Nicole welcome to she sells radio. It’s so exciting to to have you here on the podcast. And I’m so excited to hear about your journey and how you have grown in your, let’s say, in your sales journey over the years. So welcome to the show.

Thank you. The sales journey is so interesting to talk about because I think we all start businesses to help people, but we don’t necessarily understand the sales process. And that was definitely me.

Gosh. Yeah. So tell us more about that and like clear that you’ve got it. You got a huge social following for your nutrition, businesses and everything you’re doing. So I think a lot of my listeners will be familiar with you, but if someone’s not familiar, tell us about how you got into business and how and how you became the Nicole you are today. And then we’ll get a little bit more into some of the details of what the sales journey has been like for you.

Yeah. So I started as a registered dietician and I was working in the hospital and really my passion is helping people become the healthiest versions of themselves. And when I was working in the hospital, you’re really just giving band-aids, you know, medications and different things. And I wanted to be on the other side of preventative health care. So I started healthy steps, nutrition in 2012, and it started really small, slowly built up to a point where I could leave the full-time position at the hospital. And then at one point my husband was like, you need to leave the, the hospital completely and focus on healthy steps, nutrition. And I think when your back is up against the wall, you figure out like, Hey, you’re either going to go in head first and do this thing, or it’s not going to work out. And I’m very thankful that we are in the position that we’ve, you know, that we’re in today, our CrossFit gym, we have an HQ location down in South Florida that has helped thousands of people. And we have also worked with many CrossFit gyms around the world, 2,500 CrossFit gyms and coaches have, have used our program to, to build their own nutrition businesses. So it’s definitely been a journey. And I think there’ll being flexible with your approach is the biggest thing. That’s helped us be able to get where we are today,

Which I want to ask you more about, because I know that is something you’re so passionate about. Tell us first though. So you, it sounds like you, you had this vision, you said, you know where I am right now. I don’t feel like I can show up as the best version of me because you were wanting to focus more on prevention. Then, like you said, the hospital is such a bandaid and you you decided to launch your business clearly got to the point where you were successful enough to go all in. And one of the things like you mentioned at the beginning of the interview is that I think a lot of times we’re not necessarily prepared for what’s going to be involved when it comes to selling. So tell us about what was that journey like for you in terms of stepping into starting to, I think, especially selling your own things. Sometimes that’s really challenging for women entrepreneurs is to sell their own product, whatever that is. It’s sometimes it’s a little easier if it’s somebody else’s, but it’s more personal when it’s us. Right. So what was that sales journey like for you when you were first getting started?

Yeah, so I’ve been so passionate about just helping people and I would just provide free nutrition tips and just free help. I would go speak at different conferences, CrossFit, gyms. I mean, anywhere I could go talk and empower someone to become the healthiest version of themselves, I was doing it. And that really allowed me to build relationships with people and have them understand how I could help them because I was already providing this free help. And when it came down to it, it was like, okay, if I’m giving all this free help and you’re ready to work individually with me individually with me, now you have to pay for that service. So it was just, you know, really establishing myself as, as the expert in nutrition and helping understand with all the noise out there regarding nutrition. I mean, there are so many different diets out there. So many different things that you can try. The average person has tried seven to 10 diets before seeking a professional. I mean, the diet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, right? Like everyone has tried some type of diet. So helping people understand they really need to ditch that all or nothing mentality and focus on a simpler approach to be more successful. Longterm really is how I help people understand kind of bridge that gap between where you are right now and how I can help you achieve the goals that you’re looking to achieve. Hmm.

So one of the things you said that I think is really important, and this is how I got started in sales was just being generous with sharing everything that you knew. So I think sometimes we can get caught up in our heads about why is someone going to hire me if I’m sharing everything I know for free? And what I heard you say was I was so passionate about it, that I gave everything I knew away for free. And then if someone wanted to work with me, I was like, okay, well, that’s going to be, that’s going to be a price. Did you kind of, did you intuitively know that you just needed to be generous with sharing? Or was that something that you had to come to to realize over the course of time, because it sounds like that’s been a big piece of your success.

