Episode 1: She Became the #1 AE in America Working 9-5 as a Mom

She was the number one AE in all of America. 175% of quota attainment. You are a mom. You work from home and you work from 9 to 5 and you're not burning out hitting these numbers.

>> I felt like I just was a phony. I lacked the skill to close business, negotiate business, uh prospecting, territory management, all these different things. I just feel like a rag doll. Like I would show up to work and I would just be reactive. This is an investment in not only me but our children, our legacy, choosing a different path. It's the easiest yes of your life. And I will never ever regret it. And the biggest word I think I heard like the most amount of times was like detach from the outcome. You were there to serve not sell. And if we made a sale, great. And if we didn't, great. My first year at Snaplogic I was AE of the year. And that was not even like on the realm of my possibilities. I was just like, I hope I can hit quota. And then once I started to say, you're going to crush quota. It happened within months. I've been there, too. Get help and not do it alone. Stop being a hero on your own. Like, go get help and get community. Don't sit in that. It sucks. It's painful.

>> Welcome to the Untap Your Sales Potential podcast. I'm so glad you're listening because I'm going to bring you real stories from sellers who have gone from average performance to elite by mastering their mindset, habits, and selling skills. These are all sellers that I've coached and I've watched them transform their lives. And they're going to share exactly what they changed to become elite. So, if you're not getting the results you want, if you know you can do better, if you're frustrated and you're not sure what to do, listen up because these sellers are going to share the exact playbook that they learned and used to become top performers. Can't wait to dive in.

Welcome everyone to our first episode of the Untap Your Sales Potential podcast. And I am so excited. I kind of wanted to get somebody on the first episode who's really transformed not just their sales but also their personal life and is doing it in a way that I think is uh possible for everybody. And so I'm so excited to be here with Kelsey Nyel. Kelsey's been in the program Untap Your Sales Potential for for two years as a private one-on-one client. She went to the mastermind. She's spoken before at our event and she is just inspiring for a lot of people. So, I'll give you a brief highlight reel on Kelsey and then we're going to talk about how she got where she is today. So, Kelsey works over at Snaplogic. In 2025, she was the number one AE in all of America. Amazing job, Kel. Uh, made the President's Club and was 175% of quota attainment. The year before that, this is the two years in the program, she was AE of the year in 2024, made president's club and had 141% of quota. The biggest thing that I think is amazing about you is Kelsey Kelsey is you are a mom. You work from home and you work from 9 to5 and you're not burning out hitting these numbers. So you're crushing it at home. You're crushing it at work and you're not killing yourself in the process. And I think what would be really helpful is to like have people understand a little bit more about where you come from and your background because this was not always the case. In fact, when I met you, you were in every sense of it a different person. And you're in two two years, you've transformed everything about your life. And so maybe start just by giving people a little background on yourself and you know, anything you want to share for context.

>> Yeah, of course. No, and thank you, Ian, for having me on the very first episode of your podcast. I think this is such a community of uh professionals who are striving to do really big things both professionally in their sales career and personally. And I can attest firsthand to the transformation that I had over the last couple of years getting to work with you and other coaches like Mike. Uh it's just been so transformational for both my my career in sales and also my life as a mama. So yeah, a little bit about me. As you mentioned, I'm at Snaplogic right now. have been there for the last couple of years. But a fun little fact kind of about my journey is that I'm relatively new in the enterprise sales game. I started in 2021. So I came over from a consulting background which is a little untraditional in the sense I didn't come up through like the BDR or ADR you know uh rank and climb up. I started in consulting and then uh started in enterprise selling at Salesforce in 2021. So, I made a pretty big pivot uh into sales and that's kind of where I found myself in a situation where I was uh a little in over my skis as they say and it just felt really when I came over to work with untap your sales potential just felt overall very anxious a lot of impostor syndrome uh kind of just like knew I had the drive knew I wanted to make a life for myself and my family I was a new mom I had just had a baby girl and I just felt this overwhelming pressure to just like figure out how to make all of this new career with new mom life work and really started off like on a huge transformation since then. So yeah, I'm excited to dive into like all the different things that shifted over the last couple of years in my life that have just transformed really every facet of how I run my life and spend time with my family today.

>> Awesome. So I want the this podcast is going to be different than any others that you're listening to because a lot of times you're going to hear the success stories. is I know when I listen to like you know Ed Mylet or Louisis Hower you're hearing about all these like gurus coming in but that's not what this is this is about giving hope to people that maybe don't feel so hopeful you know maybe they're anxious or they're not performing the way they know they ca they um they could. So, I think it would be helpful to to describe the Kelsey that came in to the program when you signed up, I guess, end of 2023, cuz I remember you as someone who was very nervous and just like you were really like, I need to learn sales. I need to learn how to do this. And it was like very, I don't know, very fast, but you questioned yourself a ton. And you like felt like you needed to like learn everything before you could be ready. And and that's just so different than how you operate now. So maybe give some context as to like why you joined in in the type of challenges that you had prior to having the success that you and you didn't like you were at Salesforce before Mulesoft and you didn't have those same results. So give everyone kind of like a taste of the old Kelsey if you will.

