Embracing Your Inner Sales Expert with Certified StoryBrand Guide Brooke Greening

Imagine confidently selling your offers without feeling salesy or pushy. That's exactly what you'll learn in our empowering conversation with Brooke Greening, the Founder of Building Momentum Resources and a certified StoryBrand guide. With over 15 years of sales and coaching experience, Brooke generously shares her insights on making sales that feel genuine and to build a profitable business.

We explore Brooke's journey from the corporate world to starting her own business, and how the Storybrand framework has helped her connect with her target audience. Brooke also reveals common sales and marketing mistakes made by many entrepreneurs and how to avoid them, so you can focus on providing value to your customers.

So, grab your notebook and join us for an eye-opening conversation that'll help you master the art of sales and watch your business thrive.

Connect with Brooke
Brooke's Website
Brooke's Linked In
3 Ways to confidently turn your Customer’s Objections into sales

Mentioned In This Episode:
Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller
Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller
Rhythms of Renewal: Trading Stress and Anxiety for a Life of Peace and Purpose

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Our Podcast Production Set Up:
Riverside FM Virtual Recording Studio
Podcast Proudly Hosted By Buzzsprout
Podcast Editing With Descript
Microphone Audio-Technica ATR2100
Neewer Microphone Arm Stand
Microphone Windscreen
Shock Mount
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Next Week on Mama's Cup of Ambition...
Tune in next week for part two of this conversation for an impromptu demonstration of a piece of Brooke’s process for gaining clarity around your messaging when it comes to your business. 

Have you been dreaming of starting a podcast but have no idea where to start?  Ditch your podcasting paralysis with my FREE podcast checklist for aspiring mama podcasters.  

Let's Connect On Instagram:
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May your dreams be ambitious and may your coffee be strong! xoxo -Rachel Mae

Transcript

Rachel Mae: 0:01

Hey, I'm Rachel Mae, Country Singer, songwriter and host of Mamas Cup of Ambition, the podcast for ambitious mamas with big dreams and little kids. Or maybe your kids aren't so little anymore, but your dreams are still just as big as ever. Wherever you find yourself in your motherhood journey, if you've got ambitious goals that you're longing to achieve and you're looking to spark inspiration, cultivate motivation and develop community with like-minded mamas, you're in the right place. As a new mama myself, i created this show as a place for honest and empowering conversations about motherhood, entrepreneurship and dream chasing. So grab a notebook, top off that cup of coffee and let's turn our goals into action plans and our dreams into reality together. Now let's jump into today's episode. Hello, hello and welcome to another episode of Mamas Cup of Ambition. I feel like I should do that again. Hello, hello and welcome to this episode of Mamas Cup of Ambition. Yeah, that was better. That first one felt really like pitchy, i don't know.

Rachel Mae: 1:04

I'll be honest, i'm recording this intro late in the day and my mama brain is a little bit frazzled right now. I'm feeling a little bit goofy and just done for the day, but I wanted to get this recorded and so I'm sitting down and doing this while the kids are being entertained by Gabe downstairs. And, as you probably gathered from the title of this episode, this is a guest interview. And don't worry, i'm not recording the actual guest conversation right now. With my end of the day, mama brain, that would just be. Actually, it might be really entertaining, but thankfully we didn't do that. We've recorded this episode a while back and typically when I record guest interviews I will record my little introduction and outro and just thoughts about the episode right after I'm done recording the interview, because everything's just fresh in my mind and it's just easier that way. But I didn't do that. I think by the time that this conversation wrapped I was hungry and ready to eat lunch and it was time for me to take a little lunch break on my recording day and I just skipped over this step And so I'm doing it now, getting myself caught up and back on track. And yeah, that brings us to where we are today.

Rachel Mae: 2:36

So if this is your first time here, hey, hello, welcome. I'm so excited that you decided to tune in and that intro is not typically how things go around here, but also it's not entirely far from what you can expect, but I hope that today's episode convinces you to stick around and to get to know the show a little bit better. And I would love it if you would come and introduce yourself to me. Over on Instagram. You can find me at mama's cup of ambition. I always love to know who's tuning in and make this a two-way conversation so it's not just me talking at you. So if this is your first time here, please come and connect with me so we can get to know each other better. And if this is not your first time here, welcome back. And thank you so much for continuing to show up and support the show and my ramblings from time to time. It really does mean the world to me.

Rachel Mae: 3:34

So let's talk about today's episode. If you own a business or you've ever thought about starting your own business, then I know that today is going to be super valuable for you. And even if you're not entirely convinced that you want to go all in on a business of your own just yet but maybe you have ambitions for a profitable side project then this is still for you, because today I'm joined by Brooke Greening of Building Momentum and we had a thoughtful and candid conversation about sales. Now maybe you can sense the bit of trepidation in my voice and that's because, honestly, it's been something that has always made me feel really uncomfortable and anxious, like I just don't consider myself to be very good at sales and it's never been something that I've considered a strong suit. So this conversation was really interesting.

