In this Expert Insight Interview, Kamini Wood discusses self-compassion and the relationship with oneself. Kamini Wood is a certified life coach and is passionate about working with people who are looking to heal their relationships with themselves.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

• How the pandemic has forced us to reflect on our lives and relationships
• How we can affect the relationships in our lives
• Why it is essential to take time for yourself

Lockdown and Self-Reflection

Self-compassion is something that many people overlook at the best of times, but over the past year and a half, self-reflection has been thrust upon us by the pandemic and ensuing lockdown. This meant that more people were forced to confront their inner demons even though they perhaps didn’t know where to start.

If there are any positives to take away from the pandemic, the most prominent one is the fact that we’ve been given an opportunity, whether we liked it or not, to spend more time with ourselves and with our families, and do a lot of self-reflection.

Reconsidering Our Relationships

More and more people are beginning to realize that maybe there is a need to work on their relationships with themselves in order to move forward and be more engaged with their lives instead of consistently being on autopilot.

The lockdown has helped many people realize that the relationships in their lives are perhaps not the healthiest. This has led a lot of us to question the way we show up in our relationships and helped us understand that the way we approach a relationship has a massive influence on it. However, it has also helped us realize that many of our relationships are perhaps not suitable for us at this particular point in our lives.

Living in the Moment

Many people are very reluctant to spend time with themselves, and we live in a world that facilitates a way of life in which you never actually have to spend any time alone with yourself. Taking the time to sit down and actually work with yourself or even explore your own thoughts almost goes against the modern culture and way of living.

Unfortunately, many of us think that we’re selfish if we take time to be with ourselves, but even if we decide to do it, we don’t seem to find the time. We get so wrapped up in the goings-on in our lives and what we have to do next that most of our days pass by without us even getting a chance to live in the moment.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

The core of branding is not only logo or creatives but understanding a brand vocabulary. Thus, in this Expert Insight Interview, Randy Herbertson discusses brand essentials for new and growing businesses. Randy Herbertson is a recognized brand strategist, conceptor, creative director with over 20 years of experience in marketing and innovation, and a Principal at The Visual Brand.

The interview discusses:

• Finding brand essentials
• Discovering target market
• Presenting the brand message

The Essentials

A starting point for good branding is knowing who you are, who your customers are, and how to position and communicate your ideas. Brand vocabulary is words and phrases that you consistently use when talking about your brand. Thus, everyone in the company must have a clear understanding of it. That way, you eliminate the possibility that customers get many different interpretations of that brand.

Target Market

When asked about their target customers, many companies say that everybody is their target customer. However, even then, there are subsets of customers and reasons why they are targets. Different people have different interests when buying products. Some people prefer products with pretty form, others want functionality, while somebody’s first criteria when picking a product is sustainability. Thus, a company should add an extra layer of wording so that all those groups can find the same product attractive.

The best way to find out whether a product can fit a specific target group is through research. Even if sometimes a particular niche seems pretty narrow, there might be different reasons for other groups to find a use for that product as well. A product can have multiple audiences, and the company will miss out on many opportunities if they do not find a way to promote it.

The Brand Message

Changing your brand and not communicating clearly about it can create confusion or disagreement. A customer, employee, or even an investor can ask why the change. Thus, it is essential to understand where that change comes from and how it will benefit both – the company and its stakeholders.
Sometimes a brand needs to go through a dramatic change. But, many times, it just needs to evolve from its current position. There are some things that a brand cannot lose. Some highly recognizable brand elements have to stay so the brand does not lose its current customers to gain new ones. That way, it gets modern branding that still fits the previous one.

Also, a common trap that many companies fall into is wanting to be like their competitors. However, the point is not to copy the competitors but to research why they are so successful in what they do. That way, the company can create that same success but in a completely different and authentic way.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

In this Expert Insight Interview, Celine Santini discusses kintsugi and the art of resilience. Celine Santini is an author of 20 books published in ten countries, a coach, personal development blogger, and illustrator of children’s books.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

• What kintsugi is and where it comes from
• How this ancient Japanese philosophy can help us embrace our failures
• The idea of “healing your scars with gold”

History of Kintsugi

Kintsugi is a Japanese art from the 15th century. It used to be focused simply on repairing broken objects, and the idea behind it was, instead of hiding the scars, to highlight them with pure gold.

Therefore, the modern idea of kintsugi is thinking outside the box, and instead of trying to hide your scars, to display and show them proudly. This is obviously a powerful metaphor for life and resilience. It shows that, although an event in your life may break you, it can also present an opportunity to come out of it stronger and more attractive.

Modern Application

These days, because of the pandemic and ensuing lockdown, the notion and philosophy of resilience has been very important. Obviously, the natural instinct for most people is to bury things deep inside and hide them away, trying to present your most perfect profile or image to the world.

