AJV (00:07): Hey everybody welcome to a new episode on the influential personal brand. This is AJ Vaden here. I’m the CEO of brand builders group. One of the co-founders and one of the co hosts of this show along with my sidekick partner husband, Rory Vaden, who is not here today. But y’all, I am so excited today because not only do I get to share this awesome individual Molly Fletcher with you guys? But y’all like one of the, I was literally just talking to her before the show started. So if you wanna go read all of her amazing accolades and accomplishments, and there’s a lot, I would encourage you to go read the show notes, but I’ll tell you one of the coolest things about this is when you find people. And in my case, another woman who is equally excited about your success as they are their own success. AJV (00:59): It’s one of the biggest gifts in the world. And, and I had a chance to debrief with Molly before we hit record. And I think one of the things that I love so much and why I’m so excited to introduce her to all of you guys listening, is that she’s one of those people who gets genuinely just excited about seeing other people thrive and succeed as she does herself. And it’s one of those things where it’s like, it just makes you wanna be around her more. And I just love her. I think she’s so awesome. She’s a total badass and in so many different respects personally and professionally, and I’ll tell you one thing one thing on the professional side that I think you should know about Molly before we get in is I was at a a joint group meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, that Molly was at, and some had said you’re like the Jerry McGuire of the sports industry, cuz Molly has an extreme past as a very accomplished sports agent. And I started thinking this morning, I was like, she’s not like Jerry McGuire. Jerry McGuire is like Molly Fletcher, what are you talking about? There is no other Molly Fletcher there’s no comparison here. It’s like you’re Molly F and Fletcher, no, Jerry McGuire up in the mix around here. But so many amazing things that we’re gonna talk about today. And so I’m gonna kick off. I’m just gonna welcome you to the show, Molly, thank you so much for giving me some of your time this morning. MF (02:21): Hey, it’s an absolute honor. I love you and Rory and the whole BBG family. So I’m, I’m honored to be with you. I really am. Thanks. AJV (02:27): And this is gonna be such a great conversation. And one of the reasons why is, because I know that so many of you out there are wondering how do I go from my full-time profession, whatever it is that you’re doing right now, and how do I actually make a transition into a full time personal brand? And so Molly give people just a little bit of background on what your professional journey has looked like from the beginning to where you are now. MF (02:57): Sure. Wow. Well, you know, I think I wish I could say it was scripted out and it was perfectly planned, but the truth is it really wasn’t. I, you know, I was a sports agent, as you mentioned for over 15 years and I loved every minute of it and had incredible athletes, 300 athletes, a team of agents, et cetera, helping us serve, serve them. But, but what would happen, AJ? This is interesting is I would have all these young people reach out to me who wanted to be sports agents because people sort of think, oh my gosh, that’d be such a great job. And so I’d have all these young people meet with me and I would meet with these kids because I believe you need to love what you do every day. And so I would be meeting with these young kids and then simultaneously, like I might go to an event and I’d meet a, a 30 year old who said, oh, you know, I always wanted to be a sports agent, but you know, it was just kind of really hard to get into. MF (03:47): And it’s super competitive. And, and so now I’m doing this, but I don’t really love it. And now they’re in this kind of job that they don’t love and they’re sort of boxed in. And I thought, well, that’s a bummer cuz you work a lot and your life and you should love it. So I would meet with these young kids and my boss would walk by my office. He would say, oh, who’s that? Is that a short stop for Georgia tech? Is that a golfer for Georgia? And I was like, oh no, it’s this really nice young kid outta Georgia tech. Who’s trying to get into the sports agent business. And, and by about the third or fourth meeting like that, I mean, he’s a pretty driven guy. He looks at me, he goes, look, I am not paying you to a mentor. All these kids out of Georgia and Georgia tech. MF (04:24): And I said, okay, so and so simultaneously, right? I’m recruiting lots and lots of athletes, which to me is not too dissimilar to getting in front of tough people that you potentially maybe wanna work for one day. So I started to see all these things aligning at. I thought, you know, I can’t meet with all these people, but I wanna help ’em cuz it breaks my heart. When I meet these 30 year olds that hate their jobs. So I thought I’m gonna write a book about it cuz I gotta help ’em and I’m just gonna write a book, staple it together and give it away if I have to. So I would go when I was pregnant with our first to this coffee shop every day and I’d write and write and write. And so it took me about a year and a half to finally have this book ready to go. And, and I thought, well, let me see if I can publish it. Like, let me just see if I can find a publisher and I could have wallpapered my apartment with rejection letters from publishers. Cause we, we both know that’s a quirky space. Finally, I get somebody that kind of bites. I fly to Indy pitch this whole boardroom of people on this book and they bite and they published the book, which was my first book. So then come university started saying, Hey, will you come and talk, AJV (05:29): Pause right there though. You wrote the entire book while you were still like full-time working. MF (05:35): Yes, great point. Right. AJV (05:37): But I think that’s a really important distinction. It’s not why you jumped ship and said, I’m out. It’s not like this was what I was doing when I had extra time, extra hours, extra minutes. MF (05:47): That’s right. That’s right. That’s right, AJ. I would do it at night. I would do it on the weekends. And so that book got fully published and, and I had thankfully the support of my boss to do that book, which was wonderful, cuz I was very transparent with him that I wanted to help these kids. It wasn’t gonna impact my day job and whatever. So then I was speaking to all these schools for free, for fun. Just AJV (06:10): So were they finding you or you finding them? MF (06:13): They were finding me because of the book it was sort of out there. And so professors started reaching out saying, Hey, would you come and talk to 30 kids or 50 kids or, and I did. And so then AJV (06:27): For free MF (06:28): For free, AJV (06:29): I think that’s important. Like, MF (06:31): Yeah, these are great. I’m glad you’re calling these things out. AJV (06:33): These are not like