Embracing Your Flaws All The Way to the Bank!

flurry of you typing in the chat, yes, I'm perfect, I'm perfect. I'm being facetious. I hope you can tell I'm being facetious. You are not perfect. I'm not perfect. Precious Williams is not perfect. And so many of us entrepreneurs struggle with this idea of like trying to reach something that's unattainable. Why do we do this? Why do we do this? So today, that's what we're uncovering. We're talking with Precious L. Williams. She is the Killer Pitch Master. And she's here to help us all better understand how we can embrace our imperfections and take it all the way to the bank. Precious, so great to have you on Cash In On Camera today. I want to start with this idea of imperfection. Why is it that we struggle with this so much? We see so many entrepreneurs who are just not willing to take the steps necessary to get where they want to go because it has to be perfect before they start. Why do they do that?

I think we do that because we take our cues from media, social media. Everything has to look a certain way. Everything has to give this impression that, that we're just living this type of lifestyle. And for most of us, since we don't live it, we feel very odd doing it. But you think that's what everybody else is doing. Everybody else is on— they have the best relationships, they, they portray the best vacations, they portray the best home. All these sort of things. And the rest of us are just kind of like, I gotta do that. Okay, well, I guess I'll play with the Joneses. And it doesn't really work because I don't want to look at a life that I don't really live.

Well, I wonder what your thoughts are about this, because I feel like there is collectively a shift going on, or at least I hope there's a paradigm shift going on where people are moving away from that photoshopped perfection of the past Do you agree with that?

I definitely agree with that. I started noticing it with reality shows, and I don't mean like, you know, from certain networks. I mean Duck Dynasty, I mean Deadliest Catch. There's nothing beautiful about crab fishing, crab fishing, and yet it still, it still grabs you, you know. It has those moments of drama and intensity. And I also think that when we see, you know, regular everyday people who have achieved extraordinary success, it, it almost is like, whoa, So you don't have to be born with connections, you don't have to be born with wealth, and you can still make it. Wow. Or that ordinary life is probably what most people live, and it does have these exciting moments, but we're so busy looking— sometimes we're so busy looking at the gossip rags or looking at all this other stuff. It's like, the best things in life to me are the real moments where you meet— you ever met your favorite person or someone you've been watching as a celebrity, you've been watching as a speaker, and you meet them in real life? And he actually shocked you by being real?

Why does that come as a shock? Why does it come as a shock when you meet someone and you go, oh, you're a real person? Of course they are, right?

About how things are supposed to look. Like, I don't know about you, I don't have a Brazilian butt lift, I don't have six-pack abs. I really am 42 years old. I really am an unambiguous Black woman. I don't have green eyes, I'm not light-skinned. And it has taken me so many years to just— when you remember that love the skin you're in, I love this skin because I did a lot in this skin. I kept going in this skin. I kept going in this body and defying the odds that I had to look, sound, and act like everybody else. I was having a conversation with a dear friend of mine, a classmate from Spelman, and I said, I love that mask off now. We've all been through relationships. We've all been through career and entrepreneurial challenges, and we're just who we are now. Yeah. And I'm meeting the real you, not the competitive you, not the facade. I'm meeting the real you, and you're pretty darn awesome.

Well, you're known as the Killer Pitch Master, and you have reached really an amazing level of success. I know you're an international speaker. You're an author of the book Bad Bitches and Power Pitches. Brilliant title.

So thank you.

And you're like, I mean, you have an online presence. You're out there. You're seen. You're known. Your brand, and I'll show some examples, you know, even on your website, your branding is very, it's very nice. It's very aesthetically pleasing and it looks polished and professional. But I think sometimes people get that mixed up with this idea of perfection, right? And so talk to me about your viewpoint around the difference between perfection and branding as it pertains to especially visual identity.

Well, I always want to come across as polished. But if you notice, I don't have corporate photos.

Let me show—

I want you to see me. I want you to see me like this because this is really my personality. Yes, I work for myself. I teach women and men how to write their own paychecks, and it's not by being like everyone else. I embrace other— see, change my hair like I change my underwear. It's an everyday occurrence. I never look the same because it's part of my brand. I always tell people my pictures are perfect. I am always a work in progress. So what you saw yesterday may be different from who you see today, but professionally, I'm going to kill it for you. Yeah. And I love the fact that I work with a lot of great women, a lot of great men, a lot of big companies, corporations, nonprofits, and foundations, and even individual speakers and entrepreneurs. And I feel like so many of us, when we were growing up— I'm a former attorney— wear the suit, wear the pearls, be in the background. Put your head down, do the work. And that doesn't work for me. That doesn't work for me. I'm, I'm not, I'm not— listen, I got to show up like Beyoncé, like flaws and all. All that. When I'm coming home, I'm like, I don't have sidekicks. You're meeting me.

