In today's episode, I'm welcoming back to the show one my dear friends, Krystal Proffitt for a revealing discussion on how she has leveraged the skill of speaking to grow her brand and land every single stage on her dream list for 2021.
In previous episodes, we’ve talked about the fear of public speaking, but what about the business owners who love speaking and have never been one to shy away from an audience?
Enter Krystal. She’s sharing how her natural strengths in communication were actually holding her back in a way that she didn't expect, plus what she specifically worked on to reach her goals.
EPISODE SHOW NOTES👇
➡️ https://heathersager.com/episode139/
🔗 Grab the latest FREE resources: https://heathersager.com/start
🔗 Browse all episode shownotes: https://heathersager.com/blog
👋 CONNECT WITH HEATHER:
Work with Heather: https://www.heathersager.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theheathersager/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/HeatherSager
If you’re loving this episode, please take a moment to rate & review the show. This helps me get this message to more people so they too can ditch the hustle 24/7 life.
In today's episode, I'm welcoming back to the show one my dear friends, Krystal Proffitt for a revealing discussion on how she has leveraged the skill of speaking to grow her brand and land every single stage on her dream list for 2021.
In previous episodes, we’ve talked about the fear of public speaking, but what about the business owners who love speaking and have never been one to shy away from an audience?
Enter Krystal. She’s sharing how her natural strengths in communication were actually holding her back in a way that she didn't expect, plus what she specifically worked on to reach her goals.
EPISODE SHOW NOTES👇
➡️ https://heathersager.com/episode139/
🔗 Grab the latest FREE resources: https://heathersager.com/start
🔗 Browse all episode shownotes: https://heathersager.com/blog
👋 CONNECT WITH HEATHER:
Work with Heather: https://www.heathersager.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theheathersager/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/HeatherSager
If you’re loving this episode, please take a moment to rate & review the show. This helps me get this message to more people so they too can ditch the hustle 24/7 life.
Heather Sager 2:06
Well, hey, friends, welcome back to the podcast. It's Heather. I wanted to do an introduction for a series you're going to hear over the next couple of weeks. You know, a lot of times in online business, we see two sides of the story. We talk a lot of game around the problem that our ideal customers are having. We live in the problem, we agitate the problem, we focus on what they're not getting because of the problem. And it's just a lot of, hey, it's not always fun to talk about the problems. But on the other hand, everyone talks about the ideal picture of success. Were touted with the seven figure entrepreneur, the reaching of six figure entrepreneur, the having the scalable programs, the whatever courses on autopilot. We see the big dream that we put up on our vision boards that someone somewhere told us that we should be dreaming about. And what we are not very clear on is what is all the mess in the middle. What does it look like between the entrepreneur who decided, hey, I want to grow a coaching program? How the hell did they get there? And what was it really like? What's missing between these success stories? We tout of the person who speaks on the big stage. They become an overnight success. But what does that really look like?
And you know, I know I don't teach all things business and marketing on this show. We really talk about how to show up in a more magnetic way, how to own your brand, how to speak more authentically, how to show up online in a way that feels good, but also drives revenue. We talk about a lot of things. But I want to share more stories on the podcast, stories of real entrepreneurial journeys that you can relate to that show you each one of our stories is our own, each one of our styles is our own and there isn't one way to build a business. There also isn't one, high top mountain somewhere that's the epitome of what success looks like in business. So you're going to start seeing a lot more on the show stories of actual people, mostly people that I've worked with, but I'll expand out and I want to interview other entrepreneurs and their stories. But we're going to talk through the lens of how getting their communication in line, building fundamental skills as a business owner, we're going to start with the skill of communication and speaking and then I would imagine, is a series of something that y'all like. We can expand to how different core skills in business have had a huge impact on their results. But I want to share some stories.
So we're gonna start with my friend Krystal today. We've had Krystal Proffitt on the show before she came on the podcast. I think it was on episode 40 something. I'll link to it in here, but she came on the show. We talked about podcasting, which of course is her wheelhouse, but I asked Krystal to come back and talk about her journey of speaking not only on podcast, but how she's leveraged the skill of speaking in so many different ways in her business and in fact we'll throw this spoiler out. At the end of the episode she talks about how 2021 was the year she declared a list of dream stages and she sent me a Voxer message in October, that she realized she spoke on every single one of them. So if you are an entrepreneur and you actually enjoy speaking to groups, you're thinking like, man, I'm not actually terrified of it. This episode is really for you because Krystal has never been one to shy away from an audience. She was a cheerleader as a kid. She loved the spotlight yet she found that her communication skills were actually holding her back in a way that she didn't expect. You'll hear about that in the episode.
Then next week, I have my dear friend, Serena Shoup, who's also my bookkeeper. Serena came through my program, Speak up to Level up, two years ago and she had this idea to expand her business in a new round. She had a very successful bookkeeping business. She'd been at it for a few years after 15 successful years in corporate finance. And she was having so many people ask her questions. She wanted to expand and help and mentor other people who wanted to leave corporate and start bookkeeping businesses, but she really struggled what would that look like? Is it another business? How would even go about that, and she had a lot of imposter syndrome creeping in around who am I to teach these other people when I'm only a few steps ahead of them? You're going to hear Serena's story next week on the podcast, so be sure to tune in. But I'm hoping that these, and by the way, Serena had an absolute terrified approach with speaking. She hated being in front of people, so you're going to hear two polar opposite stories around their love for an audience.
But I want to encourage you, regardless of where you sit to listen to both, because I think it's really easy for you to listen to me, mike drop, every week telling you all these ways stories and charming, funny, quirky things about myself, and I think sometimes you might be inspired, but sometimes you might think, Heather's just really good with words. And I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, I am. I've worked my ass off to get really good at becoming a really good communicator. And I've learned along the way and I can definitely tell you the things that I did to be more effective, but I also want you to hear how other real people just like you have developed their own communication skills, and more specifically, what they've done with those skills in their business. I was actually surprised by many of the answers on both of these interviews, so I hope you enjoy them. And if you do, which you please, please send me a message on Instagram. Let me know what you loved about these. And if you like these kinds of stories, let me know and I will do more of them in the future on the show.
