I Got To Speak At Google!?

What is up? Welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited for today's conversation because I am going to be sharing with you a little bit of behind the scenes of a really incredible opportunity that I recently had. I just got back from two weeks of travel where I spent a chunk of time in Miami and another chunk of time out in Atlanta, and the entire trip was incredible. I got to do really, really fun things. But I, I wanted to come back and share specifically about this experience that I had speaking to the women at Google and talk with you a little bit about what the heck the whole deal was with the presentation and how I got the opportunity to speak with them, what went into it, how I prepped for it, what some of my takeaways were from the experience, and share with you a little bit of advice on if this is something that you're interested in doing. Just kind of the approach that I've taken and different things that I am going to be doing, moving forward from the lessons that I've learned from this experience. So if you are interested in hearing all about how the heck I got to speak at Google and if you're interested in doing speaking engagements yourself, I think that this will be something that's really interesting for you. So I'm excited to share. And if you have any questions outside of what I do cover in this episode, let me know. Because this is something new to me speaking, and it's something that I'm really excited about, kind of adding into my business and adding into my strategy because it's something that I've realized that I love doing. Which is kind of wild because when I think about me in speaking, like, there were absolutely times in my childhood where public speaking scared the living shit out of me. Like, I remember getting up in front of classes and having to speak and immediately, right, your heart starts racing. I. I'm like, profusely sweating. I feel like my vision's getting cloudy. I'm, like stuttering and stammering over my words and there's just like no way that I, little old me thought that now I'm at a point where I'm like, oh, I actually really love speaking. I really love getting an opportunity to stand up at the room and, you know, present, whether in person or virtually share my message, spark conversation, and educate on topics that I think are super important. So it's just really crazy how far you can come. And now I'm like, I think I got the speaking bug. I'm, like, excited. I'm ready to continue to take my Message and see where else I can, you know, open up the conversation around the topic of money. So first, I guess let me share a little bit about how this all came to be. So before I left my corporate job, I started to think about the way that I wanted to impact women and who I wanted to impact. And if you have ever worked in corporate, if you're in corporate, like, you're probably have this experience where people come in and speak, right? You. You bring people in for, like, little group speaking, or they come in and, like, pitch their stuff. We always had the same guy from the same financial advising company come in and talk to us, like, year over year over year. And for a while, I met with these people, I met with the team. And this is really where I started to figure out, like, okay, what the heck is a financial advisor? How would this help me? I started to piece together some questions I had. Um, realize that some people are just actually, you know, insurance salesmen and not actually having my, like, overall best interest and heart when it came to, like, all of my financials. But that is a topic for another day. And I started to think, okay, well, if these people are coming in and talking about money and what their perspective is of money, I think it would be really fun to come in and talk to women and share my perspective of money and the message that I have to share about money mindset and personal finances and. And what my journey has been and just the way that it can help them. And so I actually got the opportunity to go speak to the company that I worked at at the time, but in another market. So my girlfriend runs the Women DRG Group, which is an employee resource group out in Atlanta. And so she was like, wait, we literally, our entire topic of the month, this month is money, and we're reading a book together on it. I think it would be really cool for you to come in and speak. And so before I even left my corporate job, I made it known to her that this was something I wanted to do. And then the opportunity arise for me to come and do it out in her market. And I just did it virtually at the time, but I had so much fun doing it. And I was like, okay, I think this is definitely. This feels good. This feels like, you know, a group of people that I definitely want to start this conversation with and be able to open the door in case they want someone to talk to as well. Because I get what it's like to be a girl in corporate America trying to navigate the world of money, especially when you Start to make really good money, and you're just kind of like, lost in the sauce on what do I do with it now? And so I knew that this is what I wanted to help people with, and this is, you know, the space that I wanted to create for them. So I did that presentation and it was great. We had a, you know, a really awesome time. Got to spark some conversation. I headed into that one, like, wait, I have actually not put a PowerPoint presentation together since college. So my skills were rusty. We got in Canva and I just started to create a presentation. And it was cute, it was fine. I, you know, it was definitely aesthetic. But the presentation that