Well, what I hear—

to be me.

What— yeah, and what I hear you say there is this ability and willingness to really embrace your authentic self. And that takes a lot of self-awareness, which a lot of people struggle with. It takes time to build that self-awareness. So did you always, you know, tell me about your, your journey to that self-awareness and to that self-discovery and the willingness to be your authentic self? Was it a challenge? And describe how that worked out for you.

It was a challenge because I grew up, I grew up in very difficult circumstances with parents who, you know, abused and neglected me. And my grandmother is something about every time I think about her, she used to tell her children You know, and they would say, oh, she'd be cooking and cleaning for me. And she's like, Precious is going to have someone do that for her. What grandmother back in the day says that? Because she knew where I was going and she knew that I had the gift of speech. She knew that Oprah was going to know my name. She knew that I was going to be on billboards in Times Square. But how do you know that in the hood of St. Louis, Missouri? She spoke life into me and I just didn't understand it. And, you know, I went, went to, went to college, went to law school, you know, did all of that. And it was unfulfilling for me. I, I wanted to be in the courtroom. I wanted to have my Johnny Cochran moment. But we all know it takes a long time to get to the Johnny Cochran moments. And so for me, when I look back, when I wore my hot pink and hot purple suits— ridiculous, ridiculous— but I did because I had to have personality. And I love to show up colorful. I love to show up in so many different ways. And as I got older, you know, I wanted to be pretty. I want to be light-skinned. I want to be like my sister with her green eyes or whatever. No disrespect, my sister's very beautiful. But one day I looked in the mirror and I said, for all the time I spent wanting to be someone else, how about I just be me? And people always tell me it's my energy that they— that attracts them. It's how I speak, it's how I move. And I'm so comfortable being me. I can talk with my hands, I can talk without my hands. You're gonna still get this fire and this energy. And because I am a corporate trainer, because I am a speaker, I have no desire to bore people. I have no desire to say, oh, I went here, I went there. No. I'm going in the trenches with you. I've had some bad moments in entrepreneurship. I had some bad moments in life. I've had some bad moments in relationships. But you know what? When they say living well is the best revenge, success is the best revenge, it is. Because while people tell you what you cannot do because it didn't happen for them, or they didn't try hard enough, or maybe it just wasn't in the cards— this is in my soul. It took me into my 30s to realize why God had me on this Earth. I've been speaking since I was 16, but in my late 30s, that's when I found out who I really was. And if that's not— I wanted my DASH to count. My DASH is not about making people perfect people. It's about taking their strengths and enhancing it. I'm not concerned about your weaknesses. I'm an extrovert, and at times I'm an introvert. I can be an ambivert. I feel that way too.

I feel that way too. I think to one degree, and especially as my career was on television, I feel like I have that aspect of me. But I also have this part of me that likes to just have quiet time. And I am more introverted, although maybe people don't see that side of me. But, you know, I think that what you brought up is really important, this idea of self-awareness. And by the way, if you're watching this right now on LinkedIn, YouTube, my Facebook page, Cashing on Camera Facebook group, Twitter, you know, leave comments, chat with us, and Precious would be happy to share her insights with you to help you. If you are someone who is struggling with imperfection or with perfectionism right now, this is the conversation for you because I think we all suffer from this to some degree. It's just those who are willing to get through that painful piece so that they can really be more authentically themselves online, especially in the entrepreneurial world, the virtual world. So much of it has been this polished perfection, and we're moving away from that. Yes. So, so it may be hard for people to embrace being themselves because they don't have that level of self-awareness. But let's just jump ahead and say that they reach that point, as you and I both have, to the point where they're like, I'm just gonna do it, I'm just going to be myself because I know that's my heart's calling. You mentioned about how we can maybe as entrepreneurs make other people feel safe sharing their imperfections with us. And I think that's especially important in the coaching world, the coaching and consulting world. How can we make other people, clients, feel more willing to share their imperfections and frankly, their story? And maybe those are long-held deep beliefs that don't serve them anymore. How can we help them open up so that they can grow?

