624 Lynda Cormier:

Only 3% of all female entrepreneurs reach one million dollars in revenue. …That’s a shocking number, isn’t it? And it’s not because women in business aren’t qualified, in fact most of us are over-qualified. It’s because women tend to lack confidence in themselves, deep down we don’t truly believe we deserve it. So, with every sales call comes a frantic need to prove ourselves … which, to a potential customer, may come across as pushy and “salesy.” So how do we, as female entrepreneurs, break out of this mindset and confidently embrace our true value?

MELINDA

I’m Melinda Wittstock and today on Wings of Inspired Business we meet an inspiring entrepreneur who is one of the most sought-after Personal Development Speakers, Coaches and Business Executives today.

Lynda Cormier is both the published author and facilitator of the award-winning Breakthrough Living Personal Development/Coaching Program, the creator of the Heroic Joy Leadership Academy that teaches leadership, personal growth and ‘team’ to teenagers and young adults, as well as the Co-Founder and CEO of GIA, an international wellness company that Lynda guided from a local startup to an international, multi-million-dollar success story.

I can’t wait to introduce you to Lynda! First…

Sales. Many people dread the word. If it conjures up in your minds eye an image of a graspy, needy, pushy person – chances are your business will suffer because you’re uncomfortable asking for the sale.

Often it can be harder to sell your own product or service than someone elses’ because its personal – we can fear the rejection.

Years ago a mentor got me out of this subconscious limiting belief by making it my goal to get as many “no’s” as possible. It was counterintuitive and brilliant because it meant I was actually asking for the sale – and off the hook personally if it was a no. Faster than I could imagine the no’s turned to yesses, and my mindset block was overcome.

Lynda Cormier helps business owners and entrepreneurs like you and me boost our sales.

Following years of success in sales and corporate training, Lynda lent her formidable expertise to executives of Fortune 500 companies in a variety of industries. The results from Lynda’s success formula speak for themselves, as she has helped businesses grow their sales from as little as $20K per month to over $10M per year, while also helping thousands of individuals reach their personal, physical, relationship, and career goals.

Lynda has also been selected into the elite circle of 10 female change agents and thought leaders and will be featured in an upcoming PBS documentary “The New Paradigm for Business and Changing the World”.  In 2020, she launched her personal coaching and leadership program, “The Journey to Heroic Joy” and the “Heroic Joy Academy,” which help aspiring women entrepreneurs step into their personal power by discovering their North Star goals. Lynda resides on the beautiful Southern California coast with her husband and two daughters, who she calls her daily inspiration.

Today we are going to talk about how understanding your personal value affects how you scale your business.

Let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Lynda Cormier.

Melinda Wittstock:

Lynda, welcome to Wings.

Lynda Cormier:

Thank you so much. It’s great to be here.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. I’m excited to talk to you about sales. It’s amazing to think that only 3% of women entrepreneurs get to more than a million dollars in revenue. We got to change that number. In your experience. What is standing in the way of women really scaling their businesses into the seven and eight figures?

Lynda Cormier:

Well, I think the first thing that comes to my mind is overthinking. I mean, I think sometimes thinking is really overrated. And if we can be in the present moment and be connected to our purpose, those are the first things that come to my mind.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. How does over thinking manifest itself say in a sales situation?

Lynda Cormier:

Well, I’ll give you an example. I think I was 26 when I had a really great year in sales. I was young and somehow set some record with a very large company. They invited me to come and do a training for I think it was about 400 people. And most of them were men. Most of them were older than I was. I was pretty young and they wanted me to share how I did that. How did you do that? How did you just come in kind of as a rookie person and set these records with new accounts? I had the largest number of new accounts.