most of us who are in this world of speaking and authoring and it’s like, Y it didn’t start with money. Right. It’s like we were paying, it’s like, please I’ll pay you. Can I please come? Exactly, exactly. Right. and I think that’s a really important reminder for everyone. Or anyone who is all on this personal brand journey or who wants to be, it’s like it has to come from an deep rooted passion of, I have a message that I, I cannot contain it. It must come out of me. However I can do MF (07:05): It. That’s really well said, AJ. And, and I think, and you say this, I mean, you’re so good at, you know, it, it was something that broke my heart, was watching these people work 82,000 hours of other life or something like that, that it adds up to and hate it. And I thought that’s not right. And, and I grew up with a father who’s amazing, but he hated his job. And I thought, I don’t wanna hate my job. I wanna love it. Yeah. I wanna, as the, you know, I think it’s a Luke Bryan’s song, right? Like do what you love and call it work. And AJV (07:37): I love that. So, MF (07:39): So that book, so to your point, I would go to these schools and I would speak for free. But one of the things that I think’s important for your listeners is it was also, Hey, as I started to do more and more of it, I thought I gotta record these things. Like I gotta record these so that I can grab recordings of this. Cuz I like it. And if I can do this in other markets, maybe one could get paid. I don’t know. So then it was interesting, AJ. I, I was also, then I sort of, that came out. I was doing that still full blown as an agent. And then I started working with, you know, Billy Donovan and Thomas and Ernie Johnson and John Smoltz and all these athletes and coaches. AJV (08:18): I didn’t know any of those except for John else because I’m a brave fan. There you go. Yeah. That MF (08:24): One that’s right. Well that’s OK. And you don’t need to. And you know, and so I started to go, wow, the way ISO’s wired, isn’t too dissimilar to Ernie Johnson. And the way smolt is wired, isn’t too different from, you know, Laven. And so I started to, to kind of see the way that peak performers behave their mindset. And I thought, I think I got another book here that I really want the world to know the, the level of curiosity and discipline and belief and, and, and energy man and all these things that went into the best. So I, I reached out to a friend of mine and said, look, I, I think I wanna write this book. And, and then she helped me a bit connecting me with her son who was sort of a ghost writer. He helped me write it with his literary agent who then took me on, pitched it to publishers. And that book was birthed, which is called the business of being the best. Now that book was a little more focused toward business people. AJV (09:28): Interesting. Again, wanna pause really quick? You said two things that I think are really unique and important. So I have a, a random question for you. MF (09:36): Sure. AJV (09:37): How many people do you think actually have a book within them, but they don’t value their own insights enough to publish it MF (09:48): A hundred percent of people in the world. I mean a ton like a ton. AJV (09:54): I agree. MF (09:55): Yeah. AJV (09:55): Like to your point, I think the difference and what I love about you is like you saw something and you’re like, I have to put this together and share it to the world. Right. I think all of us have those insights and those intuitions and those things. We just, whether we don’t think other people would care or we’re not sure how to put it together. And you did, and you were still doing it full time working of going, oh, I see these commonalities. And I think there’s something here that would really help other people. And I think, I think it’s really important. So what was it about you that made you go, this is good enough that I think it would help other people like innately inside of you kind of gave you that, no, this is it. Like this is gonna help other people. MF (10:46): Well, I, I think I saw so clearly this connection between peak performers and I felt like, and, and I lived in a world where complacency has no room. I mean, chipper Jones woke up every day and, and, and could see the stats of the guy in AAA that wanted his job. Smoltz could see all the guys in AAA that wanted his job. And I thought, wow, this is a different mindset. This mindset of wanting to get better every single day. And, and I just felt like it was something in my heart of hearts that could lay right on top of business, people’s mindset and belief system. And they could deploy it in a way that could help them too, have more drive up their game, all those things. And, and I think I grew up too with a belief that no is just feedback. AJV (11:40): Yeah, MF (11:40): No, isn’t no, it’s just, AJV (11:43): You gotta write that down. MF (11:44): It’s just a data. AJV (11:45): No, it’s just feedback. No, it’s just feedback. Ooh, that’s so good. I’m gonna highlight that. It’s gonna be tweetable moment of this show. No is just feedback. Right? Well, I think, and I think the reason I wanted to call that out is because so many of the people that we talk to and that we work with at our company brand builders group, it’s like, they, they know they’ve got something, but they don’t have enough conviction and their own ideas to push them out into the world. And it’s like, part of it is like, you’ve gotta have enough belief that no, it’s like, I know this can help and enough confidence of going, I don’t care if it helps one person it’s worth doing it. But then the second thing that you brought out is I found someone who had a son who was a ghost writer and he would say, it’s about people. It’s about relationships. It’s about connections. So talk to us for just one second. MF (12:35): Yeah. So you know, wonderful. You know, he helped me and his mother was really one of the first and, and what happened was we, we, we wrote that book and that book, you know, got, got out into the world. And, and then I think this is sort of part of the story and, and that relationship and how important it was. So when, when that book came out again, it was more focused on business people. I, I started getting asked to come and speak, you know, at, at businesses, right. At, at conventions at things. But I was still grinding it as an agent, like full time, 24 7 deal. So if it was really convenient and really, really easy, I could do it. So one day literally across the street from my office, there was this convention and they asked me to come and do one of the breakout sessions. MF (13:21): And I mean, AJ, it was pretty bootleg, right? Like it was literally, I can still see the room. I mean, it wasn’t very big. There was these black drapes, there was probably 20 people. It was one of those where they walked in, could see the list of different speakers and they, you know, enough people thought, well, this chick sounds interesting. I’m gonna go sit in there. So I sit, I give kind of a keynote around the book and the