Surviving the Side Hustle

From Teaching Plans to Business Strategies: Katie Shea's Inspirational Sales and Empowerment Journey

• Coach Rob • Season 1 • Episode 77

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Renowned sales coach Katie Shea joins us to unravel her incredible transformation from aspiring elementary school teacher to a sales powerhouse. Discover how an unexpected stint in her father's roofing business ignited her passion for communication and problem-solving, leading her to masterfully showcase possibilities rather than just selling products. Katie shares engaging stories about her journey to success, offering insights into personal growth and the art of effective communication, ultimately empowering business owners to elevate their sales skills.

The adventure continues as we delve into the challenges and triumphs of course creation. Together with Grant, we shake up conventional wisdom by venturing into group coaching before one-on-one sessions. Join us as we tackle perfectionism and imposter syndrome, sharing our mantra of committing first and figuring the rest out later. Through candid reflections on past mistakes, we emphasize the importance of validating ideas and prioritizing progress over perfection, inspiring you to bring your ideas to life.

In a celebration of empowerment, we dive into the strengths women bring to the sales industry, such as empathy and guidance. As we anticipate the launch of a high-ticket sales course aimed at empowering women, we explore strategies for building confidence and effective networking. By embracing their unique qualities, women can thrive in sales and achieve financial success. With personal milestones on the horizon, this episode is a treasure trove of inspiration for anyone starting their entrepreneurial journey or seeking to make impactful connections.

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New outro with CTA to review & share the episode

Speaker 1:

What's going on everybody? Today we've got the famous Katie Shea. What's up, katie? How are you?

Speaker 2:

I'm good. I'm good, I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, thank you. I'm excited for you to be here too. I'm glad we got this down and we're able to record and get things kind of rolling. So for those who don't know you, would you mind sharing a little bit about yourself, who you are, who you help, sort of thing don't know you. Would you mind sharing a little?

Speaker 2:

bit about yourself, who you are. Who do you help? Yeah, of course. So I am a sales coach, so I help business owners sell more in their businesses.

Speaker 2:

Basically, to keep it very, very simple, but I came from I want to be an elementary school teacher that was my whole thing and I accidentally fell into my business of sales because my dad was like come work for me as a salesperson in the roofing industry. And I was like there's no way in heck I'm gonna ever do that job. Like I'm not going to be a salesperson, especially in the roofing industry. I knew nothing about either of them.

Speaker 2:

So at that time of getting like no results for like eight plus months and getting rejected after time after time, I decided that I was going to become masterful in sales and I closed over a million dollars for my dad in like two months and I was like whoa, this thing's really cool. So fast forward to today. Like I partnered with Grant Cardone, I got involved with like helping people that speak on Tony Robbins stages and I've just sold multiple different offers and I've seen what works and what doesn't work, and so I fall in love with the world of sales and that's what I do today, like I help people make really powerful decisions in their life, and I think that that's really what sales is.

Speaker 1:

Nice. And what about sales?

Speaker 2:

is it that you really love or that you find yourself so attracted to find yourself so attracted to yeah, so you're talking to a girl that hated sales Like I despise selling like the last thing I wanted to do was become like a salesperson. But when I switched my mindset from I'm selling somebody to I'm really showing somebody what's possible for their life and what's possible of what they could create with the products that I have, that's when I fell in love with sales, because that's really what it is. You're just showing people what's possible through your product and what you offer.

Speaker 1:

So I know I understand in sales you've got to have some basic level of communication. Where have you, have you always just been so like easy to speak with and just good with words, or like how? How do you, how'd you develop your skills for communicating?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a really good question. So when I first got started in sales, I worked for my dad in the roofing industry and he said, katie, use your personality to sell. And like, I've always been kind of outgoing and I like talking to people and I learned very quickly that that doesn't work and you have to actually develop a skill for influencing people. And that's why, you know, I had like zero results for eight plus months because I was just trying to be nice and I got rejected or rejected, or rejected. I'm like, whoa, hold on, I don't understand what's going on.