I think there are two ways: by modeling it for them and mirroring it for them. So when I— back in the day when, you know, I had this really, really big life— Shark Tank, CNN, Wall Street Journal, movies, documentaries— I was showing up as I thought I should show up. I had the mask on. And you know what? It's hard to live up to something that's just really not real. I wasn't confident. I felt uncomfortable in my body, but I had to put on this mask. But when I went through such a dark time from 2016 to 2018, where, you know, I became a severe alcoholic after the love of my life died, after I lost everything and became homeless, I really thought it was over. And I tried to take my life. And obviously I'm still here 4 years later. Coming out of that, going into the Bowery Mission Women's Center, which is a Christ-centered life transformation program, not a shelter at all. Living well, living well, being there and understanding that I wasn't just born to work for people. I wasn't born to be a carbon copy of anyone else. There was a unique purpose and a calling on my life. And when I started speaking again, my first speaking engagement was at Bottomless Closet, and it was standing room only. And I hadn't spoken in years. And I walked in, I saw those women, and they were standing there waiting. For me. And I'm talking to him, I'm giving him the business, and I'm telling about how it— how, how things went down. But until they introduced me to Viacom— about most— cause they introduced me to Viacom, and I spoke at their Smart and Sexy Day. And I'm standing there with the program manager, and I finally felt God said, give it to him raw. And I told her, I said, when I met you, we were at the Tory Burch Embrace Ambition Summit. I was homeless, but I didn't tell you that. I told you I'm the killer pitch master, slay all competition, and that was true because I wanted to see me as I am, not who I used to be, not any of that. Well, now here's the true story. I was a client of Bottomless Closet as I was talking to you, and if I had told you I was homeless and I was struggling, I was a woman in transition, they are there. But because I came to you strong You saw something else. And as I stand before the executives here, this is what can happen when you find yourself, when you're blessed to— you're blessed to live another life, to be given a second chance. I'm not ashamed that I was homeless. I'm not ashamed that I was a former, uh, severe alcoholic. I'm clean and sober. I know what— why I was born. I'm gonna make my dash count. So we can run and tell anything about my past I'll tell it first, and I'll tell it— I'll tell the real story. And I want people to know that you can fall. There's life after failure. There's life after cancel culture. There's life after bad relationships. There's life after your family turns their back on you, friends turn their back on you. There is life after that. And the life that you want, I promise you, you can have it. Is it going to be hard? Yes. Are you going to have to walk some roads alone? Are you going to have to walk tall against the rain? Yes, you will. Because until you step into your purpose, another woman or man can't step into theirs. So as a trailblazer, I'm supposed to get beat up and cut up and everything to make it easier for the woman or the man behind me. And I take, I take that so seriously. So yes, I've messed up. Yes, I've made horrible mistakes. Yes, I've squandered opportunities. But by being given a second chance, I'm taking it all now. And I'm coming so real. I'm as imperfect as they come. I'm deeply flawed. But you know what else I am? I'm unstoppable.

I'm unstoppable. Precious, I want to know, in that moment where you really— what I hear is that you found the courage in that moment. And do you feel that that was a calling? Where did that courage to say those words, maybe for the first time, to share that story of homelessness, which is vulnerability? And a lot of people are not willing to do that. They want to go for, I need to look a certain way, I need to show that I have a certain lifestyle. Where does the courage come from? At least, where did it come from for you? Was it just like, "I'm tired of faking it," or, "I'm tired of trying to hide"? What was it that came about for you in that moment that could help our viewers and our listeners to say, "Gee, could I muster up the type of courage that Precious did in that moment?" Well, one is, yes, I'm tired.

I know I look the part. I look the part of success. Success. But I want you to know, in order for me to get here, I had to go through a lot of hell to get here. I had to— I had to dig in the garbage. I had to— I had to deal with my emotions. You know, at Young Life, that was just about doing the work. I did the work, and so I'm not afraid anymore. And you— we— we're never told this, but when you're really honest and authentic, the right people find you. Did I ever think that LinkedIn would be my biggest client? Did I ever think I could walk into Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Federal Reserve Bank, Intuit, QuickBooks, uh, NBCUniversal, be the keynote speaker at a lot of these different events? Did I think that that would happen? But when I told the truth, the doors opened, and I had no idea. I was so used to you gotta look and sound and act a certain way even if you didn't feel that way. Every time I'm blessed to rock the microphone, anytime I'm blessed to be on a podcast or anything, I'm blessed. Because on my 38th birthday I should not have been here. I'm 42 years old and I want women especially to know it's not fake confidence, it's I accept me now. Whether you do perfect moments every day— no, I don't. Some days I'm like, man, and it's hard.

