Ep36 - Jennifer Gitomer

This episode is brought to you by KPMG Risk Services. KPMG believes that when you've earned the trust of all your stakeholders, that's when your business has a solid platform to grow. That's the trusted imperative. KPMG Risk Services develop and put in place dynamic risk strategies designed to help your business earn that all important trust. Go to reit, KPMG US Trust to learn more. And welcome to the Gap the Get Attitude Podcast. The Gap Bridging the gap from where you are to where you want to go and from who you are to who you want to become. Hello, my name is Glenn Bill, founder of the University of Attitude, keynote speaker and author of the ABCs of Attitude. And I've been able to help tens of thousands of people Get Attitude. Attitude the secret formula to success in your business and in your life. And this podcast will help you get yours. So let's get some. Hello and welcome everybody. Please remember to subscribe, rate and review and if you like what you're hearing, we sure would love you to share this. Our podcast can be found on any platform, but we would love you to come and visit us at Facebook at the Get Attitude Podcast Today we are with the one and only Jennifer Gittamer. Jennifer was the author or is the author of Sales in a New York Minute. Jennifer is a thought leader, she is extremely bright, she is one hell of a salesperson and she is a bundle of energy that is contagious and attractive and I promise you you are going to enjoy your time. So strap in and enjoy the ride that Jennifer is going to take us on as you hear her of growing up, becoming an entrepreneur and a best selling author. Jen, welcome to the podcast. Jen is the author of Sales in a New York Minute. She is the host of the incredibly successful Sell or Die podcast as well as a featured keynote speaker all around the world. So welcome to the Get Attitude podcast.

Thank you Glenn. It's a pleasure to be here and.

I must say that you're. You know, I know that they're listening but Jen has our attitude gear on today and she looks absolutely fantastic. The Get Attitude gear is clothes that feel so good they change your attitude. And looking at this beautiful lady, big smile, big brown eyes and an awesome voice and I love listening to your podcast Jen. So welcome and thank you for being here.

Thank you. You know when you told me you were giving me a T shirt, I was obviously grateful but also skeptical because I knew I had to wear it and most people's T shirts are just eh. But your T Shirt actually rocks.

Yes, it does.

And when you look good, you feel good.

That's right. And it's the high thread count, the softness.

Correct. I love it.

And we think it's slimming. My wife loves it because it's slimming. Yeah, it takes like 10 pounds off. It's freaking crazy.

Maybe it should take 20, but, you.

Know, well, if I had clothes that could take 20 pounds off, shit, I would not have to do a podcast. I'd be making some big money.

Oh, man. But actually, this shirt is awesome. So thank you very much.

You are so welcome. Well, as you know, Jen, April is Attitude Awareness month.

Yes.

Global Attitude Awareness month. And since you're a global speaker, it's appropriate that you're here. And what we're doing is we're focusing on our 10 attitude boosters, which if people do the 10 attitude boosters every day, you can't help but have a positive attitude, Rock the world and affect and be contagious to everyone that you meet and that you know. And you and Jeffrey have said, hey, we want to hone in on this one called Grow or Die. So the, the. The month of April, and you are going to be our fourth podcast on our show. So thanks for being in our first month. We're going to focus on Grow or Die. But first of all, tell us a little bit about sales in a New York minute and your book and how your journey started to where you're at right now.

Wow, that's a billion questions. Okay, I'm going to start with my journey. How about that? So I was a salesperson, sales manager, second in charge at a company, second in charge of sales. And after six and a half years there, I realized it was time to do my own thing. And I was really good at helping other people make sales. And I was in New York, but I had a team that was from New York all the way to California. I had a 10 person team that grew to a ton of people because we started out at my company with I think 150 people and overnight grew to 1500 people. When we sold to News Corp. It was crazy.

What business was it?

It was educational software.

Oh, wow.

Yeah. So we were helping kids learn how to read and do math. It was very, it was a really, it was a feel good sale because you made the sale and you knew you were helping people in such a tremendous way.

