1 00:00:03,890 --> 00:00:06,590 Diane Diaz: Do you ever feel like your voice maybe isn't 2 00:00:06,590 --> 00:00:08,750 being heard? Or that maybe you're stuck 3 00:00:08,750 --> 00:00:11,540 telling the same old stories, or you're not 4 00:00:11,540 --> 00:00:15,440 even sure how to tell your own stories in 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:17,420 your work or in your message? 6 00:00:17,450 --> 00:00:19,850 Well, I'm Diane Diaz, lead speaking coach at 7 00:00:19,850 --> 00:00:22,700 Speaking Your Brand. And on today's episode, 8 00:00:22,700 --> 00:00:24,560 it's going to be all about breaking through 9 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,320 those barriers and diving into the power of 10 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:29,660 using your voice, telling your story, and 11 00:00:29,660 --> 00:00:32,330 how speaking can be a game changer for your 12 00:00:32,330 --> 00:00:34,400 personal brand building, but also building 13 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:35,450 your business. 14 00:00:35,480 --> 00:00:37,610 And who better to guide us through this? 15 00:00:37,610 --> 00:00:39,230 And someone who's spent over 30 years 16 00:00:39,230 --> 00:00:42,110 solving problems, building businesses, and 17 00:00:42,110 --> 00:00:43,970 empowering others to do the same. 18 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:45,980 So get ready for some inspiring insights on 19 00:00:45,980 --> 00:00:48,560 entrepreneurship, storytelling, her speaking 20 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:50,690 journey, and finding your voice as we 21 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,180 welcome Michelle Mosman to the show. 22 00:00:53,180 --> 00:00:55,280 Welcome to the podcast, Michelle. 23 00:00:55,940 --> 00:00:57,080 Michelle Massman: Thank you Diane. 24 00:00:57,110 --> 00:00:58,970 It is so great to be here. 25 00:00:59,150 --> 00:01:01,230 Diane Diaz: Oh, I'm so excited for our listeners to hear 26 00:01:01,230 --> 00:01:03,720 from you. And so we'll talk a little bit 27 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,000 about how you came to working with us. 28 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,030 But first, let's just start by you giving 29 00:01:09,030 --> 00:01:10,650 our audience a little bit of insight into 30 00:01:10,650 --> 00:01:12,270 who you are and what you do in your 31 00:01:12,270 --> 00:01:13,170 business. 32 00:01:14,070 --> 00:01:17,250 Michelle Massman: Okay. Well, I have owned my business, as you 33 00:01:17,250 --> 00:01:19,920 said, for over 30 years, which is kind of 34 00:01:19,950 --> 00:01:22,860 crazy to me. But over that time, I've done 35 00:01:22,860 --> 00:01:23,970 all kinds of things. 36 00:01:23,970 --> 00:01:26,430 But in a nutshell, I usually say that I'm an 37 00:01:26,460 --> 00:01:27,960 on demand vice president. 38 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:30,750 And so what I mean by that is that I work 39 00:01:30,750 --> 00:01:34,740 with a lot of entrepreneur clients, and most 40 00:01:34,740 --> 00:01:36,840 of the time it's smaller businesses. 41 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,030 I work with a lot of women entrepreneurs. 42 00:01:39,060 --> 00:01:41,190 A lot of times they're solopreneurs, or they 43 00:01:41,190 --> 00:01:43,650 might have a small team, but they're not 44 00:01:43,650 --> 00:01:45,240 really in a position where they have a vice 45 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:47,250 president in their company. 46 00:01:47,250 --> 00:01:50,550 And so a lot of my consulting work is 47 00:01:50,550 --> 00:01:53,250 working as an on demand vice president. 48 00:01:53,250 --> 00:01:56,010 So I will sometimes work with people on a 49 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,140 long term basis. Sometimes it's on a shorter 50 00:01:58,140 --> 00:02:01,540 term basis, But the best part about it is 51 00:02:01,540 --> 00:02:04,600 that once I get to know their company and 52 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:07,630 them as a person, I can hold that story. 53 00:02:07,630 --> 00:02:09,940 And so if they call me three months later or 54 00:02:09,940 --> 00:02:12,010 six months later and say, now I'm having 55 00:02:12,010 --> 00:02:14,830 this issue, we can pick up where we left off 56 00:02:14,830 --> 00:02:17,560 and not have to go through that entire, you 57 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:19,540 know, understanding the business again. 58 00:02:19,540 --> 00:02:22,930 And so I love working with my clients. 59 00:02:23,050 --> 00:02:26,320 In addition to that, I also co-own and 60 00:02:26,350 --> 00:02:28,180 operate two music groups. 61 00:02:28,180 --> 00:02:29,770 That's a whole other story. 62 00:02:29,770 --> 00:02:32,440 And I just launched a new business with a 63 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:35,470 new business partner two weeks ago called 64 00:02:35,470 --> 00:02:37,330 The Culinary Studio, which is going to be 65 00:02:37,330 --> 00:02:39,940 teaching cooking classes in my area. 66 00:02:39,970 --> 00:02:42,070 I partnered with a woman who is a chef and a 67 00:02:42,070 --> 00:02:45,130 culinary instructor, and so we just launched 68 00:02:45,130 --> 00:02:48,430 that as well, which is turning into my next 69 00:02:48,430 --> 00:02:52,180 speaking topic, um, which is really about 70 00:02:52,180 --> 00:02:54,580 passion to profit and how entrepreneurs 71 00:02:54,580 --> 00:02:55,960 build what they want. 72 00:02:55,960 --> 00:02:58,840 And sometimes we have to, you know, really 73 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:03,020 be aware of how we're taking what we want 74 00:03:03,050 --> 00:03:05,270 and what the market needs into account. 75 00:03:06,410 --> 00:03:08,180 Diane Diaz: That is fascinating. 76 00:03:08,180 --> 00:03:10,370 So for our listeners, I kind of already knew 77 00:03:10,370 --> 00:03:12,140 Michelle was sort of this multi-passionate 78 00:03:12,140 --> 00:03:14,810 person, but to hear that you're now adding 79 00:03:14,810 --> 00:03:16,640 another thing, you're sort of like, what? 80 00:03:16,670 --> 00:03:17,930 Like they say, Renaissance man. 81 00:03:18,020 --> 00:03:19,790 You're like a Renaissance woman, like you're 82 00:03:19,790 --> 00:03:21,650 into you're dabbling in different things. 83 00:03:21,650 --> 00:03:23,840 But there's obviously some connective 84 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,400 thread. And so we'll get to that in a 85 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,190 minute. But I'm curious if you can share 86 00:03:28,220 --> 00:03:31,400 what, like if we back up in time, what 87 00:03:31,430 --> 00:03:34,220 brought you to doing this work as an on 88 00:03:34,250 --> 00:03:36,110 demand CEO? Because, I mean, obviously you 89 00:03:36,110 --> 00:03:38,300 probably didn't start out that way, but what 90 00:03:38,330 --> 00:03:41,270 brought you to that? And then what brought 91 00:03:41,270 --> 00:03:42,950 you to the music group portion of it? 92 00:03:42,950 --> 00:03:45,350 I'm so interested to hear what the how that 93 00:03:45,350 --> 00:03:46,940 journey happened. 94 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:49,310 Michelle Massman: Oh, it's so interesting. 95 00:03:49,310 --> 00:03:52,550 Diane. Um, you know, when I was when I was 96 00:03:52,550 --> 00:03:56,540 growing up, I knew early, I think that I was 97 00:03:56,540 --> 00:03:59,430 going to have to own my own company because 98 00:03:59,430 --> 00:04:02,820 I really wasn't a good employee and I didn't 99 00:04:02,820 --> 00:04:05,250 like being the boss necessarily. 100 00:04:05,250 --> 00:04:07,260 So I didn't really want to have employees. 101 00:04:07,260 --> 00:04:09,360 I didn't want to be accounting for that. 102 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:11,880 But I also I just wanted to forge my own 103 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:15,990 path. I just don't, um, I think the best way 104 00:04:15,990 --> 00:04:17,700 I can describe it is when I was younger and 105 00:04:17,700 --> 00:04:20,220 I would have various jobs as soon as I 106 00:04:20,220 --> 00:04:22,260 really got to know and understand the job, 107 00:04:22,260 --> 00:04:24,060 and felt like I had done as much as I could 108 00:04:24,060 --> 00:04:26,760 to contribute to making it better, I was 109 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:27,840 ready to move on. 110 00:04:28,050 --> 00:04:29,340 And so. 111 00:04:29,340 --> 00:04:30,990 So that's how I ended up starting my own 112 00:04:30,990 --> 00:04:32,460 business when I was 22. 113 00:04:32,490 --> 00:04:38,190 So I would say that how I got into this is I 114 00:04:38,190 --> 00:04:42,150 was working full time in a temporary 115 00:04:42,150 --> 00:04:44,610 position at a university in their purchasing 116 00:04:44,610 --> 00:04:47,640 department. And in 1989 I got married. 117 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:49,560 And when I came back from my honeymoon, they 118 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:51,750 offered me a full time, permanent position. 119 00:04:51,750 --> 00:04:54,060 And I went home and told my husband about 120 00:04:54,060 --> 00:04:56,670 it, and I said, I don't want to take it 121 00:04:56,680 --> 00:05:00,700 Because if I do, I'm going to be in this job 122 00:05:00,700 --> 00:05:02,020 for the rest of my life. 123 00:05:02,020 --> 00:05:05,320 Because to move away from the really good 124 00:05:05,350 --> 00:05:07,990 salary, the benefits, those kinds of things 125 00:05:07,990 --> 00:05:10,420 to do, anything else later on would be 126 00:05:10,420 --> 00:05:13,240 really hard. And he said, you know, I agree. 