Lynda Cormier:

I knew that their expectation is that I would be doing traditional sales training like overcoming objections and negotiation tactics and all of the things that were taught, especially back then. This is 30 years ago. And I didn’t. I didn’t talk about that. I talked about being myself and knowing that the people that I was going to be talking to were just friends. I just hadn’t made friends with them yet. They weren’t customers that I was trying to get. They were people that I was trying to give information to. I think that was really the beginning of…

Lynda Cormier:

For me, one of the biggest pieces of advice that I’ve always given in any training since then, and that is just to open your mouth and your heart at the same time. And when we overthink, I think sometimes what happens it inhibits us from just being comfortable in our own skin and almost trying too hard to be someone that we’re not.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh gosh, this is such good advice. I mean, at the end of the day, people buy from people and people that they know, like, and trust. And it’s all about that relationship. It’s so interesting too, because we’ve had a lot of conversations on this podcast where women who are really expert at selling speak of the same process that you’ve just described, where it’s really more that you’re assisting people and showing them the value of something, showing them how something is going to help them, and you’re really kind of enrolling them more than kind of pushing them into something, right?

Lynda Cormier:

100%. I had the very good fortune of being raised by both of my parents. My father was a very successful businessman. I remember being eight years old and being on a Saturday at the office. I just wanted to go to the beach. We’re from Southern California, but I went with him to the office to take care of things or whatever, and I wanted to get to the beach. I’m running around, I’ll date myself, playing on the typewriters with white outs. Some people may know exactly what I’m talking about.

And I said, “Daddy, when do we get to go to the beach? Why are we here? Nobody’s here. It’s a Saturday.” There were usually about 75 employees there. And he said, “Well, honey, where do you think money comes from?” And being that I was eight years old, the first response I had was, “Well, you,” because that’s where it came from, his back pocket.

And I remember clear as day him saying, “Money comes from providing value. And if you focus on that, you will never have to worry about making money. I’m here on a Saturday, making sure that everything’s taken care of and the customers are happy and the phones are not ringing so I can get things done.” It was a long story, but the bottom line is that it was kind of my first business class. I didn’t really realize it.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s a very good business class to have. A lot of people have this idea of sales as being kind of salesy, like they’re trying to pull something over someone. That stereotype of the salesperson that you see in movies, all of that. And so they think, “Oh, that’s icky. I don’t want to be that person.” But the point is, you don’t have to be that person, if you have a good product, if you have a good service, and if you really understand the needs of the person on how that product can solve their problems.

Lynda Cormier:

Exactly. It is. It’s a shame. There is the stereotype of sales. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard somebody say that. It’s like, “Well, I’m not good at sales, or I don’t want to be in sales.” And it’s like, “You know what? If you have a child, you are in sales every day trying to have them put a sweater on when it’s cold outside,” and helping people understand really… Like you said, if they have a need, it’s helping people understand your role is to be of service. And that doesn’t mean being a doormat.

It doesn’t mean not making any money and giving everything away for free. It means being present for what that person may need. If you’re in sales, you’re just solving a problem. And I think it’s really a shame that that stereotype that you’ve described has been very pervasive.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. I mean, it’s understanding not only the value of what you’re selling. And if you’re selling someone else’s product, sometimes that’s easier than selling your own. Because if you have any doubt about your own value or about the product or service that you’ve created as an entrepreneur, I mean, it always comes down to what we believe deep down in our subconscious about ourselves.

Lynda Cormier:

Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

When you’re advising people and all the executive coaching that you do, Lynda, is not really at the end of the day the issue, the underlying mindset?

Lynda Cormier:

Well, ironically, I can remember the very first time I was coaching somebody who was very successful as a real estate agent. In the real estate world, I’m sorry. And we were talking about her future vision and what she saw for herself, what her larger desired outcome was. I said, “I want you to really tell me how do you feel about it? If you are fully associated with these emotions and you’re fast-forwarding and imagining your life, exactly every dream comes true, how do you feel?” And she said, “I feel like I don’t deserve it.”