It's hard to accept all that you are, right?

And you're allowing others to— like, I was looking at your outfit today, like, I love how much— how colorful it is. Like, I feel attracted to the sunshine of it. I feel attracted. And I went to Beaumont High School, and our colors were the gold of youth and the blue of truth. And that's always stood with me. And when the mask comes off, you're dealing with the real me. I'm still a professional. I can still train and teach with the best of them. I'm a killer pitch master. But if you know where I came from and how, how I worked and how I— the right people came into my path and how I had a discerning eye this time. It wasn't about just taking pictures with celebrities. It wasn't— no, no, no. I walk in because I am the celebrity in my own mind. And so it's an honor for you to take a picture with me, just like it's an honor for me to take a picture with you. I see the God in you. I see the king and the queen in you. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna call you on it, because when I call you, they're like, oh, oh, oh my goodness, I've never had anybody call me that. Because I see you beyond how you see you. I love working with my clients. I love going into group trainings because I see what they cannot see. I see the strength in them, and they've been dumbing it down and masking it and all that other kind of stuff, and I don't want them to. I'm not going to be 6 feet tall and 100 pounds in this lifetime, but while I'm 5 foot 9, 200, you know, some over 200 pounds, I'm gonna shine until my heart stops. Because there are little girls and little boys behind us who will never look like the airbrush version or the feel perversion. I'm like, you gotta love me or leave me alone.

Precious, thank you so much. This is so enlightening, and I think that for myself included, the willingness to be more vulnerable, I think, is something I'm taking away from this. And it's something I've done a little bit of it over the last many years, but I know there's more to do. Yes, you've inspired me. Yeah, you've inspired me to be more willing to dig into the past and be willing to share more of that part of my life and history. And I think it will help others as well to hear a real story about where that— what— how that happened for you in that moment of just saying, you know what? And what I really heard you say is that you in that moment probably felt a sense of, I need to serve others. I need to now dig in and show and demonstrate. You said modeling and mirroring. That willingness to be able to show imperfection, to be vulnerable, to be your authentic self, and to be of service to others. And I know that's exactly what you do in your work as the Killer Pitch Master. And you are a super confident woman and I just love watching you. Yes, girl, you just really rock it. And I just appreciate you being on so much. A quick little thing we do at the end of the segments is we do a thing called Stop Marketing Like It's 1999 because I'm a big Prince fan. So, you know, and so I'd love to know what is a tip, a tool, a tactic, or a technique that's really working for you to market yourself today in the way that we market ourselves today? What's something that's really working for you that you'd like to share with the audience?

Well, what's really working for me is videos. Videos work really well for me, right? And so I've been utilizing BombBomb. So let's say, you know, I have a client or prospect, it's their birthday and I find out, I'll make little BombBomb videos. And I will send it to them, or I'll send them a nice— I have a, a queen that I work with, her name is Lisa the Tofu. I'll send a card and brownies because I'm acknowledging them. And it's so— do you know how much repeat business you get when you acknowledge? Not to say thank you, but demonstrate that. And so you can send a nice little video, happy birthday to you, throw some confetti up and be like, oh, you know, and just do something really, really funny. They're like, you thought of me? I was like, not only did I think of you I'm going to honor you on your day.

It's that personal touch. Yeah, it's that personal touch.

So important. So the power of video. And you know how— you know, you know why I'm able to sell the way I do, the way I'm able to have an impact, is because once people experience the energy, it's a done deal. So all the writing and automating, all of that, like, I don't come across well like that. I come across in video, and when people meet me in real life, it's like She's real, she's normal, she's extraordinary, she's really who she is, she's really colorful, her hair always looks different. Wow, she really didn't joke. It, it's just wonderful. And so we're not marketing like— we're not marketing like it's $19.99. Take advantage of everything. I do Facebook Lives, LinkedIn Lives, YouTube, you know, we be getting it in. And this is a way people get— new people getting to see you instead of feeling like you're only in the sea of the same people. So also making sure that your networks can pitch you into places you've never been, but they can only do that if they've experienced you.

Precious, thank you so much for being on Cashing On Camera. Really appreciate your insights. Those are great, uh, tips to share with the audience, and I know we're connected. We're going to stay connected. I love watching your journey on LinkedIn. I know you're on Instagram and other platforms as well, and obviously going to your website at perfectpitchesbyprecious.com is a great place for people to learn more about you. Thank you so much for being on today.

Thank you so much.