I presented to Google and that presentation, we've had a lot of iterations in between. And so I obviously took feedback from that presentation and continued to integrate it into the presentations that I have given between now and then. But that was the very first time that I was kind of like, okay, definitely confirming this is something I want to be doing. And so what happened from there? Honestly, like, I have so much, like, thanks to give to my girlfriend who ran that group because she is connected with other people out there. And someone that she's connected with because she really also believes in empowering women in that space is the person who runs women's erg group at Google. And so they were talking about, you know, how they were running their groups and topics that they're really passionate about, one of them being money. And it just happened to come up in conversation that she had a friend who, who came out and spoke to their women's erg group about the topic of money and money mindset. And the woman who ran the experience or the group over at Google was really, really interested in that. And so she was able to make that connection for me where then I got to go speak to the person who runs it and get to know her better, talk about our stories. She had actually shared that she has hired a money coach during her her time, and it's been super impactful. So we just got to talking about what our stories were, kind of what the purpose was behind my business, why I was doing this, why I'm so passionate about it, and how I want to help other women. And it really, from there, she was like, okay, like, I think this would be, you know, something that would be really important for the people in my world to hear about and a conversation that I really believe needs to be taking place at a bigger scale. So why don't you come talk to my women's erg group about it. And that is really how it happened. And so from there, you know, obviously we put it in the calendar. I knew in advance that I was actually going to be in Atlanta at the end of the year because I was going to this conference that I had signed up for. And so I pitched her, like, hey, why don't I just come and do it in person? Let's push it out. And I'd love to come actually be in person, get a chance to meet you, meet your team, you know, obviously see Google and do this with a little bit more of an in person interaction. Because I knew now at this point that speaking in person was something I was really passionate about and wanted to do. And it felt really scary to be like, yeah, wait, let's actually not do this virtually. Let me just go and come in person and do it, since I'm going to be there anyway. And so that's how that came to be. And so the big point I want to make here, because that did happen kind of easily, if I'm being honest, right? I know some people will, like, assumed I went around and was, like, pitching myself and it was this, you know, big deal to get this. And it was a big deal. It is a big deal. This is super incredible. Like, are you kidding me? The words I got to speak at Google, I never thought those words would come out of my mouth. So an incredible opportunity. But the real lesson here is the power of your network and having people in your circle that will speak on your behalf when you're not in the room is literally one of the most important things that you can have on your side. Having friends and having just people in your network that believe in you and understand your mission and are like, you need to meet this person and really, truly understand you at your core. And I feel so blessed that that's what my best friend is for me. She's like, nope, I believe in your mission. And when it came up in a conversation with someone else, she was like, you need to get connected with Madison. You guys would totally hit it off. And I think that she has a lot to provide to your group. So I just really want to hammer home. I wouldn't have gotten this without the power of my network and someone who believed in my message and put me. Put their, you know, neck out there for me and just really stuck up for me and was like, no, you guys need to connect. And that got me the meeting in the door. So there's so much power to having people in your network that will do that for You. And with that letting people know what your goals are, like, I was super crystal clear, like, this is definitely something I'm interested in pursuing. And I didn't know how it would come to be, but I just knew this was something that I wanted to do. And so letting your goals be known to the people that are around you. I think sometimes we put all this pressure on ourselves to, like, have to figure it all out by ourselves, but you likely have people in your network that believe in you and understand what you're trying to accomplish and just think you're cool and fun and a vibe and think that you could share a cool message with someone else. And so really knowing, like, who those people are in your life that will speak on your behalf when you're not in the room, and letting them know what your goals are, letting them know what your intentions are and just not being afraid to speak those into existence. Because I think the second that you get really clear on what it is that you're trying to accomplish and you have an intention behind it, doors open up, magic happens. You have to put the intention behind it and be okay, letting your big, scary goals be known. So that was a really big takeaway for me in this. And I've always believed in the power of your network, but I think it's just so much more important to recognize that having a strong network, letting people in your circle