In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews sales veteran and Lunch Break Podcast host James Bawden. The conversation opens with a sponsor plug for Authors Unite, then moves into James’s most impactful personal story: the sudden death of his mother three days before his 21st birthday, which taught him to cherish each day. James shares his core sales philosophy that top salespeople are problem‑solvers who listen more than they speak, contrasting them with pushy sellers. He offers broader business advice to be authentic and let one’s personality shine, warning against fitting into a box. Reflecting on personal development, James recommends starting a daily meditation practice, noting its profound impact on his life. When asked about happiness, he describes a balance of gratitude for what you have and steady progress toward future goals. The best book he reads annually is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, from which he distilled the importance of listening to build relationships. His favorite quote, from Zig Ziglar, is “Expect the best, prepare for the worst and capitalize on what comes.” The episode concludes with James’s online presence: LinkedIn (James Bowden) and his Lunch Break Podcast on SoundCloud. A final Anchor promo wraps up the episode.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with the support you need to finish your book. Best part is, after you finish your book, they take care of the entire publishing and marketing process 100% for you. So if you want to become a successful author, make sure to check out authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? ¿Cómo te va? ¿Cómo te va? ¿Cómo te va? ¿Cómo te va?
All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today I have James Balden with us. He is a passionate sales professional with 10 years of experience and the host of the Lunch Break podcast. Where he interviews sales practitioners about the lessons they've learned in their careers. So welcome to the show, man.
Hey, thanks so much for having me, man. I feel very honored to be here.
Of course, man, grateful to have you on. So, um, the first one we ask on the Business Blast podcast, James, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Look, the best story, uh, is also probably the biggest story from my life, um, is when my mom died. My mom died 3 days before my 21st my first birthday, very unexpectedly. And it honestly taught me the most valuable lesson that I've learned thus far, and it's that we need to enjoy every day here that we have on Earth because, quite frankly, you're not guaranteed a next one. So that was a huge event in my life, a huge lesson that I learned. It's something that I've been able to carry with me ever since.
Wow, man, I'm sorry to hear that. Thanks for sharing that with us. The next one I have for you, James, is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Yeah, so, you know, I'm a sales guy, so I've spent the last 10 years in sales. And, you know, the biggest message that I would want to convey to people outside of the sales industry would be that the best salespeople are problem solvers. The best salespeople are going to be the ones that are there to help you solve a problem through a solution that they have. The worst salespeople are the ones that are trying to sell you a product without figuring out even if it solves a problem for you in the first place. The easiest way to find those great salespeople that are going to help you solve problems and help you get to your end goal, those are going to be the ones that listen more than they speak. And the ones that you don't want to deal with are the ones that are going to be speaking more than they listen. It's quite simple.
Yes, man, I agree. And then what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Yeah, I mean, I think no matter what profession you're in, sales, marketing, founder of your own business, whatever it is, the key that I've learned is really just to be yourself and allow your personality to shine through in whatever you're doing. It's very easy, especially early on in your career, to feel like you have to fit inside of a box, But the truth of the matter is, you know, if you're not putting your own flavor on it and you're not putting your own injection of who you are into what you're doing, it's not gonna work out. You're not gonna be as passionate as you need to be, and you'll have much better success if you go into everything you do with letting your true self shine through.
And then if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
So I thought about this one, uh, quite a bit, and I think honestly the piece of advice that I would give my younger self is to start meditating. I started meditating about a year and a half ago, and it's made a huge difference in my life, uh, personally, professionally, in just 5 to 10 minutes a day, uh, on, on a pretty regular basis has, has made a big difference. So if I could go back and talk to younger James, I would tell him to start meditating sooner.
And then kind of going a little bit down a different path, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Hit me with the heavy questions here. I know I kind of started out on a heavy note. So, you know, I think I'll be very candid, I don't have this figured out. But what I'm learning is that for me, the key to happiness seems to be a healthy mixture of gratitude for what you have, and an eye on where you want to go and living every day, being grateful for the things that you have and stopping to realize that and cherish it while at the same time making incremental progress towards the places that you want to go in life. I think that, that to me seems to be a pretty good mixture for happiness, but I'm still figuring that out.
And then what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Yeah, the best book that I've read, and it's a book I read every year. It's How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It's a classic book, and the biggest thing that I learned from that book was the people that are able to build relationships the best are the ones that listen more than they speak.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote, you know, me being a sales guy, is from one of the greatest sales guys of all time, Zig Ziglar: Expect the best, Prepare for the worst and capitalize on what comes.
I love that. Dude, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is where can our audience best find you online?
You can find me on LinkedIn. I'm all over LinkedIn advocating for the sales profession. James Bowden at LinkedIn. And then soundcloud.com/TheLunchBreakPodcast. Every other week I have a podcast where I interview sales folks.
Thanks again for coming on.
Thanks so much, man.
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