All right, I want to introduce you to the stories series of the stories of online entrepreneur. I'm recording this intro, I don't know what I'm gonna call this yet, but there'll be a name on this title of this podcast. We know when it comes out, but I hope you enjoy it. And hey, just a reminder, we're opening the doors for my signature programs, Speak up to Level up. Doors are opening on March 21. So if you have been one of the people on the fence for the last year of wanting to get out in front of more people, how to be more effective with your voice, just keep an eye out for that. I talk inside the episode at the end about our mini-series. We have coming up the speaking workshops. That's a great place to dip your toe that starts on March 10. Alright enough with the promotional stuff, but y'all know I run a business and I got to tell you about what I have to offer. You should do the same. Alright, let's cut it there. Let's jump to the episode. I hope you enjoy today's episode with Krystal Proffitt, her journey of tackling all of her dream stages in 2021.
Alright, friends welcome back to another episode. I am thrilled to welcome back to the show my very dear friend and previous guest. What's the best way to say that? It's this like second or third time on the show, Krystal? Welcome by the way.
Krystal Proffitt 9:09
Yes, thank you. I always say recurring guest. Anytime I have someone come back on the show again. I'm like it's recurring guests. But yeah, I mean, I could shoot for a record if that's what you're really looking forward because then that's I'm going to try to beat whoever else has been on the show more than me, so I'm coming coming after whoever that is.
Heather Sager 9:27
Well, let's just like pipe down there, paco taco, because we, you gotta earn your keep here. You got to earn your keep on the show. Well, I wanted to have you back on. For those of you who might be new to this show, Krystal, I'm gonna have her explain herself. Explain yourself here in just a moment. But Krystal talks all about podcasting and our love of content online and we had an incredible first pass of the show where you came in and talked about, I have to tell you the story. I don't know that I told you this, that I sent an email out about your episode and that the email with the subject line said, could podcasting be your next stage? And somebody who heard you talk about all about getting started with podcasting, starting, growing, marketing, all the things with your podcast. One of my listeners heard that episode got that email and she's like, yes, that's me. And she legitimately started her podcast because of that episode which I think is just awesome.
Krystal Proffitt 10:23
Oh my gosh, that is incredible.
Heather Sager 10:26
So I guess that's what we are doing there, but we're talking actually beyond podcasting today. So why don't you, just for those who are new, maybe to your world to the podcast, tell us what you do today in your business?
Krystal Proffitt 10:38
Yes, well, since the last time I was on the show, I've done a slight pivot where I'm zooming out a little bit to talk more to the global content creator. So not just podcasters but also people that are exploring YouTube and blogging and really just showing up and speaking online, which I love coming on your show and talking to your audience, because what we do aligns so well together because if you can't speak very well on your content, I'm going to send you to Heather's podcast to get all the tips and tricks and the confidence building tools that she, I know she delivers on this show time and time again. But that's really what I'm focusing on today is helping creators create their content with confidence. And I have to say that my confidence boost really shut up after you and I connected and started hanging out more and you gave me all your word vomiting techniques, and all the different things that you have said, hey, have you ever tried this?
Heather Sager 11:36
All the secrets. All the secrets.
Krystal Proffitt 11:38
All the secrets. Yes. So that's what I'm doing today.
Heather Sager 11:42
Okay, I love it. I love it. And also now in my head. I can't get out. I don't know what movie it is. But oh, Mean Girls. Her hair was big. It's full of secrets.
Krystal Proffitt 11:52
Yes, exactly. And both of us are kind of rocking the big hair today. Yeah, I mean, that's where they're all hidden.
Heather Sager 11:59
I told Krystal I have a whole day full of podcast interviews, which I'm doing video for. I'm trying to get better at putting, like hitting go on my camera. And I was telling her this morning, I was like Krystal, today's day, first day I put on a push up bra. And I told you earlier, it was actually in two weeks. But that's a lie, because I got ready for a charity fundraiser on Saturday night and put on Spanx and heels and I definitely wore a push up bra. But I'm feeling fancy today. So we're doing recording like we're here for it. We're here for a good conversation. I have high expectations and I know you will knock them out of the park.
Krystal Proffitt 12:33
I'm ready for it. Like I got my big hoops on today. I did my hair. Let's go. Let's do this.
Heather Sager 12:39
Alright, so we're here today to talk about, we'll be talking about content online, establishing your brand, growing an online business online. There's a lot of people who like to talk about the struggle bus of how hard it is growing a business. And then they like to tell the, look how amazing it is once you reach the top of the mountain. And we paint these stories of transformation where we focus on the lows to meet our customers where they are. But then we cast this big vision on the dream that I don't think a lot of people talk about the in between. And I'm running a series right now on the podcast where I'm actually sharing real stories of online entrepreneurs who have a variety of different style businesses, but really showcasing their journey and specifically sharing the skills they develop along the way. On the show, we talk about the skill of using your voice and communication which is highly essential to that growth. So I'm excited to dive into your specific story. I think we're actually going to probably cover some things that I don't know today because I haven't actually directly asked you these questions yet. So are you ready, Krystal?
Krystal Proffitt 13:42
I'm so excited. I always love the messy middle. I feel like is where I really get grounded in the people I want to learn from. Heather, you do this so well with just being so raw and just honest with your audience and know that that's why they're like, that's why Heather is my coach. That's why she's my speaking coach because she just keeps it real. Bra, no bra. She is here for the honest truth. And that's what we're gonna do.
Heather Sager 14:06
It's always a bra. It just sometimes might be one of those like soft sports bras that are anyways.
Krystal Proffitt 14:13
Exactly.
Heather Sager 14:13
I know that was a compliment. But also it makes me laugh a bit. I'm like, when somebody tells you that you're just so raw and real. It kind of makes me go like, Oh, I don't know if that's a good thing.
Krystal Proffitt 14:23
It's a good thing. It's a great thing.
Heather Sager 14:25
Okay, all right. So Krystal, I want you to take us back a bit. I am not going to go back to the very beginning on the night you were conceived. We're not going to do your whole life story. But I want us to take it back to a couple years ago. So think 2019, 2020, that's really where I know you started getting a lot of confidence around focusing on podcasting. But tell us a little bit of what your business looked like especially in 2019, 2020.