common threads I saw and you know, it was probably 30, 40 minutes. Well, at the end of that, this woman comes up to me, whose son was the ghost writer. So that’s where I’m going with this. And she came up to me and she’s really cool. And, and she said, you need to do this. And I said, what are you talking about? She goes like, you need to do this. MF (14:01): I said, do what she said, speak. And I said, well, girl, I’m running back to the office. I have a one 30 lunch, a three o’clock call. I’m going to game tomorrow. Like, what do you, I can’t do this. She said, no, no, no. I’m telling you, you gotta do this. I’m taking you to lunch. So we go to lunch and she said, okay, here’s what I want you to do. I want you, she goes, how much are you charging? And I said, nothing. She goes, you don’t charge anything for your, I go, no, she goes, you need to be charging. She said do you own your domain name on your website? Do you know your, I said, no. She said, go buy it, go buy Molly fletcher.com. And she said, do you have recordings of your keynotes? And I said, well, I got a couple. MF (14:39): Right? And she goes, every keynote you give from now on, I want you recorded. So she sat with me. I’ll never forget it. And basically said, here’s all the things I want you to have a website up in, in, in a less than 30 days, video bio, you know, all the things that, you know, anyone who’s listening can, you know, if you Google any speaker, you can go and you can kind of see the same things that they have on their websites. That whether it’s through a speaker bureau or a client is looking for. And, and she sort of told me what she thought I could charge and sure enough, the phone started. Right. And it, you know, which was a blessing. And so, you know, and then I started speaking and Marilyn hired me and all these different. And so it just sort of evolved, but I’ll pause there in case something’s coming up for you, AJV (15:23): You know, it’s interesting. Your journey is so different than mine because I’m pretty, pretty sure I had to like cold call a thousand people before I ever got paid to speak. I’m pretty sure, like if I went back and counted the amount of free workshops that I did in front of sales teams and sales organizations, it would be in, it would be close to a thousand, but I did four free, right. Begging it’s like, I’m, can I pleased and talk to your three? I will do this for you for great. I’m pretty sure. But it’s, you know, it’s interesting because every journey looks different and that’s the point And you wanna know, it’s like, how do you do it? And it’s like, every journey looks different. The point is you just have to start, you gotta start. MF (16:09): Right. I mean, it’s like, I don’t know if it’s a BG line or, but the more you speak, the more you speak, AJV (16:14): Always MF (16:15): Like the more you speak, the more you speak and, and, and, and, you know, I mean, just to, and, and we had a lot of those, I mean, I’ll never forget when she told me to get more video, my husband and I went to the Ritz Carlton here in Atlanta, and we snuck in, we found a ballroom and my husband’s wonderful. And we find this ballroom and it’s got this beautiful mahogany background. He’s got our camera. And I am like changing clothes four times in the ballroom. And he’s filming me and I’m talking to nobody, I’m talking to nobody and he’s filming me. And then I found, you know, somebody that kind of spa slice it up and turn it into a speaker reel and all that. So, you know, it’s a bootstrap deal out of the gates. AJV (17:00): It, and I love it cause that it’s, you gotta be scrappy. It’s like, there are only a few people. And one of the reasons I was so excited to have you on the show is you’re a little known fact is like, Molly’s one of like the highest paid speakers. Who’s not a celebrity who’s out there. Right? Like Molly is doing this full-time multi seven figure, like, like she is doing this and doing it extraordinarily well. And I think for a lot of us, as we think, oh, well you had this X, Y, Z. It’s like, no, like we, we were speaking in empty ballrooms with our husband’s speaking. Like I remember it’s like, for years, it’s like I was doing meetings and living rooms, backyards tax sales, doesn’t matter what it was. I was like, I’ll be there. I’ll be there. Right. So one day you have someone who sees you and they go, you could do this for a living. That’s how it works. And then you could speak, but it’s like, the more you speak, the more you speak, you just have to start. And so I’m curious at what point did you go, okay, this is like, my personal brand is now my full time career. Yeah. Like when was that? MF (18:07): Well, I certainly didn’t think of it candidly as a personal brand, obviously now more so, but I, what, you know, what happened truthfully was I love, I loved being an agent and I loved my players and I loved it all like immensely. And I’ll never forget. I landed in like Pittsburgh or New York or somewhere for a keynote. I think I landed in New York for a keynote and, and my players never went to voicemail. I mean, they never went to voicemail. So I get I land and I’ve got like three voicemails from three guys. Well, I, I start calling ’em back and I’m on the phone with one of my guys. And he goes, where are you? And I was like, cuz we’re incredibly close. And I go, oh, I just landed in New York. He’s like who you seeing? And that was the moment when I went uhoh I don’t feel authentic right now. MF (18:56): Like I do not feel authentic right now. And I said, you know what, actually, man, I’m given a keynote to a group of, you know, I think it was financial advisors. And he said, oh, wow. Huh. Really? And, and that was the moment when I went, I’ve make some decisions here and you know, it made AJ no sense. I mean, I think I had 17 keynotes on the books, you know, for not a lot of money. And I had a nice situation as an agent. And, but I remember coming home to my husband. I said, honey, I think this message is resonating with people. I think it’s helping people. I think I have an opportunity to have a whole lot more control of my schedule, but more importantly, make a bigger impact on the world than I am now. Like, and I, I was at a point in my career where, you know, I felt like I’d done a lot of incredible things. MF (19:47): I’d helped a lot of athletes, but I remember thinking, do I wanna go to my grave and say, I’ve negotiated a hundred million in contracts or do I wanna go to my grave and say I changed a hundred million lives. Mm. And what became clear to me was I, I wanted to change hearts and souls and, and, and, and not just checkbooks and, and bank accounts. That wasn’t what I was about. And that was, and thankfully I said, I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna jump. And, and you know, you talk about kind of relationships. And so one of the guys who was my trainer, when I was a student athlete at Michigan state, he became a speaker and is a speaker. And I reached out to him and I said, Hey, this is what’s going on. And, and he said, you