>> Yeah. Yeah. When we first met I was a totally different person. Uh I I just really felt like I used the word like I struggled insert word in a lot of my conversations with you early on. I thought the way to solve the problem that I was facing which was that at Salesforce I was underperforming or I wasn't where I wanted to be. I felt tremendous amount of anxiety just to like I think I was struggling with imposter syndrome. As I mentioned, I had come over from consulting, which gave me a really great mindset as to understanding how businesses operate and the different kinds of ROI and outcomes that they want to take on with transformations. But I felt like I just was a phony. I lacked the skill to close business, negotiate business, uh, prospecting, territory management, all these different things. I felt like, um, I think I was really I was looking at my old journals, Ian, and I found a sentence. And I was like, I just feel like a ragd doll in every bit of my life. Like I would show up to work and I would just be reactive. I wouldn't know exactly what I was doing and then I would get in this horrible hamster wheel of self-doubt. Anyone else is out there that felt like that? It just was constant self-doubt and anxiety. And um the the friction point for me was when I uh got pregnant and then had my daughter Olive. time became like the most important currency in my life because you all those hours that you felt like you could just mess around and get to things eventually like shrunk overnight when you become a parent. And so time had a premium on it. And I just thought, okay, the whole reacting ragd doll energy, self-doubt, questioning everything. I didn't feel like I had a clear playbook as to how to walk into my work week. And I wanted to spend time with Olive and my my husband and my family. I wanted to be there with them. I had seen a lot of people in my life including my father and a lot of family members work really really hard in sales careers actually and they were quite successful but they also spent a lot of time doing it and I just thought I want to do something different. I had this desire to kind of rewrite the pattern for what I could see what could be possible for me and my

>> Why though? Why what did you see them as unhappy? these people that were just working, were they always stressed? Like what did you witness that you wanted to change for your own family?

>> Yeah, I think all those things, right, Ian, like just seeing the amount of stress that someone could work 70 hours a week and still be stressed about the money, still be stressed about the commission. And what happens is like you start to realize that as a kid you saw your parents do that and you love your parents and they do the best they can and I'm so grateful for the life that my parents gave me and my sister growing up and I just didn't want Olive to see me like that. I didn't want my daughter to see her mom be working all the time to view work as this priority thing. I wanted her to see me as someone that like, could this be possible to actually enjoy my job and like what I'm doing? Like, could that be a reality? And if that's the case, if that question is is something that could be a reality, how do we get there? And that's why I found you, Ian, because so many of the people you've worked with went through this transformation where like it felt like it was so hard and heavy to deal with a sales career and then it felt like light and detached and almost fun and that just wasn't like it wasn't a concept to me. But I knew it was potentially a possibility. And seeing my daughter look up to me, even though she was only one at the time and very little, I could project it. I could see how it could potentially repeat and I wanted to do something different. I wanted to make it feel more me and have me be more of a present mom.

>> Well, kudos for you for having that self-awareness of seeing the pattern continue with you. There's an old an old saying in my men's group. We say it ran in my family until it ran into me. So, it's like you can observe your parents and be grateful and still choose to have a different life and and style than than they did. So, I like that you are honoring them and still doing things in a way that I think is more sustainable and enjoyable to be to be frank. Was there a breaking point that you hit that led you to say I need help? Cuz you me you mean you invested a lot to to work in the program for people that don't know you know $45,000 over two years. So she spent 25,000, you know, first year and then 20 her second year to to be part of this program and um continued and I'm just curious kind of how you thought about that decision and you know was there something that put you over the the edge to to say yes to yourself and bet on yourself in that capacity.

>> Yeah. I mean I know when you put it like that people are probably like that's crazy. But you have to think about it like this. This is your life, your career and your legacy. Okay? You're the you're the investment. You're the asset. So for me, the breaking point was when I was pregnant, I knew I was running into some challenges. I thought, "This is feeling a little chaotic. I felt out of control, anxious, overanalyzed every element of my life."

>> That when you have a kid come in, they challenge that, right? They're going to put you through all sorts of different ideas and motions, and they're the toughest negotiators you'll ever find. And at that point, I just I it's the same thing we just spoke about, which is like I wanted to be a present mom. I wanted to have it all. I wanted to have a great career, be very successful financially, be very successful in my sales career, and I wanted to have my family, too. I didn't want either or to have both. And when you look at yourself and you and you look at yourself in the mirror, you're having conversations with your partner, your spouse, and you say, "I'm worth that." This is an investment in not only me but our children, our legacy, choosing different path. It's the easiest yes in her life and I will never ever regret it. It's the best gift I've ever given myself and I would do it over and over. I think you still can always invest in coaching in some way, shape or form. I still work u with amazing coaches in your program like Mike Fusone and I'm so grateful for that and you are the biggest asset in your life. No one will do it better than you. So saying yes to myself, especially looking at my little girl um when she was super small and even now it's like that was the easiest yes and I'm so glad I did.