Krystal Proffitt 14:48
Yeah, so I actually it was in 2019, the beginning of the year, where I was still in this transition period of moving or wanting to move away from what I was doing. I was serving people, you know, in this capacity of I had a podcast that was about female entrepreneurs and I hadn't rebranded to what I'm doing today. I was in this the messy middle, for sure. But I had already launched this course. So I was sending out these mixed messages of, hey, I teach podcasting, but really, I do a podcast about female entrepreneurs, there was like, not a lot of alignment. And it wasn't until further in the year that I was like, what am I doing? I love to talk about podcast like, this is my message. But I had to get the confidence to actually say that out loud to other people. And there was this weird thing where I almost felt guilty. Like it felt indulgent to me to really talk about the thing I wanted to talk about, because it was so fun. Like, it was so fun. And I had heard so many of these, like, you gotta hustle. And yet, it's like, it's gotta be part of the struggle. And I was like, but podcasting is so fun, like, and I love it. And it's not a struggle. And it flies out of my mouth when anybody, they're like, Hey, I think I want to start a podcast. I'm like, come sit by me, I can tell you all the things.
And so I went through this weird transitional journey of just stepping into that and fully owning it. And, you know, ever since then I just, people are like, you want to start a podcast, go talk to Krystal, and that's the first thing that flies out of their mouth. And it took a while for me to really step into and own that confidence. But if you want to get practical, if you're asking about the business side of what I did. I did some one on one coaching and I had a program that I slowly kind of grew out over time, and it still kind of evolved into what I'm doing today. But those were really the catalyst moments of stepping into what I'm doing now.
Heather Sager 16:45
Yeah, I mean, talk about this idea of when people say podcasting, they think Krystal, this idea of being known for something. It's so funny looking back on it, it's like, oh, yeah, you want to be known for something. But on the other side of it, it is hard to say like, Oh, am I really going to, like niche down as they say, or like really pinpoint it down as that's the one thing. I'm grappling with that. I'm sure that was really, did that take you, that took you a long time to decide?
Krystal Proffitt 17:12
Yeah, it did. And mostly because so you know, you were saying starting like 2019, 2020. If we go back even further, when I really got started on this journey, I was like buckshot, like there was stuff all out talked about when I was back in my blogging days. I don't talk a lot about my blogging days. Because I always tell people, I was a terrible blogger, and it was not successful.
Heather Sager 17:33
Will we find the blog if we do some online digging?
Krystal Proffitt 17:36
No, no, I don't even think it's out there. I mean, maybe but I don't think so. But it was just, it was about riding, parenting, marriage, self improvement, like it was just all over the place. And so to say even today that I just talked about content creation and that's what I'm known for, my old version of myself is like, how did you get there? And honestly, it was these small baby really scary steps that were like, really like, Okay, you have this huge, wide net of people, but you're getting smaller and smaller. And it just felt like, kind of at first, like the walls were closing in on me, like, is this the right move? And it was super, super scary. But once I made that move, and I found that energy, like I said about podcasting, and I'm like, I'm just talking about the things that fire me up and light me up. And people can see that it's the thing that people always say is like, how are you this excited about podcasting and marketing? Like, we see your energy, but is that real? Is it authentic? And it truly is, because I'm not wasting anybody's time talking about things that aren't important to me.
Heather Sager 18:46
Yeah, okay. I love this. And I've started thinking about what do I get really excited about? And I think chocolate. So maybe in another life, I could do a whole thing around chocolate.
Krystal Proffitt 18:56
Be a chocolatier.
Heather Sager 18:59
I could think of some things you could talk about. That would be fantastic. All right. Now I want some. I can't have some because I'm still on 75 H, but that's okay. All right. So what I want to start thinking about so we think about you winding up 2020, you started thinking about, right, what's your next level in business? I'm just curious. What were some of your bigger goals you had for your business looking back when you were in 2020? I know that was a very interesting year for us, like thinking about it. Goal setting was a little an awkward topic. But what were some of the goals that you had for your business at that time? What were you looking ahead, looking to do?
Krystal Proffitt 19:33
Speaking on stages, because I had attended some of my first business conferences that were really in our space, right, like the online entrepreneur, the online business owner, I had attended several. There were some book signings, there were, you know, events that you and I attended together and it's just we did not meet in person, by the way. Heather and I've never met in person.
Heather Sager 19:53
I know that's really sad.
Krystal Proffitt 19:56
But it's like one of these things where like, I had this energy around, oh my gosh, people can actually get paid to speak on stages. And I would see people and I would just immediately say, that's what I want to do. Like they were doing what I wanted. And so in 2020, like coming into the first few months of that year, I was like, this is my year. This is what I'm going to speak on all the stages, and people are going to come knocking on my door asking, and do I need to tell everybody that's what happened, ladies and gentlemen. But yeah, those are my big goals. And it was a physical stages, because at that point, I wasn't thinking of stages in the way that after learning from Heather Sager. I see stages in a totally different perspective and a very different mindset than I did back then. I was thinking it was just this conference live event type of stage and that's really what I had my eyes set on.
Heather Sager 20:57
Yeah, so let's just go there. So when the whole world shut down, the whole conference world shut down and that wasn't a thing anymore, what happened to that goal for you?
Krystal Proffitt 21:07
You know, I think it just kind of, it was like on pause, like, it didn't feel important. And it wasn't that it wasn't important in the overall scheme of my business, it just felt like it wasn't important at that moment. You know, like, there were other priorities. It was like, you know, that's not what you should be focusing on right now, right at this moment. And it shifted slowly as I saw other parts of our industry shifting online. And I was like, Okay, I just turned into, instead of being the immediate goal to. I'm going to watch what other people who are still doing what I want to do. What are they doing? And how are they showing up in this big presence that I still wanted to have?
Heather Sager 22:00
So what was the, as you started seeing that, right, what was the catalyst for you to say, you know what, I actually think this could be reality for me. I want to speak on stages. You already had spoken on stages. It's not like you were shy about being in front of groups. But what really made you start thinking about, okay, I want to take this seriously and really start leveling up my communication skills?