Rachel Mae: 4:30

So a little bit about Brooke. She's a certified story brand guide with over 15 years of sales and coaching experience, and she helps small business owners like myself and possibly like you, to sell without feeling salesy, which really spoke to me Like I'm here for that And she really helps folks to feel confident in their sales conversations, which clearly is something that I could use some coaching around. So the cool thing is is that in this conversation she opened up about her pivot from the corporate world to starting something of her own, and I think you'll be really inspired by her experience and the steps that she took to get where she is now. Plus, she just shared a bunch of valuable tips to confidently sell your offers and she even had sales phobic me convinced that selling doesn't have to be scary. It was like a mini coaching session and it was freaking awesome. So if the thought of selling has ever made you want to run for the nearest exit, like me, then this episode is definitely going to serve you well.

Rachel Mae: 5:32

All that being said, let's get to it. Here's my conversation with Brooke Greening. I am so pleased to welcome you onto the show. I can already feel your energy coming through the screen. You have just like the most beautiful presence and smile, and I'm so excited to have you here. So I would love it if you could just give us a little introduction. Let us know who you are, what you do, and maybe tell us a little bit about your family.

Brooke Greening: 5:58

Absolutely Well. Thank you, Rachel, I so appreciate being able to be here. And so, in regards to who I am, we have our company called Building Momentum Resources and that helps small business owners in regards with their sales and marketing. I do coaching and different things like that. And in regards to my family, it is a busy, busy household. So I have three kids and a wonderful husband. I've been married for 16 years and then my kiddos are 12, 9 and 2. Awesome.

Rachel Mae: 6:31

So tell us a little bit of your back story.

Brooke Greening: 6:33

Yeah, so I actually we started Building Momentum Resources about two years ago. I was a sales corporate woman for a good little bit of my life and we really tried to figure out what we could do to kind of step away from that and start our own business. So there's a lot of different areas. In regards to, like sales coaching, i help people because sometimes it feels like it's a salesy conversation that they have and they don't want to be pushy or manipulative or car salesman-ish, and so I worked through that and helped them in that regard And then in marketing, really helping them be able to resonate with their intended audience so that they're able to make those connections and be able to grow their business in that way.

Rachel Mae: 7:13

Oh my gosh, that's so great. I need to hire you. Sales are something that, like I, have struggled with for so long And I know, like so many in my audience are going to be raising their hand with that too Like having sales coaching. It makes so much sense to me when you say that, because it's not something you think about getting coaching or support for, but it is something it's a skill that you have to acquire and build and learn, and so having somebody that can take your hand and walk you through that process like what a powerful, cool thing to be doing.

Brooke Greening: 7:45

Yeah, i really, i absolutely love doing it. It's my favorite thing to do And I've had thousands and thousands of sales conversations, and so it is. It is a skill that you learn and it doesn't have to be complicated, and I think we make it complicated And I think we also put a lot of pressure on ourselves and on our customers, and it doesn't have to be that way. You can truly have a natural conversation that helps your customers, that they feel good about and that you feel good about, and that's what I really love being able to do.

Rachel Mae: 8:15

So tell us a little bit about your journey from corporate and moving to start your own business, like, what did that look like for you And how did you decide that it was time to make that transition? Because I can imagine that that isn't a decision that you make lightly or maybe sometimes it is, but it seems like it's something that would take quite a bit of planning and forethought. So tell us a little bit about that transition for you.

Brooke Greening: 8:40

Yes, and to answer your question, it did take a lot of planning. I am not someone to just jump in and not have a plan or an idea of what I'm doing. My husband, on the other hand, he's very much like okay, let's go and do this. I'm on the cliff, looking over the side and being like it looks like it'd be fine to jump, but I just don't know if I want to do this. It's a hard spot to be in sometimes. But to answer your question, so I was in corporate sales for seven and a half years of my last corporate journey. I was in senior living industry and I loved it. I got to help a lot of families in that really difficult time trying to figure out between their living at home and now they need to look into assisted living or personal care, and I was helping them in that And the end.

Brooke Greening: 9:24

For the last about two and a half years I was a sales specialist, which is a fun term to say. We go in when the building is on fire, so I would go and help. A lot of times there would be team members that were missing important roles that weren't being filled, and so they would ask me to go. I would help start figuring out, okay, where are the holes at What's wrong, how can we help in our sales world, how can we pick up our sales again? And I would work through that, fix it, do the sales while I was doing it and then train the next director of sales as they were coming in. And I loved it. I absolutely loved being able to come in, analyze problems, fix them, coach. That was my favorite thing to do. It just did not provide a lot of family life balance. Yeah, it didn't really provide me.

Rachel Mae: 10:16

Yeah, i was doing the math as you were saying that of like. okay, so this is like the last seven years, and use your kids based on their ages, like you had little kids when you were in the thick of that, like putting fires out and yeah, yeah, i can imagine that would take its toll.

Brooke Greening: 10:29

It did. Yeah, when I was doing that role as a sales specialist, i did not really know where I was going, because I'm in the Philadelphia area and there are 13 communities that I could end up going to, and the role was that you weren't in one specific community, like they just took you wherever you needed to go. So my commute could be between 30 minutes to 90 minutes, depending on traffic. If you leave at nine o'clock at night, which I sometimes would, you would get home faster, but that's not really. Oh man, that's not really helpful either. And then I was on call pretty much 24 hours a day because you're working in these emergency type of situations all the time, yeah, not only trying to help the community but helping the families in these emergency situations as well.