Speaker 2:

And so, like I think, the skill of communication like that's when I found Grant Cardone and like really immersed myself into like learning everything about selling and sales. And once I did that, like I realized, whoa, hold on, I need to switch around, like how I'm communicating with people and put the focus on them and what's important to them. And then that's where I guess quote, unquote, sales it's really just talking to people at the end of the day is what really ends up happening. And like how you really switch from that. So it's like a switch from selling people to really just communicating and becoming like a problem solver in the world.

Speaker 1:

So let me ask you so, cause you mentioned a bunch of different things with your experience in sales and everything. Where do you find yourself with your business now? Are you just teaching coaching like one-on-one individuals that get better at sales, or are you coaching groups or like so where are you at with your business?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I do one-on-one coaching. I don't do it a lot, but I do focus more on the groups and like I have a course and things like that. Cause I think that I got to a point in my business that I was so focused on the one-on-one work, which I love, but I wanted to scale and that was where my course came into play and I created that and it's just a high-ticket offer that I offer to people and it just keeps me having my time and my energy but still creating impact at the same time.

Speaker 1:

Right. So how did you handle making that shift? Because if you're still loving the one-on-ones, it's like a lot, a lot of times people need to kind of let go of something that they really enjoy in order for them to kind of grow and expand and get better at what they're doing. So how was that kind of shift for you Was it? Was it a little weird at first, jumping into the group coaching, or was it just kind of like boom, flip, switch, moving on?

Speaker 2:

Okay. So this is kind of weird, rob. Okay, so I, when I got into coaching again, I accidentally fell into it. It was like one of those things where I saw a problem. I was, I got some sales success and I was like, huh, I think I could do this. And that's when I partnered up with Grant and like started my business. But like it fell into my lap. But I actually started my business doing group coaching. So it was completely opposite of like, what people tell you to do, they tell you to. You know, do one-on-one and like these. So I started in group and like, when I went to like one-on-one, that felt weird for me because I wasn't communicating one-on-one with a lot of people as more so group. So when I created my course, it felt very natural for me to step into that. But I also saw the importance of one-on-one because there's a lot of power in that as well, right, so I kind of did it opposite and backwards, which is kind of funny.

Speaker 1:

And that is kind of that is kind of funny. And, um, that is kind of that is kind of funny because, yeah, I hear a lot of people saying like start one on one, kind of build up your book and then, once you get to a certain level, then hire other coaches and kind of scale and tier yourself or such um. But so tell me a little bit about your course, or is it was that easy to kind of create and just pump out because it's just like boom boom, boom boom, or was it like what was the process behind, uh, structuring it and like putting together the different lessons and stuff? Because I have, I haven't gone through your course, so I I don't not sure what's it and what to expect. So I'm sure some of the listeners are looking forward to hearing about it yeah.

Speaker 2:

So it's actually kind of funny that you say that, cause I'm literally like, if I turn my camera around, I have my recording set up right now, cause I'm recording a new course, so I'm literally experiencing this and I'm going through it right now. But the process of recording a course, it's a lot. It's because you're taking all of your knowledge and everything that you know and I noticed that you can like know things and you're like, oh yeah, I know that, but like to somebody else, like that's really complicated. But since you've been doing it over and over and over again, it just seems so natural. So you really have to just like take everything down, like to the bottom of, from where you started, all the way up.

Speaker 2:

Um, but when I started my first course, my first course is like helping new coaches get inside of the coaching industry, like pretty much like to hit their first 10k, like that's the goal and the transformation that they're going to hit with that course. That course I've put so much new content in, because the mistake that I did when I recorded that course and I'll give this to you is that I recorded it and I put the whole entire course together and I didn't even validate it to my audience, and what I wish I would have done was go through it with my audience before putting all that time and energy into it and then launch the course out and created all the modules and things, cause I literally had to go back and record tons of modules and it's been a pain in the freaking butt.

Speaker 1:

It's been a lot, so you just basically like, structured it, outlined and scripted it, basically ripped through the whole recording hours of footage, and then you're like, okay, well, how's this? And then you're like, oh, now I gotta change everything all around yeah, yeah it been.