Krystal Proffitt 22:23
So now that you're saying that, I did have one live event speaking experience in 2020. It was February 2020. It was like the end of February. So it was like, this is why it was that big goal because I knew that this thing was coming. I had this live event and I was like, I'm just going to keep the momentum going and I'm going to keep, and then that's when everything just kind of like, came to a big halt. And so it was from that, I was like, what else is there? And honestly, I have to attribute so much of it of just hanging out. This was around the same time that you and I were like in the same sphere. We were in the some of the same Facebook groups where I was following you on Instagram, I was listening to your podcast as well, because I was hearing you in my ear saying, okay, guys, like let's not all freak out. It's not all about the stage, like the physical stage. There are other ways to show up online.
And so I really started paying attention to the types of content I was consuming as a consumer now. I was attending summits, I was attending workshops, webinars, virtual events. And so I really started paying attention to again, the same people that I saw on stage now are doing these other podcast episodes, live streams. This was another really big one. That was around the same time I started live streaming and experimenting with consistently going live. And it just gave me this energy of let's do this and practice until we're ready to be back on that physical stage because we didn't know when that was going to happen again, and I still wasn't sure. Is that really what I wanted? I don't know. But I'm going to practice in the meantime, because that's just who I am.
Heather Sager 24:09
Yeah, it totally is who you are. And that's the thing is, I think you really have are the epitome of a special kind of entrepreneur that is listening. One who feels totally comfortable being in front of an audience, has no issue stepping up to a microphone, sharing your message and back. You love it. It lights you up, right? We talk a lot on the show about people who are terrified of public speaking and that's like one of my number one downloaded episodes, but you were already good. You were already showing up. You were already glowing from it. I'm just curious what was missing that made you go, you know what I actually want to work on my speaking skills, like what was the catalyst for you?
Krystal Proffitt 24:46
I wanted to be funnier on stage. Let's just be really honest. Like you have that question, that's like, what would you do if you weren't doing what you're doing today? I love stand up comedy. I love watching comedians. And it's one of those things where I'm just like, I was watching these people speaking of all the conferences I'd gone to, I'd watch these people get on stage and they were crushing it. They were getting laughs, they were making points, they're making people cry in the audience. And I was like, I felt like I was just getting on stage and people were listening, you know, and it wasn't like, they're really hearing and like taking a good, there was no real emotion. I felt it was just kind of like, I'm standing up and I'm speaking and it didn't feel like, you know, I'm sure I know you know this Heather, but you're in a room and when you say something that has power, and authority and energy in the room, you feel that. You totally feel that and I didn't feel that on stage the first few times that I spoke. And so I was like, I want that. I want how these other speakers made me feel. I want to do that to other people. So does that answer your question?
Heather Sager 25:58
I didn't know that was your answer. Oh, I wanted to be funnier, like how funny is that? Side tangent here real quick. When you talk about, we all know that moment, we either experienced it in an audience or from a stage where you have that powerful just energy exchanged with an audience. And what's interesting is in 2020, the number one pushback I saw from people of going, Oh, virtual is just not the same. I'm just not feeding off that energy. And while yes, there was a lack of energy exchanged from the audience being back, I think what actually happened was people had the painstakingly like awareness that they didn't actually have the energy to carry a virtual room and I think that was scary for them and it was an easy cop out to say, oh, it was just because the lack of interaction. No, here's the deal. It's the as a presenter, you have to carry the energy in a room. And the faster you figure that out, the faster you learn, that it's more than just your content. It's about your presence and how you show up, the more success you'll find. So side note, that's my little mini TED talk in the middle of this episode.
Krystal Proffitt 27:03
You made a mic drop, like, you know, the mic drop, like sound effects, because that was so good. So good, so true.
Heather Sager 27:09
Yes. Okay. So you made the decision, I want to be funnier, you made the decision, I want to start prepping for speaking on stages. You jumped into Speak up to Level up I think in January of 2019, right?
Krystal Proffitt 27:22
It was 2019. No, it was 2020.
Heather Sager 27:26
2021.
Krystal Proffitt 27:27
Yeah.
Heather Sager 27:28
I went weird in my head there for a moment. 2021. So last year, a little over a year ago. You jump inside the program. Talk a little bit about and by the way, y'all this isn't a promotion for the program, though doors are opening up for SpeakUp to Level up on the 21st of March, if you want to join us for our spring cohort. But this is more of a conversation what happens when you make the decision to work on your communication skills and level up with your voice. So Krystal, when you started paying attention, instead of just showing up on microphones or on stages, when you started paying attention and saying, how can I learn the skill of speaking to be more effective, more funny, entertaining, whatever it looks like. What did you notice right out of the gate?
Krystal Proffitt 28:08
So in like, in making that, like, I'm going to show up serious and I'm like actually put these things. Okay, so the number one thing and I this is going to sound so dorky but this is just totally who I am. I love how you in the program have so many templates because I'm not a template person. I like, hey you know, just give me the thing. I'm gonna do the thing. I'm more of like a visual, show me the outline, like show me the format and I'll make it my own. And so you have the one that's like, you know, the speaking script or like how to actually formulate, like lay out a talk. I go back to it. It is a template on my hard drive. Like I just recopy that every single time I have a presentation, I created a Canva like thing. I have to speak, I use that thing so much because it was mind blowing to me that I would typically write out like some bullet points like oh, this is the beginning, the middle, the end, kind of like we all learn how to write in elementary school, how to write a paper, this is what it's supposed to be. Well, that's pretty vanilla. And that's how vanilla my talks were with just a beginning, a middle and end. It didn't have all this like pizzazz and the banter and like, tell this story and this is how you can connect this and you can loop it back around here. And let's just be really honest, what you gave me was basically a stand up comedy script like when we think about these punch lines that these stand up comedians are able to, at the very end, you're always like, how do they bring that back around? How are they able to you know, give us that zinger at the end that goes all the way back to something they said at the very beginning and I felt like all of a sudden, I had this template that would make me unstoppable. I know it's so dramatic, but it's true. It's the thing that I go back to time and time again. So I'm looking at your program. Yes, like, and it's so funny. I know Heather, she laughs at me as you know, just a friend of mine. She's like, really, you go through the courses like, from the very beginning like ever? I was like, yes. I'm an A-plus student, I will watch every single video, I do every single worksheet, like this is how I am. Now I will listen to Heather on like to 2x when I watch her videos which is kind of hard because she talk so fast.
Heather Sager 30:29
You know at 2x, it's like intense like.