But it was highly profitable, is it not? Is that business highly profitable?

Typically, software is highly profitable. There were good commissions, so I was rocking it. And it was a really Tough decision to leave, but I knew I needed to do my own thing and be able to impact more people, way more people. And so that's why I started my company, Sales in a New York Minute. And that's also why I wrote the book also called you can tell. I like the name Sales in a New York Minute. It's 212 pages of real world strategies that you can use to make better relationships, build more sales, build loyal relationships, and basically live happier, live a more successful life. Yeah.

Well, you're a perfect fit for this podcast then.

Well, there you go.

I have a feeling that the people that are out there listening to this may have a lot in common with you.

I hope so.

Yeah. And when we talk about grow or die, when you. How long ago was that training?

So I started it in 2013 and 13.

So you've been at this for six years?

Yeah.

Right. So I know you wanted to do more. I could feel it. And I know that you have, I can tell tons of potential in front of you. Like you're only scratching the surface of what you're getting ready to do. What was it inside of you that said I gotta get out of this educational software sales and grow? Right. Just like the people listening, there's people that feel like there's more to life for me than this. What was it for you?

So for me, I looked around and really the next job was the senior vice president of sales. And he had been in that position for, I don't even know, maybe 10 or 15 years. And he's still in that position today. Okay.

Yeah.

And I knew that he was their long term guy and that I would not be able to move, I would not be able to grow there. And so I also knew that I just wanted to be able to do my own thing. And I don't know, starting a business is a huge growth, you know, because when you leave something that has so much security and you take that risk to say, okay, I'm going to bet on myself, I'm gonna bet that I can make the sales that I can deliver, that I can do all of those things, that's huge. And so I just knew that I wanted to be able to impact more people and that's really what it was about for me, and be able to grow personally, both grow my bank account and also grow my potential and grow what I was doing because I felt somewhat capped.

And I think again, the folks listening in, you know, that corporate atmosphere, you can dedicate 10, 15 years of your life, right? And boom, you're done.

Yep.

It's gone.

Yep.

You mentioned growing pains. Whether you knew it or not, you know the pain of growth. And I think that's something that we need to talk about. When you think about growth, do you associate it with pain? Or when you think about times in your life that, man, I've really grown here. What was the pain, the obstacles, the fear that you've had to overcome, and how did you do it?

So I don't normally associate the two directly because you either have a growth mindset or you act usually in fear or some sort of other mindset. And my mindset is very focused on growth, much because of the personal development stuff I've done and the lessons I've. The courses I've taken, the books I've read, that kind of thing. But every entrepreneur and salesperson and really person, person out there goes through growing pains, for sure. Because you can't just go like this. And for those of you who are listening, I'm making, like, a vertical. Just like, you can't just shoot all the way straight up. Right. You have to go a little up and then plateau and then figure out, okay, what do I need to do to get to the next level? And then keep going. But if you're in a moment where it could be considered a growing pain and you're focused on the pain, then you're preventing yourself from growing as much as you could because you need to turn it into, okay, there's some pain here, but what's the opportunity?

Right? Right. You know, you're a tough chick, aren't you?

I am.

And so my guess is you ain't focusing on pain.

I don't. I don't think it's helpful.

Right.

I know that it exists. And when you see those, like, memes of entrepreneurs, they show, like, the up, down, up, down, up, down. And that could be just in one day.

Right.

You know, but it's not helpful if you're focusing on the negative or focusing on the pain, because if you are, that's preventing you from doing all the good you need to do.

Right. Jen Gluckow here is our guest attitude extraordinaire. Sales in a New York minute. I love your book. I love your photo. I love that it's hardback.

Thank you.

It's a attractive book. Tell me, when it comes to grow or die in the attitude booster, which one of these 212 principles could you maybe refer to that, I don't know, correlate with it or that grow or die, you know, would Help you? I don't know. I want to know what's in your book. That's what I'm getting at.

Yeah, sure. So in my book, one of the things I talk about is having a morning routine and having a successful. Creating that successful foundation for your day.