know what it is that you want to go after, what your goals are, and building relationships with people that will speak on your behalf is just an absolute game changer. And now with that, what I would say is, you also have to be that person for them, too. Any opportunity I have to pimp my friends out, essentially, and share why they're so great at what they do, I'm going to take that opportunity. If someone's talking about a gap that they have in their business or in a skill set or in life, and I know somebody that could help them or at least could connect them with a conversation, I'm gonna go out of my way to do that, because I also want to be that person for other people, because I know the power of connection, and I want to be able to help people do that. So I guess just ask yourself, like, do you have these people in your life that would speak for you, and are you that person for other people? And if not, start to get really clear around what your goals are and who these people are that you think could be connectors in your life and just start to give a little bit of connections where you can knowing that it'll eventually come back to you. So that is just obviously, like, good networking tactics. But, yeah, just finding your people. And obviously, you want to, like, believe in the people and you want to have good relationships with the people. You don't want to just be, like, connecting people that, like, you haven't vetted. Right. So you really want to make sure you're taking time to get to know people, what's important to them, what their skill sets are, what their strengths are, what their goals are, and then seeing how you can lift people up. I'm just such a believer in collaboration over competition, and I think we can all go so much further together when we're just finding ways to lift people up and help them get to their goals. It all comes back around if you believe in just karmic energy and, you know, doing good onto other people. Like, it does all come back around. And so, yeah, those were my takeaways for that. And so I landed the opportunity. Months prior to me leaving my job, I knew that I was gonna have the speaking gig. So that was really cool. So now what I did between now and then was prepare. I found other groups and other virtual masterminds to get an opportunity to continue to my message. And every single time I gave this presentation, I was like, oh, gotta change that. That didn't land. Let me pivot here. That was really, really good. That resonated well. And so I've had the opportunity to have multiple iterations with the presentation prior to me actually going and giving it to Google. And it was really nice to know I had a couple months between it so I could actually practice. Practice some messaging, practice some exercises, ask some questions about, like, what may or may not land with people, and also just, like, rehearse, make sure I had my talking points down, make sure I understood what the objective was of the conversation. And I shared with people that had done keynote presentations that I had something really cool coming up and was asking for advice. I'm like, hey, I know you speak all the time. What's something that you would tell me as a new speaker? Like, what's something I should focus on? What's something I shouldn't focus on? And again, kind of in that same mindset of collaboration over competition, I've got so many awesome people around me that people were like, oh, my gosh, okay, here are some crazy lessons that I've learned. Here's something that you should be strategic about, and here are things that you should just not even worry about. And what I'll Say is that throughout this entire process, coming from the point of view of someone who's like a perfectionist, like, really trying to work through being a perfectionist in business, you've really got to just learn as you go. Like, if I would have just been like, hey, I'm waiting until I have the most perfect presentation before I present this. Like, that. That doesn't happen. You know, like, perfect doesn't really come. Like, you've got to be able to go out there and put yourself out there. And that's what I did. With all the iterations in between that first one and then the one that I just had, I just continued to learn. I knew it wasn't going to be perfect going into it, but I got significantly more comfortable with my message and the key takeaways that I wanted people to have. And then what I did, about a month, I would say, before that presentation is, I was thinking, still not feeling like it was landing the way I wanted it to. I had all of the key talking points that I wanted to talk about, but it wasn't feeling as flowy like it was feeling. Here's how I was feeling. It was feeling like I was going in at the start of the presentation and I was just giving, like, my entire life story. I felt like I was like, word vomiting, throwing up, because I wanted to be able to provide some perspective as to, you know, my credentials, why this is important to me, what I have learned and a little bit about my own story so that I could connect with the audience, which is obviously a big goal when you are doing a presentation. And then I was just flipping into educator mode, and I was just like, here is all of the information and why you should care about it. And it was just, frankly, a little bit boring. Like, I obviously bring energy to it, but just the flow of it wasn't really flowing. So I did what I love to do, is find somebody who has the area of expertise that I am lacking in. And I hired a keynote presenter coach to actually take me through my presentation and point out all the things that I could be doing better, all