You know, I think there was always a piece of me just giving out free information and over the years I’ve gotten, I would say even more generous. I mean, we do nutrition talks all the time. I go speak at conferences, I’ve done give I’ve written books and we’ve given away thousands of copies of the books to help gym owners build successful nutrition programs. And it allows me to build that relationship with them so that when they’re ready to take the leap of faith and invest in their business, they understand how I can help them because I’ve already given them all of these tools to provide, you know, some steps in the right direction.

Well, and part of what I like about what you’re saying, I’ve always, I kind of laugh at myself with this because I am a sales coach and mentor. And yet I think I, I don’t love closing. It’s not my favorite part of the process. And I don’t think I’m the best closer out there, but what I am good at is creating content and building a brand so that it’s not that hard to close. So part of what I’m hearing you say is, and you’re probably a great closer, but you were also also creating this content at the same time that was building your brand and your social media is exceptional. So I’m kind of curious for you in terms of what’s working right now on social to help share tips and help continue to build your brand. What are some of the things that you’re seeing that are working really well?

Yeah, that’s, that’s a great question. So I try to stay relevant with all the questions that are being asked. So in specific seasons, like around the end of the year, beginning of the new year gym owners and coaches are looking to launch nutrition programs in the new year. So all of my content right now is based on, are you looking to launch a nutrition program in the new year? Here’s the steps to get started for people that are looking to lose weight around the holidays. We’re talking about how to stay healthy in the holiday, how to ditch that all or nothing mentality in the new year and focus on a simpler approach. So staying relevant with the questions that are getting asked, I actually keep a note section in my phone and the questions that get asked. I just keep them so that when I’m going to make content it’s okay.

These are the popular questions they’re getting asked, because I know if someone’s asking this question to me, someone else has that question that they’re not asking. So if you can keep up with relevant content, I think that’s really helpful. The other thing is video content has helped me so much. So we do free calls as part of both of the businesses, healthy steps, nutrition, and HSN mentoring. The first step is essentially a free call. And I love when I get on free calls, I actually do all the sales calls for mentoring and people say, I feel like I already know you. That’s perfect. I want you to feel like that. I want you to understand, even if I have no idea who you are, and you’ve only listened to our podcast or see me in video content, you have an idea. You have some trust that I can help you because I’ve already provided you some help. And I think two way video content or a one way video that you could put an email sequences or on your social media, allows people to get a deeper connection, to understand who you are.

Yes, amen. To that. Amen to that video by far has been the number one driver of my business. And it’s like you said, it’s like people so quickly connect with you. I’ve got a couple of followup questions to what you said. So one is, I love the tip about just staying relevant and creating content around what the questions are that people have right now. So are you, are you planning out a content calendar and are you kind of mapping out? Okay. I know at the end of the year, they’re going to be thinking about this. And so tell us that, because I think people like, I love details. I know my audience loves details. What’s your content calendar? Like, what’s your planning process? Like how far out are you doing it? As much as you can share is super useful.

Yeah. So we’re in the nutrition business. So there are like times of year that people are more likely to take action, right? Like around a new year, around a new month, around a new week. Like you’re more likely to start something new around those milestones. So our content on healthy steps, nutrition side is really based, you know, going into the new year around that, that mentality of people are more likely to start a diet around a new year. But we also know by the second week in February, people are likely have given up on that diet. 80% of people will fail their new year’s resolutions related to fitness and nutrition by the second week of February. So guess what? Our content will be in February, why your diets not working? Right? Like I already know what the content is going to be about. Cause I know what’s happening based on the previous statistics. So figuring out like, what are the trends in your market I think is, is really helpful in mapping that out. So you don’t feel like you’re writing something to come out that same day. Do we do that sometimes? Yes, absolutely. Especially in, you know, the COVID season things were happening so rapidly, but there are trends if you watch that you should be able to see in your industry, no matter what industry it is.

And then how far out are you planning your content? Are you like 90 days ahead? Are you different timeframe? What’s your, what’s your strategy there?