Brooke Greening: 11:10

And so my husband and I just really started to think about and pray about what could I do differently, but that would still allow me to have the finances that we had and the insurance that we had. The insurance was under me, a lot of the finances were under my responsibility, and so we were just trying to figure out what to do And we did this thing called a life plan through Patterson. That is a whole other topic, but it was absolutely incredible. But it just really helped us to see I love helping, i love coaching others to be successful in their sales, and I'm good at it, and there is probably a way that I could get a platform to figure out how to do that, and so we just started to try to figure out what would that platform look like? And then that's when Storybrand came into play.

Rachel Mae: 11:51

So great, so great. So I want to circle back to the Storybrand piece here in a second because I'm so intrigued And I was so excited when you mentioned that in our back and forth before we scheduled this. But before we move on to that, i just want to ask you, as there are moms who listen to this, a lot of the audience is at this sort of fork in the road moment in their lives where they've got little kids at home.

Rachel Mae: 12:18

Some of them are working outside of the home, trying to sort of build something up on the side and wanting to leave or make that transition. What advice or guidance would you offer to the moms who are listening, who are at that place, where they are in those beginning planning stages, knowing they want to make that transition but they're not really sure. they're feeling sort of insecure and not sure how to take that leap into the unknown. What do you have? any advice or guidance? as someone who has been there for those mamas, i do I just a little bit about my story.

Brooke Greening: 12:50

When we decided to do Storybrand, i thought it would take years, and so the plan was I'm going to be a certified Storybrand guide. I'm going to try to do this on the side Not really sure how many hours there are in a day but we're going to try to figure this out. In regards to working on this side hustle, to be able to come into an actual business, it happened so much faster than I thought that it would, and so in about three months I then ended up having enough business and with contracts that it covered my corporate job, it covered our insurance for a year, and so we said, okay, we got to do this. Now, realizing that's not necessarily how that always happens for everyone, but what I would ask for the moms, i would just say what is it when you say that they have hesitations, to be honest with themselves and say, okay, what is the actual hesitation that I have?

Brooke Greening: 13:43

Is it in regards to my finances? Is it in regards to this imposter syndrome that I don't really know If I can do this? do I even really know what I'm doing yet? Like I don't know what the business is that I want to start, yeah, be really honest with yourself in regards to what those are, and then start creating a plan to address those concerns. And then give yourself guardrails to say, okay, when I feel like we're at this stage, if it's finances or whatever the case is, give yourself the permission to then give the guardrails and then give the green light to say, when we do this, this is when we'll go. I love that. All that to say knowing you're never going to be completely right.

Rachel Mae: 14:25

Yeah, it's like motherhood right, you can do all of the planning and preparation to become a mama, and it's like until you're in the thick of it. Even in the thick of it, i sometimes think like okay, like I've got to hang on this whole motherhood thing, and then my kid reaches a new developmental milestone And I'm like I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm like I'm learning this as I go, i'm winging it And I feel like there are some real parallels in building our business or trying to build something of your own. You're never going to feel like you have it all laid out in front of you And even if you do, it's going to change. So I like that visual of guardrails giving yourself some road to move forward but having some buffer on either side. I like that visual a lot.

Brooke Greening: 15:05

Yeah, when we did I was just thinking about this when you were asking this question what I knew, like we had had this huge sales conversation and we knew like the stars were aligning. I was like, oh my word, i am going to be able to get my job a whole lot faster than I thought because everything was lining together. You would think I would have gone to bed like super excited, ready to go. No, i broke out in hives literally all, and I've never, ever had hives before And I was like what is happening? And it was just this realization of yes, okay, we've given our guardrails, we believe that this is what God wants us to do. We think that this is where we're headed, we have our finances set, our insurance is set, like we are good to go. But it was still absolutely terrifying for someone who doesn't like change.

Rachel Mae: 15:55

Yeah, i think that really speaks to like, when you find that thing that you're really aligned with, you were clearly doing something that was clicking, not only for you but also with people you were trying to reach, because that momentum started generating the way that it did. That tells me that you were obviously dialed into alignment with what you were meant to be doing. Because I think we've had those experiences in our lives where we're trying to force something that doesn't feel right and that thing seems to be sinking up And you can kind of just keep trying to force things that don't feel right because you're like well, this looks good on paper and maybe this should be working and you feel that friction. But I think when you're having that much momentum right out of the gate, more than you even expected, like to me that just screams like you're onto something and you're doing something that is like so clearly your lane and what is meant for you to be doing. But that doesn't mean that it's not scary Those fears don't just vanish into thin air.

Rachel Mae: 16:47

I talk a lot on this show about being called to do something and then immediately having that resistance come in And like for you it sounds like you had resistance in the form of, like a physical manifestation of your body saying like whoa, physical resistance. So I think that's really reassuring not that we wanted you to have hives, but I think, for the folks listening, i think there's something very reassuring and comforting about hearing that. To know that, like, even when you have all of these things working in your favor and things are growing faster than you thought they would, and to the outside world you should just be like over the moon that everything is working out the way you want, that even then you're sharing with us that you too felt that fear and that resistance and doesn't mean that you can't still do it.

Brooke Greening: 17:33

It is scary, but it doesn't mean that you don't walk through it. When I was thinking what am I doing? I love my job. Yes, it's crazy. Yes, it's intense. Yes, i don't really see my family a whole lot, but are we ready to just say no to that and be ready to move on? But the thing that drove me was I'm going to get to see my family more and I'll be able to do it on my time. Yeah, and I'll probably be able to grow it bigger than I ever would if I would have been in the corporate world on my own. And those were the things that motivated me to say okay.