the little tweaks I could make in order to have a more effective presentation, and also help me cut out all the shit that I did not need to be talking about. Because guess what? You don't have to tell your entire life story in a presentation. You don't have to talk about everything that you know on a topic in order for it to be effective. And so I just want to shout out my girl Andrea Merrell, real quick. Because she went in and helped me in literally one hour, you guys. It was so much fun to go through with her and also so effective in such a short amount of time where I was able to actually be like, hey, here's the presentation I've been giving. I obviously went in with like a baseline of what. What I had been working and all the key sticking points where I was like, here's where I feel like this is just not working. And she was able to help me just pinpoint exactly, like, this is really powerful. Talk about this. Okay, this is cool, but talk about this here in your presentation. And from there it just flowed so much better. I was able to have so much more fun in the presentation and it was just so much more of like a storytelling while educating expl. Experience vs what it previously was, which was just me, right, giving a little bit of backstory and then educating from there. And so what I will just mention here is that it's just so important to understand, like, where your strengths are and be okay asking for help. I was. I would not have felt as confident as I was if I would not have had that hour strategy session with her in order to just like, get my mind right and understand, like, hey, you know, you're doing this the right way. Here are some things that are, you know, really great. Here are some things to area of areas to improve on. And then from there, honestly, I went through and changed a lot about the presentation based on that conversation. I made it significantly less text heavy. I was able to add in some more visuals to the presentation. And I just was able to, like I said, like, split up my story and share some more relatable stories throughout the presentation that I think just landed a lot better with the audience and made the information so much more digestible and also just so much more enjoyable for them to go through. And so I obviously think that coaching is so important and so impactful. We do not have to know how to do everything on our own. And especially when you're getting an opportunity to go out and present like this. Like, I wanted to make sure I was showing up prepared. I wanted to make sure that I was showing up with a plan and that I knew that it was going to land really well. And so that was something that was really, really helpful for me. And honestly, it calmed my nerves so much. Like, by the time I woke up the morning of the presentation, I really did feel cool, calm and collected. Like, I really wasn't super worried and super stressed about the opportunity because I had gone through and rehearsed quite a bit at that point. Like, I knew on each slide what my key bullet points were. I was going to talk about. I knew on each slide what the story was that I was going to share with the audience. Of course, everything doesn't go like perfectly as planned because this was now the first time I was giving the presentation since I met with her, since I met with my coach on that. And so it was like, okay, time to put it in action. And again, even coming out of that presentation, I literally went home and took notes and I already tweaked things. So, like, the next time I went and gave the presentation, it was even a little bit different. Like, you really just have to be like, okay with the fact that progress is so much better than perfection and you've got to move forward. And the only way you're going to continue to get better is if you are just okay showing up with where you're at, knowing that you know you're going to continue to get better as you go. And so, like I said, I left that presentation with the bug. I got the speaking bug now. And this is something that I'm really excited to continue to work on. And so I'd say if you are someone who is interested in doing presentations like this, in speaking to companies, my advice for you would be to first get clear on what your message is. Like, what would you want to go present on? What is something that you feel really passionate about? You feel like you've got a good unique perspective, you've got information on. If you're in the business world, right? What do you, what's your business about? If you're in the coaching world, what do you coach on? You don't have to be a business owner or a coach to go in and start doing this, but you definitely have to have, hey, what's the topic and what's the value add here that somebody would be like, yes, this is great. My audience would definitely be interested in hearing this presentation. I think this is something that people need to hear more of. And once you have a really great idea of what it is like, I would start putting together some like little mini content. Like I had talked about this topic of money mindset and the power of our subconscious mind, which is what I presented on as it relates to money. I've been talking about this online for a year now. So this is something I felt really comfortable with. So start to figure out what it is that you want to speak about and then put some stuff together so you can start to get comfortable? What's your message? What's the point of view you're going to share? What are the key takeaways that you want to leave the audience with? And then I would start to ask people in your circle, who do you know? For me, a really great place to start was women's