Yeah, that’s a great question. So we are really intentional with repurposing content. So if I make, like, if I post a let’s say we do a podcast episode this week, we have a podcast episode interviewing a gym. Who’s done an exceptional job building a thriving nutrition program during COVID. So, and he’s built a team. So a lot of our content is based around boosting up this podcast episode where this guy has used our program. Right. But we’re, we’re repurposing a lot of content. So I’ll take the same idea and say it multiple different ways in a season for a week or two weeks, depending on what the topic is. And then we’ll, we’ll always kind of link back to some of those most popular topics. So if we do a podcast, I’ll make a video about that podcast episode and then I’ll take some quotes from that podcast episode, we’ll do a blog about it. We’ll do an email. So we’re repurposing something a bunch of different times. So you’re not coming up with all these new ideas every single day, right? That just is way, way more work than you need to do, especially if you’re a single person entrepreneur.

Totally, totally. And that’s, I love this because you’re a brand builders client and that’s one of the things we teach at brand builders too, is just spend more time repurposing existing content than creating new content and just making that shift. Because I think for any of us who do create content, it is like it’s, time-intensive, especially when you’re creating it, the quality that you are and probably 90 to 95% of people don’t get the juice out of what they’re creating that they could, if they were a little more about repurposing in that way. So I love that you shared that. The other thing I want to ask about your social media strategy is you talked about how profound video has been for you. And I obviously you’re in great shape. So you’re probably really confident when you step into a camera in front of a camera. But I know for a lot of my audience, one of the questions they’ll ask is I feel uncomfortable getting on camera and I feel insecure on video. Did you ever struggle with that? And if so, how did you overcome it? Or if someone, even if you didn’t, how would you advise someone to get confident when they’re using video content?

Oh my gosh, we get this question at least a few times a week. Cause we’re we trained nutrition coaches, right? And one of our strategies is, Hey, you got to make videos using this content. We give them the video scripts, but a lot of them have never done it before. And goodness, I can tell you from experience, it is scary the first few times and your video one will never be as good as your video, 100 or a video 1000, but you still have to have that video. One to get more comfortable. A couple of suggestions that I would have is make like a little post-it note or like a whiteboard with the tips so that you’re not just rambling on forever with your video content cause that that can get people. People can be a little bit nervous, right? So they might just start rambling on show some emotion.

So like be excited, smile at the beginning of your videos, like be engaging, look at the camera. Another thing that I learned from actually social media world, one of the largest social media conferences, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it. They were talking about how 80% of people do not listen to video with the sound on. And after I heard that back in February, I was like, we’ll never post a video without captions again, because if you’re making this video, you want the most amount of people to hear this video, right? So you can use an app like mixed captions. And my ex captions is an auto captioning app that you can literally upload the video and it will auto caption it. And you want to go back through and make sure that it heard your words correctly, but it saves you a ton of time.

So that’s, you know, a great strategy that anyone making video content can do. I’ve never heard of that. That’s great. Yeah. Super easy. Facebook will auto caption things now. But Instagram doesn’t, so we just do the mixed cash caption app. And it works really well, especially like videos on the fly. You can get those done. The other thing that you could do is I make videos like a few in a row, so I, I’m not doing like a video every single day. I’ll do like four videos right in their own. I just saved them to use for later. So if I know an email or a blog is coming out about a certain topic, then I’ll make a quick 32nd video about that topic and say, go read the blog. I’m not going to post it today. I’ll post it when the bug blog is released. But again, it’s a way for you to say the same thing in a different way that people might connect with.

Yeah. That’s super helpful. And then this is actually, so I wanted to find out about this before, because I’m thinking about you batching videos. How far ahead are you staying with your content when you’re planning that out? Cause I know you said you’re repurposing it a lot, but are you planning like 30 days out, 60 days out, 90 days? How far ahead do you typically stay?

No, it, it definitely varies with the season. Great. You know, right now we’re about 30 days out with the content.

Yeah. That’s super helpful just because I think for, for many of us, especially if you’re running your own show and you’re wearing all the hats, like, and I’ve definitely fallen into this trap, you’re waking up on Monday and you’re like, shoot, I don’t have, I don’t have anything to post today. Or I don’t like, I don’t even know what my strategy is going to be for this week. So it sounds like just staying kind of ahead, it allows you to be intentional and batch your video content, you know, get yourself looking and feeling the way you want to feel on that video day so that you can have success with those and just knock them all out at once and then probably be a little more present for the rest of your just what you’re doing right that month because you know, your content is already taken care of.

