In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews sales veteran and Lunch Break Podcast host James Bawden. After brief sponsor messages for Anchor and Authors Unite, the conversation covers a range of personal and professional insights. Bawden shares the most impactful story of his life—his mother’s sudden death three days before his 21st birthday—and the lesson that every day should be valued. He explains his core sales philosophy: the best salespeople are problem‑solvers who listen more than they speak, while poor salespeople push products without understanding needs. His broader business advice is to be authentic and let one’s personality shine, rather than fitting into a box. Bawden recommends starting a regular meditation practice, citing its transformative effect on his personal and professional life. When asked about happiness, he describes a balance of gratitude for the present and incremental progress toward future goals. His favorite book is Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, from which he highlights the power of listening to build relationships. His favorite quote, from Zig Ziglar, is “Expect the best, prepare for the worst and capitalize on what comes.” Finally, he directs listeners to his LinkedIn profile and the Lunch Break Podcast on SoundCloud.
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Thank you for listening to the Business Blast podcast. So for all my listeners out there that have been wanting to do your own podcast, I'd like to introduce to you Anchor. Anchor is a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, distributing, and monetizing your podcast. So before I found Anchor, I had never actually done a podcast because all the research that I had gathered made it seem very complex. Then I found Anchor, and Anchor makes podcasting extremely simple. So if you want to do your own podcast, go to anchor.fm/start. I can't wait to hear your podcast. 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. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have James Baldin 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 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 is also probably the biggest story from my life, is when my mom died. My mom died 3 days before my 21st 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 gonna 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 gonna help you solve problems and help you get to your end goal, those are gonna 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. Um, 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, uh, sales, marketing, founder of your own business, whatever it is, uh, 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, 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, personally, professionally, and 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, 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 Boden at LinkedIn. And then soundcloud.com/the-lunch-break-podcast. Every other week I have a podcast where I interview sales folks. Love to have you listen.