know, you can use my booking agent. MF (20:35): She books me. I pay her a fee on every booking. But if you wanted to give her a fee, she could take in some of these incoming calls for you that you’re getting and she could navigate it. And of course, I believe it’s helpful to have somebody in the middle of those conversations. That’s what I did. And I saw the benefit. Yeah. And so I, I put, so this, this woman was fantastic and she would take, she knew how to navigate these. She, you know, and then we built the contract and the bio and all the stuff that happens, but she was able to take in these incoming calls, negotiate these fees and manage my speaking, ke tell it, got to a place where I needed a full-time person. AJV (21:11): So, so interesting. Because I think that right there, what you just said is, so, so wise of you need a middle person. Yeah. So, and that’s what you did. Like you did that so successful for all these athletes for 15 years. So like to sit here and, and go, oh yeah. It’s like, that is what you did. Right. Right. So I would love for you to share with everyone, like, what is the benefit of having someone book you on your behalf? Like, what’s the, you know, it’s like people can call, ’em an agent bureau, whatever. Right. But what’s, the benefit could be your spouse. It MF (21:43): Could be, AJV (21:44): But why, why? MF (21:47): Well, I, I, I mean, I think, you know, no different than I saw with my players. I mean, it, it becomes very hard for an athlete to sit in the room with a general manager and say, look, all the other second basemen are at X. Here’s my RBIS. Here’s my slugging percentage. Here’s my on base percentage here. And I should be at Y. And here’s why, because it can get, yeah. And I think when you are saying, well, for me to come and talk to your people, I’m worth X. Well, our budget is why, well, I mean, that conversation is a lot harder for you to do yourself now. It’s not impossible though, because we know that people have to do that in their careers for Ray and things like that. And that’s okay. And we need to, as human beings, I believe, know how to have those conversations. But I think when, when, when we’re trying to negotiate our fee and our time at the core, it, it is, it is, it is someone else that can brag about you that when you are doing it on your own behalf, it’s just odd. Like, oh yeah. Like every time I got a standing ovation, people love me. I mean, you can’t say that. Right. But you’re, but your booking can. Right. So I think, I think they can tell your story as your advocate AJV (23:08): Right. MF (23:08): Better than you. AJV (23:10): Oh, I think that’s the word. It’s, they’re your advocate. Yes. They’re your advocate. I remember there was a point in our business that I told Roy you are no longer allowed to talk about money with anyone MF (23:25): Ever, AJV (23:25): Like, you are not allowed to talk about your fees, stop it. Cause like two, that point it’s so much easier for him as the individual. Who’s getting booked to go. I mean, okay, I’ll make it work or sure. I’ll stay and I’ll do this. Sure. I’ll add on another one. Cause he felt guilty. It’s like, and is like having an advocate that middle person removes the emotion makes it so purely logical. And one of the best, best lessons we ever learned as somebody had said. And I remember getting this advice from someone at the national speakers association is just remember, they’re not paying you for an hour of your time. Yeah. They are paying you for the years of experience and expertise and original content. And data they’re paying you for a lifetime of information that you have condensed in two, one hour. MF (24:18): Yeah. AJV (24:19): And that, that changed the way that we negotiated from that point on. MF (24:24): Yeah. I J I remember you saying that at an event I was at that you were leading and I, and I was like, that is so well said because it’s so true. I mean, they are. And, and, and, you know, to your point, it’s easier for someone else to say, no, it’s easier for someone else to justify. I mean, the, you know, when I was an agent, I mean, that was, people ran around with business cards, you know? So all my athletes had stacks of my business cards and I can’t even count the number of times that a guy would call me or a gal would call me and say, Hey, I met John Smoltz at Walgreens. And he said, he would love to stop by the school, on my son’s birthday and wish him a happy birthday. And I’m thinking, okay, dude. And like small tea and I, or any of my guys. MF (25:10): I mean, I, you know, John can’t do that for everybody. He meets of course. And, but, you know, and I’d say, oh, okay. And I’d take the call and I would listen. And, and, and then I’d, you know, hang up and wait three days and call him and say, Hey, I’m really sorry, but John can’t do that. He’s pitchy that day or whatever the thing was. Yeah. But that, that helped John and all of my players so much. And we, you know, we need, I mean, I’m so blessed and grateful. We get 500 speaking requests a year and do 80. And so I need somebody in the middle of all that to filter through the right fits the stages where we think we can truly make an impact. AJV (25:47): How, oh, good. I think that’s such a deal of like, to that point, it’s like, it would be very easy to try to say yes. And then simultaneously just burn yourself into the ground now. MF (25:57): And I’ve made that mistake, AJ. I did. AJV (25:59): Yeah. As have we, and it’s not one you wanna make again. And so, okay. So, so let’s talk about two things here, one all these for requests, right? So how are you for the person who is maybe speaking already? And they’re like, how do I grow my speaking business? How do I scale it? Where are all of these requests coming from? So how have you AMAs such this amazing business where people are just calling you and then it’s you deciding which ones you’re gonna go to? How did happen? MF (26:30): You know, the, the truth is it’s, it’s really been referrals. I mean, it’s people in an audience who leave and go to a different company who I gave a keynote yesterday here in Atlanta. And a guy came up at the back of the room and goes, I need, you need to do this convention that we all go to in the technology space every single year, who do I contact on your team to, to get your stuff in front of them? So it’s, it’s been primarily referrals. We do work with bureaus lots of different bureaus. I’m not exclusive with any bureau and, you know, and, and that evolve by people who had heard maybe me keen, or they had moved to a different career or a different company. And then they went, they let’s say just automatically booked through bureaus. So they went to the bureau and said, Hey, we want this. MF (27:16): We’d like to explore having this woman, Molly come and speak. And the bureaus like who’s that I have no idea who she, and then they kind of figured that out. And then that was kind of how our bureau thing went. Was clients backing into an ask and then the bureau coming back to us and saying, we have a client that wants