That was the first time it happened. And again, this was many, many years ago. And since then, I have very clearly witnessed that people, in general, and I do work with a lot of women, but obviously I think men as well, deep down inside, many, many people do not understand their value and their worth. That I think speaks to what it is that you’re saying is that if there’s a subconscious self-doubt, it manifests obviously in self-sabotaging behaviors and all of the things that we see.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. And just even things like underpricing your services or over-delivering. I’ve even seen women land business but not send the invoice, or I don’t know.

Lynda Cormier:

Oh gosh, been there and done that. For sure. I think that’s a great point, actually, that over-delivering concept. 100%. But I think that as we grow and learn and gain wisdom, we recognize that that doesn’t serve anybody, because ultimately we’re leading by example. So if we’re coaching other people about their value, their worth, and making sure that they’re not underpricing or something like that, then what example are we setting if we’re not setting boundaries?

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, no, that’s absolutely right. What’s the process? Say someone comes to you and they’re stuck at a certain revenue number, and they’re burning out, and they’re trying to grow their business, but they’re just like, I don’t know, throwing up their hands. They don’t know what to do. Take me through your process of how you help a woman in that situation, an entrepreneur?

Lynda Cormier:

Well, I’ve just had the privilege of working with this young entrepreneur in the past I would say six months or so. I don’t take on a whole lot of individual coaching clients right now, but it has been such a joy, and we’ve really worked together incredibly well. She’s like tripled her income. And I will tell you, it comes from the very first call I had with her. And we’ve talked about like, what happened and how it all evolved.

The very first call I ever had with her, we spent some time helping her discover what her natural gifts are and helping her see the value in her natural gifts. Because if something comes to us naturally, we don’t really recognize its value because it’s easy. It’s like I speak Spanish fluently because my mother’s from Central America and people are always like, “Oh my gosh, that’s so amazing. You’re bilingual.” It’s like, well, if I wanted to communicate with my 27 cousins, I kind of had to. I don’t see the value because it’s just easy and second nature.

But when we look at individual gifts, every single person is endowed with, I think, hundreds, if not thousands of different types of natural gifts. And really starting with, what are they? Why do they bring you so much joy? How is your livelihood connected to that? And most importantly, helping them see the value in it, which then translates into elevated confidence, which then translates into all the good stuff, all of the expanding self-worth and self-respect and setting boundaries and having initiatives.

I mean, I don’t know if that answers your question, but that’s kind of the process I would say.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, no, that’s awesome. I mean, I see so many women getting stuck at that stage of, I don’t know, just not knowing how to scale, whether it’s just putting in the systems in place that allow them to double down on what it is that makes them unique and getting out of the day-to-day in the business stuff and being able to focus on more of the strategic, through to not hiring early enough, seeing team members as expenses rather than assets.

Lynda Cormier:

100%. That was, specifically with the person that I’m thinking about, a very… We overcame that challenge as well. Recognizing that if you can outsource some things and free yourself up to do what you’re gifted at mostly, your business is going to expand. A lot of it also around money mindset and recognizing where your investment needs to go, how you can really expand your team. And especially now, oh my gosh, it’s so much easier now.

There are so many people that are working from home, working part-time, brilliant people, brilliant women who have so much to offer the world. I think it’s one of the silver linings of the past year and a half is that we’ve recognized how much we can do from home. I think especially right now, being able to expand your team and your resources without having to hire somebody full-time, which is kind of the mindset of how it used to be if you were going to hire somebody.

Lynda Cormier:

Well, it’s a full-time employee and a lot of expenses that go along with that. I think you’re 100% right.

Melinda Wittstock:

Lynda, take me back in time a little bit. I mean, you had the benefit of learning so much from your father at an early age, age eight. What are some of the other things that you learned from him that you put into practice first in your sales career, and then now as you help other people really crack the code of business?