127 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:15,520 At that time he had a full time position as 128 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:17,830 a manager and he said, we don't own 129 00:05:17,830 --> 00:05:19,360 anything. They can't take anything away. 130 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:20,710 So if you want to start a business, do it 131 00:05:20,710 --> 00:05:21,310 now. 132 00:05:22,300 --> 00:05:23,350 Diane Diaz: I love that. 133 00:05:23,380 --> 00:05:24,850 I can't take anything away, so now's the 134 00:05:24,850 --> 00:05:26,620 time, you know? That's so smart because I 135 00:05:26,620 --> 00:05:28,960 think sometimes we do and I know I did it 136 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:30,910 and I it's probably happens less now because 137 00:05:30,910 --> 00:05:32,050 you see more and more younger people 138 00:05:32,050 --> 00:05:34,060 starting businesses. But, you know, back in 139 00:05:34,060 --> 00:05:36,430 the day it was get your college degree, 140 00:05:36,460 --> 00:05:38,200 start working, work there for 40 years, 141 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:40,810 retire and then, you know, that's that. 142 00:05:40,810 --> 00:05:42,550 But it's not like that anymore. 143 00:05:42,550 --> 00:05:46,420 So I but I love to see people who are in the 144 00:05:46,420 --> 00:05:49,270 more seasoned part of their career doing 145 00:05:49,270 --> 00:05:50,500 that, doing multiple things. 146 00:05:50,500 --> 00:05:51,610 I do that right. 147 00:05:51,610 --> 00:05:54,790 But it but also I love how your story to 148 00:05:54,790 --> 00:05:58,190 talk about story, your story of, you know, 149 00:05:58,220 --> 00:06:00,230 you liked to do things your own way. 150 00:06:00,230 --> 00:06:02,480 You got bored with jobs like you wanted to 151 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:03,860 move on to the next thing. Your story 152 00:06:03,860 --> 00:06:06,650 informed where you are now. 153 00:06:06,650 --> 00:06:09,050 And so how did the music thing come to be? 154 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,150 How did what was the connection there? 155 00:06:11,450 --> 00:06:14,300 Michelle Massman: Well, interestingly, how that happened, I had 156 00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:16,730 already been in business for several years 157 00:06:16,730 --> 00:06:19,520 and working mostly with women entrepreneurs, 158 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,760 which is kind of my favorite, and I was 159 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:24,890 doing a women's showcase event at that time. 160 00:06:24,890 --> 00:06:27,790 It was an annual event that drew seven or 8 161 00:06:27,790 --> 00:06:30,620 or 9000 people a year to this huge event, 162 00:06:30,620 --> 00:06:32,690 and it had all kinds of components to it. 163 00:06:32,690 --> 00:06:35,090 But we did a lot of entertainment, and I had 164 00:06:35,090 --> 00:06:37,550 hired a music group called Tonic Solfa, 165 00:06:37,550 --> 00:06:39,680 which is an a cappella group, to perform at 166 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,230 the event, and Shawn Johnson, who is one of 167 00:06:42,230 --> 00:06:43,400 the members of the group and one of the 168 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:45,980 owners of the group, called me one day to 169 00:06:46,010 --> 00:06:49,040 advance the show, and it just so happened 170 00:06:49,070 --> 00:06:50,930 that he was the one doing it that at that 171 00:06:50,930 --> 00:06:53,600 time, and we ended up on the phone together 172 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:54,800 for four hours. 173 00:06:55,650 --> 00:06:58,200 So we decided from there that we should 174 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,330 continue our conversation and have coffee. 175 00:07:00,330 --> 00:07:03,360 And as it turned out, he was, as I said, one 176 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,370 of the owners of the group and that company, 177 00:07:05,370 --> 00:07:08,070 and we just really clicked. 178 00:07:08,100 --> 00:07:09,960 We were both in a position at that point 179 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,630 where we weren't really in a burnout phase, 180 00:07:12,630 --> 00:07:14,880 but we were getting close to it because we 181 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:17,100 just needed an infusion of new creativity 182 00:07:17,100 --> 00:07:19,440 into our companies and ended up being able 183 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:20,460 to do that for each other. 184 00:07:20,460 --> 00:07:22,920 And within a year, he asked me if I would 185 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:24,690 come on as vice president for the music 186 00:07:24,690 --> 00:07:26,760 group and help him operate the company. 187 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,310 And since then, a few years after that, we 188 00:07:29,310 --> 00:07:31,140 launched another performance group called 189 00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:33,210 the Shawn Johnson Big Band Experience. 190 00:07:33,210 --> 00:07:36,300 And I'm co-owner and we've been doing that 191 00:07:36,300 --> 00:07:38,670 for, gosh, I've been working with him now 192 00:07:38,670 --> 00:07:40,080 for 20 years. 193 00:07:40,710 --> 00:07:42,660 Diane Diaz: That is incredible. 194 00:07:42,660 --> 00:07:44,190 That is incredible. So, you know, you never 195 00:07:44,190 --> 00:07:46,200 know where opportunities come along. 196 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,270 And I was just reminded me of a conversation 197 00:07:48,270 --> 00:07:50,400 I was just having with some younger women 198 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:52,110 that I was mentoring for a women's group 199 00:07:52,110 --> 00:07:53,790 that I'm in and they're in college. 200 00:07:53,790 --> 00:07:55,640 And so one of the things that I said just 201 00:07:55,670 --> 00:07:57,800 sort of trying to give some little nuggets 202 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:59,450 of advice to help them, you know, in their 203 00:07:59,450 --> 00:08:01,010 career, throughout their careers. 204 00:08:01,010 --> 00:08:03,830 But it was to say yes to things when they 205 00:08:03,830 --> 00:08:06,650 come along. Like, don't be afraid to say yes 206 00:08:06,650 --> 00:08:08,600 even if you don't know how to do it, even if 207 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,210 you aren't sure you can do it, just say yes 208 00:08:11,210 --> 00:08:13,580 because you don't know what that opportunity 209 00:08:13,610 --> 00:08:15,470 is going to lead to. It may be the thing, or 210 00:08:15,470 --> 00:08:17,360 it may lead to the next thing, right? 211 00:08:17,390 --> 00:08:21,080 And so you've sort of followed that I have. 212 00:08:21,110 --> 00:08:24,050 Michelle Massman: And what's really interesting is that I've 213 00:08:24,050 --> 00:08:26,270 always really followed my intuition and felt 214 00:08:26,270 --> 00:08:27,560 like that's going to take me in the right 215 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,620 place. But what I find fascinating about 216 00:08:30,620 --> 00:08:33,470 that as well, is that I even tried to 217 00:08:33,500 --> 00:08:35,720 dissuade Sean from wanting me to be vice 218 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:38,300 president of the company, because I didn't 219 00:08:38,300 --> 00:08:40,940 know the music industry, and he was very 220 00:08:40,940 --> 00:08:42,980 clear that he's like, no, that's why I want 221 00:08:42,980 --> 00:08:45,110 you, because you bring a whole different 222 00:08:45,110 --> 00:08:46,280 perspective to this. 223 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,830 And so I think that that's really important. 224 00:08:48,830 --> 00:08:50,750 And so we've done that for each other. 225 00:08:50,750 --> 00:08:52,340 We've maintained our own companies in 226 00:08:52,340 --> 00:08:54,530 addition to operating companies together. 227 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:56,690 Um, and we've done that for each other over 228 00:08:56,690 --> 00:08:58,250 all of this time in our partnership. 229 00:08:58,250 --> 00:09:00,740 And actually, speaking of speaking and 230 00:09:00,740 --> 00:09:03,140 storytelling, he and I actually now do 231 00:09:03,170 --> 00:09:04,760 speaking together as well. 232 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,400 And we talk about our business partnership 233 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:09,170 and how to maintain a really good business 234 00:09:09,170 --> 00:09:12,560 partnership. We talk about conflict and how 235 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:14,660 you deal with adversity when it comes up. 236 00:09:14,660 --> 00:09:16,670 We had an embezzlement situation in one of 237 00:09:16,670 --> 00:09:18,470 the music groups a few years ago. 238 00:09:18,500 --> 00:09:20,630 That's a whole story by itself. 239 00:09:20,630 --> 00:09:23,000 So I mean, so we talk, we do speaking 240 00:09:23,030 --> 00:09:24,770 together, I do speaking on my own. 241 00:09:24,770 --> 00:09:27,530 And we both just really love to share about 242 00:09:27,530 --> 00:09:28,640 what we've learned. 243 00:09:28,970 --> 00:09:30,110 Diane Diaz: That's fantastic. 244 00:09:30,110 --> 00:09:32,600 And so let's let's take that little speaking 245 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,320 nugget. Let's back up a little where when in 246 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:40,130 your career and where in your career did you 247 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,920 if you did, did you first start speaking 248 00:09:42,950 --> 00:09:45,290 maybe publicly or just in any form? 249 00:09:45,290 --> 00:09:46,820 When did that come about? 250 00:09:47,900 --> 00:09:50,270 Michelle Massman: That started when I was 15. 251 00:09:50,390 --> 00:09:53,690 Oh, tell me about that. I yes, as I said, I 252 00:09:53,690 --> 00:09:56,520 have this weird kind of career of jobs. 253 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,270 And so when I was about 14, I decided that I 254 00:10:00,270 --> 00:10:01,500 did not like babysitting. 255 00:10:01,500 --> 00:10:03,240 I don't know why, I just didn't like it. 256 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:04,890 And that was one of the only options for us 257 00:10:04,890 --> 00:10:06,090 right when we were young. 