Rachel Mae: 18:05

In those moments where you were covered in hives and feeling that fear, like what did you do to combat that? What did you seek out a coach? or how did you navigate that? Because I think that's the other thing for a lot of us, is we get into those places where it's really easy to just be retreat.

Brooke Greening: 18:23

How did you?

Rachel Mae: 18:24

move through that to keep moving forward.

Brooke Greening: 18:26

Well, i think the goals on the other side, that was huge. To know that, okay, in a month you can actually be home when your kids get off of the bus, like, move forward to that. Yeah, my faith is very important to me And so we really did feel like this is the next step that God had for us. So it was trusting him, thinking, okay, this seems insane, but I'm going to trust you with the results. And then my husband is my 100% number one fan. Amazing, he's told me, brooke. He's like if it ever has to do with sales, i will bet on you 100% of the time, all day long. You've got it, you're fine, even when you're like I don't know this could be the first time in my life, because I thought about that I'm like okay, so maybe you know how to sell in more of a structured environment. Now you're going to go sell something that you've created, that you've done. What happens if you can't do it? And if you can't do it, you literally have no business.

Brooke Greening: 19:21

Yeah, that's what you're trying to do. And so I thought what happens if this is the first time I can't do this? What happens? And he was just so encouraging. He was like, well, that's not going to happen, and if it does happen, you'll figure it out, like go Amazing.

Rachel Mae: 19:40

That's so great, That structure of support people that you can confide in, especially if it's a partner that you can just lean on and share those things with, so you don't have to hold it all yourself. I think it's such a valuable thing.

Brooke Greening: 19:53

Yeah, and now we have our kids involved, so like they know mom's sales goals, and so then there's like rewards for them as well. I love it. They're also encouraging now just for the goals of getting what they want.

Rachel Mae: 20:05

I love that. Yeah, well, let's circle back. I'd love for you to tell us a little bit. I'm familiar with Storybrand, but I don't know how many other folks in my audience are, so I'd love for you to give us like a little overview of what it means to be a Storybrand certified guide and what that process looked like for you Absolutely So.

Brooke Greening: 20:26

Storybrand there's different books that you can look at in regards to marketing, made simple, building a Storybrand. They're all written by Donald Miller. He is the creator of Storybrand, and it is a different way of looking at marketing in regards to having your customer be the hero instead of you being the hero. So it's a seven part framework that we use and we're using Story, but it's the story of your customer, not the story of you, because when you're talking about your customer and specifically their problems that they're facing, and then how you can help them, that's how you really resonate with the intended audience that you want. When you're doing your marketing whether posts or your website or email campaigns, whatever it is that you're looking to do that's the framework that you can use, and so I became certified in that, so I'm able to use that framework when I'm working with my clients, when I'm working with my own business, and it's just been completely life changing, so cool.

Rachel Mae: 21:22

I've got those books. Oh good, I've been a fan of Donald Miller's for a long time. I actually found him. What is his book?

Rachel Mae: 21:29

It's like Scary Close, I think is the name of the book Oh okay, that's the first thing I read of his, and then I was so intrigued by that book that I just went down the rabbit hole and found his podcast and consumed all his books. So I'm a huge fan of the Storybrand model And I can see how that really is such a powerful framework and ties in so beautifully with what you're doing in terms of coaching and sales coaching. What a beautiful marriage of those two things. They go together so beautifully.

Brooke Greening: 21:57

They do. Yeah, and it's interesting because when we first started talking about it and I first became a certified guide, there are those that are certified guides and they're incredible in the graphic design, bringing different things like that, and that wasn't really my world. My world was sales coaching. But then, as we continue to keep learning more about it and working with clients, the marketing piece is very much sales oriented, but it's in regards to the intended audience, so you're not having that one-on-one conversation with someone, you're reaching the intended audience, and then the sales conversations are okay. Now that you've decided you want to work with us, now what are we going to do to move it forward? And so it works out really, really well. But Storybrand has helped thousands and thousands of companies and it's just incredible. And once you become a certified guide, then you see it. When you see the commercials pop up, you're like, oh, Storybrand Yeah, that's awesome.

Rachel Mae: 22:52

Well, i'll make sure that I link to what we're talking about in the show description too, so people can go and explore more of that. But I'd love to talk a little bit about your sales and marketing coaching. Absolutely So. If somebody were to come and work with you, what does that look like? to hire a sales coach? What can they expect?

Brooke Greening: 23:10

Oh, absolutely. I created a framework called the Confidence Building Sales Framework, and so one of the things in regards that I offer when I do sales coaching is that they can join that program, and so it's a 12-month program, and then there are different modules that go through that whole framework so they can feel comfortable, and then I coach with them each week as well. So we do group coaching altogether each week as well. Then there's different bonus materials And then, because I'm also a certified Storybrand guide, if they're needing it, i also help them in their marketing pieces as well. So when they're trying to figure out what we would call like one-liners, taglines, different things like that how to be able to help them through that.