In actual fact, what makes a person far more interesting, and crucially, more real, is when they actually embrace the things that have impacted or “broken” them and bring these things to the fore rather than hiding them.

Perfectly Imperfect

The motto of kintsugi is “perfectly imperfect.” This means that, although nobody is perfect, everyone has it within their power to be “repaired with pure gold” and deserves to put the most precious metal in the world on their scars, metaphorically speaking.

This is clearly a very optimistic philosophy, relying on the idea that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Not only is a person stronger having gone through adversity and difficulty, but they are also more precious because the material they used to heal their proverbial wounds is gold.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Would you say that your brand culture rocks? In this Expert Insight Interview, Jim Knight discusses how new and upcoming leaders can lead and maintain an exceptional brand culture. After a career with Hard Rock International and many awards for cutting-edge training, Jim Knight is a training and development veteran, keynote speaker, author, podcaster, and book marketer.

The interview discusses:

Staying consistent yet authentic
Taking self-accountability
Embracing change
Incorporating mentorship

Consistency yet Authenticity

Everybody knows that Hard Rock Cafe offers good food, excellent music and ambiance, and authentic rock and roll gear. While Hard Rock has many different locations globally, it manages to stay consistent in its product quality and unique customer experience. Thus, Hard Rock is a synonym for a brand that created an alignment between the brand’s consistency and expressing authenticity and individuality. That is why this brand has enormous loyalty from both customers and employees. People who love the passionate and authentic spirit of rock and roll love this brand too.

Accountability

Self-accountability is essential in leadership. Being a good leader means that you are focusing on yourself first to be able to lead others. Everything we do is a learned behavior. We learn from very early childhood and from everything that surrounds us. Thus, to get a good work ethic and positive mindset and to be able to use your experience to influence others, you have to start by focusing on yourself first.

Change

Another important thing for leaders today is embracing the change. Even though change is constant in life, people tend to be reluctant to change at work. Thus, accept the change and be the creator of it in the company. Otherwise, your company will become stagnant and will not be able to stay competitive in the market.

Mentorship

Looking for mentorship means having a goal to challenge and better yourself. Some people have better skills and more experience and expertise than you. Thus, find someone who can help you learn new things and upgrade yourself in every possible way. By learning new things out of your subject matter, you can participate and contribute to any conversation.

People are usually reluctant to ask for mentorship because they fear that they will look weak. However, it is the complete opposite. It shows that you are motivated to go forward and take up more responsibility. Moreover, people love to help and to see other people succeed. Thus, find someone to challenge you and help you elevate yourself.

On the other side, many people would be mentors but do not have time and energy. Being a mentor requires implementing good structure and rules. For instance, find a person with motivation, good communication skills, and energy that matches your energy.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

In this Expert Insight Interview, Shawna Schuh discusses how to become better at asking questions to boost your business opportunities. Shawna Schuh is a leadership coaching and speaking expert for organizations that are ready to evolve.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

• The difference between questioning vs. telling, selling, and allowing
• Why it’s essential to know the intent behind your questions
• How being more direct with your questions could help you make more sales

Telling, Selling, and Allowing

We all think we’re great at asking questions, but it often works out that people aren’t as good as they think. Most of us, whether we realize it or not, are telling rather than questioning. The other thing we tend to do without even realizing is selling. We’re selling our ideas, initiative, and the direction we want our conversation partner to head.

Finally, we are allowing people to do things we don’t enjoy. Whether it is showing up late or not finishing projects, we enable people in our lives to get away with things without even realizing it. The more we do that, the more other people look at us as examples of this behavior, which sends our entire social circle down a slippery slope.

Motivation and Intent

Asking yourself what you want from a conversation before it begins is crucial because if you know what you want, you’ll ask different questions. Think about whether you’re asking questions because you want to gain some insight or because you want to confirm or validate something you already consider to be true.

We often do the latter, not really asking questions but looking for cues that tell us that the other person agrees with our opinion.

Asking the Right Questions

People tend to come up with a lot of questions during a conversation, but not many seem to think through the intent of their questions. In sales, in particular, you’ll often hear people say they asked vague questions to learn more about the client and get the sale further down the line. However, that approach is pretty shortsighted.

If you want to make a sale, the first thing you should ask is whether the person you’re talking to would like to purchase the product you’re selling. Not only do people not ask this question at the beginning of the conversation, but they often fail to reach it at all because they’re frightened of finding out that their product might not be suitable for the client.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

In this Expert Insight Interview, Laurie Lewis returns to discuss the role of coaching. Laurie Lewis is the founder and CEO of Fast Forward Wellness, through which she has changed thousands of lives with her coaching of intermittent fasting.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

• Why coaching matters
• The role of the coach and the coachee
• How we can use the inevitable nature of problems to prepare for them

Value of Coaching

Coaching is often misunderstood and perhaps not valued as much as it should be. When you take on a very personal growth and development project, such as beginning to do intermittent fasting for health purposes, it can be tough to do on your own.