to book you, who do we, who do we work with? So, you know, I’m feel very blessed for that. I’m very grateful for that. It’s, it’s really been all, you know, all the word of mouth, but I would say simultaneously, you know, we have all the tools and things. We have all the, the things in place that allow somebody to get familiar with you. You know, one of the things that you and I know, and it’s wonderful for people to, to, to know is that, you know, nobody’s gonna book you on a main stage, big event, keynote without seeing you speak. MF (28:05): And, and not just, I would argue that the best of the best, the spliced up, you know, six minute video reel, that’s just you and all your best moments and the crowd standing and clapping, and you gotta make, get, give ’em a hot, good, solid piece of extended content of you on stage speaking, where they can go, okay, there’s a big clump of time and she’s okay, she’s good. Like we can do this. So that’s, to me really important to having, you know, I would tell every speaker, go get your YouTube channel, get it populated, get stuff on there, have your website with your video real, but have longer clips too. So people can see you for an extended period of time. Because the thing that, you know, I take real really seriously is there is an organization when you really boil it down, it’s an organization hiring a perfect stranger to stand up in front of the most important people in their world. MF (29:04): From a business perspective, either it’s their key clients or it’s their employees. Those are incredibly important people and they are hiring a perfect stranger. So you’ve gotta make sure you offset their already anxious feeling. Yeah. That’s so putting a stranger in front of the room. So you gotta make, ’em feel really safe with that decision. And, and so, you know, to me, those are the things that I think are important. Like I’m a big fan of getting into the head and the heart of the people that you serve and saying, you know, like one of the things I always say to people who on a, a pre-call before any keynote, I, I do a call with the client and, you know, I always say to ’em look, you’ve got thousands of things to worry about. The last one I want you to worry about is me. MF (29:48): All I want to happen is that you have a line of people after that, come up to you and say, dude, where did you find that chick? That was exactly what I needed to hear that. That’s all I want. You got AV people, you got music, you got customers, you got box lunches, you got dinners, you got awards, ceremonies, you got other speakers, you got panels. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be there early. I’ll crush it for you. People will say, thank you so much. And I wanna be super low maintenance and, and, and over deliver. AJV (30:18): Yeah. That’s so good. So I love that. It’s like, if you think about it in terms of reality, it’s like, you’re right. It’s like, you’re asking someone to pay you. Who’s a complete stranger and they have no real idea. What’s gonna come out of your mouth and then you want them to put you on stage in front of their most important people. And they’re sitting in the back of their going, please don’t mess this up. Please. Don’t mess this up please. Right. So how do you eliminate those fears? So I have a question. If you were gonna tell people, here are three things that you can do to be less of a stranger to your audiences, what would they be? MF (30:52): Well, number one, I, I would say video on your website and on your YouTube and not just short form, but long form. I mean, that takes a lot of angst out and lots and lots of video. The more, you know, early in your career, the more that you’re speaking get, ’em all videotaped, different outfits, different backgrounds, different stages, authentic, real stuff, and get that up there because that will give him a, a sense of she’s done this, he’s done this, and they’ve done it a lot in a lot of different circumstances. Okay. That would be one, you know, two testimonials. And you talk about this age. I mean, you talk about this a lot, and I think that’s a really big deal to particularly early to say, look here, here’s, you know, you have your list of printed testimonials on your site or wherever, but also, Hey, look, and I did this as an agent. MF (31:37): When I was recruiting a player, I’d slide my client list across the table and say to any young player, Hey, look, I can sit in this boardroom and tell you everything. I know that you wanna hear, but call John smoke, call anybody, call these guys or gals, ask them. Yeah, because what I’m telling you, we’re gonna do, we’re gonna do it, but feel free to call anybody. So testimonials to me are absolutely huge. And then the other thing I thinks really important is get on the phone with the people that are hiring you before you speak MF (32:11): And, and, and, and get in their head, get in their heart, ask questions, understand what those hearts and souls in that room are worried about. I, I know lots of speakers that say, oh, I do the same keynote every time I’m not changing it. I’m not doing a pre-call cuz it isn’t gonna change. And I’m thinking, number one, like I could personally not do that because I need to know what the people in the room are worried about. What are they excited about? What’s what’s on their hearts and minds. What did they hear before I went up? What are they gonna hear after I gotta get in their head and heart? So pre-calls are really powerful because AJ I’ve probably given, I don’t know, 700 to a thousand keynotes. And, and I mean like paid over the last, like when it, when I did it as a, now in my world and nobody’s ever canceled a pre-call like nobody, because they cannot wait to get, and they have seven, eight busy people on these calls. It’s, it’s a, it’s like, you are the seventh person on the line. And they have like all these people and, and they want you to know their world and it matters. So I would say that’s a really important step that I think people sometimes underestimate that really matters really matters. AJV (33:29): Ah, you know, and so much of every single thing that you’re saying comes back to two things that you’ve got kind of said throughout this conversation, which I think are really important for people to grasp onto is one, the more you speak, the more you speak, right? So if you really want to be a speaker or build your speaking business, make sure you’re speaking, that could be for free. Most of us started that way. Eventually you’ll get paid for it. Doesn’t matter if it’s five people in a room or 500 speaking is speaking. Right. And then the next thing it’s, it’s relationships trust, right? Yeah. Build relationships. The people who are inviting you in do a really good job. So they refer you to other people get testimonials that increases trust, you know, get to know these audiences. So they know that you really understand them, but it’s build relationships so that you can build trust. MF (34:18): Yep, yep. Right. AJV (34:20): Universal. MF (34:20): That is absolutely