258 00:10:06,090 --> 00:10:09,870 So I decided to sell Avon, and I had to get 259 00:10:09,870 --> 00:10:12,660 my mother's permission to sell Avon at 14 260 00:10:12,660 --> 00:10:15,360 years old. So I did that for a couple of 261 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:17,460 years. But when I was 15, I was also 262 00:10:17,460 --> 00:10:20,190 introduced to another company called Sarah 263 00:10:20,190 --> 00:10:21,360 Coventry Jewelry. 264 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:23,580 Only people my age or older will have any 265 00:10:23,580 --> 00:10:24,960 idea what that is. 266 00:10:25,230 --> 00:10:27,300 Um, but I know what that is. 267 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:29,970 Yes, if you remember Sarah Coventry Jewelry, 268 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,450 it was a home party kind of sales situation, 269 00:10:33,450 --> 00:10:35,910 and I jumped in with both feet and set up 270 00:10:35,910 --> 00:10:38,160 all kinds of home parties, went and did 271 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:39,960 speaking and talked about the jewelry, 272 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,150 talked about all kinds of other things, and 273 00:10:42,150 --> 00:10:44,220 loved it. But now here's the interesting 274 00:10:44,250 --> 00:10:46,920 twist. I started that when I was 15. 275 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:48,780 Now, when I was a freshman in high school, I 276 00:10:48,780 --> 00:10:51,270 was supposed to take freshman speech class. 277 00:10:51,690 --> 00:10:55,420 I pushed it off until I was a senior. 278 00:10:55,450 --> 00:10:58,540 It was in my last semester as a senior in 279 00:10:58,540 --> 00:11:00,220 high school that I finally took freshman 280 00:11:00,220 --> 00:11:03,250 speech. Because I did not want to do it. 281 00:11:03,250 --> 00:11:06,850 I was terrified, I was anxiety ridden over 282 00:11:06,850 --> 00:11:09,700 the idea of doing that, but I had no problem 283 00:11:09,700 --> 00:11:11,410 on evenings and weekends going out and 284 00:11:11,410 --> 00:11:13,030 speaking to make money. 285 00:11:13,030 --> 00:11:15,940 And so I learned really, really early that 286 00:11:15,940 --> 00:11:19,210 my confidence as a speaker is completely 287 00:11:19,210 --> 00:11:22,870 tied to my message and my audience hundred 288 00:11:22,870 --> 00:11:23,440 percent. 289 00:11:23,470 --> 00:11:26,980 Diane Diaz: What a great lesson, and I'm glad you shared 290 00:11:26,980 --> 00:11:28,780 that, because I think, you know, I know 291 00:11:28,780 --> 00:11:30,490 there's people listening to this that are 292 00:11:30,490 --> 00:11:32,350 thinking, I could never be a speaker. 293 00:11:32,350 --> 00:11:33,760 Maybe they're listening because they have 294 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:35,410 aspirations to be a speaker or in some 295 00:11:35,410 --> 00:11:37,000 capacity they need to speak, but they're 296 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,160 really not jazzed about it because it it can 297 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:40,450 be very, very scary. 298 00:11:40,450 --> 00:11:42,070 But here's the thing. 299 00:11:42,100 --> 00:11:44,980 Like you just said, Michelle, when you are 300 00:11:44,980 --> 00:11:47,440 passionate about the topic and you care and 301 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:49,450 you're connected to it, it's your story, 302 00:11:49,450 --> 00:11:50,860 it's your passion. 303 00:11:50,860 --> 00:11:54,140 That's where it helps to sort of eliminate 304 00:11:54,140 --> 00:11:56,390 or at least mitigate some of those some of 305 00:11:56,390 --> 00:11:58,370 those fears and anxieties that we have 306 00:11:58,370 --> 00:12:00,470 around speaking, because you can go out and 307 00:12:00,470 --> 00:12:02,990 speak about jewelry all night long and you 308 00:12:02,990 --> 00:12:05,600 loved it, that then put you in a class where 309 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:07,100 maybe you're going to speak on a topic that 310 00:12:07,100 --> 00:12:08,690 you have no connection to, right? 311 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,000 Yeah, that can be scary when you don't feel 312 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,220 that the topic even resonates with you. 313 00:12:13,250 --> 00:12:14,330 How are you going to make it resonate with 314 00:12:14,330 --> 00:12:17,930 the audience? So to that point, your story 315 00:12:17,930 --> 00:12:19,760 becomes part of that, right? 316 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:23,720 Michelle Massman: Absolutely. And I think that I was became 317 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:25,460 very aware of it at that point. 318 00:12:25,460 --> 00:12:28,910 And so after that, what I realized was that 319 00:12:28,910 --> 00:12:31,940 I if I was nervous about speaking, if I had 320 00:12:31,940 --> 00:12:34,010 to do something for one of my jobs, or if 321 00:12:34,010 --> 00:12:35,690 there was something where it really wasn't 322 00:12:35,690 --> 00:12:37,760 my passion, but I had to get up and speak 323 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,670 anyway, I learned early that part of the 324 00:12:40,670 --> 00:12:43,400 trick for me is figuring out how to make 325 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:45,950 that message, something I am excited to 326 00:12:45,950 --> 00:12:49,580 share and somehow find my connection to the 327 00:12:49,580 --> 00:12:52,710 audience, even if it isn't my usual audience 328 00:12:52,710 --> 00:12:55,410 and figure out how I can really build that 329 00:12:55,410 --> 00:12:57,540 confidence in that selection. 330 00:12:57,840 --> 00:12:59,670 Diane Diaz: Oh, that's such a great point. 331 00:12:59,670 --> 00:13:01,170 That is an excellent point. 332 00:13:01,170 --> 00:13:03,540 Because, you know, I think too, even if 333 00:13:03,570 --> 00:13:05,130 we're passionate about what we're speaking 334 00:13:05,130 --> 00:13:07,320 on, sometimes it can feel like, oh, if we 335 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:09,000 have to speak on that, that topic we're 336 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:10,710 passionate about, it can come across as kind 337 00:13:10,710 --> 00:13:13,590 of rote and a little bit like mechanical and 338 00:13:13,590 --> 00:13:14,730 just facts. 339 00:13:14,730 --> 00:13:17,730 But finding that emotional connection, why? 340 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:19,140 You know, why you resonate with it. 341 00:13:19,170 --> 00:13:20,730 What is that thread and then helping to 342 00:13:20,730 --> 00:13:22,260 bring that out in the audience. 343 00:13:22,260 --> 00:13:24,780 So through your story, a personal 344 00:13:24,780 --> 00:13:26,610 connection, sharing that personal connection 345 00:13:26,610 --> 00:13:29,490 with the audience, that's where you can 346 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:31,500 you'll have more confidence as the speaker, 347 00:13:31,500 --> 00:13:34,170 but then the audience picks up on that. 348 00:13:34,170 --> 00:13:36,000 So do you find that that resonates? 349 00:13:36,030 --> 00:13:37,410 Michelle Massman: Yeah, yeah. 350 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,330 No, absolutely. And I think one of the 351 00:13:39,330 --> 00:13:42,180 things that's interesting is the thread, I 352 00:13:42,180 --> 00:13:44,220 think that goes through everything that I've 353 00:13:44,220 --> 00:13:48,390 done in my, in my career is that I, I just I 354 00:13:48,390 --> 00:13:50,700 love people, I love connecting with people 355 00:13:50,710 --> 00:13:51,910 and I. 356 00:13:51,910 --> 00:13:54,610 I want people to really reach for their 357 00:13:54,610 --> 00:13:56,890 dreams and to meet their goals. 358 00:13:56,890 --> 00:13:59,710 And so most of the women entrepreneurs and 359 00:13:59,710 --> 00:14:01,930 others that I've worked with over the years, 360 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:03,790 a lot of times they come to me when they're 361 00:14:03,790 --> 00:14:06,550 stuck or somebody refers them to me because 362 00:14:06,550 --> 00:14:08,710 they're stuck or, you know, and that might 363 00:14:08,710 --> 00:14:10,240 mean, you know, a number of things. 364 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:11,380 It might mean they don't have the right 365 00:14:11,380 --> 00:14:13,450 resources to move forward, or they need to 366 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:14,980 learn some things, or it might mean that 367 00:14:14,980 --> 00:14:17,080 they just don't have the confidence level. 368 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,230 And so I have worked with people for years 369 00:14:20,230 --> 00:14:23,200 in that capacity, and that is really what 370 00:14:23,230 --> 00:14:27,010 feeds me. I love to see people get unstuck 371 00:14:27,010 --> 00:14:30,520 and take action and move forward and achieve 372 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:32,110 the things that they really want to achieve. 373 00:14:32,110 --> 00:14:35,500 And so when I'm speaking to people, I've 374 00:14:35,500 --> 00:14:38,140 also become more and more over the years 375 00:14:38,140 --> 00:14:39,340 very vulnerable. 376 00:14:39,340 --> 00:14:43,270 I am so okay with telling every embarrassing 377 00:14:43,270 --> 00:14:46,420 story that has ever happened to me, because 378 00:14:46,420 --> 00:14:48,100 that's one of the ways I found that I'm 379 00:14:48,100 --> 00:14:50,570 really able to connect with people in a very 380 00:14:50,570 --> 00:14:52,880 quick time frame and usually speaking 381 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:54,470 engagements. You don't have a long time 382 00:14:54,500 --> 00:14:57,170 frame, so if I'm willing to be vulnerable 383 00:14:57,170 --> 00:14:59,990 and share what's happened in my world, that 384 00:14:59,990 --> 00:15:02,090 helps me create that kind of heart to heart 385 00:15:02,090 --> 00:15:03,770 connection very quickly. 