So one of the other things I wanted to ask you about Nicole, cause I think this year has forced all of us in different ways to be flexible and to pivot and whether it’s, you know, somebody got laid off and they’re now having to, they’re suddenly an entrepreneur and they weren’t planning on it or they’re one of their main revenue streams dried up overnight. And they’re trying to figure out how to recruit, how to recoup that I know being flexible in approach has been really impactful for you over your career in sales and growing your business. So tell us about that. Where has that become? Where have you seen that be essential for you and what are some of your tips around staying flexible in your approach?

Yeah, I think at the end of the day as an entrepreneur, you have to have a growth mindset. What works today is not going to work a year from now or five years from now. Maybe it will and you’ll get lucky, but likely you’re going to have to tweak things. And for us, it was really interesting with the mentoring program. So we have CrossFit gyms around the world that are implementing our nutrition program in the CrossFit space in particular is based on group in person classes. So we were all shut down. Every single gym was shut down, which means that we could not do group in-person classes. And this happened with our HQ location as well. Luckily we had gyms, you know, in Ireland, Europe, Australia that were having to deal with this a few probably weeks before we actually had to deal with it.

So I was helping them come up with a strategy. Okay. Number one thing. The biggest thing that we need is communication. So you need to communicate what your plan is going to be with your staff, then your members, then you’re following social media. What can’t happen is your staff finding out at the same time as you’re paying members as the same time as the public for what your plan is going to be or not having a plan at all and being forced to shut down. Right? So communication and that kind of triaging cascade communication was, was really helpful. The other thing is, you know, there’s so much that you can do in a virtual platform. We built the HSN app, so that there’s a streamlined way to communicate with nutrition coaches and, and clients. And what we did was just transferred to every single client, whether they were to nutrition client or not to our app so that they had a coach that was following up with them to keep them accountable.

And we actually had, we only had one person in our gym canceled their membership in the two and a half months that were closed. And it was because they lost their job. They’re already back as members of our gym now. But the reason was I think partly because we were really confident, Hey, our physical location is going to be closed, but we are going to support you better than ever before. And we had people losing weight during the COVID shutdowns because they had a coach keeping them accountable. So if you figured out a way to just pivot your offerings, to support your clients and having that help first mentality, I’m going to help you, whether it is the same exact service that you offered before or not, you’re, you’re able to support them. And it worked really well with the Jim’s running our program.

We recreated a nutrition challenge that they could use during the COVID shutdowns. We had a videographer team come to our house and tape all this video content that was relevant in that season. Hey, grocery stores, aren’t you know, having the groceries that you are looking for, or you’re stuck at home and now you’re working at home and you’re eating more or there’s increased alcohol intake, or now you’re trying to juggle homeschooling kids. We have twin ten-year-olds, I’m trying to homeschool twin 10 year olds and run a couple of businesses. It’s, it’s an adventure, but you know, that relevant content allowed us to be able to help people with what they were dealing with right now. And that was really, really helpful for, for so many members. Yeah. So yeah, it’s just pivoting, right?

It is. And I want to pull out something that you’re not saying, but you are saying, which I think has been, you may or may not be consciously doing this, but from an outside perspective, I think this has been so, so much a big part of your success is being so deeply connected at an emotional level with your customers who you love serving. And that thread has shown up throughout our entire conversation, whether it’s from pivoting, your social media to be, what are people dealing with right now? And what are they talking about right now to suddenly changing your whole, your business model, to help support that people aren’t coming into the gym anymore. And they now are, they’re needing solutions. They’re needing support and you’re creating this whole virtual and an online platform for them, but being so deeply connected and not being stubborn to say, well, this is how it’s always been.

So we’re just going to find a way to make it work right now. But to say no, like what do they actually need? And how can we change to be of service? The fact that you had one customer, you lost one customer during that is exceptional. And so I can only imagine how many other businesses in the health space can say that this year that’s so exceptional. So any, I don’t know if you’re, like I said, you’re consciously doing that. Or if that just comes naturally to you, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on just developing that deep connection with the people you serve.