Speaker 2:

It's been a working process for like two years. I recorded it like two years ago and it's still like if anyone was to build out their course, I would say make sure that what you're doing is validated and you've gone through that stuff with your audience because you want to co-create your course with your audience, because it's going to create a really good offer. Right, I didn't do that. I just thought that my audience needed some of the things in my course and I was like, whoa, like this is not what they need. They need actually this. And so I had to scrap it and then rerecord and it's just. It takes a lot of time and energy to do that and I wish I would have just done it right from the very beginning.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, that's just trial by error, like figuring things out and kind of moving and going with it. But I got to ask you I know a lot of people are always producing different types of content and sometimes like the imposter syndrome kind of creeps in. But then also perfectionism comes in too. Handle thoughts like that, if you have them, when they pop up, like how do you know when it's like good to publish? Because I feel like the more time you spend with something, continue to refine it and you get trapped in this spot where it's like never going to be, never going to publish it if you don't actually put it out there a hundred percent.

Speaker 2:

I'm a recovering, um, perfectionist I am, I, I and I still get stuck in this, even with this course that I'm doing right now. It's a sales course. It's basically teaching you how to, like you know, close high ticket sales and the whole sales process. Going through this, I'm like, oh shoot, like should I put this in there? Should I not put it in?

Speaker 2:

I just get so stuck in in your head and like what I've been really good at is just you don't have to have everything figured out, you just have to get it going. Because if you have everything, if you're so stuck in it and you just keep on getting stuck with that, you're never gonna publish it or you're never going to do anything. And so, um, the one thing that I think it was Grant Cardone that he said, and it always stuck with me, is commit first, figure the rest out later. And I live by that and I still feel the perfectionism coming up and I'm like, nope, screw that, commit first, and then everything else will just fall in place, because you're just putting yourself out there in that kind of a way. Right, so that's what I do.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love it. I mean I love the taking the action just kind of going and piecing it together. I love taking the action just kind of going, piecing it together and I love the feedback from others. I just finished reading this book by John Maxwell Everybody Communicates, you Connect, and it's an interesting book.

Speaker 2:

Have you read that book or heard of that book? I haven't, but I've heard about the book.

Speaker 1:

I haven't read it yet. Yeah, I like it. It's pretty cool. And what he did was he wrote a chapter and then he put it out into the world, to his audience, and got feedback and got stories and insights from everybody else, and then he would rewrite the chapter using everybody else. So when he goes through the book or when you're reading through it, you're getting stories from people who contributed to it. Contributed to it. He gives everybody credit in it too. So it's like it's an incredible thing, because he basically just took his ideas and then used everybody else's input on it to create the final product. I thought that was a genius idea.

Speaker 2:

That is genius. I mean, I think that that's what I learned throughout this whole creation process is to co-create. Because if you could co--create especially a product or like a course or you know things like that if you could have your audience create it with you, you're gonna sell the freaking heck out of that because now the audience created it. Right, like you didn't create it, the audience created it, which is really cool.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, yeah, it's uh like the collaboration is the new form of currency kind of thing. You get more people kind of to chime in on it and spread the word. It's going to be great. It's great for everyone. So you've got the. So you've got that coming up. How one do you have an expectation date for when this new course is going to be able to hit the world?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, right now, I plan to launch it during, like, black friday, like at the end of the month. That's the goal, that's the the deadline that I have right now, which is exciting oh yeah, pressure's on.

Speaker 1:

You. Gotta keep going, are you?

Speaker 2:

are you almost done with it? Yeah, yeah, it's happening, but you know what, like it's, it's cool, like when you. Like the reason why I'm recording this new course is because I realized, like I think, in business, like you're, you grow through things and you realize what you really want to do, like as you do the things. So, like I came back to high ticket closing and high ticket sales because I was like that's something that I really just love, and so I got inspired to create this new course and I think that you know it's it's cool, like when you. I don't feel like it's a deadline, like I feel like it's exciting to launch Right, like if that, yeah, if that makes sense, like I'm, I'm excited about it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, I get it too. It's an excitement spot instead of like the pressure or the stress for it to be done. You're kind of like driven to get it out and you get going all day, yeah. But so we are getting close to the end of the year here. You've got this. You're getting ready to launch out here. What are some plans?