Rachel Mae: 23:49

Oh, that's so great. I'm wondering, as I'm hearing you talk about this, why do you think it is that so many of us, we get so stuck on sales. I don't know what it is. Even when you just hear the word sales, i think so many of us go like that's not me, i can't sell. But in reality I think and maybe I'm wrong about this, but I feel like we all do it. We all talk about things all day long to each other, and especially as mommas. I feel like in the momma community we're so quick to help each other out and refer things and talk about things And we do it with such ease. But the minute that we think about labeling it as sales, why do you think it is that we get so fearful of that? And is there something like a tip or guide that can help us to shift our mindset a little bit about how we look at sales?

Brooke Greening: 24:34

Yeah, no, absolutely, And I think that's a great question. To answer your first question, I think we get all tight and get. We're afraid we're going to start turning into our car salesmen or whatever the case is, because sales just has a bad rep just in general, Like it just does. If you walk into a room and you're like, hey, I'm a sales rep, for they're like, okay, now she's going to sell to me, Now she's just going to try to be my friend, when she's not.

Brooke Greening: 25:03

So many times sales feels like it's very manipulative and it's salesy, it's sleazy and there's just it's not fun.

Brooke Greening: 25:11

And so it feels like you're having a conversation of I'm trying to convince you to do something that you don't want to do and you're trying to not do what I'm asking you to do, Like that never works in any conversation, But yet that's what we think our sales conversations have to be like, where I believe the best way to stand out from your competitor, make more sales and to honor your customer is to serve them.

Brooke Greening: 25:36

Yeah, A sales conversation should be all about them, not about you. And as soon as you take it off of you, now all the pressure is gone. Now you're not like, okay, I have to make sure I say this about my product and this about my product And I have to make sure that I do this incentive and I have to make sure that they sign by January 30th or whatever the case is. That's not serving your customers And that's not going to help you make more sales. And so I think first thing is for people to realize you don't have to be salesy, you don't have to be manipulative. You can honestly value your customer and serve them in your sales conversation, where they appreciate the conversation that you've had and they want your help. That's the very first thing. We just have a bad rep in general because it's so salesy.

Rachel Mae: 26:24

Yeah, i wonder if car salesmen everywhere are just like oh, why do we always get thrown under the buzzer? It's like the first thing that comes to mind when we think of icky sales is like it does always go back to car sales. For some reason It does.

Brooke Greening: 26:40

And there are some really good guys out there. I was in the car industry world a long, long time ago where I was setting up appointments for people to come and talk to the salespeople. And there are good guys out there. The system's a little broke because then they got to go talk to their managers and go back and forth.

Brooke Greening: 26:56

Yeah, no, it's true, it's kind of like you don't want to go to the dentist, you don't want to have a sales conversation. People just don't want to do that. Yeah, we just avoid it. Yeah, i think because a lot of infirm like you're the mompreneurs and all of that, all these great ideas and all of these resources and they want to be able to talk about them and they do. But then they feel like, okay, but if I talk about myself, now I'm not helping. I'm not helping them anymore. Instead of having that paradigm shift, when I talk about myself, because I understand what my customers are wanting, i am helping them, i am giving them the resources that they need, instead of it feeling like I'm I'm just doing it to benefit me. Because if a sales conversation is just about you need to do this to benefit me, well, then it's going to be a bad conversation.

Rachel Mae: 28:31

Right. I think if there's that energy of you're coming at it from a desperate place of buy my thing, please buy my thing, because we've built it up in our minds so often too, i think to whatever happens with the outcome of this sale means that I am the outcome of this sale. Then that means I am the sum of my sales.

Rachel Mae: 28:54

If I'm not selling well, then there's something with me. I think, looking at those pieces of our mindset and the way that we perceive this stuff, it's hard because you have to unpack it and try to pull that thread to see where that's coming from. But it's hard to look at those things in ourselves and be okay with something that I do and that I offer and that adds value in the world. But it doesn't. My sales are not a reflection of my worth in the world.

Rachel Mae: 29:21

I think it's hard for us sometimes to make that distinction.

Brooke Greening: 29:24

Yeah, We actually talk about that in my confident sales building framework that a rejection or an objection that a customer has has nothing to do with your worth or your value Nothing. But if we make it that way, that's when things start getting really uncomfortable and really slippery.

Rachel Mae: 29:40

I'm a musician, i'm a singer, songwriter and I spent so many years I had this whole mindset around the starving artist mentality and I really bought into the idea that if I ask to be paid for the music that I'm creating and the art that I'm creating, then it's no longer art because then I'm in it for the money It really. I think it's stifled a lot of opportunities for me over the years because I was so afraid to ask for people to buy my music or buy my merch or buy anything from me When it's so funny because, as a music lover myself, i've spent so much money on concert tickets and on like I still have those big cases of CDs from years of collecting other people's music and art.

Rachel Mae: 30:28

I saw the value when other people were creating and offering and selling their music and I was so thankful that they gave me the opportunity to buy and consume their art. But when it came time for me to do that in the world there was this real disconnect of like but that's them, and I saw myself as separate from that. It's only just recently that I've started to look at that as like. I don't really believe that anymore and I do see the value of music and art in the world. I understand I can create something and ask to be paid for it and not have that mean that it's not still something that comes from the depths of my soul. Those two things are allowed to coexist. I think that's why I'm so intrigued by what you offer and what you do, because I think there's something really powerful about having somebody walk you through that process So you don't have to try to just take years and years and years to figure it out for yourself and then try to like, crack the code and move past it.