Let’s be honest. As humans, we are fantastic at starting things, but we’re not as great at self-sustaining. This is why most people fail on their diets and other personal projects. This, among other things, is where the role of coaching comes in.

Role of Coach and Coachee

Both the coach and the participant have their role to play if they are to have a successful interaction. The participant has to be energized, committed to shifting something within their life. They must have the willingness to learn and change, but also the willingness to be responsible. As we mentioned, people are often motivated to start something but can’t keep it going.

The coach’s role is to help us start on our journey in the right way, with the idea of keeping the process sustainable rather than letting us burn out in the first week.

Predicting the Bumps

No matter what we do in life, if we care about it enough, we tend to have a honeymoon period during which we feel an immense drive to keep going, and it often seems like we would never run out of motivation. But inevitably, we hit a bump at some point. Human beings are almost hard-wired to quit after hitting that first bump, so this is another stage at which the role of the coach is incredibly important.

Thankfully, bumps are predictable. As we said, no matter how motivated and passionate we are about a project, we all hit a bump at some point. Laurie uses this predictability to her advantage, asking her clients to predict the things that would derail them before they even begin. Then, when the bumps inevitably come, her coachees are prepared for them and can respond accordingly.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

In this Expert Insight Interview, Jeanne Michele discusses the healing power of courageous conversations. Jeanne Michele is a teacher, modern-day philosopher, change agent, and coach. She is very passionate about helping people create extraordinary relationships and lives.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

• How the pandemic has forced some of us to deal with our problems
• Difficult conversations as a way to untangle deep-seated issues
• What it takes to have a successful conversation

Lockdown-Induced Introspection

Over the past year or so, thanks to the pandemic and ensuing lockdown, people have had a chance to spend a bit more time with themselves. During this time, an increasing number of people have realized that there are things inside of them that they need to talk about or conversations that they need to have.

If there are any positives that we can take away from the worldwide quarantine, the most prominent one is probably the fact that we have been forced to deal with our problems.

Deepening the Conversation

Being essentially locked up with our spouses and other family members has forced us to communicate and get to the bottom of some of the problems we may have been suppressing. We tend to struggle with communicating, which often leads to misunderstandings that could easily have been avoided.

All of the time together that we’ve had over the past year has allowed us to go a little deeper in our communication, if for no other reason than for the fact that we have been more irritated with each other.

Ingredients for a Successful Conversation

Having courageous conversations is a multi-stage process. First, you need to dig deep within yourself and see what the actual problem is and what it is that may be holding you back. Then you need to find a way to articulate this issue to whoever you’re trying to talk to. Both of these stages present a challenge in their own right.

In any conversation, there are two parts — the person who’s speaking and the person who’s listening. This is why collaboration is key to a successful conversation. It is vital to set an intention, think about what you’re going to say, and hold the other person in high regard.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

In this Expert Insight Interview, Whitney Vosburgh discusses the evolution and changing nature of branding, what the future holds for this area of marketing, how to create a strong brand, and what constitutes strong brand attributes. Whitney Vosburgh is the founder and CEO of Brand-New Purpose and a branding expert.

This Expert Insight Interview discusses:

• The evolution of brand and branding
• Why the top-down, push-out model is no longer working
• The elusive nature of people’s expectations

Evolution of Branding

Branding has evolved a lot over the last few years, but the people’s perception of it does not seem to have evolved at the same pace. One thing that has never changed is that a brand is not what the owner says it is; it is what others say about a brand that is true.

It is a continuous ongoing emotional relationship between the brand and its user/customer. This relationship spans from a dynamic, ever-changing perception of the brand/organization.

Branding Is the Opposite of What It Used to Be

What has changed the most in branding is that in the past, it was very much a top-down, push-out model, which has, with the advent of social media and micro-publishing, evolved into more of a conversation between a brand and its audience.

Many large organizations don’t realize that branding has become almost the polar opposite of what it used to be. A brand’s success is now massively influenced by the people’s perception of it rather than the brand’s message itself.

Taking a Stance

People’s expectations are rapidly shifting. It used to be enough for a company to be perceived as providing a valuable product or service to its customers. Nowadays, many clients/customers/consumers look to branded companies and organizations to step up and take a stand on a particular issue, political or otherwise.

What makes the situation extra difficult for companies and brands is the fact that a vocal minority may heavily influence their stance on a subject. This can lead to brands focusing their branding efforts on trying to appeal to a small section of their audience, thereby losing touch with most of their loyal customers.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.