Speaker 2:

and projects you've got for 2025?. 2025. Well, separate from the, I'm getting married in 2025. So that's like a big thing that's on my mind. I guess I'm like dreaming about it at this point and I guess, if that's what happens, like I'm having like nightmares about you know what's going to go wrong. I'm like what the heck is going on, like I don't even care. But you know, I think that apparently, you know, I have nightmares about the dj not showing up and things like that.

Speaker 2:

So, um, that's a really exciting thing for 2025 that I'm focusing in on because, you know, it's a big part of my journey in my life and like a new chapter. But also I'm really just excited for I think it's this new course. Really like I see this new program. I'm gonna say this and I haven't said it out loud yet, but I really see this new platform as a platform to train, especially in the like, women in sales. Like training women in sales to make a lot of freaking money and spread their impact and to show up in a way that's really authentic to them and to help companies with. You know people that they're looking for closers. They need people to sell their products and, like me, bringing those closers to them and connecting the bridge and connecting the gap through everything. So helping, you know, women on one side feeling really confident, controlling their time and their income, and helping companies that need closers that are really freaking good Cause. That's a big problem as well. So that's 2025 for me.

Speaker 1:

You, you bring up an interesting thing there. What, how, how is the balance between men and women in sales? Do you see, is sales more just like a male-dominated industry? Because I know there's still tons of things, tons of other industries where women aren't kind of treated at the same level in it, but like, are more and more women now getting into sales? Or where do you see the industry as a whole for women?

Speaker 2:

I so yeah, um, because I I mean, I've always been in a male dominated. I was in roofing, right like that was male dominated and I crushed it in roofing and I did it at first. But when I learned sales, like I learned how to crush it. But I think that what I found with women in sales like women try to like they steer away from selling because it feels pushy, it feels inauthentic, it's like it's an icky feeling, right, like nobody wants to be the car salesman with slicked back hair and just selling people. Nobody wants to be that.

Speaker 2:

But I think women have a really big power in sales because we're very empathetic and we come from a place in our heart and just to really serve in a in a motherly way, I guess you would say, like we have like motherly instincts or whatever the heck you know, women have this thing about them where they just really want to just like guide people to making a really powerful decision. And so I think that sales and I think women stepping into sales is a really good opportunity number one to increase your confidence, but to increase your income and not be told that you have a capped income, right, like you don't need to go get a 50,000 dollar job, or if you don't want to be a stay-at-home mom, like you don't have to, like you don't have to do. Do that you could control the outcomes of your life, and I think that that's what sales is really giving people. So that's exciting.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's empowering. That is really exciting. I love that. And, without diving too much into all your tips and secrets, do you got any easy starters for people who are maybe launching their first product and they're a little nervous about like talking to people about their product or just what? What are your like intro level tips for people who are struggling with sales?

Speaker 2:

Um, so actually I just recorded this today, which is so funny, uh. But number one is like this is like the easiest thing in the whole entire world. But if you're launching a product and you're going out there and you're terrified to launch it like the first person before you sell anybody is you got to sell yourself. Cause if you're not sold on yourself, you're not sold on your product. It's going to be a really hard time to go out there and sell anything, right, like you got to sell you. But once you do that, it just really comes from. Like the mentality that I've always had is like if nobody knows who I am and I don't talk to people, I can't impact people. Like I can't serve people. Like your products could be the best product in the whole entire world, but if you nobody knows what your product is, you don't talk to people, then it doesn't matter that is.

Speaker 1:

That is powerfully, powerfully true. Um, and I've talked with so many people who are at different stages of their business and their journey and when I get to talking and they're like, oh just, I need to get in front of more people, I need to do this, I need to do that, but they don't talk to like anybody outside of just their close, close circle group of people and um, and they, they act like the tough guy, they're not afraid to go but then, like getting around other individuals, they shy up. Do you have any tips on on that confidence for people who are just getting out there into the networking world? Because I think connections and collaborating with others and it all starts with just having conversations with people, getting next to people and connecting yeah, yeah, a hundred percent.