Brooke Greening: 31:24

Well, I think, like what you're saying, if you don't value what you're offering, it's going to be very hard for anyone else to value what you're offering. And then, once you do value what you're offering, then you're able to, as you talk with your customers and figure out where their problems and concerns are at. Then you're able to show okay, this is valuable to you because it's solving the problem that you have. And it's the same thing in regards with art, music, all of it. It doesn't have to just be like well, how can this candle bring value? Like everything has value and everyone has reasons for what they want. And so, when you believe in the value that you have, and then you can help them to see what it is, and there'll be people who will fall all over and will say, yes, yes, yes, rachel man, yes, that's what you want. And then there'll be others that don't and that's okay.

Rachel Mae: 32:15

I love that so much. Can you give us some of the like most common mistakes that you see business owners small business owners making when it comes to sales and marketing and how we can kind of avoid them, especially when we're laying the foundation? A lot of my audience is at the very beginning stages. So, like, what are some of those mistakes that you see people making in those early stages and how can we kind of prime ourselves to head in a direction that is healthy and beneficial to everyone involved?

Brooke Greening: 32:45

I would say one of the first ones. So, in regards with marketing, it's so easy to like, try to follow the newest trends or try to figure out the algorithms that I have no idea, and it can get really frustrating and you can start to feel like you're wasting all of your time on ads and everything that's kind of new and trending, instead of actually just be able to build yourself a solid marketing foundation that you can go back to over and over and over again. And the biggest piece is being clear in what you offer and being clear in how you help others, and that takes time. But if you're able to figure that piece out, then you start to resonate with the audience that you want to. That's really important And I would also encourage from the marketing standpoint. If you try to reach absolutely everybody, you're not going to reach anybody And so you do have to figure out like, where is my passion, who are the people that I want in my camp? And those are the people you're going to be talking to And we talk about like our ideal customer or our intended audience. We're looking at two things One can they buy it, pay for it? And two, do they like what I do If those two questions are answered? yes, that is your audience, and so you want to build things towards that Instead of just having to cast such a wide web. It's just, it's insane, like the internet is never going to catch everything that you're throwing out there, and so you just need to start figuring out. Okay, in this niche, what is it? And it's a beautiful thing, like it can get really, really down to the very nitpicky things And you would be surprised how many people are actually interested in that.

Brooke Greening: 34:26

Sometimes people feel like, well, i don't know if what I do is really, if it's that important or if people want it. Out of the millions and billions of people in this world, there is an excellent chance that they're going to be interested in that. And so don't get so caught up in all of the different trends and the algorithms, because we're not going to figure it out and it's going to get kind of confusing. But if you just stick with having a solid marketing foundation and truly understanding what's happening and how to resonate with your customer, that's what you can go back to over and over and over again And then put it in those different trends or whatnot and try it, but don't put all of your eggs in that basket. For the marketing, i would say I love that. And then for the sales, i have two.

Brooke Greening: 35:10

The first one is we always and this goes back to the sales conversations if we're focusing on ourselves and we're focusing on how great our products or services are, we're going to lose a lot of people because they don't trust us yet, and if they don't trust us, they're not going to buy from us. And so you don't want to spend all your time talking about yourself. You really want to talk about yourself, about as little as possible. You come in when you can say this is how I can help you And this is the step we have to take. But it's through asking good questions, and you can do that through marketing and you can do that in your sales conversation. So it's truly understanding.

Brooke Greening: 35:48

What is it that my customers are facing?

Brooke Greening: 35:50

What problems did they have that I know my product can fix?

Brooke Greening: 35:54

Yeah, that's important, like we can't just be trying to have random problems and we can't do anything about it.

Brooke Greening: 36:01

It has to connect.

Brooke Greening: 36:03

But when I'm talking to my customers, what is it that their main problems are that I know I can help fix?

Brooke Greening: 36:09

And then, what are those underlining problems, what's driving them, what's motivating them? Yeah, when you understand that, that is going to make a huge difference, because then that is when what you offer is valuable, because it's valuable to them, because they see it, they see the connection between. This is my problem and this is what you can do to help me, and that's what you really want to be able to do. And the biggest mistake that we make is we just talk about ourselves the whole time And then we talk about, like, all the different products that we have, or the incentives or whatever the case is, and we are trying to sell something to someone who doesn't want it yet, because they don't even see the value in it. We only see the value when they realize oh, you can make my life better, you can help solve my problems, this, my life will be more enriched by doing something with you, and that's that's what you want to be able to do. So the biggest mistake is we focus so much on ourselves and not on our customer.

Rachel Mae: 37:08

That's good, that's so good. Those are like some real juicy nuggets there And I think, yeah, we do. We have a tendency, it's like our default, to just go back to like this is who I am And this is what I offer. Because, again, we're making it feel like it's all on us and that it's a reflection of who we are. So it's like we're trying to sell ourselves and then we feel disappointed if it's not connecting, but really it's made us very well, be that it's not connecting because, like you're saying, they don't know.

Rachel Mae: 37:35

And in the context of that story, bram, you are the guide, not the hero, and so flipping that script to talk about them and showing how you can take their hand and guide them to where they would like to go. I love that. Those are some really great tips.