386 00:15:03,770 --> 00:15:05,600 And I've had so many people who come up to 387 00:15:05,630 --> 00:15:07,910 me afterwards and say, oh my gosh, thank you 388 00:15:07,910 --> 00:15:12,440 so much for sharing XYZ because I feel the 389 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,380 same way or I've gone through that and and 390 00:15:15,380 --> 00:15:18,020 it just really helps me help them. 391 00:15:18,530 --> 00:15:20,870 Diane Diaz: Yes, the vulnerability is a great point, 392 00:15:20,900 --> 00:15:21,950 Michelle. I was just having that 393 00:15:21,950 --> 00:15:23,660 conversation this morning with someone that 394 00:15:23,660 --> 00:15:26,120 when you're in that setting as a speaker, 395 00:15:26,150 --> 00:15:27,440 you know, in the audience, I mean, they're 396 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,810 there to hear you, of course, but to the 397 00:15:29,810 --> 00:15:31,700 extent that you're able to open up and share 398 00:15:31,700 --> 00:15:33,080 your personal stories and show that 399 00:15:33,080 --> 00:15:36,740 vulnerability, then you make it okay for the 400 00:15:36,740 --> 00:15:39,710 audience to also have vulnerable, vulnerable 401 00:15:39,710 --> 00:15:42,590 moments and to feel like it's a safe space, 402 00:15:42,590 --> 00:15:44,030 right? Because we're all kind of in this 403 00:15:44,030 --> 00:15:45,560 together. It builds rapport. 404 00:15:45,590 --> 00:15:46,790 It builds trust. 405 00:15:46,820 --> 00:15:50,010 It does make people want to be connected to 406 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:52,470 you and want to work with you. 407 00:15:52,500 --> 00:15:54,210 So how have you. 408 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,610 And so for the audience listening, Michelle 409 00:15:56,610 --> 00:15:58,800 graduated from our Thought Leader Academy 410 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,940 back in February of 2022. 411 00:16:02,970 --> 00:16:05,310 So it's been a while, but it has. 412 00:16:05,340 --> 00:16:06,870 How has. 413 00:16:06,900 --> 00:16:09,300 Well, let's start first with how did you 414 00:16:09,330 --> 00:16:11,940 come to want to be part of Thought Leader 415 00:16:11,940 --> 00:16:14,190 Academy? What brought you into that? 416 00:16:14,220 --> 00:16:15,480 Did you have a certain goal? 417 00:16:15,480 --> 00:16:17,280 What was your what was your thought process 418 00:16:17,310 --> 00:16:18,630 and goals for that? 419 00:16:19,500 --> 00:16:22,500 Michelle Massman: Honestly, a couple of interesting things. 420 00:16:22,500 --> 00:16:26,100 One, obviously the pandemic, because during 421 00:16:26,100 --> 00:16:29,760 the pandemic, I mean, prior to that, I a big 422 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:31,860 part of what I was doing was working with 423 00:16:31,860 --> 00:16:34,890 the music group. So in 2020, we canceled 90 424 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,490 concerts. So it was it was a huge shift. 425 00:16:38,490 --> 00:16:42,360 And so during that time, I did start taking 426 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:43,650 a couple different classes. 427 00:16:43,650 --> 00:16:47,700 I started learning about creating online 428 00:16:47,700 --> 00:16:50,000 courses. I started learning about a variety 429 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:51,650 of things, but one of the things I came 430 00:16:51,650 --> 00:16:55,070 across, Carole Cox and I came across all of 431 00:16:55,070 --> 00:16:58,280 your wonderful work, and it really struck me 432 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:01,400 that this was a time for me to kind of get 433 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,040 deeper into some of that, because I was 434 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,080 being asked to do a lot of virtual speaking 435 00:17:06,080 --> 00:17:08,750 at that time, and I was being asked to talk 436 00:17:08,750 --> 00:17:10,640 to groups of business owners and trying to 437 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:13,370 help them adapt and figure out where to go 438 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:15,860 next. In this whole process of how do we get 439 00:17:15,860 --> 00:17:16,910 through all of this? 440 00:17:16,910 --> 00:17:20,450 And so that's how I jumped in and it was a 441 00:17:20,450 --> 00:17:21,980 fantastic experience. 442 00:17:21,980 --> 00:17:25,700 I wanted to hone my message a little bit 443 00:17:25,700 --> 00:17:28,580 more. I wanted to I really also wanted to 444 00:17:28,580 --> 00:17:31,010 get a little deeper into what I really 445 00:17:31,010 --> 00:17:33,350 wanted to say, what what was really 446 00:17:33,350 --> 00:17:36,440 important for me to tell people and to help 447 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,110 people with, because there are so many 448 00:17:39,110 --> 00:17:40,670 topics that people have asked me to speak 449 00:17:40,670 --> 00:17:42,890 about, and I can talk about quite a few 450 00:17:42,890 --> 00:17:46,490 things. I actually love to talk, but I 451 00:17:46,490 --> 00:17:47,990 really wanted to get a little deeper into 452 00:17:48,030 --> 00:17:50,670 what I wanted to share, what my message was, 453 00:17:50,670 --> 00:17:52,530 because I'm also not a spring chicken 454 00:17:52,530 --> 00:17:55,740 anymore. Um, you know, so I found that I 455 00:17:55,740 --> 00:17:57,570 love working with women who are in their 456 00:17:57,570 --> 00:18:01,530 40s, 50s and beyond who are maybe adapting 457 00:18:01,530 --> 00:18:04,050 from one business to another business or, 458 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:06,000 you know, building something new in their in 459 00:18:06,030 --> 00:18:08,580 their career or learning how to go out and 460 00:18:08,580 --> 00:18:11,460 present. But I love working with people that 461 00:18:11,460 --> 00:18:13,740 are in that age group because I'm I'm in 462 00:18:13,770 --> 00:18:15,810 that age group and I'm launching new 463 00:18:15,810 --> 00:18:19,380 businesses. I'm 58, so we've got a lot to 464 00:18:19,410 --> 00:18:21,810 accomplish. And so I think that the The 465 00:18:21,810 --> 00:18:24,000 Thought Leader Academy really helped me 466 00:18:24,030 --> 00:18:28,380 focus in on the topics and the points that 467 00:18:28,380 --> 00:18:30,480 were so important to me, and then gave me 468 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,260 some great new techniques and tips on how to 469 00:18:34,290 --> 00:18:35,610 do that better. 470 00:18:35,610 --> 00:18:38,610 So I'm forever grateful to you and Carol and 471 00:18:38,610 --> 00:18:41,340 everybody who was in my cohort of that 472 00:18:41,340 --> 00:18:44,070 course to really, you know, help me figure 473 00:18:44,070 --> 00:18:44,820 that out. 474 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:47,060 Diane Diaz: Oh, well, thank you for the kind words, 475 00:18:47,070 --> 00:18:48,870 Michelle, and I'm so glad that you found it 476 00:18:48,870 --> 00:18:50,490 valuable, because I think probably the 477 00:18:50,490 --> 00:18:53,760 biggest thing that I feel comes from, well, 478 00:18:53,790 --> 00:18:55,350 maybe two things that are the biggest things 479 00:18:55,350 --> 00:18:56,730 that come from the Thought Leader Academy, 480 00:18:56,730 --> 00:18:58,620 or at least what we hear from from the 481 00:18:58,620 --> 00:19:01,080 graduates is that, number one, the clarity 482 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,090 of the message which you you touched on 483 00:19:03,090 --> 00:19:06,000 because we know what our topic is and we 484 00:19:06,030 --> 00:19:07,440 generally we know what we want to speak 485 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:10,260 about, and we know there's something there, 486 00:19:10,260 --> 00:19:12,780 but we're not quite sure how to make it 487 00:19:12,780 --> 00:19:14,520 resonate with the audience and how to get 488 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,190 really clear on how to say it right. 489 00:19:17,190 --> 00:19:19,110 And so I love that about that. 490 00:19:19,110 --> 00:19:21,060 Like the clarity element that comes through 491 00:19:21,090 --> 00:19:23,760 after working in the group, working on your 492 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:25,590 talk, creating your talk, and then getting 493 00:19:25,590 --> 00:19:27,330 feedback and all of that, you get so much 494 00:19:27,330 --> 00:19:29,910 more clarity, but also the confidence of 495 00:19:29,910 --> 00:19:32,130 knowing that that message is going to 496 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,500 resonate with the audience and that the 497 00:19:34,500 --> 00:19:36,870 audience does care about your story. 498 00:19:36,900 --> 00:19:39,840 Your story has to be part of that message. 499 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,960 It's not enough to just share some tips or 500 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,110 something with them that's great, but they 501 00:19:46,110 --> 00:19:47,630 need to know your personal connection to 502 00:19:47,660 --> 00:19:49,040 the. Why are you telling them this? 503 00:19:49,070 --> 00:19:50,690 What is your personal connection to it? 504 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:53,270 What things have you experienced, have 505 00:19:53,270 --> 00:19:55,370 happened to you? Have happened for you? 506 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:57,560 All of that. What is your personal tie to 507 00:19:57,590 --> 00:19:59,930 that message? Why does it matter to you that 508 00:19:59,930 --> 00:20:01,130 resonates with the audience too? 509 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,920 So I loved hearing that you were able to get 510 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:05,390 that out of thought Leader Academy and then 511 00:20:05,420 --> 00:20:07,610 incorporate that into your speaking. 