You know, my whole passion for health and nutrition is like, my mom passed away from cancer when I was really young. And that’s the reason behind healthy steps. Nutrition is I’m so passionate about helping people become the best versions of themselves, the healthiest versions of themselves and you know, the best way to fight chronic diseases to prevent it. And yes, you’re right. I’m a thousand percent passionate about exactly. You know what we do. I feel like I’m so lucky that I had to every day talk about nutrition and getting people healthy. Like I have the most rewarding career ever in my opinion, but I’m sure, you know, everyone says that about their career. Hopefully. he had, you know, with gym owners owning a gym as a tough, like people think it’s really fun. You get to work out every day and all it’s, it’s not like that. It’s, it’s tough. And if you’re not able to connect with your clients and really help them understand, I can help you in not just exercise, but also keep you accountable and support you and actually coach you. It probably was really tough for you to retain clients during COVID. And you know, I started CrossFit 10 years ago and I thought it was a complete Colt when I first started. I’m like, all these people ever do is talk about CrossFit, but it’s true.

I have that perception, but they look really Buffalo. They do it. So we’re doing something right?

No, it really attracts a group of people who are all passionate too, of, you know, you’re not going into a gym and not talking to anyone. Like I know everything and more than it, about our members. And it’s because they’re really our family. And, you know, I, I’m thankful that they trusted us to help them and we will provide them any support that they need at all. I mean, we’ve been through, you know, jobs, switches, moves, kids, engagements, weddings. I mean, there’s so many things that we’ve been involved with. And I think that’s the cool thing about the micro gym space, our nutrition coaching spaces. You do get to build those deep relationships with your clients.

Yeah. And there’s this, there’s a humility to what you’re saying and an appreciation for your clients that I think is really at the foundation of when I look at businesses who have been really successful this year, like they just do, most of them have so much love for their clients that they’re saying, Hey, I’m willing to pivot. I’m willing to do whatever it takes, whether it’s launching a new program, switching up how you do things, which does speak to that, you know, that flexibility that you have. So I love that. I love that. I appreciate you sharing that. You know, what would be, I think part of what people wonder too, is just on that journey, right? In sales, it’s like, there’s these incremental there’s these mindset challenges that we run up against and bump up against along the way. And I can imagine for you this year, as you were being invited to pivot how you were doing things, but what you’ve shared is like all the amazing action you took right around pivoting and creating new, just shifting your business. But I can only imagine that you may have had some freak out moments of, Oh my gosh, our whole industry is transforming like that overnight. How did you manage your mindset to stay confident and to stay flexible enough to change and be successful throughout this whole thing? It’s

Super interesting. Cause if you would have asked me four or five years ago, I don’t think I would have been as confident as I was to like this year. Right. You know, I, I was so passionate that, Hey, we can support people virtually and we could support them actually better with nutrition coaching and keep them accountable and do these zoom classes, do these virtual classes. How do we ever host it as a zoom exercise class? No, but I’m like, you know what, we’re going to figure it out and it’s going to be fun. And if we can just make it fun and keep people engaged and do some virtual Hangouts, like a happy hour or coffee time and have these little power of moments. At one point during the shutdown, we actually hand delivered coffee mugs to people who are showing up for coffee time with like HSN branding.

And it was like those little moments for people like, Hey, you really care. And it, it was, it was fun. You know, I, I think for me, I, I was really confident that we could help people in a virtual platform and it was going to be okay. And I think us, myself being calm, helped our team be calm. And then, you know, trickle down from there regarding the gyms. And it’s still this way right now I’m running our program. There are a lot of gyms that are, that are shut down for a second time. Right. So with them, it’s, it’s a little different, cause I’m not walking in their shoes at this moment. Right? Like they’re shut down again. And it’s just listening to their feedback and realizing how can we best support you so that you can have increased engagement? What can we do to make your life a little bit easier in this season that you’re going through right now?

