learning something new and it gives you a whole new level of respect. Right. I think so too. And how boring would life be if we weren't curious and wanting to learn new things? Stay curious. Stay curious. Look, I know that we need to wrap up soon, but I want people to get a sense to know you and how you are able to have achieved what you've achieved. Obviously I've heard bravery. I've heard courage. I've heard do it anyway. I've heard be around the right people.

[00:28:24] What do you do for yourself in relationship to be able to manage that? We kind of call it top performance. How are you, you know, being decisive on what you do and when you do it? I think the biggest thing for me is to just really stay organized. You know, if I have a messy home, you know, everything is messy. I like organize and I'm married to a guy just the same way.

[00:28:51] I'm so lucky because if I see a mess, it's mind clutter for me. Yeah. You know, and I realize when I get up in the morning, I take my water, put it in the kitchen, I make the bed before it and I scan on every room to make sure I close the loop before I move on to the next task. Those little things that I do, they're habits so that I'm not wasting my time on what am I

[00:29:20] going to wear? Or, you know, what am I going to, you know, because my days already planned because I like to have my day planned and I don't have a great big to do list. I have three, one must do and two, these are good to be due because I don't want to be overwhelmed. Yeah, that's perfect. Thank you for leaving that with our audience. Please tell everybody about this incredible event because not only if for some reason they're

[00:29:48] listening to this show a little later after your event in January, you're going to be doing another one anyway. So can you just leave people with they need to be there? They need to be there. So tell us a bit more. I would love to. What I love about this event is I created this in mind for any speaker, whether you're a new speaker or one who is ready to go to thought leaders status. I made it affordable.

[00:30:15] General admission tickets are $297, $397 for VIP. And there is a nice VIP swag bag and some perks to that. But I never want money to keep people away from their dream. And I have sponsors that help offset the cost. But I am just very blessed that I'm in a position to be able to do this. And I do it every year.

[00:30:42] And my goal is still, yes, I have been on my stage, but getting more women on the stage and honing their voice. Well, so we call it over here, women and cool dudes, women and those that support women, right? Because exceptional men. Yeah. That exceptional man. Love it. Okay. I date time and location. We don't know when I do this, but I want people to really hear to you. Well, and you'll get to see Deb there too. She's going to be there with me.

[00:31:11] So this is January 21st and 22nd and beautiful Scottsdale, which is a great place to go. You can go to speakerlifesummit.com. It'll give you all the information, but Deb's little face is on the website. She is going to be with us. It is just amazing. You'll get to see the amazing Chris Boss. We have Lisa Guerrero from Inside Edition. I have the number one speaker talent agent in the country there.

[00:31:40] I have Cesar Cervantes, who's the number one TEDx coach. I'm working with him personally. So you'll want to be there. We have very, we have really been carefully curating this so that we can bring the best to the best. Thank you so much for what you do. Thank you for giving us insight. Thank you for breaking some of the code. 2007, really being on stage and then making a decision to turn that into a bit of a calling and carve path.

[00:32:11] I really want to thank you for that. I really honestly, it's been, it's phenomenal. And I can't wait to see it continue to grow and grow. I have a feeling I'll be going to Arizona every year. I'm sure. Oh, you can, whatever it is, plan on it now, but there it is. We're going to have, yeah, we're going to have a good time together. So thank you for being with us today. Is there anything else that you want to share with our audience before we sign off? Just one more thing. You know, God gave you a message. Don't be afraid to share it.

[00:32:40] Your story can really change somebody else's life. All right, audience. I hear a stand up, speak up, show up in there. I hear a stand up, speak up, show up. Thank you so much. Audience, as always, I'm going to, let's layer that invitation. If you have something that you need to share, there's places to share them. So contact Leah. Hear what she has to say. Let's get you on the show. Let's talk about what we need to talk about. I would say a good book falls in your lap when you need a good book.

[00:33:10] And maybe you need to be the author of that book. Maybe you need to be the author of that book. So as always, you be well, you stay groovy, and we will see you next week. And Leah, we'll see you soon. Thank you so much for coming on Mission Accepted today. My pleasure. Thank you so much, Judd. Thank you.