512 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:10,430 Michelle Massman: Well, you know that that was it was such a 513 00:20:10,430 --> 00:20:12,710 great experience. And I've continued to go 514 00:20:12,710 --> 00:20:14,720 back to my binder. 515 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,520 I have a binder of all of my notes and 516 00:20:16,520 --> 00:20:18,350 things like that. I've continued to go back 517 00:20:18,350 --> 00:20:20,690 to that multiple times, and if you don't 518 00:20:20,690 --> 00:20:22,640 mind, I'll share with you really quickly the 519 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,190 three themes that I have really found that 520 00:20:25,190 --> 00:20:27,110 I've been working on most lately in my 521 00:20:27,110 --> 00:20:29,420 speaking and in my consulting work. 522 00:20:29,510 --> 00:20:32,810 One is from Stuck to Unstoppable, and that 523 00:20:32,810 --> 00:20:34,820 is the process I've been using with my 524 00:20:34,820 --> 00:20:38,180 clients for years, and that I use myself for 525 00:20:38,180 --> 00:20:40,370 how I get unstuck when I get in that mode. 526 00:20:40,370 --> 00:20:41,930 And believe me, it still happens all the 527 00:20:41,930 --> 00:20:44,600 time. I sometimes deal with imposter 528 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:46,890 syndrome or More perfectionism or all the 529 00:20:46,890 --> 00:20:48,030 different things, right? 530 00:20:48,060 --> 00:20:50,970 I just did I just created an ebook for From 531 00:20:50,970 --> 00:20:53,820 Stuck to Unstoppable, because my clients had 532 00:20:53,850 --> 00:20:55,500 asked me if I would do that so that they 533 00:20:55,500 --> 00:20:56,970 would have something they could kind of go 534 00:20:56,970 --> 00:20:59,820 through. So I created that and I decided, 535 00:20:59,820 --> 00:21:01,260 okay, I'm putting it out there for anybody 536 00:21:01,260 --> 00:21:03,240 who wants to use it. I literally priced it 537 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:06,570 at $4.99, which a bunch of my friends said, 538 00:21:06,570 --> 00:21:08,550 are you crazy? I said, no, I just want 539 00:21:08,580 --> 00:21:10,170 people to be able to get help. 540 00:21:10,170 --> 00:21:13,020 And so I deal with those things myself, and 541 00:21:13,020 --> 00:21:14,400 I've got lots of stories there. 542 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:17,010 And then the second one is called It's All 543 00:21:17,010 --> 00:21:20,640 in the Approach, and this one came about a 544 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:22,860 couple of years ago. I say it to people all 545 00:21:22,860 --> 00:21:25,260 the time. It's all in the approach, and we 546 00:21:25,260 --> 00:21:27,270 have to think about what our approach is. 547 00:21:27,300 --> 00:21:29,550 And the very first example that I give to 548 00:21:29,580 --> 00:21:31,500 people is in the music group. 549 00:21:31,770 --> 00:21:34,230 Um, we use a lot of musicians. 550 00:21:34,230 --> 00:21:38,490 And so we had hired a musician to work at a 551 00:21:38,490 --> 00:21:42,900 show, and he one day contacted Sean and I by 552 00:21:42,900 --> 00:21:46,090 text and said, hey, just wanted to let you 553 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:48,610 know that I got offered to perform with 554 00:21:48,610 --> 00:21:50,890 another group on the same day as your show a 555 00:21:50,890 --> 00:21:53,320 week later, and it's a group I've always 556 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:54,970 wanted to work with, so I'm going to do that 557 00:21:54,970 --> 00:21:56,620 gig. Sorry I can't be there. 558 00:21:57,250 --> 00:22:00,730 And little did he know that obviously that 559 00:22:00,730 --> 00:22:03,100 means sorry. Big X goes next to your name 560 00:22:03,100 --> 00:22:04,990 and we're never going to hire you again. 561 00:22:04,990 --> 00:22:07,870 And like I told Sean, if he had approached 562 00:22:07,870 --> 00:22:10,420 it slightly differently, all he would have 563 00:22:10,420 --> 00:22:13,000 had to do is come to us and say, I have this 564 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:14,740 great opportunity. I'd love to take 565 00:22:14,740 --> 00:22:16,750 advantage of it if I can, but you're my 566 00:22:16,750 --> 00:22:19,780 first priority. If we can find a sub for me, 567 00:22:20,020 --> 00:22:22,150 then would it be okay if I take this other 568 00:22:22,150 --> 00:22:23,950 gig 95% of the time? 569 00:22:23,950 --> 00:22:25,180 We can always find a sub. 570 00:22:25,510 --> 00:22:28,090 But he didn't approach it that way, and that 571 00:22:28,090 --> 00:22:29,830 means that he'll never have another 572 00:22:29,830 --> 00:22:31,000 opportunity with us. 573 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,220 So I like to talk to people about our 574 00:22:33,220 --> 00:22:35,320 approach, how we approach things, how we 575 00:22:35,350 --> 00:22:37,840 communicate. And then the third one is 576 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:39,520 passion to profit. And I mentioned that 577 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:41,800 before with the culinary studio. 578 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,050 I was trying to find cooking classes for two 579 00:22:44,090 --> 00:22:46,700 years. Could not find any in my area. 580 00:22:46,730 --> 00:22:49,010 Couldn't get into any even 90 miles away 581 00:22:49,010 --> 00:22:50,510 because they were full all the time. 582 00:22:50,510 --> 00:22:52,310 So finally one day I woke up and thought, 583 00:22:52,310 --> 00:22:54,410 this is crazy, I'm an event producer. 584 00:22:54,410 --> 00:22:55,760 I'm just going to do it myself. 585 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,010 So I started looking around and discovered 586 00:22:58,010 --> 00:23:00,440 that there's a woman who teaches culinary at 587 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:02,660 our local high school and has taken the 588 00:23:02,660 --> 00:23:05,960 culinary team there to nationals 18 years in 589 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:08,990 a row, and she's a great chef. 590 00:23:08,990 --> 00:23:10,970 So I contacted her out of the blue, said, 591 00:23:10,970 --> 00:23:12,680 would you be interested in teaching a couple 592 00:23:12,710 --> 00:23:13,760 of private classes? 593 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:15,290 She said, yes, we did them. 594 00:23:15,290 --> 00:23:16,430 They were fantastic. 595 00:23:16,430 --> 00:23:17,900 Everybody wanted more. 596 00:23:17,900 --> 00:23:19,730 As I got to know her a little better, I 597 00:23:19,730 --> 00:23:21,470 found out she was planning to retire from 598 00:23:21,470 --> 00:23:24,230 teaching and wanted to keep doing cooking 599 00:23:24,230 --> 00:23:27,890 classes. And so we kept a conversation going 600 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,010 and boom, here we are now we're launching a 601 00:23:31,010 --> 00:23:33,800 new company. But the key to that was that it 602 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,530 was me as an entrepreneur building what I 603 00:23:36,530 --> 00:23:39,560 wanted. But then I also went out and did all 604 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:41,420 of the market research to make sure that 605 00:23:41,420 --> 00:23:42,770 this was a good idea. 606 00:23:42,770 --> 00:23:44,490 And so that's one of the things that I'm 607 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,340 talking to people about now as well is, yes, 608 00:23:47,370 --> 00:23:48,900 entrepreneurs build what we want. 609 00:23:48,930 --> 00:23:50,400 You want to do something you're passionate 610 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,110 about, but you also want to make sure that 611 00:23:52,110 --> 00:23:54,180 there's a market fit before you jump in. 612 00:23:54,690 --> 00:23:59,040 Diane Diaz: Oh my God, Michelle, I love all of this so 613 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,610 much. First of all, just to the point of how 614 00:24:02,610 --> 00:24:04,560 you've named each of those things, it's sort 615 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:06,600 of like you're what we would call your 616 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:08,850 framework or, you know, the way you think 617 00:24:08,850 --> 00:24:10,350 about the thing that you do, right? 618 00:24:10,380 --> 00:24:13,260 And so you are packaging it up with a name. 619 00:24:13,260 --> 00:24:15,960 Such clarity also makes it easy to talk 620 00:24:15,990 --> 00:24:19,530 about. And in telling me that you've shared 621 00:24:19,530 --> 00:24:21,660 your personal connection to why you did the 622 00:24:21,660 --> 00:24:23,340 thing right. And so I think audiences are 623 00:24:23,340 --> 00:24:25,020 really going to resonate with that, because 624 00:24:25,020 --> 00:24:26,640 there's going to have been a time when they 625 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:28,950 experienced something where it's like, well, 626 00:24:28,950 --> 00:24:30,630 I could just solve this problem myself 627 00:24:30,630 --> 00:24:32,520 because I had xyz happen to me, right? 628 00:24:32,550 --> 00:24:33,960 Like, let me just find the solution. 629 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:35,970 So I think they'll really resonate. 630 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,820 I also love, I can see from all the stories 631 00:24:38,820 --> 00:24:41,310 that you've shared, you are the type of 632 00:24:41,310 --> 00:24:43,780 person that Is not. 633 00:24:43,810 --> 00:24:45,940 You're not only going to just figure out the 634 00:24:45,940 --> 00:24:47,710 solution and create the solution on your 635 00:24:47,710 --> 00:24:49,390 own, but you're also going to partner with 636 00:24:49,390 --> 00:24:50,800 the right people, right? 637 00:24:50,830 --> 00:24:52,360 Because you partnered with the musician, 638 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:54,970 you've partnered with the the culinary 639 00:24:54,970 --> 00:24:57,130 expert, you've partnered with people and 640 00:24:57,130 --> 00:25:00,280 then taken that and now building upon it to 641 00:25:00,310 --> 00:25:01,660 get to that next level. 