right. And I think for a non celebrity speaker, I mean, I’ve spoke at an event recently with magic Johnson and I was getting micd up with the AV guy and, and I, I said something about his magic doing in Q and a and he goes, oh, they wouldn’t give us access to him before the event. We, we, we, we have no access to him. They are micing him. We have, and you know what, he’s magic Johnson, MF (34:44): Molly Fletcher. Can’t do that. I’m like, Hey, I’ll be down there 30 minutes early. Right. What do you want? You know what I mean? So I think, you know, it, it is, it is such a rewarding space to, to be in. But I, but like you said, AJ, I mean, be patient be gentle on yourself. Right. Honor, the people that you’re getting in front of and, and make it, you know, feel like it’s your first and it’s the most important one for you over deliver. All those things are so important. And, and to your point, I mean, I spoke for free a lot and you did too. And you know, the keynote that I gave early in my journey is very different from the one I give now. And, you know, with the more you speak, the more you grow, the more you see what lands and what doesn’t, what people re resonate with and what doesn’t, what people come up to you after and go, boy, that story about whatever was really powerful that you start to see, what’s, what’s really clicking. And then you can blow, you know, add on to the, so if it serves you and them in, in so many ways, it’s, it’s so important. AJV (35:50): Ah, I love that. I have love this conversation. I know that we’re almost at a time, so I wanna just do two, two last quick for the person who is listening to this, this show and this interview, and they’re going, man, it’s like, I’m not into the speaking business yet, but I have this message on my heart. I feel called to like share, this is what I wanna do with my life. Where do I start? Right. if you were to go back and, you know, tell your, you know, however long ago it was of like, this is what I would’ve done differently to expedite my journey. This is what I would tell that person today. What, what would she say? MF (36:30): You know, get out there more and speak more truthfully, like you said to three exterminators, if you have to, to your dog, in your office, to your husband, to your partner, to your, just keep refining, refining, refining, and playing with it. Okay. And, you know, and, and, and figure out your unique style. You know, I mean, there are so many wonderful speakers in the world and everybody has their own style and, and they land in their own way. And so be true to who you are, you know, don’t try to, to be anybody that you’re not. But to me, those are important things for people to keep front and center, but I would just say like everything in life, right. I, I, I, you know, I didn’t get, I didn’t, you know, when I was playing tennis, I had to hit a lot of floor, right. MF (37:20): A lot of bag. So just, just keep doing it, keep getting the wraps in the more you get the wraps and the better you get. And then I would also say what I didn’t do enough of to, to, to boil your question out more deeply is watch yourself, watch your videos of yourself and look at your, look, watch your own videos of you speaking and, and critique the heck outta yourself. You right. Really beat yourself up. The other thing I wish I would’ve done earlier too, is, you know, I have a few people who, what, what happens after a keynote is, is even if you were horrible, people go, oh, that’s so great. Oh, thanks so much. That was awesome. I mean, and so you think you’re really good? MF (38:00): Sure. You have some people in the back, like I have on my team or my husband who go, Hey, you totally missed the point in that story. Or you walked too much or you didn’t, or this or that, or you had lipstick on your teeth or anything, but have those people in the room early so that you can really work out some of those kinks that are gonna give you great feedback. Because at the end of every game of like, you can tell if it really, really landed or if it didn’t, but nobody’s gonna walk by you when they’re leaving the room and not say anything. Most people say, oh, that was awesome. And you don’t, maybe they mean it. Maybe they don’t. So you gotta have some people that are telling you the truth. AJV (38:35): Yeah. And I love what you said too. It’s like, because how many of us have heard a good speaker, but then never remembered them. And it’s like, it’s one thing to be good. But you said it’s like, you actually, you need to figure out what makes you different. What, what makes you unique? I’ll share this from my girl crush, my celebrity girl, crush, JLo JLo. I love what she says. She says that everyone is good. It’s no longer good enough to be good. You have to be different. So what are you doing to be different? And that’s the beautiful part about all of this is you are already different. Whoever you are. It’s like you are already different in the world. Has your life experiences, your unique brand, you know, your unique DNA. They do not have your brand message. They do not own it. AJV (39:22): They do not possess it. And then we try to look around and blend in and it’s like, it’s not good enough to be good. You’ve gotta be memorable. You’ve gotta be different. Yeah. So figure out what is it that makes you really different. I love that. I love that. Okay. So then, and I promise, I’ll let you go. So you recently had a awesome new Ted talk that came out called the secrets of a champion mindset. So I know for so many people out there, something on their bucket list or one of their goals is to do a Ted talk, right? Yeah. So give us just your 62nd. Like if I were, if I were gonna teach you or coach you or help you get booked for a Ted talk, like, what would you tell somebody, like, what do they need to do to get out there and figure out how to go out and deliver a Ted talk? MF (40:07): Well, can I tell ’em the truth, AJ? AJV (40:09): Yes, absolutely. MF (40:11): I called you, I called AJ and I said, AJ, I wanna do a Ted talk. And she’s said, okay, well, and you help me thankfully. And Rory with kind of what that uniqueness is and all those things. And, and, and, and then you were so kind, and I know, you know, you’re incredibly busy, but you were so kind to sort of connect me with some people that had delivered some Ted talks. And, and then I connected with some of those folks. And one of ’em said, you know what? You, you’re in Atlanta, you’re in Buckhead. Let me connect you with the people that, that manage that Ted talk. And so I, I did and they bid, and I delivered a Ted talk a couple months ago secrets of a, of a champion mindset, which is, you know, clipping away. And I think helping a lot of people, which has been really fun. MF (40:58): So my advice to people is lean into, to the relationships that you have. I identify, you know, a stage. I mean, the good news is now there are so many TEDxs, there are so many Ted talks there’s there, there are some, I would say too to people that are better than others, there are some events