Lynda Cormier:

Well, at the time, I probably wouldn’t have thought of it as a great lesson. But I graduated from USC. I went to school here in Southern California. And upon my graduation, two big things happened. My dad said, “Okay, how are you going to support yourself?” I had the good fortune of having my college paid for, and then he passed away when I was on [crosstalk 00:13:50] In that year of having my very first job, which was in sales, I worked in retail and I learned what commission was.

The more I connected to the women that were coming into the store, the more money I made. And I knew what it was to live in an apartment with cardboard boxes as my table and nightstand. And then my dad passing away so unexpectedly and so young, it really shifted. I was already expressive and what someone would say kindhearted, but knowing that anyone… Literally every day is a gift. One of my favorite quotes is to live life so fully that when death comes like a thief in the night, there is nothing left for him to steal.

It was a hard lesson losing him, but it also gave me the gift of cherishing people, cherishing the moments, taking initiative to live life as fully as possible, and the lesson of having to support myself. I graduated young. I started college only at 17, so I was pretty young when all this happened and finding myself in a very independent place. And then learning, learning how when you find out what somebody needs and helping them gracefully, identify what works for them, that it feels really magical.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a customer or somebody that I’ve worked with that didn’t eventually feel like a friend. I just decided they’re going to be friends anyways. I may as well just like them from the very beginning, if not love them.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, no, that’s just so, so beautiful. You, like me, because I think we’re in the same generation though, too, I mean, I also had an entrepreneurial father. I learned a lot from him, but I also found myself often the only woman in the room, just like you. What did you learn from that? What was difficult about it? What did you learn from it?

Lynda Cormier:

I just saw this quote on social media not too long ago and it made me crack up. It was like, “Yeah, underestimate me, that’ll be fun,” or something like that. So what I learned about being the only woman in the room, which did happen quite often, was that I didn’t have to change anything other than truly believe in myself and be myself. I did find myself judged more by women, I would say, than by men.

And if I was fully present, if I was very clear with what I wanted to bring and what my contribution was going to be and be unabashed in my articulating what I thought I could bring to the table or how I planned on doing something, the men that were in the room may have started out a little either skeptical or whatever their thoughts were. But it’s very disarming I think when somebody just comes in and they’re comfortable in their own skin, and they don’t feel like they have to try too hard. The whole energy around everything changes.

I honestly think that my confidence is one of the things that helped. I have two daughters who are now grown, but I’ve always taught them, “Be confident, but don’t be arrogant.” And I think that that really… Again, that came from my father and the way that I was raised. It never dawned on me that I wouldn’t be able to do something because I was a woman. I mean, it just didn’t even dawn on me that even somebody would have a biased because I was a woman. I just didn’t have any doubts.

I hope that doesn’t sound arrogant, because I don’t feel it to be arrogant, but I just was really confident. And I think the more confident that everyone, but women especially, that breaks the glass, that breaks the molds, that breaks the energy in the room.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. No., it does. It’s interesting how women… I mean, I hope we’re moving away from the kind of queen bee syndrome, which I think was really born of scarcity, I think, in our generation. There was this idea that only a few women could succeed, so women tended to compete with each other rather than lifting each other up. That is so ingrained still. But I think it is changing, because we’re so much stronger when we really lift each other up. What’s your perspective on how that’s changed or is changing?

Lynda Cormier:

Well, I think you’re right. I think women did have that sense of competition. I was just talking to a friend of mine who’s from Canada and she has her MBA and very much in a man’s world when she was working and building her career. We were talking about it. And I think one of the things that’s important not only as women do we have a responsibility to lift each other up and try and break through some of the judgments. It’s all about competition versus collaboration.

It’s changing. But I think one of the things too is recognizing that there are infinite resources and possibilities in my mind. The idea that I think about is if you have several people in a family, lots of siblings, and mom puts a pizza or a pie in the middle of the table, there’s this feeling like, “Oh, I have to get my piece of the pie. I have to get my piece of pizza before it runs out.”

Melinda Wittstock:

Right.