642 00:25:01,660 --> 00:25:04,180 But based on your personal story. 643 00:25:04,180 --> 00:25:05,500 So that is fantastic. 644 00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:08,710 So I think all of these things make for 645 00:25:08,710 --> 00:25:09,970 incredible talks. 646 00:25:09,970 --> 00:25:12,790 So I'd love to see that you're you're giving 647 00:25:12,820 --> 00:25:14,710 talks. And so what is what is your speaking 648 00:25:14,710 --> 00:25:16,540 been like since your time in the Thought 649 00:25:16,570 --> 00:25:18,310 Leader Academy. Have you been speaking a lot 650 00:25:18,340 --> 00:25:19,390 like on what topics. 651 00:25:19,390 --> 00:25:20,860 What has that? How has that gone? 652 00:25:21,460 --> 00:25:23,830 Michelle Massman: You know, it's been great actually. 653 00:25:23,830 --> 00:25:26,530 I have done more speaking, and I've just 654 00:25:26,530 --> 00:25:28,570 recently spoke at a women's entrepreneurship 655 00:25:28,570 --> 00:25:31,000 conference that I just loved. 656 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:33,580 And so I'm, I'm making more time in my 657 00:25:33,580 --> 00:25:34,990 schedule to do speaking. 658 00:25:34,990 --> 00:25:37,180 That has been an issue for a while, so I'm 659 00:25:37,180 --> 00:25:38,770 actually making more time to do that. 660 00:25:38,770 --> 00:25:41,350 And I'm also really enjoying going out and 661 00:25:41,350 --> 00:25:43,490 speaking with Sean, my business partner in 662 00:25:43,490 --> 00:25:46,040 the music industry, because we've also been 663 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:47,390 talking about partnership. 664 00:25:47,390 --> 00:25:49,910 And as you mentioned, yes, partnership is 665 00:25:49,910 --> 00:25:52,190 huge to me. Finding the right people to 666 00:25:52,220 --> 00:25:55,070 connect with and to bring into your world is 667 00:25:55,070 --> 00:25:57,830 so crucial to our success, no matter what 668 00:25:57,830 --> 00:26:00,590 you do. And so I feel like when I found 669 00:26:00,590 --> 00:26:02,480 Sean, when we found each other, it was 670 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,420 kindred spirits. And we've worked well 671 00:26:05,450 --> 00:26:06,770 together for 20 years now. 672 00:26:06,770 --> 00:26:09,380 That's not to say that it's, you know, all 673 00:26:09,380 --> 00:26:11,180 Disney with like, you know, the happy little 674 00:26:11,180 --> 00:26:13,160 animals. Um, you know, we've had our 675 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,220 problems too and figured out how to deal 676 00:26:16,220 --> 00:26:19,070 with them. And so I really enjoy speaking 677 00:26:19,070 --> 00:26:22,340 with him as well about business partnerships 678 00:26:22,340 --> 00:26:24,860 and whether it's a formal partnership like 679 00:26:24,890 --> 00:26:26,900 ours or it's the people you're connecting 680 00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:28,610 with, how do you maintain those 681 00:26:28,610 --> 00:26:30,410 relationships and how do you work through 682 00:26:30,410 --> 00:26:32,990 those things? Because that's really 683 00:26:32,990 --> 00:26:35,000 important. And now that we're speaking about 684 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,670 that, we have a lot of people coming to us 685 00:26:37,670 --> 00:26:40,850 after our presentation saying that was 686 00:26:40,850 --> 00:26:43,230 helpful. I've been having problems with my 687 00:26:43,230 --> 00:26:44,370 business partner. 688 00:26:44,370 --> 00:26:46,170 We've had some stumbling blocks. 689 00:26:46,170 --> 00:26:48,690 Now I think I have a better idea of how to 690 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:50,310 make this work. 691 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:52,380 Diane Diaz: Yes. Well that's great. 692 00:26:52,380 --> 00:26:54,420 So when you. So to our audience and 693 00:26:54,420 --> 00:26:56,130 Michelle's example, when you're getting 694 00:26:56,130 --> 00:26:58,260 feedback from your audience saying, oh my 695 00:26:58,260 --> 00:26:59,400 gosh, that was so helpful. 696 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:00,870 Oh my gosh, I've been dealing with the same 697 00:27:00,870 --> 00:27:02,910 thing. Thank you for speaking on this topic. 698 00:27:02,910 --> 00:27:04,710 I now I have some solutions. 699 00:27:04,770 --> 00:27:07,320 Now you know that your message is resonating 700 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:09,330 and that means get out there and start 701 00:27:09,330 --> 00:27:11,190 giving that message more to more groups of 702 00:27:11,190 --> 00:27:13,500 people, because it's definitely hitting a 703 00:27:13,500 --> 00:27:15,780 hot button issue that people care about. 704 00:27:15,780 --> 00:27:18,240 But you can't get that feedback until you 705 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:19,470 put the talk out there. 706 00:27:19,470 --> 00:27:21,360 Right? And start telling those stories and 707 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:23,340 start getting the feedback from the audience 708 00:27:23,340 --> 00:27:24,960 so that you can know how it's landing. 709 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:26,130 So I love that. 710 00:27:26,130 --> 00:27:29,070 I also would say to anybody in the audience 711 00:27:29,070 --> 00:27:31,680 of this podcast, listening, thinking that 712 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:33,480 you necessarily have to just speak on your 713 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,880 own. You don't. Obviously, you could partner 714 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:38,610 up with someone and then turn that into a 715 00:27:38,610 --> 00:27:41,980 talk that you then bring that message and 716 00:27:41,980 --> 00:27:44,260 stories from both of you that can resonate 717 00:27:44,260 --> 00:27:46,720 with the audience. So maybe that would help 718 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:48,790 anybody who's struggling with sort of that 719 00:27:48,790 --> 00:27:50,650 fear of public speaking is to partner up 720 00:27:50,650 --> 00:27:52,510 with someone. Obviously, they have to be a 721 00:27:52,510 --> 00:27:55,000 good fit in some sort of a, you know, the 722 00:27:55,030 --> 00:27:56,560 ideas have to kind of mesh together. 723 00:27:56,560 --> 00:27:58,810 But I think that that could help some people 724 00:27:58,810 --> 00:28:00,460 get over that hump of the speaking. 725 00:28:00,490 --> 00:28:01,960 Right. The fear of speaking. 726 00:28:02,020 --> 00:28:03,610 Michelle Massman: Absolutely, absolutely. 727 00:28:03,610 --> 00:28:05,980 I think and and it's nice to have somebody 728 00:28:05,980 --> 00:28:07,900 to play off of when you're, you know, when 729 00:28:07,900 --> 00:28:10,480 you're doing that. And so I definitely 730 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:11,770 encourage people to do that. 731 00:28:11,770 --> 00:28:13,870 And I've also partnered on presentations 732 00:28:13,870 --> 00:28:15,100 with other people, especially when we're 733 00:28:15,100 --> 00:28:16,960 doing virtual presentations now. 734 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:18,850 It's great to be able to pull a couple of 735 00:28:18,850 --> 00:28:21,550 other people in and be able to play off each 736 00:28:21,580 --> 00:28:22,810 other while you're doing that. 737 00:28:22,810 --> 00:28:25,270 So I absolutely agree. 738 00:28:25,420 --> 00:28:29,080 Diane Diaz: Yes. And Michelle, how how tell me a little 739 00:28:29,110 --> 00:28:30,670 bit about like the story, the stories that 740 00:28:30,670 --> 00:28:32,980 you share in your talks. 741 00:28:33,370 --> 00:28:35,350 Are they personal? 742 00:28:35,380 --> 00:28:38,110 Like what what sort of form do they take. 743 00:28:38,110 --> 00:28:40,210 What is the storytelling like when you're 744 00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:42,650 giving these talks, you know, newer ones or 745 00:28:42,650 --> 00:28:43,970 ones that you've given in the past. 746 00:28:43,970 --> 00:28:46,490 How how much of your story do you share? 747 00:28:47,270 --> 00:28:49,400 Michelle Massman: Uh, I would say a lot. 748 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:50,780 I like I. 749 00:28:50,780 --> 00:28:51,500 Diane Diaz: Said, I want to hear. 750 00:28:51,860 --> 00:28:55,190 Michelle Massman: I have become more and more vulnerable over 751 00:28:55,190 --> 00:28:56,690 the years, more willing to talk about 752 00:28:56,690 --> 00:28:59,240 things. And so, just to give you an idea, as 753 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,100 I mentioned before in the music group, when 754 00:29:01,100 --> 00:29:02,870 Sean and I talk to people, we talk about 755 00:29:02,870 --> 00:29:05,240 going through the embezzlement issue with 756 00:29:05,270 --> 00:29:07,520 with his former partner in the music group, 757 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,050 and it was a three year trial. 758 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:10,820 I mean, it was it was insane. 759 00:29:10,820 --> 00:29:13,670 So so we talk about all the different things 760 00:29:13,670 --> 00:29:15,230 that happened in that and we answer people's 761 00:29:15,230 --> 00:29:19,010 questions. For myself, I talk I definitely 762 00:29:19,010 --> 00:29:21,650 give the example of three years being into 763 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:23,420 my business and going through massive 764 00:29:23,420 --> 00:29:25,940 anxiety attacks, panic attacks, depression. 765 00:29:25,940 --> 00:29:28,190 And this was back in the early 90s when 766 00:29:28,190 --> 00:29:29,810 people didn't talk about that. 767 00:29:29,810 --> 00:29:32,120 And so I share about that. 768 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,310 I share about the fact that I shared about 769 00:29:34,310 --> 00:29:37,190 that back then in a newspaper article, uh, 770 00:29:37,190 --> 00:29:38,510 that a friend was writing. 