Right?

So a lot of people wake up and what do they do? They press the snooze button. Right? Okay. That's like the first thing. The second thing most people do nowadays is check social media.

Right.

Why do you care who did what last night?

I don't know.

Okay. Or you check your email, which also. Which also.

Accidental twing. Okay, keep going. So why the hell are you checking what somebody had for dinner last night at Pascala's? Right?

It doesn't matter. So you're checking your social media, you're checking your email, you're pressing snooze. Okay. So I adopted a morning routine and that has helped transform my life because it creates the right foundation for the day. So the first thing I do is I drink water. Because you wake up dehydrated, So I always drink a ton of water.

Do you measure it?

I do.

You know the formula?

Yeah, I do. You have to drink half your body weight, but half your body weight.

Good job.

Yeah, I'm like a water fanatic. And my partner Jeffrey probably finds it really annoying because I'm always handing him water bottles.

That's good. That's why your skin looks so good.

Oh, thanks.

Beautiful skin.

Thank you. So the first thing I do is I drink water. Because water gives you energy. People think coffee gives them energy, but it actually dehydrates you and water actually gives you energy. So I drink water and then I read and I write and I do a series of things. I exercise. I actually have affirmations that I have recorded into this app. I listen to them. It's very. A little woo woo. I know, but I love it.

I do too.

I have a visualization for about a minute. I look at my vision board that I've created and it just sets the right foundation for the day. I'm also a big meditator, so I like to meditate for about 10 minutes every morning.

Cool.

And I think that. And so I talk about that in the book as just one of the principles. But you know, if you can wake up and take some time for yourself now, some of you know, you might be thinking like, well, how long is that? If she were like waking up at 4 o' clock in the morning, like you can do this entire exercise in 10 minutes. And you can do it in an hour, you know, so it depends on how much time you want to really invest in yourself.

Well, what's cool to me is you get attitude, right?

Yes.

So it's so funny. Like, you get it. And do the people out there listening, are they getting it? Are they getting the awareness of what a morning routine can do? Are they getting the awareness of what eat right and exercise, which is gonna be week number nine, is all about? And certainly water. Our bodies are what, 70% water, is that right?

Yeah, I think so.

So it's like our bodies need two things, water and oxygen. And so, like, move and drink water. Let's talk. Go ahead.

I just wanna add one thing. Usually if I have extra time, I'll invest 15 minutes into something I'm trying to learn. And because that, to me, is all about the growth. So it may be French, it may be a digital platform. I'm interested in all sorts of things, and I'm sure you as a listener are interested in all sorts of things, but when are you actually taking the time to learn them? And so if you do it for 15 minutes a day, all of the sudden, at the end of the week, you've spent, I don't know, what, over an hour.

Right. Hour and a half.

Yeah, yeah. Learning something new. And to me, that's when you say, like, grow or die, I think about personal growth. Right.

Don't watch the news.

Right.

So, man, you're involved in a lot of great stuff, which I love. I think our listeners need to hear what are your best sources of growth? Like, what apps are there? What are you doing online? What are you reading? What are your. What are. Give me three or four of the sources that, like, if you. If somebody's miserable in their car right now and they need to get attitude, where would you point them?

So I read a lot of books and Positive Mental Attitude. Positive Mental Attitude by W. Who wrote it?

Clement Stone.

Yes. And Napoleon Hill. That is one of my favorite books on the planet. And also there's another book that I love called Dollars Flow Easily to Me.

Cool.

I don't know if you've read that one. It's very woo. But it's all about creating the right mindset. And so I just find books that I think could be helpful and I read them. Those are two recommendations.

I like it.

I also join Facebook groups that will further my. I don't really go on Facebook to find out about, like, who ate what pizza. I don't. I don't care, to be honest, or like whose baby is now 2? No offense to my friends. Your babies are all cute. They're very cute. But that's not why I go on Facebook. I really go on because I'm involved in a couple of groups where people are posting ideas and strategies.

Can you share those groups?