Brooke Greening: 37:50

The other thing I would say is, even if we stumble all over everything, always have a next step. It's not a next step when we've talked and we've been like, okay, well, give me a call if you ever have any questions or if I can help, like that's not a clear next step. So always, even if it's just completely bombed, always grab a clear next step so that they can know this is what I can do to continue to work with you. And it's not a failure if you don't make the sale or the contract or the referral on that first conversation. That's never a failure. Okay, and my book. It is a failure if you don't have a next step. So if that's connecting with them and it's always just needs to be clear like, okay, i'm going to call you next Wednesday at two o'clock, just a clear next step. Or if you're doing a contract or they want to review something with someone else before they make a decision, just always have a next step. Don't have it end with okay, great, talking to you, well, what can I?

Rachel Mae: 38:50

say, yeah, that's good. It feels like we're kind of stumbling over it and we're building up the courage to make our sales pitch or to put ourselves out there, and it feels like things are going awful. I do feel like we just want to like back out Retreat, retreat. Nobody wants me leave. I just want to get out of here and like slink out. But you're right, it's, you're setting that expectation And if you've come that far, don't back out and slink out of the conversation without finishing what you started. I think that's really powerful piece of the puzzle that you just you, just dropped for us there.

Brooke Greening: 39:24

I can't tell you how many times people said yes when I'm like, are you serious? But remember, go all the way back to if you're truly focusing on your customer by the time it comes to have that part of the conversation. They're asking you for it. They want to know what they can do to be able to move forward. So it's not this like OK, now I've just made it really uncomfortable for the last 15 minutes because I've talked about myself and now we're going to tell you what to do again.

Rachel Mae: 39:51

Oh, my goodness, so good. Ok, so my next question is more just sort of like a general, for the mama who's listening, who's feeling so overwhelmed by all of the different hats that she may be wearing, both as mama and as entrepreneur, being in the nine to five job that she may have right now and trying to get it. So what advice would you have right now, and trying to just sort of balance all of that and carving out or staking a claim on a little piece of something What advice would you have for how to prioritize the time and energy that they need to start to build something or to start to go after something, like building their own business or creating a side hustle or something?

Brooke Greening: 40:31

I would say, because we only have so many hours in the day. I would say a couple of things, especially as they're starting to, as the businesses starting, as it continues to grow really focus when you have to prioritize, when you're looking at your day and you're like, ok, i've got an hour, i've got an hour, what am I going to do? Yeah, i would encourage. Put that hour towards things that are going to grow your business, that are going to give you sales. So if that means you need to go to something, some type of networking, or you need to pick up the phone and you need to have some sales conversations, do the things that are actually going to grow your business. There's a lot of things we can get stuck in and think it's important, but it's not actually moving things forward. So if you only have an hour and I know I'm a sales coach, so it probably would make sense really focus on what is going to actually make money. Ok. And then my other piece is you don't have to be perfect for it to move forward. If it's like 80% ready to go, you just need to do it. You're posting in regards to social media about something and you're like, oh, i would really rather do it this way. I'd rather my hair look this way. The lighting is not fantastic. Just push it through. You want to progress instead of being perfect. Just always have that in the mindset. I'm moving forward, even if it's not perfect. And then, just as a reminder like this is what I have to remind myself.

Brooke Greening: 41:53

With our business and all of that, i left corporate so I could be with my family more. So my business can very much take way more than what the corporate said. I'm living, breathing it, and it is our business and we are responsible for everything. But just to realize I'm never going to get everything done, ever. And it's OK. Yeah, it's good to have, like, some sort of planning systems in place. I use TicTac. It's a great system to use. So have that, because as you start having customers and trying to grow your business, all of a sudden there's a lot to keep track of and you can't keep that all in your mind. Yeah, but all that being said, we're never going to finish everything. We're not. And it's OK. It's OK to just close the computer for the day and go hug your babies because that's why you did it.

Rachel Mae: 42:40

That's such a good reminder because you're right. We can get this idea in our mind of like well, I'll have so much freedom if I can just leave my nine to five job and build my own thing, But if you're not careful with creating those boundaries and systems and putting them in place to protect yourself, I think, you're right, it can very easily become a 24-7 job if you let it.

Brooke Greening: 43:01

Yeah, we talk about this sometimes at Storybrand. You want to be able to build your playground. You don't want to build a prison? Ooh, that's good. So, as you build your business, realize there are times like, yes, we're going to be doing more things than we wanted to do in the beginning, because there's just no one else to do it. But realize as you're building it is this something sustainable? Is this something that I have a passion for? Is this something that I want to do for years to come? So good.

Rachel Mae: 43:27

I could talk to you all day long, but I want to be respectful of your time, so let's get into this home stretch here. I've got three questions that I always wrap up my guest interviews with, so the first one is what's your best piece of advice in four words or less? Wake up, pray, hustle, amazing, okay. So is there a resource that you love that you would recommend to the ambitious mamas who are listening?

Brooke Greening: 43:51

So there is the Marketing Made Simple podcast. That is your Storybrand. You can listen to that. That is very helpful. They have two books Marketing Made Simple and Building a Storybrand. Those are two great books that you can read and start to kind of figure out okay, how do I want to be able to market my business? And then there is a book that I started reading when we did our life plan and it's called Rhythms of Renewal. That's where I wrote Becca Lyon. That's just an encouraging book for me. And then she has Rhythms for Life. It's a podcast. It just talks about needing to use creativity, rest, and there's two others that I can't come up with right now. In your cycle of what you need to just keep going, because if you don't have rhythms of rest and creativity, you're going to burn out Yeah, and that's not sustainable.

