Lesley Mitchell: Corporate Sales Trainer | The Business Blast Podcast #147

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 all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.

Alright everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Leslie Mitchell with us. She's a corporate sales trainer. So welcome to the show, Leslie.

Thanks so much for having me, Tyler.

Of course, thanks for hopping on. We'll dive into the first question. The first question I have for you, Leslie, is what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

So I've been looking back at my life trying to really, I guess, uncover a massive event that led to a complete life change. And I honestly don't have one. I realized that it was a series of events that led up to a realization. I was born and raised in a small town outside of Portland, Maine, and my mom, grandmother, great-grandmother, literally all went to the same high school. We obviously had some pretty deep roots there. But growing up, just to be vulnerable, I couldn't even do sleepovers with friends. Like, my anxiety, I would get so homesick. It was really, really bad. And anyways, moving forward, when I was 19, I actually visited my friend Macy in Charlotte, North Carolina. And it was actually then that I realized that there was so much of the world that I hadn't seen, and I was really putting myself in a box by staying in Maine. And then and there, I had a decision to make. I could make a decision out of fear of change and stay in Maine, or I could make a decision out of faith and move to Charlotte. And I decided to, you know, take a leap of faith and move to Charlotte. So that would be an underlying valuable message, just to really make decisions based out of faith and where you want to go rather than let fear hold you back.

Yes.

And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

So being a corporate sales trainer, there's, there's so much, you know, that I could hit on, but with sales and just success in general, I would say that it's just battling your mind. You know, you have to have a short-term memory and not let one bad conversation, one bad cold call, one bad appointment, and that negativity impacts the next call. And like I said, it goes for life. You can't get bogged down with the naysayers. You have to choose what voices to listen to and choose what voices you get your validation from or lack thereof and really know who your source is, you know.

And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

So this was a really hard question. I don't think there's just one piece of advice that covers everything, but something I've shared hundreds of times back when I was cold calling at Townsquare was don't try and be the expert in every area of your business. You know, we're talking to business owners every day, and really the advice I would give them is spreading yourself too thin and learning all sorts of different skill sets means you don't master one single skill set. And, you know, I always tell the business owners, be good at your craft and lean on your team or outsource and take care of the rest of the work.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

Oh boy. So I would tell myself that confidence is not they will like me. Confidence is I'll be fine if they don't. As someone who has a tendency to be a people pleaser, like a lot of other people out there, I struggle with getting the approval of others. And I've just had to learn that when I put my trust and confidence in God, I become free from having to bear the hard parts of life on my own shoulders, really.

And it might tie in, but in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?

So in my opinion, the key to happiness is really just to love yourself and be happy with yourself. That's something I've been experiencing personally, as of lately. But if you don't love yourself, you won't be able to love your people well.

And what's the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?

So the best book I've read is called The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John D. Mann. And the number one thing I learned from it is that your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people's interests before your own.

And what is your favorite quote and why?

My favorite quote is, people don't care how much you know until you know how much they care. And it's my favorite quote because I'm a firm believer that you can talk the talk and really serve people and give, but until they know how much you care about them and what they're trying to accomplish, it really doesn't matter what you say, because heartstrings and vulnerability is what's going to move people forward and really keep people connected. Yes.

Thank you so much for coming on, Leslie. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?

I would say Instagram and LinkedIn.

Awesome. Thanks again for coming on, Leslie. We appreciate it.

Thanks so much, Tyler Wagner.

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