Well, some of them are like, very, very user specific. So like Kajabi, for example, is my digital platform. And I really like the Kajabi user group.

Nice.

And then I'm involved in a high level mastermind. And so I go in the mastermind group. It's a next level coaching kind of group because there's other members in there posting about what they did and how it turned out, and they post their results and they do these debriefs and then everyone gives advice. And so it's really cool because I'm learning through other people's doings as well. Yeah.

So you believe in masterminding? Obviously there's mastermind groups everywhere. And you're telling our people, go get in a mastermind.

Yeah. Go join a group of people that you can bounce ideas off of and strategize with and, and who aren't your competitors, but really want to help see you grow.

Let me ask you this. Do you think growth is an attitude or a skill?

I think it's an attitude.

I like that. And why do you think that's an attitude? What made you say that?

Yeah, because I think it's more of a mindset. And I talked about you need before, how you need a growth mindset. But if you don't have the right attitude around growth, you'll never get any skills that you can acquire through growth. And so I think you need to believe it first and think at first, and it has to be in your mind before you can actually do any of it.

You know, Jen, one thing I feel from you, just sitting here talking to you, is that you have the thought process. You own your own development, you own your own growth. Right. And it's like it's not by chance. You're in your 30s, right. And you've written a best selling book, you're a global speaker, you've started your own business. Congratulations to you. Good job. You should be proud of yourself.

Thank you.

I have friends that are, you know, 50, 54 that you know are still making 18 bucks an hour. So good job.

Well, I hope they're listening to the podcast.

I don't know, they may be pissed if I just said it. It may not be good.

But you know what? I am obsessed with personal Growth. Like, I would take it even a step further because that is the one thing that I can control that's going to get me to the next level. Just like you listening out there. You are listening to this because you want to grow.

Right? Right. And you know what else they should be listening to is that damn Sell or Die podcast.

Oh, yeah.

Right. So I can tell you this. Your book's awesome. I've seen you speak. You do a great job. But perhaps my. I think you're awesome.

Oh, thank you.

On this podcast stuff, you got a great voice, you got tons of energy. And so the podcast Sell or die downloaded 100,000 times a month, that's absolutely freaking ridiculous. And Jen's actually helping me build my podcast. So thank you for your expertise, Jen.

It's a pleasure.

What I want to know is you got this thing Sell or Die.

Right.

And so now comes the morbid part of our interview. I want to talk about dying with you.

Do you need my estate documents, Death?

No, I do not.

Okay. Because I haven't signed them yet.

Right. When you think about Sell or Die. Right. What's your thoughts on death? How do you deal with death? What are your feelings? Do you even think about it? Because you're so young and have you lost somebody in your life that helped you grow when something like that happened?

So I try not to think about it because I compartmentalize, and this is a good thing and a really bad thing as well. I compartmentalize difficult stuff. So something like death, I sort of put in a box over there off to the side, and really try not to think about it. But I have lost someone who was really special to me. My grandma Harriet, who basically raised me. She was like a second mom, but really more like a mom to me. And there are days where I literally pick up the phone to call her and remember that I can't. And so she shaped me in so many ways. Wow. I'm tearing up thinking about it. But she just taught me the fundamentals that are so important, like being nice to people and being generous and never thinking about what the other guy has. You know, always just being concerned with yourself and how you can help others and trying to dress nicely and look nicely. And in her honor, because she always had perfect nails. This is going to sound really simple, silly, but in her honor, I always now have perfect nails.

And you have attitude nails, too. Red.

Thank you.

I love it.

Thank you.

So Grandma Harriet, how long ago did she leave us?

Three years ago.

Three years ago. And. And do you know what her sign was.

What sign?

Like her sign, her zodiac sign, her horoscope sign.

I don't know. She was June.

What sign? She was June.

Yeah.

So she probably was a cancer would be my guess.

Maybe. That sounds right.

Do you know what your sign is?

I'm a Scorpio.

You're a Scorpio? Yeah, my father was a Scorpio. Do you believe in.

I think that they're generally true. I think that they're generally true.