Rachel Mae: 44:41

Okay, well and last but certainly not least, what fills your cup, both literally and figuratively.

Brooke Greening: 44:49

So literally it is machalates all day long. My husband makes them for me every morning. I'm super blessed for that. Now it's getting warmer, so they will turn into iced machalates Nice.

Rachel Mae: 45:01

Do you put anything in them like? do you do like some frothed up?

Brooke Greening: 45:05

anything in it, or is it?

Rachel Mae: 45:06

just like straight macha. No, oh no that takes like grass.

Brooke Greening: 45:10

No, that's horrible. Well, no, so the appropriate machalate that I like is it is it's the powder. Okay, so he bought me this cute little kit, like this whole Japanese cultural thing, and so, like you grind it through the little sifter or whatever, and then he puts it with a little bit of water and a little bit of sugar-free vanilla, and then he steams the milk, and so then that's my latte, and then he just does it reverse for the iced Ooh that sounds delicious.

Rachel Mae: 45:41

Well, what fills your cup figuratively? So?

Brooke Greening: 45:44

figuratively, it's my family and it's my faith. My two-year-old literally spills my cup multiple times. She is a riot. But in regards to my family, so my husband he is my biggest supporter and my kids I love spending time with them. And then I just get up every morning and wake up And that's what it is. Wake up, pray, hustle, but just read my Bible pray journal, figure out. Okay, what are we doing? What's going on with life? How can we help serve others? How can we grow the business That's really important to us So great It's working for you.

Rachel Mae: 46:18

It seems like it seems to be working. Whatever you're doing is working, and I know time is seriously It's our greatest asset and resource, especially as mamas working mamas It's limited, so I really really appreciate you taking time to come on here and share all of this with us. You've just been so generous and had such great energy And I know that this episode is really going to one make everybody in the audience sort of ask themselves some questions and think about some things, but also I think it's just going to be inspiring and motivating for them to start moving forward and getting into action on the things that they've been wanting to do. So I really can't thank you enough for making time to come on the show. We're so happy to have you here.

Brooke Greening: 47:04

Oh, it's my pleasure And I just wanted to let you know and your audience know I do have a short video in regards to part of that sales conversation when objections come into play, and so it's three ways to confidently turn your customers objections into sales. So if that can be of use to anyone, i can give you the link and they can feel free to download that. It's free And I just want to be able to give it to your community to encourage them to keep going.

Rachel Mae: 47:30

Incredible, that's amazing, and I'm sure that many of them will take you up on that. So with that, let us know, like where can everybody come to connect with you and cyber stock you and show you all the love and find all of your resources if they want to come work with you? Give us all the details, sure.

Brooke Greening: 47:48

So my for the coaching. If they want to learn more about that, it's coachingbuildingmomentuminfo, so they're more than welcome to check it out there. Ok, i am on LinkedIn And if they wanted to download that video or if they want to do it on the website, that's fine. But I do give a weekly marketing and sales tip, so if that would be helpful for them, they can join that email list And, yeah, that's how they can get with me. So buildingmomentuminfo is our main page, but the coaching page is coachingbuildingmomentuminfo.

Rachel Mae: 48:20

Awesome. Well, brooke, this has been incredible. Thank you so much for coming on the show. You've been just Such a joy. It's been my pleasure. Thank you so much.

Rachel Mae: 48:32

Okay, wasn't that conversation such a keeper? I just have to say I freaking love podcasting so much because it allows me to have conversations like that with folks like Brooke And then I ultimately get to share them here with you. Like it's seriously, it's such a privilege and it's one of the things that I think is so fun about this process. Like you just never know what magical moments might unfold when you're chatting with a guest, and there have really often been moments after the recording ends where I think to myself man, i wish I was still recording this because I knew that whatever we were talking about would really resonate with you too. But it's a fine line, you know like sometimes I just need to be in the moment with my guest after a podcast ends And I also need to and want to be respectful of their time, so I can't always just like flip the mics back on, because where does it end? But every once in a while, the stars align and a podcast on core unfolds. And that's exactly what happened when Brooke was in my studio. And when I say in my studio, it's totally a virtual studio. I don't have a real studio. I'm sitting in my bedroom right now, but when I say she was in my studio, i mean my virtual Riverside FM studio. Anyway, i digress coming back.

Rachel Mae: 49:53

After we stopped recording, we ended up chatting and ultimately turning the mics back on for an impromptu demonstration of a piece of Brooks process around gaining clarity for your messaging when it comes to your business, and I'm going to share that part of our conversation with you next week. So stay tuned for that because I'm really excited to share it with you. And if you want to continue the conversation with me, you know I'd love to connect with you over on Instagram. You can find me hanging out at Mama's Cup of Ambition.

Rachel Mae: 50:23

I know I mentioned that at the top of the episode, but I'm going to mention it again because I really do mean it. Come find me over there and let's have a conversation. And, as always, if you got something out of today's episode and you feel inclined to leave the show a rating or review I would be so grateful for that expression of support for what I'm trying to build here in podcast land. Okay, my friend. So that's it for today, but until next time, may your dreams be ambitious, may your coffee be strong, and may we all find the courage to confidently make sales and become wildly profitable as a result. I'll talk to you soon.