771 00:29:38,510 --> 00:29:41,910 And because I was made the front page of the 772 00:29:41,910 --> 00:29:44,700 paper talking about anxiety when it wasn't a 773 00:29:44,700 --> 00:29:45,750 normal topic. 774 00:29:46,050 --> 00:29:49,410 Um, I had one of the the strangest things in 775 00:29:49,410 --> 00:29:52,170 my life happen to me because I had a woman 776 00:29:52,170 --> 00:29:55,290 who was a sponsor for one of our events, and 777 00:29:55,290 --> 00:29:58,260 she left a voicemail for me one day, but she 778 00:29:58,260 --> 00:30:00,990 didn't hang up the phone when she was done 779 00:30:00,990 --> 00:30:03,210 with her message. And I got to listen to the 780 00:30:03,210 --> 00:30:05,220 next five minutes of her conversation with 781 00:30:05,220 --> 00:30:06,390 the person in her office. 782 00:30:06,420 --> 00:30:07,710 And it was all about me. 783 00:30:07,740 --> 00:30:10,050 It was all about what I had said about going 784 00:30:10,050 --> 00:30:12,420 through depression and anxiety, and how she 785 00:30:12,420 --> 00:30:13,920 thought that was going to hurt my business 786 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,800 and how, I mean, it was very, very negative. 787 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:18,870 It was it was brutal. 788 00:30:18,870 --> 00:30:21,780 And so I talk about that experience and what 789 00:30:21,780 --> 00:30:23,880 I did about it and how what the lessons I 790 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:26,790 learned. And it's interesting because as 791 00:30:26,790 --> 00:30:29,310 kind of an aside, I've also discovered in 792 00:30:29,340 --> 00:30:31,770 talking to people who are booking speakers 793 00:30:31,770 --> 00:30:33,840 and when they're thinking about booking me, 794 00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:35,970 I start to tell them the beginning of one of 795 00:30:35,970 --> 00:30:38,340 the stories that I use in my presentation, 796 00:30:38,340 --> 00:30:40,900 but I stop and don't tell them the end and 797 00:30:40,900 --> 00:30:43,300 say, yeah, so I, I talk about the rest of 798 00:30:43,300 --> 00:30:44,530 this and how it turned out in my 799 00:30:44,530 --> 00:30:47,710 presentation. You'd be surprised how many of 800 00:30:47,710 --> 00:30:50,590 those people have said, if I book you, will 801 00:30:50,590 --> 00:30:52,450 you tell me the end of the story? 802 00:30:53,830 --> 00:30:55,840 Diane Diaz: They really want to know, like, how did this 803 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:57,070 come? How did it end? 804 00:30:57,100 --> 00:30:58,300 What happened? Yeah. 805 00:30:58,330 --> 00:31:00,490 No, I remember that story. 806 00:31:00,490 --> 00:31:03,100 And, you know, that's the type of thing that 807 00:31:03,100 --> 00:31:05,380 you're right. I mean, back in that time, we 808 00:31:05,380 --> 00:31:07,960 didn't talk about anxiety or mental health 809 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:09,220 issues. We just did not talk about those 810 00:31:09,220 --> 00:31:12,400 things. So sharing it is very vulnerable. 811 00:31:12,430 --> 00:31:15,580 But whatever happened with her not hanging 812 00:31:15,580 --> 00:31:17,350 up the phone and you hearing that, that's 813 00:31:17,350 --> 00:31:21,670 terrible. But the audience that hears that 814 00:31:21,670 --> 00:31:26,260 story, I think even if they don't say it out 815 00:31:26,260 --> 00:31:28,990 loud inside, they're thinking, oh gosh, 816 00:31:29,020 --> 00:31:31,060 thank God I'm not the only person struggling 817 00:31:31,060 --> 00:31:33,340 with this, right? Thank God I'm not the only 818 00:31:33,340 --> 00:31:36,010 person who, because I'm sure so many 819 00:31:36,010 --> 00:31:38,880 business owners are sitting at home at some 820 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,640 point in their business ownership feeling 821 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:44,580 scared, you know, not heard. 822 00:31:44,610 --> 00:31:46,140 They can't say anything to anybody. 823 00:31:46,140 --> 00:31:48,000 They're panicked. They're anxious, they 824 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,200 don't. They don't know where to turn. 825 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,270 And so you're sort of giving permission by 826 00:31:51,270 --> 00:31:54,630 sharing that story to them, to then feel 827 00:31:54,630 --> 00:31:57,060 that way and feel like you're not alone and 828 00:31:57,060 --> 00:31:59,100 you're not crazy. Right? This is normal and 829 00:31:59,100 --> 00:32:02,100 it's okay. So you're you're sort of helping 830 00:32:02,100 --> 00:32:04,500 so many people by sharing that story. 831 00:32:04,590 --> 00:32:07,350 Michelle Massman: Well, and, and it's part of what I want to do 832 00:32:07,350 --> 00:32:09,120 when I'm talking to people, especially when 833 00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:11,580 I'm talking to entrepreneurs, when I'm 834 00:32:11,610 --> 00:32:13,260 talking to women, like I said, who are in 835 00:32:13,260 --> 00:32:15,390 their 40s, 50s kind of unsure or thinking 836 00:32:15,390 --> 00:32:17,490 about what they want to do next or, or they 837 00:32:17,490 --> 00:32:18,780 know what they want to do next and they're 838 00:32:18,780 --> 00:32:21,540 just trying to, you know, kind of get the 839 00:32:21,540 --> 00:32:22,920 confidence to take the leap. 840 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:26,190 And I, I want to be there to support those 841 00:32:26,190 --> 00:32:27,990 people, and I want them to feel like they're 842 00:32:27,990 --> 00:32:30,630 not alone, because if we feel like we've got 843 00:32:30,630 --> 00:32:32,820 support, we're much more likely to take 844 00:32:32,850 --> 00:32:34,350 action. And that's what I'm all about. 845 00:32:34,350 --> 00:32:36,930 I want people to take action, and I want to 846 00:32:36,930 --> 00:32:39,120 try to support them. And so I do love it 847 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:41,340 when they come up to me afterward and say, 848 00:32:41,340 --> 00:32:43,380 oh my gosh, I for a while I thought I was 849 00:32:43,380 --> 00:32:44,910 the only person feeling that way. 850 00:32:44,910 --> 00:32:46,740 And it might be that I'm the first person 851 00:32:46,740 --> 00:32:48,150 that they feel comfortable saying that out 852 00:32:48,150 --> 00:32:49,920 loud to, because we don't know each other. 853 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:51,060 We're not friends. 854 00:32:51,060 --> 00:32:52,980 But I've become friends with a lot of those 855 00:32:52,980 --> 00:32:54,870 people, and I've worked with a lot of them, 856 00:32:54,870 --> 00:32:57,510 and that just makes me so happy. 857 00:32:57,630 --> 00:32:58,680 Diane Diaz: Oh, I'm sure you know. 858 00:32:58,710 --> 00:33:01,020 And I say this to clients and I've said this 859 00:33:01,020 --> 00:33:02,280 to groups as well. 860 00:33:02,280 --> 00:33:05,610 Is that as scared as you might be to share a 861 00:33:05,610 --> 00:33:09,030 vulnerable story, think about what happens 862 00:33:09,030 --> 00:33:11,250 by not telling that story and how other 863 00:33:11,250 --> 00:33:14,820 people stay stuck, stay scared, you know, 864 00:33:14,850 --> 00:33:16,680 maybe. And especially women, right? 865 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:18,600 Play small because it's not okay to feel 866 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,460 that way. It's not that's not very business 867 00:33:20,490 --> 00:33:22,110 like or whatever we say about that. 868 00:33:22,110 --> 00:33:25,410 So when we don't tell our personal stories, 869 00:33:25,410 --> 00:33:28,080 we're actually we're actually sort of 870 00:33:28,110 --> 00:33:32,220 holding back and not helping the whatever it 871 00:33:32,220 --> 00:33:34,440 is that we want to champion the cause or the 872 00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,330 issue or the problem or this whatever, we 873 00:33:37,330 --> 00:33:38,410 aren't helping. Right. 874 00:33:38,410 --> 00:33:39,940 And so I think we're actually doing a 875 00:33:39,940 --> 00:33:41,650 disservice when we hold that stuff back, 876 00:33:41,650 --> 00:33:44,980 because other people then can't sort of get 877 00:33:44,980 --> 00:33:47,110 something to kind of latch onto and say, oh, 878 00:33:47,410 --> 00:33:49,900 thank goodness, not just me or oh, now I 879 00:33:49,900 --> 00:33:52,270 have the answer to that question that I had 880 00:33:52,270 --> 00:33:53,410 because she shared her story. 881 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,140 Right. So I think we actually we actually 882 00:33:56,170 --> 00:33:59,050 sort of have collective struggle when we all 883 00:33:59,050 --> 00:34:00,760 stay closed up and don't share our stories, 884 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:02,320 whereas if we open up, we can all 885 00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:03,940 collectively work through things. 886 00:34:03,940 --> 00:34:06,940 And so it's so beneficial and it can be 887 00:34:06,940 --> 00:34:09,160 vulnerable. So I you know, Carol talks about 888 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:10,660 that idea of the vulnerability hangover 889 00:34:10,660 --> 00:34:11,830 where you share something. 890 00:34:11,830 --> 00:34:13,960 Then the next day you're like, oh, should I 891 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:15,520 have shared that much? Maybe that was too 892 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:18,280 much. But I really think and as she says, 893 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:20,110 just like a real hangover, it will pass, 894 00:34:20,140 --> 00:34:21,700 right? That feeling will pass. 895 00:34:21,700 --> 00:34:25,360 But I think there really is so much, uh, 896 00:34:25,390 --> 00:34:29,590 healing and growth in us sharing our 897 00:34:29,590 --> 00:34:31,810 stories. And to anyone listening, if you 898 00:34:31,810 --> 00:34:33,580 have an idea for a talk or if you're working 899 00:34:33,580 --> 00:34:36,070 on a talk or and you're wondering, I don't 900 00:34:36,110 --> 00:34:37,340 really want to share my story. 