Yeah, that's true. So Grandma Harriet, was she your mother's mother?

My dad's mother.

Your dad's mother. All right, well, here's to Grandma Harriet.

Thank you.

And we'll be thinking of her. So I just. I guess to wrap this thing up, I like to do this little thing called the challenge of the decades. And I want you to just put yourself at the time of your life that I ask you for age.

Okay.

This doesn't need to be terribly profound. And we can edit out any dumb answers that you don't like. Okay.

He's already worried I'm gonna have a dumb answer.

No, I know that, but I just know people get all freaked out.

They're like, ah.

So it's just how we wrap it up. And it's fun, but I want you to just free your mind and relax. And I want you to think about the best advice you could give the world when you were a newborn, you just came out of the womb. What's the best advice you could give the world as a baby?

Sleep through the night, attic girl.

Sleep through the night.

You know what?

That's some of the best health advice. They say that sleep is actually the number one anti aging formula in the world.

Look at that.

Did you know that?

I didn't. I'm gonna look into that.

Yeah. No, trust me. Eight hours a night. It's amazing what it can do. How about when you were 10 years.

Old, I would tell my former 10 year old self to read. Read a lot.

Cool.

Yeah. Because reading is so important. And especially as an adult, when you actually like to read, or if you're into personal development and growth, you will like to read, getting that foundation out there so that you're reading with comprehension is so huge.

Yeah. Yeah. That's good. Coming from the business that you're in, that certainly makes sense, you know?

Yeah, exactly.

And yeah, tough to grow with if you ain't reading.

That's right.

You're not exposing yourself to new information.

That's true.

All right, then the savvy 20 year old.

Right?

Or no, the sassy 20 year old is what I want to know. What advice would the sassy 20 year old give us?

All right. Buy something for yourself with your first paycheck.

Awesome.

Great.

Do you remember what you bought?

Yes.

Are you allowed to say it? No.

I bought the speedy Louis Vuitton bag.

And that would have been your whole paycheck?

No, it was like six months of saving my paychecks.

And do you still have that bag?

Of course. I'll never get rid of it. It's like an honor. It's pride.

Oh my. And what color is it?

It's the normal Louis Vuitton monogram print. But I was like dying for it and I needed to earn it myself, right? And I did and I saved for it.

That's so cool.

But I would tell a 20 year old, go buy something for yourself with your first paycheck and get in the habit of rewarding yourself when you feel you've done something good.

Jen, you really resemble the people that are listening to us. And so I just want to know your sisters and attitude out. Go make some money and buy yourself a damn Louis Vuitton purse. Right?

Hell yeah.

Now I don't know. Tell me real quick, what's the. Is it the print? Is it just the. The aura of Lou or is there a special pocket or a special zipper?

No, it's like the bag, right?

Well, that was Sex and the City and all that stuff.

You probably date me by that. But. But it was like the bag and so I just, you know.

That's cool. So now we move on. You're starting to successful Jen. 30 years old, right? The woman of America. Outspok spitting great knowledge for people and helping peers. Tell me best advice for 30, 30 year old Jen.

Be patient with love. Because you will find the right person if you don't settle. So don't settle basically would be my advice.

That's awesome. That's awesome. Well, Jen, I want to thank you for coming. You know, one of the reasons I just love interviewing people like you and you is your spirit glows. You have karma, you have energy, you believe in growing. Your life is an example of growth. And I just hope that everybody who's listened to this podcast found inspiration in you.

Cool. Thank you so much.

Yeah. To know that they can change it. I just want to challenge all of our attitude listeners here. If you like this episode, please share it with one or two of your friends. Join us on social media, heattitudemovement and the University of attitude. And Jen, I look forward to talking to you again to hear your 40 year old person advice. Sound cool?

Okay, sounds good.

All right, good. Thanks so much. This is it for the Get Attitude Podcast. Helping you cross the gap from where you are to who you want to become. This podcast is a part of the C Suite Radio Network. For more top business podcasts, visit c-suiteradio.com.