employee resource groups at companies, because I knew that that audience and that demographic was exactly who I wanted to work with. And I know I can provide value to them because I was them. And so figure out, who do you know in your circle that works at these companies that might have a connection like that and start to get unapologetic about asking about it. I have no doubt you have people in your network that are either working at companies that would find a message that you have very valuable or are one removed from that or two removed from that. And then you just start to figure out, okay, what is, what is my pitch like? Why do I think this is an important message? And then go set up time with them, go meet with them and, and talk about what your objective is. And ask if they have any upcoming events you can come speak at. Ask if they can get you on the calendar for something in the future. And just don't be afraid to go in and talk about why this is so important to you. And obviously, you know, in this situation, I got really lucky where there's a strong connection there, and the woman who ran the group and I just had a really great connection and relationship and believed in the message and the power of working with the money coach, because that had been her experience in her own life. But you gotta be okay also with maybe them saying no and knowing, getting rejected. And that's something I'm definitely preparing myself for, is I want to go continue to expand, talking with more companies and clients and just getting the message out there. So don't be, you know, don't beat yourself up if it doesn't happen super quickly. Just get more at that. Learn as you go and continue to tweak things so that you can get better at it, but just really lean into your network. I think that there is so much to be said there about the fact that we're really not that far removed from the people that can really help you and help your, you know, dreams come true. And then, you know, as you're either getting the gig or working towards the gig, work on your confidence of what your message is. And maybe you should think about hiring a keynote presenter coach. They can help you create the presentation, they can help you with Your public speaking skills, they can help you make sure that you're delivering an effective presentation. And so don't be afraid to lean on support and don't be afraid to work with a coach to do that. And then what I would do, if you're not already in the world of talking about your message, maybe try and go on a couple podcasts and get really comfortable sharing your message and sharing what it is that you want to say or show up on IG Live or post some reels about it. Anything you can to get really, really comfortable. Other things that I did to prep was just like running through the presentation and actually practicing. What am I going to say? I also think humor and energy and vibes are so important when you're giving a presentation. So when you're thinking about where to tell stories, also think about like where can you tell some jokes? Like where can you get the people laughing? And I think that lands a really big piece too. Another big note that I had from people was to try and end on a slide that gives away some sort of free value. So some sort of freebie, if you are familiar with that term, like have like a QR code or something that links back to more of like an email opt in so that you can see who is, you know, adding your email to or getting on your email list from that. So you can start to track some leads from that and also obviously share your socials with them, let them know how they can find you and then start some conversations with those people. You never know who is in that presentation that might be really interested in the work that you do. And obviously if you are a business owner, if you are a client and that's something that you want to use to like direct clients through a really great lead source for that as well. Because again, hopefully you've done the research, you found the group that is going to be the demographic that you want to work with and you're delivering a really great message that is going to land with somebody in there. So yeah, those are my key takeaways from here. I am now so excited to just, you know, package up that experience. It helped me learn and grow so much and it was just a really wonderful experience that obviously confirmed this is something I'm excited to do. I will say I also got the opportunity after the the presentation was over to tour the Google campus, which was really fun, and eat lunch in the Google cafeteria. So got to pretend I was a little Googler there for an afternoon, which was really fun as well. If you, I don't know. I have never worked in a company. That campus was so wildly exciting and there was so many food options. There was like a full on salad bar, a pizza bar, there was a pasta bar, there was like endless food options I swear and everyone was just so lax and so relaxed and nice and inviting. So it was a really great experience to go ahead and eat some google food and pretend I was a googler for a couple hours. So that was really fun as well. But yeah, now I guess I'm just on to applying all the things I learned from this experience and continuing forward and finding some other opportunities. So I guess Shameless Plug if you or anyone you know would like to hear about money mindset, the power of your subconscious mind and how our beliefs essentially control and dictate our financial reality, let me know. Hit a sister up. I would love to talk with you about that and collaborate. So yeah, that's all for now. I will talk to you soon. Bye.