that are more well managed than others. So I, I would encourage people to get really clear on that and make sure that you’re positioning yourself consistent with the brand that you wanna put out into the world. And so it was, as you, as you talk about it, as Roy talked about, it was about relationships. And then it was about leaning in and establishing those, helping them and, and they were kind enough to help me, AJV (41:37): Oh my MF (41:38): Gosh. Find a good fit. AJV (41:39): I totally forgot that. I even did that. MF (41:41): Yeah, I know. And that’s why I was like, can I tell the truth because your phone might blow up. AJV (41:46): I think like do that. I love that. It’s like, don’t try to do it on your own. MF (41:51): Yeah, yeah. Yeah. AJV (41:52): Like, like you said, it’s lean into relationships. It’s you know, seven degrees of Kevin bacon. Right. Everyone knows someone who knows someone who knows someone, but put your dreams out there, put those goals out there. And it’s amazing. Once you’re willing to put something out there, then someone goes, I could probably connect you with someone who could probably connect you with someone. Sure. So it’s just never be afraid to put it out there and ask MF (42:16): Well, yeah. And, and, and also don’t be afraid to go right to the source, right. Go right. To me, there’s so many Ted talks now, Ted acts, whatever, go, go to some different markets and, and, you know, put a compelling theme out there. I mean, I think a, a book that I recommend to people who are considering a Ted talk is the red thread, who is a woman that I, I, I met through a woman, that’s a BVG friend. And, and, and that was a really it’s, it’s all, you know, cuz Ted talks are different and, and my Ted talk is different at some level, a little bit than what I deliver from a main stage. And, and that was really, that was a helpful book to identify what is that one thing that, that is gonna really, that gonna be really that thread through the whole thing. What’s that one thing people will lift up and extract from it and then maybe, you know, process deploy, think about it in their own lives. So that’s an important thing too, to recognize that the, the Ted talks that go viral, that Ted talks that are really, really good study those look at those. What, what in your mind made them good and, you know, lift that up and authentically apply it to yourself. AJV (43:20): Ah, that’s so good. I love that. And if you guys wanna go check out Molly’s new Ted talk, it’s secret of a champion mindset. We’ll put the link in the show notes. You can also just go check it out on YouTube. I’m sure it’s out there. You can also go to Molly fletcher.com, right. And Molly, if people wanna connect with you and stay in touch, where’s the best place for them to go. MF (43:44): I would say go to Molly, fletcher.com. That’s the best place. And, and, and from there they can source all of our social handles, all that kind of stuff. And AJV (43:51): Molly, you also have an awesome podcast which I think is helpful. You had amazing. Yes, you are such a great interviewer. I actually, I I’ll share this with everyone. I, I, hands down, I’ve been doing a ton of podcast interviews here lately promoting our national research study by far hands down. Molly has been the best interviewer that I have done on a show in a really long time. So major crew to you. So everyone go check that out. Thanks so much for listening, Molly. Thank you so much for giving us some of your time today. We love you. Everyone else. We’ll talk to you later. Catch the next episode of the influential personal brand. So Speaker 3 (44:31): Much for taking the time to check out this interview as always, it’s our honor to provide it to you for free and wanted to let you know there’s no big sales pitch, anything coming at the end. However, if you are someone who is looking to build and monetize your personal brand, we would love to talk to you and get to know you a little bit and hear about some of your dreams and visions and share with you a little bit about what we’re up to to see if we might be a fit. So if you’re interested in a free strategy call with someone from our team, we would love to hear from you. You can do that at brand builders, group.com/pod call we hope to talk to you soon. AJV (45:14): So welcome to the recap episode of my interview with Molly Fletcher on how to build, grow, and scale your speaking business. All right, y’all, I’m gonna keep this super high level, but really, really important because to me it doesn’t matter if you are thinking about being a speaker, if you are currently on that journey or if you are already an established speaker and you’re just trying to figure out how to do more of it or do less of it with higher fees this conversation is for you. So these are three big highlights. Three big takeaways from I got that I got from my interview with Molly Fletcher. So here’s the first one. And I said this probably five times in the interview, but I’m gonna say it again for the sake of all of you who are listening to this recap episode and you are not gonna listen to the full episode. AJV (46:04): The more you speak, the more you get to speak. And I don’t think we can say that enough. It’s if you wanna be a speaker, if you are a speaker and you do more speaking, if you’re currently doing a lot of speaking and you just wanna raise your fees, whatever it is, the formula is the same. The more you speak, the more you get to speak, or the more you speak, the better you get, right? The more you speak the higher your fees can be because you get better at it and more people see you. And then it becomes a conversation of supply and demand. I, I loved what Molly said is that, Hey, in the beginning it was, you know, one, you know, one event she was doing for free for some students. And then it kind of grew from there, but now they get over 300, 500 requests a year and she’s picking and choosing because she’s only gonna do 80. AJV (46:51): And I say only eighty’s a ton, right? Because in a speaking engagement, you’re probably gone for two days. That’s 160 days. That’s 50% of your year. That’s a ton. That’s a lot of days. But at the same time, it’s, they’re picking and choosing because they have such a large supply of requests. Why? Because the more you speak, the more you get asked to speak, and the more you get asked the pickier that you can do, right? Just because you get invited that that’s, that many times doesn’t mean you have to do it. But I love that because it’s such a great remem reminder for all of us and a great thing to remember from even me of going, it doesn’t just happen. You have to make it happen if it’s what you really wanna do. And that means you need to be willing to do it for free in the beginning. AJV (47:38): Very few of us actually start with fees from the very first time we do it. Why? Because we actually need the practice right before we say, Hey, I’m good enough for you to pay me to do we need to know what we’re gonna say? What impact is it gonna have? How am I going to differentiate