901 00:34:37,340 --> 00:34:38,750 Or should my story be part of that? 902 00:34:38,750 --> 00:34:41,030 Please, please, please consider being 903 00:34:41,030 --> 00:34:42,350 vulnerable and sharing that story because 904 00:34:42,350 --> 00:34:44,540 you have no idea the amount of impact that 905 00:34:44,540 --> 00:34:46,310 that's going to have. And I will tell you, 906 00:34:46,310 --> 00:34:48,680 it is tremendous for sure. 907 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:50,360 Michelle Massman: And I think that the other thing that's 908 00:34:50,360 --> 00:34:52,790 really important for me, and I think for 909 00:34:52,790 --> 00:34:55,700 others, is that one of the things that takes 910 00:34:55,700 --> 00:34:57,980 anxiety and depression and all of those 911 00:34:57,980 --> 00:35:00,470 kinds of negative things away, the thing 912 00:35:00,470 --> 00:35:03,470 that destroys those things is when you tell 913 00:35:03,470 --> 00:35:06,800 your story because I, you know, and I grew 914 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,200 up in a way where I didn't I didn't tell my 915 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:10,970 personal, vulnerable stories, my most 916 00:35:10,970 --> 00:35:12,020 intimate feelings. 917 00:35:12,020 --> 00:35:13,640 I did not do that. 918 00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:15,980 And when I got older and was dealing with 919 00:35:15,980 --> 00:35:18,860 the depression and anxiety, I learned that 920 00:35:18,860 --> 00:35:21,080 the more I shared my story, the more I said 921 00:35:21,110 --> 00:35:24,890 out loud how I felt, the less that the 922 00:35:24,890 --> 00:35:27,710 anxiety and things like that had any power. 923 00:35:27,710 --> 00:35:30,350 And I think that that is one of the things 924 00:35:30,350 --> 00:35:33,260 that I think is super important about us 925 00:35:33,260 --> 00:35:35,670 telling our stories as well, is that it 926 00:35:35,670 --> 00:35:36,780 helps ourselves. 927 00:35:36,810 --> 00:35:39,150 I mean, the more I tell my stories and I'm 928 00:35:39,150 --> 00:35:41,490 vulnerable, the more it kind of reconnects 929 00:35:41,490 --> 00:35:44,220 me with who I am and what's important to me 930 00:35:44,220 --> 00:35:45,690 and what's not important to me. 931 00:35:45,690 --> 00:35:48,840 And I think that that's another benefit to 932 00:35:48,870 --> 00:35:50,340 telling our stories. 933 00:35:50,340 --> 00:35:53,400 So I definitely also encourage people to tell 934 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:56,550 their stories, and especially now in a time 935 00:35:56,580 --> 00:35:59,730 frame where it feels like our society is 936 00:35:59,730 --> 00:36:01,380 very polarized. 937 00:36:01,380 --> 00:36:04,380 And I know a lot of people who feel like 938 00:36:04,380 --> 00:36:06,420 they're even afraid to talk about how they 939 00:36:06,420 --> 00:36:08,340 feel because of how people are going to 940 00:36:08,370 --> 00:36:09,510 perceive them. 941 00:36:09,510 --> 00:36:13,470 And I'm what I always tell people is think 942 00:36:13,470 --> 00:36:15,600 about the story, think about how you feel 943 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,570 about something, and decide which layer it's 944 00:36:18,570 --> 00:36:21,750 okay to share when, because there might be a 945 00:36:21,750 --> 00:36:24,330 layer to that story that you do only tell to 946 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:26,310 your very best friends and the people that 947 00:36:26,310 --> 00:36:29,430 you trust. But as you kind of back it out, 948 00:36:29,430 --> 00:36:31,290 there are layers of that story that you can 949 00:36:31,290 --> 00:36:33,780 tell to anybody in the grocery store. 950 00:36:33,780 --> 00:36:35,260 And it's okay. 951 00:36:35,260 --> 00:36:36,940 And that's good for us to be able to 952 00:36:36,970 --> 00:36:39,040 identify. And that's another thing I think 953 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:40,630 that's great about the Thought Leadership 954 00:36:40,630 --> 00:36:44,710 Academy is that it helps you kind of look at 955 00:36:44,740 --> 00:36:47,710 not only how to tell your story, but how to 956 00:36:47,740 --> 00:36:49,390 decide what part of your story you're 957 00:36:49,390 --> 00:36:50,170 telling. 958 00:36:50,500 --> 00:36:52,240 Diane Diaz: Oh, that's such a great point, Michelle. 959 00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:53,920 It's such a good point because you're so 960 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:56,140 right. It's that idea of, as Carol says, 961 00:36:56,140 --> 00:36:57,880 it's in service to the audience, right? 962 00:36:57,910 --> 00:36:59,440 So what portion of that story is going to 963 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:00,850 help the audience doesn't have to be every 964 00:37:00,850 --> 00:37:02,860 single detail, right? So knowing what 965 00:37:02,860 --> 00:37:05,020 portions of it will help the audience and 966 00:37:05,020 --> 00:37:07,360 will sort of move the needle for them and 967 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:08,590 when you're comfortable to do it. 968 00:37:08,590 --> 00:37:10,720 So it's such a great point. 969 00:37:10,720 --> 00:37:12,280 So thank you for sharing that. 970 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:13,600 And thank you for being vulnerable and 971 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:15,190 sharing your stories here today. 972 00:37:15,190 --> 00:37:17,110 I appreciate that and modeling what we're 973 00:37:17,110 --> 00:37:18,460 talking about. Right. 974 00:37:18,700 --> 00:37:21,340 Um, but tell the audience what is next for 975 00:37:21,340 --> 00:37:24,310 you on your speaking journey. 976 00:37:24,310 --> 00:37:26,440 Anything coming up exciting? 977 00:37:27,130 --> 00:37:30,400 Michelle Massman: Oh, actually. A few things I'm already 978 00:37:30,400 --> 00:37:32,920 looking at speaking at a number of women's 979 00:37:32,950 --> 00:37:35,690 entrepreneur conferences next year, I'd love 980 00:37:35,690 --> 00:37:37,370 to do even more. I have a virtual 981 00:37:37,370 --> 00:37:39,830 presentation tomorrow that I'm doing for a 982 00:37:39,830 --> 00:37:42,290 group of entrepreneurs in North Dakota on my 983 00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:45,200 From Stuck to Unstoppable workshop, and I 984 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:46,310 love doing that. 985 00:37:46,340 --> 00:37:48,260 Whether I do it one on one with people or 986 00:37:48,260 --> 00:37:49,850 I'm doing it in small groups. 987 00:37:50,090 --> 00:37:52,400 Um, it's just it's so gratifying to see 988 00:37:52,430 --> 00:37:54,230 people really see where they're going with 989 00:37:54,230 --> 00:37:57,260 that. So I'm I'm excited to do more speaking 990 00:37:57,260 --> 00:38:01,190 with Sean. And so we're really pushing that 991 00:38:01,190 --> 00:38:02,870 out there as much as possible. 992 00:38:02,900 --> 00:38:04,760 Diane Diaz: Oh that's so fun. I'd love to hear that. 993 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:06,500 Good good good. Yeah. And I hope you speak 994 00:38:06,530 --> 00:38:08,690 at lots and lots of women's things and 995 00:38:08,690 --> 00:38:10,760 inspire others to do what you've done, which 996 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:13,460 is just say yes to things, tell their story, 997 00:38:13,490 --> 00:38:14,750 get their message out there. 998 00:38:14,750 --> 00:38:16,610 So yay for that. 999 00:38:16,610 --> 00:38:19,100 So tell our audience where can they connect 1000 00:38:19,100 --> 00:38:20,180 with you online? 1001 00:38:20,180 --> 00:38:21,680 Is there a website or you're on certain 1002 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:22,850 social media? 1003 00:38:23,450 --> 00:38:24,860 Michelle Massman: Yeah, absolutely. 1004 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:26,840 My website is my name. 1005 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:29,030 It's Michelle massman.com. 1006 00:38:29,030 --> 00:38:31,370 And if you want to learn more about from 1007 00:38:31,370 --> 00:38:33,140 Stuck to Unstoppable it's Michelle. 1008 00:38:33,140 --> 00:38:35,760 Michel masson.com/unstoppable. 1009 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,610 And so it's pretty easy. 1010 00:38:38,820 --> 00:38:40,560 Um I love talking to people. 1011 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:42,390 So if anybody's interested, they can also 1012 00:38:42,390 --> 00:38:44,490 just email me directly at Michelle. 1013 00:38:44,610 --> 00:38:48,120 Michelle.com and I get back to everybody. 1014 00:38:48,120 --> 00:38:51,600 So I just hope that the audience really has 1015 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:53,250 found something beneficial in our 1016 00:38:53,250 --> 00:38:56,610 conversation. And I would be happy to chat. 1017 00:38:57,090 --> 00:38:58,560 Diane Diaz: Oh well, thank you so much, Michelle, and 1018 00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:00,660 thank you for coming on the podcast. 1019 00:39:00,660 --> 00:39:02,490 I truly appreciate it. 1020 00:39:02,490 --> 00:39:06,060 And if you are listening to this podcast and 1021 00:39:06,060 --> 00:39:09,390 you also want to work on digging deeper into 1022 00:39:09,390 --> 00:39:12,270 your message, refining it, identifying those 1023 00:39:12,270 --> 00:39:14,340 stories that you can share and then creating 1024 00:39:14,340 --> 00:39:16,320 a talk, we can help you with that. 1025 00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:19,380 So you can visit our website and check out 1026 00:39:19,380 --> 00:39:21,060 the Thought Leader Academy as speaking your 1027 00:39:21,060 --> 00:39:24,780 brand.com/academy that's speaking your 1028 00:39:24,780 --> 00:39:29,250 brand.com/academy. Until next time. 1029 00:39:29,250 --> 00:39:30,540 Thanks for listening.