Yeah. That’s so I think it’s, it’s that mindset of service and those little touch points that I’m curious too, because you said your mindset, you know, four ago wouldn’t have been as strong as it was now. So what, what changed between four years ago and where you are now to help you be so confident during this?

No, I think it’s raps, right? Like we’ve helped thousands and thousands more people. We had a virtual platform already, right? We had the HSN app where there’s over 30,000 people in there. I knew that we could help people virtually cause we already had an app to help them. It was just getting them in there and helping them understand how to communicate with their coach. There was quite a few gyms that signed up with HSN mentoring during this, during the season because they didn’t have any type of additional offering. Right. They realize if I’m going to keep my members, I need to support them in a different way. Nutrition, coaching, and fitness go hand in hand together. So they started nutrition, coaching using our platform, which was amazing. They invested in their businesses in a season where there was so much uncertainty and they, they actually grew their programs, their nutrition, coaching programs, and added a revenue stream during the season, which was amazing. You know, I think what gave us confidence was we truly knew that we could help people virtually. And we just had to show them how, and you know, we were able to do that thankfully. And thankfully we built a community that trusted us. Right? Like they had understood that we’re kind of figuring some stuff out as we go, but we have the best intentions and we’re going to do everything that we possibly can to help you.

Yeah. So I think a few key things that I pulled out from what I have learned from me today, which is so helpful is just being communicative and letting people know. And like you said, kind of planning out, Hey, if we need to communicate a change, who are we going to do it to first? And how do we do that in a way that helps everyone feel really confident and then just loving on your people, like loving on them because when you do that and when you lead with that first customers understand if something has to change or if you have to pivot and they’ll stay with you because they just feel so appreciated and so cared for by you in that process. It’s I think this year gave us all an opportunity to either rise to the occasion or sink and what you did was really rising to the occasion.

So I want to say thank you for just kind of modeling that mindset and for showing us, regardless of the business that we’re in, whether it’s health and fitness or whether you’re a financial advisor, whether you’re a coach, like just these little things we can do to help people feel cared for loved appreciated, and to create that loyalty as well. So, so thank you for that. And I want to ask you one final piece of advice, Nicole, this has been so good. And then I want you to tell people where they can connect with you. But if there is a woman listening who is looking to breakthrough her for six figures in income, in her business, what would be your number one piece of advice for her consistency

Is like the one word I would say, like start small. I mean, it can be really overwhelming if you have these grand visions of building a million dollar business. My husband and I went to dinner over the weekend and we’re like, well, you remember when we, we reached that milestone, how amazing it fell. And if you would have told me that I was going to do that four years ago, I would have said no way, but it was consistency and starting small. And you know, progress is better than perfection. So like don’t wait to push out something because it’s not a thousand percent perfect. It’s never going to be perfect. Our program is still evolving today and it’s because we have a growth mindset. So start small one thing at a time. And just remember that your version one will never be as good as your version 20, but you have to have that version one.

Yeah. Amen to that. Amen to that. This has been just really inspiring for me too, to think about how to be flexible and how to adapt approach. So thank you for what you’re modeling and how you’re helping to also serve people to get healthy and to feel their very best and to enjoy every single day they have because they do feel so good. So tell, tell everybody, please call, where can they connect with you? I know our listeners are going to want to find out more, check out your social media, find out about how they can improve their health to show up better in their business in their life. So tell us all the, all the places that we can find you and connect with you.

Awesome. So our main account is healthy steps, nutrition. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, healthy steps, nutrition.com. There’s a ton of free help on there. I love free help. So there’s, there’s a ton of stuff, healthy recipes on there. You can connect with me there. If you are a gym owner in the fitness space, looking to add nutrition programs, grow your nutrition business is all of the information about our mentoring program.

Beautiful. Thank you so much, Nicole. This was so much fun. I appreciate just how generously you shared no surprise, right? Cause that is that’s part of who you are and what you’re passionate about. But I think everyone is able to take something out, whether it’s leveraging video in their marketing or adapting their approach or communicating and just sharing openly what’s going on with their clients. So I know I learned a ton. I know our listeners did as well. And I so appreciate you taking the time to share today.

Well thank you for having me on.