myself? What is my message? And you need to get good at it. Right? And I, I love that. And it kind of leads into the second thing. It, it’s a great thing to put in perspective of right? The more you speak, the more you get to speak. And the more that you will speak because you better, more people see you all the things. But the second thing I think is a really great aha for me. And I never heard anyone say it this way is you have to remember that what what’s really happening here as an individual on the behalf of a company or an organization is inviting you a stranger to come and get on stage in front of their top client or their top employee employees. AJV (48:33): And they’re gonna pay you and hope what comes out of your mouth is good. That’s kinda a big risk. Especially when you’re paying a lot of money because you’re going, man. It’s like the words that come out of your mouth could really detract from our business could really set us off. So how do you, as a speaker, as an aspiring speaker, create more confidence and trust so that you don’t feel like a stranger to the people who are looking at you or talking to you or considering you, or even for the ones who have booked you. And I thought Molly gave some really good tips. There it’s one. You need to have tons of video footage. And guess what? Y’all, you can only have tons of video footage. If you’re actually out there speaking a ton, the more you speak, the more you get to speak. AJV (49:21): So one, I have tons of video footage and not just the highlights, not just the sizzle reel, not just pictures of standing ovations and people standing in line to meet you, but people need confidence and long what she said, long form content, 10 to 20 minutes of going, Hey, I just, I was able to watch you for 10 or 15 or 20 minutes. And I have confidence now that you do know what you’re doing and you will deliver a good message and you do it in a good way. That helps you become less of a stranger, right? It’s confidence inspiring and helps build some credibility and trust even before they’ve ever met you. So make sure you have tons of videos, create a YouTube channel, have long form videos, have short form. You need both. It’s not one or the other it’s both, but have lots and lots of video footage. AJV (50:05): Right. Other things she said is do pre-calls right. Actually get to know these people, don’t just show up and go help. It goes well. No, like do your due diligence figure out why are they having you? What’s the theme of their conference? How can you compliment the message that they’re saying internally to their team or to their clients what would make it a home run for them? What are the biggest things that they’re running into? Why did they decide to book you? How does this fit in with the other things they’re discussing at this meeting or throughout the year, those are all things that will help you line up to make sure that you compliment whatever they’re doing. And it fits very seamless and no one’s gonna say, Hey, it was great, but it felt really disconnected to everything else. AJV (50:46): That’s our job as speakers is to actually come in and do that due diligence and do that research to make it feel like I made this program just for you. And you don’t have to completely change everything you do every time. But have the opportunity and elements with each part of your speech. That is like, this is where I could tweak it and tailor it just enough so that it really resonates with each unique audience. So help yourself become less of a stranger. I think other ways you can do that, make sure you have a website, even if it’s a one page landing page with a bio and a link to a video, but someone needs to be able to go AJ vaden.com and go somewhere. And for all of you who are just getting started and like even mine right now, my website is in progress. AJV (51:30): I, I just have it redirected to my LinkedIn, right? Cuz on my LinkedIn, I can have media clips. I have recommendations and testimonials like just redirect it. There’s always a short term solution to the long term end result goal that you’re after. So even me right now where my website’s in construction, I just, you direct my LinkedIn profile because you can get media clips, you can get testimonials, all the things that I need are there. So become less of a stranger. And then the third thing which I loved, and it’s such a great reminder for all of us in this business. If you were trying to build a speaking career, you are also in sales, right? Right. You are in marketing, you are in sales, you are in customer service. That’s what are doing. And she talked about the power of referrals. AJV (52:12): She goes, I have built most of my speaking business. Most of my, most of my speaking contacts are referrals. They were people who were in the room who saw me speak, which goes back to the more you speak, the more you speak, but they were people in the room who said, Hey, have you ever spoken into this event? Or I think you could be great at this or what about this? So it’s making sure that you’re mindful that every audience you go to, it’s an opportunity to get invited to a new audience. So what are you doing? What is your message from stage about how like, this is actually what you do as a profession, right? Talking about other events that you’ve spoken at the are simple, easy ways for you to seamlessly add that in so that people in the audience go, oh, this is what you do. AJV (52:58): I wonder if I’m a part of any other groups or associations that would like a speaker like you. And that’s our job to figure out how do we very seamlessly weave that in so that it, it reminds entices the audience to refer you to other organizations. So very simple things that you can be doing to build, grow and scale your speaking business. I love this interview. I love her. She’s got such a heart for her message, which just oozes out of her. And there’s no, there’s no doubt in my mind, the reason that Molly gets booked so much so often is because she’s got a heart for what she does. She’s got a passion for the message. And you can feel that in her interview. And that’s a huge part of what we gotta do. This cannot be a job. This gets, this has to be something that you love to do. AJV (53:48): And it’s what you get to do full time. Right? And when that happens and it’s all about the excitement and the passion, everyone else catches on, right? Enthusiasm is contagious. So how can you, refall in love back into what you do that makes it so contagious. Other people are like, I need some of the at energy, some of that enthusiasm, some of that passion on my stage to reinvigorate my audience, right? People are looking for the emotional parts of us as speakers, as much as they’re looking for the content. So just remember at the end of the day, this cannot be a job. It gets to be a passion that you get to do full time that it’s not just a job. So thank you for listening. Go check out the full episode, go check out. Molly Fletcher, Molly fletcher.com. She’s amazing. This interview was incredible.