Krystal Proffitt 30:34
But what I was doing is I was like, okay, like I want to digest all of this information and then I want to go back when I need it and I know exactly where I need to go. And so I found myself, I went through the program and then I found myself going back to that time and time again because whenever I want to go and pitch someone and we can talk about that too, because that was another aha moment for me is I would go to fill out these applications to speak on stage. And I'm like, well, I don't have it all written out. I don't have it all done and I would make something up in the moment. I shouldn't admit this out loud I am. I would make something up and say, oh, I could talk about this. And I could, you know, fill in a silly title here and put into description and what are your talking points. I was pulling all of this out of my ass like I didn't know, and I wasn't even writing it down. Sometimes I wasn't even like saving it in a Google Doc. And so having the, really the slap on the wrist, that's what you gave me. It was like, Krystal, you're being sloppy, you can be better than this. And it's obvious now to me why I wasn't getting asked to speak on a lot of these stages because I was just kind of like, oh, well, I'll just throw it together, it'll be good enough and hopefully, somebody will ask me to speak on stage. So what you helped me do was get my act together, like be more prepared in what you're doing, because it actually makes every single part of the process so much easier if you do like you follow a system, and that's really what I learned from you. So does that answer your question?
Heather Sager 32:14
You know, it's so funny that to hear back, right? The things that speak to most people. You say my program has templates and stuff, I laugh because I am totally not a templates, swipe script person. I'm anti, everybody learned that in the very first session of if you're looking for that you're in the wrong place, because you got to learn how to communicate, otherwise, you're reliant upon some formula and you will not memorize like it won't work. So it's funny that that comes up because we do. We do help people walk through frameworks that allow them to bring their own information, their own ideas, their own humor, their own personality into a framework that works. And it's just, I always just giggle with that but that's the thing.
Krystal Proffitt 32:53
I want to say something else too, because you have you know, you have a lesson in there about stories. And I think that I kind of brushed over, like I always tell myself, we have a bunch of good stories. And it's like, oh, yeah, I could just pull this, you know, out of the air whenever I need it. But I'm going to tell you, I've been on so many podcast episodes and so many other stages where I'm like, oh, I wish I would have pulled this other story out and said it would have been so much better. But now that I do have this framework of looking at my own journey, or my own personal life that I can bring in these stories, and I have a different way of looking at speaking now. And it's funny because I can see it now, like I can't forget all the things that I've learned. But I can look at all the places where I'm like, oh my gosh, I showed up and I did the best that I could in that moment. But if I would have had this, I would have been so much better. And so it is, it's just part of the journey of getting better. But yeah, including stories and making it that personal connection is just, it's everything for sure.
Heather Sager 33:58
That's one of my personal favorite, like I joke every week when I send an email like this is my favorite module. They're all my favorite. But okay, one of the analogies I'm going to use here, y'all know we've talked about analogies and we do cover analogies in the program. I think was stories, specifically that moment you were saying, I think so many people, especially people who are natural on stages in front of audiences, that was me before I got serious about becoming a professional speaker. It's like making the decision to say I'm going to get healthy. I'm going to start eating clean, I'm gonna throw away the processed foods, I'm going to cut the sugar or just like just make sure that you're eating what you know your body actually needs. It's like making that statement and then saying, like when it comes to meal time going, what am I going to eat? You're not going to make smart decisions when you're already hungry. You need to plan ahead and prep. Fill up your pantry, your fridge with the stuff that actually is the good for you food, because you and I both know that when we get hangry we're gonna like snarf down the Snickers bar. Like that's, like that's why they have a whole campaign around like the snickers hangry, so the same thing happens. And I think this is the miss with what I would say good presenters.
We talked about this a couple weeks ago on the podcast is that probably one of the biggest sneaky distractions in your business is being a good presenter because it's not a pain point, you're not terrified to get on camera, you're not worried about doing a podcast interview, however, like Krystal, you're sitting there going like, oh, man, when it's time to like, fill out one of those forms, you're pulling stuff out of your ass. And it's not like it's bad stuff. It's just the, it's not intentional. And the thing though, is the next level of business on the other side of you setting some damn good intentions with the plan to back it up. That's like, that's one of the reasons why I wanted to have you here because I think so many people, it's easy to sweep under the rug of saying, we don't need to focus on something unless we have a problem with it. Many of you are walking around thinking that you're totally fine in this area of speaking and that's fine if you want to stay where you are. But if you want to reach another level of business, you sure as hell better work in this area of your business.
Krystal Proffitt 36:01
Yeah, and I think that, you know, having. I know a lot of people now in the online space that run their own events and so they are in charge, like they're charged with picking speakers, and who's this, and who's that, and I've seen a little bit of behind the scenes of why they pick certain people. And I thought, man, like so many of my old pitches are they're so plain. And I think that what people are looking for is something that's compelling, something that's not what you see every day or you know, I've applied to some events that have at minimum 600 plus applications. And if you're not standing out, you're not showing that you're prepared. You got your shit tacky together, then they're just, they're gonna blow past what you have to say because they're not going to waste their time on somebody that's mediocre. They want to see that you're serious about what you do, and that you show up really well. And yeah, that's a priority for me today and it wasn't in the beginning.
Heather Sager 37:01
Yeah. Okay. I love that piece. Let's talk about that pitching elemen because you mentioned that before. You recently participated in one of our, we had a live event called Pitch Fest, where we help people get like their pitches together, get more comfortable getting out on stages. Talk a little bit about how you going after opportunities and going after stages, how that has shifted from the winging it, entering in your stuff and forgetting to save what you submitted.