Lynda Cormier:

What I teach people is that we live in a kitchen. You just make more pie, make more pizza or whatever. I think that mindset of expansion and possibility and unlimited resources. Obviously we have some finite resources. I’m not saying everything is unlimited resources, but bringing that mindset, knowing that you can pretty much co-create in any given circumstance, I think that helps women not feel that sense of competition.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh gosh, it’s so true. I think we are just somehow so trained to measure ourselves relative to the other person when really it’s an inner game. We’re all unique. We’re all different, right? But recovering from that kind of comparisonitis or whatever, right?

Lynda Cormier:

I love that. It is such an inner game. If we’re going to feel competitive, that’s great. Both my daughters were athletes. They’re very competitive, but compete against yourself. If going to be competitive, channel that energy to compete against yourself.

Melinda Wittstock:

Exactly. It’s so true. And this, of course, ties into confidence where you really help your clients, whether we’re working for Fortune 500 companies or some of the individual folks that you have worked with in the past, helping women really step into their confidence. What are the things that hold women back there, and how can we be fully confident?

Lynda Cormier:

Well, we all bring with us our whole life to every moment. What holds people back, in my opinion, and women, it’s the conditioning with which they were brought up with, the influences that created the beliefs to begin with. I have a good friend who I always reference because he said his dad used to say, “People get paid to think. You don’t, so don’t.” Well, if you grow up with that influence, then you’re going to keep your mouth shut, and you’re not going to voice your opinion very often.

Everyone, we all have limiting beliefs, and we come to the table with the influences that have conditioned our self-belief. I think the first thing is recognizing we have power to change those beliefs. I mean, there’s proven ways to decide this is what’s not serving me. This is a belief that’s holding me back. What belief do I need to have in order to move forward and create a new belief that you’re actually intentional about, not that somebody else put in your brain and in your psyche and in your heart? I don’t think there’s one thing that holds people back.

I think everyone has their own unique experience. But between the media and the stereotypes and the blueprint that women lived in for so long, as far as what their role was, their role in the home and raising kids and having these defined roles, it takes a long time to break through all of that, but we’re doing it. That’s the great thing that is happening is that we are all doing it and I think more now than ever.

Melinda Wittstock:

So beautiful.

Melinda Wittstock:

So Lynda, tell me about the clients that you’re working with right now and your process and who you’re looking for to work with specifically.

Lynda Cormier:

Well, I work with a lot of female entrepreneurs, and I also work with… I do group coaching now too, because I find that it’s just a better use of my time. And so many women, specifically kind of a younger generation, they are learning about social media tactics and funnels and all that. I don’t teach people that, but what I do is I teach people to help discover what their sense of purpose is, what their natural gifts are, how they can move forward from a mindset perspective more than a strategy and technology perspective.

The good thing, though, is that I have built several businesses very successfully, so some of the coaching that I do does get into strategy and how to scale and kind of expand from wherever you are now to where you want to be a year from now or five years from now. Because 2020 was such a mess, I woke up one day and decided I was starting a nonprofit, because I couldn’t stand some of the things that were happening anymore. My family is a beautiful tapestry of color and culture and religion. I work with a lot of young female entrepreneurs.

Lynda Cormier:

I do group coaching. Some individual coaching, not as much anymore. I run our company and starting a nonprofit and just looking to see really how I can be of service in a lot of different ways. I don’t know if that answers your question.

Melinda Wittstock:

No, that’s fantastic. What’s the best way for people to find you and work with you?

Lynda Cormier:

Honestly, you can just go to my website, which is just my name, and sign up for a newsletter or send me an email. I do have someone helping me with Instagram and Facebook a little bit more now. I’ve not been somebody who’s massive on social media, unfortunately. I have somebody who’s helped me with that. I answer anybody who direct messages me on Instagram or on Facebook, and it’s just my name.

Melinda Wittstock:

Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Lynda Cormier:

Oh, you’re so welcome. It’s been great.