Speaker 2:

I mean, like you're really good at it. Like you, you connect really well with people and I think that like it's a, it's a mindset thing at the end of the day. Like you, going out there to talk to people is not you're not selling people. First of all, like that is not the intention is not to go out there and sell people, because if you have the intention to just sell people, it's going to feel really weird and you're going to feel very icky about it, right. But if you have the intention of like okay, whose life can I impact today? Whose life can I get curious about today? Whose life can I just like how can I just ask people about them and just do that, like hey, what are you working on? That's super inspiring to you. What are you doing right now? That's lighting the heck up. You're going to have really powerful conversations and your intention is not to sell somebody. Now, your attention is to connect with somebody. It's very different.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I feel I feel super cool when I get to play the connector role and someone's like, oh, I'm trying to meet somebody who's in real estate or this or that, I'm like, oh, I know the perfect person. And you know, sometimes, sometimes it's not always the perfect connection, but at least being able to expand my network with other people's networks, it's kind of fun, I like. I think of it kind of like a game and I get pleasure out of like connecting people and and communicating with everybody.

Speaker 2:

A hundred percent. No, I agree, I tell you people and, and uh, communicating with everybody, 100, no, I agree, I totally well, it's, you know, at the end of the day it's. I just had a girl connect me, you know, today with somebody, and I have no idea why she connected us, but we're gonna find out right and and the like. I'm gonna approach the conversation of you know, what are you working on, what are you doing, and see where I can support. Um, because like that's my only intention is just what are you doing? How can I support? Because, like that's my only intention is just what are you doing? How can I support you? And like, how can I serve you?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and that's that's that also comes full circle, because people are oftentimes struggling or looking for ways of asking for referrals, and I think that's an easy way of doing just providing people to other people and if people remember you and they remember what you're doing when you connect them because you're doing them favors and it's, it's an incredible feeling when I get like text messages like hey is this rob so, and so told me to reach out to you and said we needed to talk. I'm like this is cool, all right.

Speaker 2:

Well, what do you got going on, kind of thing I think I mean like that's really cool, but it means that you're providing a lot of value in the world right, which is it says a lot about you at the end of the day, because you're just your. Your agenda is to serve and not to sell, and I think that that's just the difference there.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, so you got this. You got big wedding next year. You've got this project coming out here. Um, how do where do people go to kind of connect with you more? Are you taking on one-on-one clients? I know there's a lot of things going on, but is that still open? Do you have room in the coaching? I've got a lot of questions, but where do people find out these questions if they have similar questions?

Speaker 2:

That's a really good question. So you could follow me on Instagram at katie__shay13. That's a really good platform for me and I built my whole business on Instagram. But, like for one on one coaching and my course and things like that is application only. Like. I keep it like that purposely number one, because I want to make sure that whoever is applying is a good fit, but I want to make sure I'm a good fit for them as well, right? So that's really important to me and I don't want everybody in my programs. I want people that want to come in and just rock it with me. So, um, I always I'll talk to anybody, I'm always open to talking and serving and helping and, um, you know, I'm I'm the kind of person where if it feels aligned, then it feels aligned and we'll we'll see how we can make that work, right, so that's cool, that's right. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Sweet. So, uh, there you go, guys. Uh, katie underscore shade 13 on Instagram best place to connect and ask her questions. Um, so, again, I gotta, I gotta show some appreciation, thank you, I know, uh know, we were kind of bouncing back and forth trying to figure out schedules. I'm glad we were able to lock it in today and this was a good conversation. I really appreciate you taking the time and sharing some of your insights and a little bit about your story and things that you got coming up too. It's a great conversation. So, thank you, but before I let you go, though.

Speaker 2:

I got to ask you, though, if you were to boil it all down and take all your sales skills and all the knowledge you've got with business and such and put it into one piece of advice to somebody who's starting out in their entrepreneurial world. It but I'm going to say it again because I think that this is a great piece of advice is stop figuring, stop trying to figure it all out, and just get it going, because perfection is not going to help you, and I think a lot of entrepreneurs get stuck in perfection. I have I'm a recovering perfectionist, so I get it but just get it going, put yourself out there, get yourself known, because if nobody knows who you are, you really can't make an impact, and I think that's that's a way of business, like just just go, just do it.

Speaker 1:

I love it, thank you. Thank you so much. This is a powerful episode. I appreciate it. I'm looking forward to hearing more about when this new course drops, and thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, Rob.