Krystal Proffitt 37:27
Oh my gosh, it's embarrassing like to think about. I'm like, you could have even like, just put it in a notes tab on your phone or something like what are you doing? But yeah, so really from that moment of just saying, I'm going to pitch because that's my number one goal in 2022 is to get on more stages, it's still something that I'm striving for. It's not making x amount of dollars in revenue. It's not this, it's not the, it is getting on more stages because I have seen the power of visibility. I have seen the power of somebody else saying you should listen to this person, not me screaming from the rooftops. Listen to me, listen to me, I'm amazing. It's somebody else saying, we have someone of value that can add more value to what you're doing and you got to go check out what she's doing. You got to go follow her or even just the mere fact of, you know, recently I did a speaking opportunity for Podcast Movement University. Now this is really cool because, and Heather and I talked about this behind the scenes. I had applied to speak for one of their events that's happening in LA in March. It's actually happening probably when this episode goes live and I got an email back that said, your talk wasn't accepted. And of course, that's always like, oh, you know, I really wanted to do this, like it was kind of it was, like, just disappointing, right? Because you want everybody to always say yes. But at the end of the day, what ended up happening is, I had this confidence in myself that I didn't have previously. Previously, I would have stopped it. Oh, I'm so disappointed. I'm going to give myself a pity party. But what I did is I pivoted and I switched to, I feel really good doing virtual events. I feel really good showing up live. So I sent an email back to them. And I said, hey, well, you know, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. Maybe we can work together in the future. By the way, if you ever need someone to help you with a virtual event hit me up, I'd be happy to. And it was because I sent that follow up email. They said we would love to have you on there. So I think that in the pitching process of getting those noes, getting those rejections getting those, you know, maybe or we'll circle back in six months, whatever. It's really helped. It's a muscle, right? It's that muscle of confidence. And it's given me the ability to feel a lot better when I do send up pitches that even if it's a no, I don't have that like, oh, you know this it's all about me, it's a blow to my ego, it's, it's okay, what can I learn from this? What can I take away from this to make my next one better?
Heather Sager 40:13
I love that you brought that up that is one of my core philosophies, Core values is the idea around, stuffs gonna happen, rejections going to happen, like stuffs gonna go wrong? The question is what opportunity can we make out because that puts the control in our hands to be able to navigate how we're going to approach something. I love how you turn that rejection around. It's just one of my favorites. What else have for you when you think over the last 15 months or so? How have you seen, not necessarily your business changed, but what have you noticed that's different now that you're showing up in a more powerful way, in more effective way, in more intentional way?
Krystal Proffitt 40:49
I mean, I would just go back to the referrals and that authority of someone saying like, Oh, you're on Heather's podcast, you are on the Podcast Movement thing, like and so it's given me this authority, that, yes, again, me shouting from the rooftops and saying, blah, you know this about myself. It really has that leverage of a different position in the market based on other people saying she's qualified, not just, I'm amazing, I'm this and that. And so that authority-credibility boost of, you know, oh, I can put their logo on my website now. Or I can, you know, do a shout out on social media and say, Hey, thank you so much for having me on the show and it's like this impressive thing that I can show out there. But in reality, it all comes down to it makes me feel validated in all the ways that I really want to show up as an entrepreneur, because we have things that we have to do in our business that sometimes we're like, oh, you know, I don't really want to do that but it's part of the job so I have to get it done. But this stuff for me is like, oh, my gosh, I get to talk to other experts in my industry about the thing that I love to talk about. And in doing that, I get to serve the audience I want to serve and they are telling other people that they should listen to me, and they should come to my website, go to my Instagram, go to my YouTube channel, you know, like,it's just this and I know, you talked about this. It's the magnet. It's the magnetic talk of being able to bring people into your sphere, instead of you know, just yelling at people, here I am, look at me. It's the whole thing.
Heather Sager 42:34
So the big question, everyone is wondering, so Krystal, are you funnier now?
Krystal Proffitt 42:41
I don't know. I don't know that I'm funnier but I can tell a better joke. I could tell a better joke from stage. And I have been like, it's this weird. And Heather, I have no idea. If you know about the psychology of this. I know you read a thousand books every other day. But I want to say I think about when I'm speaking, everything's a lot clearer. Previously, it would have been muddled, it would have been a lot more like, Oh, what did she say? I gotta think about, you know, like, it was just a lot more cloudy in my head when I was trying to process conversations on podcast, or on a live stream, or if I was on a panel. I actually did a few panels last year, too and that was a brand new opportunity. I'd never done that before. I'm like, reaching out in the SULU group. I'm like SOS, anybody done a panel. I need your help. I don't know what I'm doing here. But it was in doing that, again, it's the muscle memory of practicing being prepared, knowing what my talking points are going to be, knowing what my big call to action was. But okay, this is pretty funny. Talk about full circle moment. The speaking mantra. Who do you want to be? How do you want people to feel about you when you're on stage? That was something I think I had thought to myself, but I kind of felt a little egocentric about it. I'm like, I don't, are you supposed to say I want people to feel like to laugh at my jokes. I want them to cry like that felt really weird to me. But for you to say no, you like here you have a place right at the top, like what's your speaking mantra? Like, call it out. How do you want people to feel? It was really freeing to have that like, oh, Heather said I can actually put this on here. And now it's like, it's the thing and it's what's helped me shaped all of my talks and make sure that I'm working towards that goal of being funny, of being relatable or whatever I'm working towards for a talk.
Heather Sager 44:39
Yes. Okay. I love that you brought that up. The Speaking Montra is one of my favorite things that I teach. Just quick shout out, I do cover it in one of the earlier episodes of the podcast. I have a link below if you want to learn more about what we're talking about with being more intentional with how you show up. If you want to be funny, calling yourself funny. I'll hit on that in the link to that episode in the show notes.
Krystal Proffitt 45:00
That's great.
Heather Sager 45:01
Krystal, I remember you sent me a Vox at the end of last year when you were doing kind of your debrief from 2021. And if I remember word for word, the Vox said, Heather, holy crap. I spoke on every stage on my dream list in 2021. And what's funny is you sent me that message in like the fall, it wasn't even the end of the year yet. Can you tell me what was going through your mind when you send me that message?
Krystal Proffitt 45:27
Ah, it just didn't feel that it was, I didn't felt like it was possible to call my shot and say these are my dream stages and actually make them happen in a 12 month period. And it wasn't even a full 12 month period, like you said it was October was the last speaking event, the big one that I did. And so it was, from January to October, to say I want to speak on. It was four really big stages and they all happened. And I'm still like, what? It's like, just thinking back to like you said, like, let's transport, like teleport back in time to January 2021 and saying that this is going to happen. I remember thinking, yeah, but the world's not all open and it's not all back together and I don't know if this is actually possible. So there was this like, sliver of self doubt still, like at the very bottom of everything that I was saying. But also, I was just like, you know what, it's gonna happen. I have the tools, I have the resources. I, you know, I have this great support system of knowing that A, B and C won't always equal a yes, but it will get me damn closer to that yes than I was before, whenever I was just like, baa, I hope that this works. Let me throw a spaghetti against the wall. That's not what I do anymore. And I'm excited. I have bigger stages now which is still terrifying to think about the different stages I want to be on now. But it's also really, really exciting.
Heather Sager 47:04
When you look ahead in your business and the visibility opportunities that you want to chase in the future, what are you most excited about when you look ahead to 2022 and beyond?
Krystal Proffitt 47:15
Oh, I think I want to work on my delivery still. I think it's something that like, I want to get better, I want to get funnier. I don't know if that's a thing. I want to be funnier. But I really want it to be a service to the audience, like I think that that's always the priority, because and you know, anybody listening to this podcast will understand. There's so many people that do this really badly. So many people that don't put their audience first. They don't put who they're speaking to first. And you listen to a webinar or a workshop, or a virtual Summit, an event and you're like, why did I waste an hour of my life? And I never want anyone to ever say that about what I'm doing. And so I always want to deliver this just above and beyond, overachiever, overdelivering to where people walk away from anything that I said, and they're just like, that is worth my time. That's really what I'm looking forward to. And as far as stages, it's so funny, because I just was redoing a page on my website and I decided, you know what, I'm going to put on here my dream stages. And it was really scary. It was really scary because I'm shooting for the stars here. I want to be on Good Morning America one day. This is my new dream stage, like, holy crap, that sounds scary to even say that out loud. But I mean, this is really what I'm looking at and I don't think that that's going to happen in tomorrow. But it's something that I'm shooting like, this is my goal, like I have what I'm aiming for now and I look at what are the things that I have to do to get there and let's be totally honest, Good Morning America probably doesn't want to talk to someone back in 2019 who didn't know what their messaging was and had no idea what she was talking about. I wasn't confident like I feel like I'm getting a step closer to those dreams stages by just keep moving forward and keep trying.
Heather Sager 49:21
I love that and I love this idea around setting big dreams right even when you say like it's not gonna be tomorrow. It could be but right but it's the, you said something out that were you do question your ability to hit on it. You did that with your dream stage list. I want to make sure people don't skip over how important this is. I think in the online world we know it's not easy. There is no easy button. I wrote some copy earlier. I was really proud of that. It was like people are aware that online business is not the field of dreams like just because you build it does not mean that your audience will come a run,like you have to actually do the work. But I do think there's a disconnect where people have these big arbitrary goals of a million dollar business for six month, that million dollar business but they don't actually know what that means. But they place us are for the future. They just focus on the how do I get through this week, this launch, this PDF, this whatever thing and they're so focused on what's right in front of their face, they don't actually set the bigger dream goals, because they know they're not possible for them right now. And I say like, if you set that bigger goal for yourself, so you can keep your eyes up so that you don't spend so much time and energy obsessing over those little things that are not going to matter six months from now. Anyways, like how do you keep your eyes up on the bigger prize so that you can be less obsessed and caught up in and perfection-y stalled, and I just made up some like phrases there. But I think we obsess over things that in the grand scheme of things are not important. It's because we're obsessing over a goal that's in the moment, versus looking over things that really are what we want down the road. But we don't believe that we have the skills to get there. Stop focusing on the damn PDF and start focusing on the skills people like, yes, that's my two cents.
Krystal Proffitt 51:03
No, that's 100%. And like, I mean, just to iterate on what you're saying, what I do is, if I achieve something, like you said, like, as soon as I sent you that Vox, where I was like, Oh my gosh, like I did it Heather, like it was this celebratory because I'm the worst at celebrating goals. And it was something that was like, okay, I need to get better at this. And so in sending that message, I was doing two things. One, I was celebrating in letting you know, oh my gosh, like this happened, I achieved this thing. But it was also this challenge to myself, like, what's next? What are you going to do next? Like if you hit, if you climbed Everest, you know, what is the next mountain that you're going to aim for? Not the next one you're gonna conquer, right? Because what I do love about speaking is, there's been some amazing opportunities that were never on my radar that have kind of come into fruition because I was putting myself out there in big ways in the first place where people were like, Oh, I saw you were doing stuff with this company or with that brand. Now, like, can we talk and I'm like, Whoa, I had no idea that that was even going to be a dream stage of mine. But now here I am and I've shown up in places that still to this day, blow me away because they were never on my radar but it wouldn't have happened had I not taken that initiative to say, this is who I am, this is how I'm going to show up, and let's do like, let's go, like let's make this work because I'm having fun. Yes, of course. I want to come speak on your stage. Let's do this.
Heather Sager 52:42
How dang good is that? You know, I forget that people struggle when we talk about dream stages, right? I see a lot of people struggle with this activity we do right at the beginning. We're going to do this in speaking workshops coming up around how do you really target your dream stages. And I see so many online entrepreneurs be like, I don't even know. I don't even know what stages are out there. And that's not an excuse to not set a few of them. Because as you said, the more that you get in it, the more opportunities will become available. It's just like, thinking back to when you first started in the online space. I mean, I don't know I think every online entrepreneur has a moment where they remember life before knowing online marketing and building digital courses, programs, all this stuff and before. And beforehand, it was like you know nothing and then you're like this whole new world that people in real life do not know about. I think it's the same thing for speaking. People don't realize they just have their processions around what it is about stages but once you get into it, opportunities are everywhere. You just have to be brave enough to step into it. And holy crap, have you done so the last few years for you, Krystal. I'm so proud of you and I can't wait to see what you do next on stages.
Krystal Proffitt 53:50
And thank you so much. I have to tell you, for anybody that's listening and you're struggling to find your dream stage, just pay attention, pay attention to what's happening, because I can tell you I spoke on stage last year that the opportunity never would have come like I don't even think that it would be possible for me to do it. But I paid attention to something that was trending and something that was like hot off the press like really in the news. I wasn't on like a news station or anything. I spoken someone's paid group and it was because I was paying attention. And I was like, Oh, they could really use an expert on that in this moment and I don't think they have anybody in that community right now. So I just basically raised my hand and said, Hey, I'd love to offer value to your audience. And it was just one of those that just totally blew me away. It wasn't on my radar.
Heather Sager 54:41
Can we just name the stage, please?
Krystal Proffitt 54:42
Yeah, so it was Amy Porterfield's Momentum Community. I had always said like, oh my gosh, it'd be amazing to speak on Amy Porterfield's stage or you know her Entrepreneur Experience or one of her virtual events but last year in April. When Apple podcasts made all these changes, they didn't have anybody in their community that can really, I just like raise my hand and I said, Hey, guys, if y'all need anybody to kind of decipher what's going on, or there's lots of questions around all these changes, I just kind of, again, I kind of did it a little unprepared of exactly what I was going to say. But I also was like, here's some bullet points, I knew some highlights of what would be really helpful. Again, using Heather's template. I was like, Okay, if I could just do this, I can throw everything into it. I had the confidence because I know that I have all the tools in my toolbox to make this thing work. I just need to put myself out there with the confidence that I can do this and make it happen and it ended up working and it was so cool. And now I can say that I've spoken in front of her membership community which is super, super awesome.
Heather Sager 55:52
It's so, so awesome. We had two SULU members speak on Momentum, Amy Porterfield's program last year. I want to hit on just one thing with that. You said you originally had the goal to speak on Amy's stage. Side note, if you're in online marketing, I would imagine that's probably something on your vision board. I think it's like a rite of passage if you listened to her show, but I think so many people get tied to thinking like, oh, I want to speak on this person stage where they tie one specific thing to it, like the goal is to be a guest on Online Marketing Made Easy or some might, right? What I want to encourage people to think about is set the intention but be flexible on how that surfaces. So like Krystal, maybe it's not Amy's podcast, maybe that'll come but she sought an opportunity to speak on a different kind of stage for Amy, Momentum. I had a very similar goal. I've had speaking on Amy's stage on my setlist for a long time. I kind of just put it on the back burner. I wasn't focused on it. And then randomly last month, I get a message from her team saying hey, would you be willing to join a panel and have Amy interview you to talk about your experience in our B School bonus package? And I remember I got that going, ah, one it was during a time where I wasn't supposed to be working. Two, I remember thinking like I liked B school but I mean, I was more into Amy's bonuses. So am I really going to be the best ambassador for B School? And the next morning I remember I opened up my thing, my little journal that I have my goals on and over in the corner I saw speak on Amy's stage. And I was like, Holy shit, this dropped right in my lap. I didn't even chase it. Like that's Amy's stage. In short, it was a Facebook live stream but I had this epiphany because I was so focused on like the goal being a guest on her podcast or speaking at her live event that it was dropped in my lap and holy crap, what a beautiful opportunity. We just had that earlier this week. And is it going to be something that turns into business? No, but it was the being in her presence. I remember when I logged in and introduced myself. I met her before but she didn't remember me. And when I introduced what I did, she goes, wait a minute. Are you the coach that worked with Tarzan Kay? And I was like I've also worked with Tyler McCall, Zafira Rajan who spoke, I worked on her keynote at your event last year. And she's like, holy crap, Tarzan is like rambling on and about you. You're so good at what you do. And I was like, yes. So it was just a good validation of strengthening that relationship to hopefully get on the stage. I go off on the side tangent for a second because I think we get so focused on the like, what the goal is going to play out that we sometimes forget about the opportunities right in front of us. Stay open, stay open, keep looking for opportunities, I think, just let shit come and make it magical.
Krystal Proffitt 58:33
Yes, oh my gosh, 100%. Don't just have everything in a box. I'm totally against boxes when people are like, this is the old like tunnel vision. So, so much that it's almost like you have the binoculars and you're like, I don't see anything. I'm like, just throw them away. Just look at the whole vision. Look at the whole landscape of all the cool opportunities that are out there and let that magic come to you. Because once you start putting yourself out there, I'm telling you, if you're listening right now, you've never put yourself out on a stage, you've never pitch, you never talked on the stage and you're feeling a lot of those nerves like just sit in the uncomfortableness, that maybe that's what's going to be when you first do your first talk, or you first do your first pitch but I'm sitting on the other side of it. And I am so grateful that I did start doing like Facebook lives way back in the day that nobody ever showed up to and they were terrible. But it was like that slow muscle again, I keep saying this. It's that muscle of speaking. It's the word vomit. It's the showing up when no one's looking. It's recording myself. And then I tell Heather I'm like is it normal to record myself in this like dictation app like five times and then I take out all of my filler words and she's like, no, you may not be normal to other people. But you're normal to me like this is good. This is good practice.
Heather Sager 59:00
You're right on track. You're right on track. All right. I so appreciate you coming today, Krystal and sharing your story. I know you and I could talk for hours as we actually have because we had a different meeting before at this podcast interview. But we're gonna like land on the plane here. For those who are now excited to learn more about you and follow you on your journey to get on Good Morning America, can you share where they can connect with you?
Krystal Proffitt 1:00:17
Yes, at krystalproffitt.com is the best place and it's gonna have links to go to Instagram, go to YouTube, go to my podcast, all the different places. That's Krystal with the K, and profit with two F's and two T's. And Heather, I just want to say thank you so much. I mean, we are friends behind the scenes, but I just so appreciate the value that you continue to deliver to me on a personal level, on a professional level. But I see you doing all these amazing things and it inspires and encourages me so I just shout out to give you a little love.
Heather Sager 1:00:50
Thanks for that love note. Last week I talked about how much I love love notes. So that was just very special. Thank you, I feel the same about you. Alright, friends, if you were inspired by Krystals story, be sure to tell her. Make sure you tag her on Instagram, you can find her handle again, at @krystalproffitt. I'll tag her on everything when I roll it out. But I want to encourage you, you know, Speak up to Level up as I mentioned, the doors are opening here real soon. But I want to give you a little taste and help you start exploring what it's possible for you to start using your voice in a more intentional way, like we talked about today. So doors are officially open for our speaking workshop series. It's getting a little taste of Heather and the methods we talked about today. When Krystal was talking about that template, that framework earlier, we're going to dive into some of those pieces start helping you put together the pieces so that you can be more strategic with your voice and grow your online business. So if you want to get more information on that, head over to heather sager.com/speakingworkshops, and I hope to see you in the workshops real soon. All right, Krystal, thanks for joining today. I'll talk to you real soon on Vox.
Krystal Proffitt 1:01:48
Thank you for having me.
Heather Sager 1:01:50
Bye, friends!