Well, well, for context, too, I mean, what were you making when you were in consulting or your first couple years in sales before the program?

>> on average per year just just for for for people to get a range? Like

>> I want to say the first two years in sales it was probably under 200,000 maybe 200 to

>> right around two. That sounds about right. And then the last two since you've been in this trajectory.

>> Uh the last year it's more than doubled that. More than double that. So yeah, it's been like if you think

>> that's how you look that's how you look at it. So if you go if you're making two and you get to four, I mean you were over five last year because you're getting some awards and recognition which is amazing. But if you think about it from that like if you go from two to four and you pay 20k that's a you know that's a 10x ROI. I mean any if if I put 20,000 in the stock market and knew I'd get back 200,000 there wouldn't be a person on the planet unless they didn't know basic math that wouldn't take that bet. So I think a lot of people don't think that way when it comes to investing in themselves. They think about it as oh my god I can't spend money. But if you think about becoming the person that is capable of making 500,000 or more, right? You're not going to get there if you don't have mentorship and coaching. It's just impossible. And if you

>> No, I will say it's impossible. I I have never met a single person that doubled or triple their income on their own without help.

>> You have to have an accelerator to do that. You have to have someone impart the knowledge frameworks, systems, mindset, downloads into you to um call it like a quantum leap or call it like hyper growth in a shortened amount of time. I completely agree it you have to have help accelerating that growth. You might be able to get there over like decades, right? But like Even Even me, I was I I've never met a single person. I've met thousands of sellers. Not a single person that's tripled or doubled their income on their own. It's always they reach a plateau. That's what happens. They'll get to like 3 350 and they're kind of there. But to get to that million or five, six, seven, like I I I don't know of anyone who's done that just on their own somehow doubling their income one year. It just doesn't happen. So if it does, come on the show and tell me what you're doing. Um, fundament everyone I know had had help, right? they had some type of program or support or mentorship to get there because otherwise what what changes? Nothing. You're in your own head.

So, let's get into the changes you've made. So, you had a little bit of impostor syndrome. If you think about the old way of selling versus the new way of selling, what were some of the mistakes when you weren't doing that well? Like if you think about why you didn't well do that well, you know, 200k is still good, don't get me wrong, but compared to like what's possible when you're a top performer, I know you wouldn't wouldn't go back in in a in a in a second for for that. Like tell me maybe some of the mistakes or some of the the the the um the daily habits or the the the way you thought whatever just to is a pitfall for people who are stuck there like what were you doing that was not working?

>> a lot of things honestly like you a lot of things had to change to reach this level of consistent success right and I think consistent is a key word now too Ian um a lot of sellers are like oh this was a fluke year or like a a blah year I believe now that like you can have consistent success in sales if you make some of the changes that I personally have seen myself and other peers go through but I would say like back in the old days uh when I first old days as if this was so long ago a few years ago before I got into the program. I definitely think like one of the biggest shifts that changed for me was actually just like how I was my mindset in selling. And a lot of it comes from when I was when I was unsure and I didn't know about the frameworks or the strategies or how other top-notch sellers were thinking. I didn't get it. So like here's here's what I thought. Here's what I thought when I went into a sales call. I just wanted to figure out what challenges they had and I was going to figure out how to map it to my products feature function. And then I'd eventually just make that person a champion and just run it all the way to the end and hopefully they would sell it internally and I'd close a deal. And here was the kicker. I was so anxious. Every conversation I was in my head, am I saying the right thing? Am I worthy enough to be talking to this senior person? Do they think I'm dumb? Am am I sounding dumb? It would just be this constant noise of like it was really more me focused on how I sounded, what I looked like, was I doing a good enough job and I wasn't really there. I wasn't present. And one of the biggest shifts that I learned very quickly coming into this sphere of top performers in the untapped community is just how they think. And the biggest word I think I heard like the most amount of times was like detach from the outcome. You were there to serve not sell. And when I started to play with that idea, I was like, I can't believe how many conversations I was making about myself and just trying to like push the the prospect through a funnel and not just genuinely be curious about how we could help them. And if we made a sale, great. And if we didn't, great. Like that energy was not in me. I didn't even know that. Like I just it wasn't on my I wasn't aware of it. So when I started to just detach and truly approach clients from service like how can I help you? If we can help you great if we can't can I put a referral in to someone that I know can that energy in the room you know Ian like it shifts it approach your customers and that was like a a first insight I never even thought of until I started learning from you guys.

>> Yeah, I mean, it's it's probably the the number one difference is the top sellers don't need it, right? But at the time you thought you needed it and the reason people are attached and needy is because they were insecure and that's showing up as impostor syndrome. They need validation of getting results and sales to be able to feel worthy. I'm curious how you detached when you still needed it as a new mom with a mortgage and you know new job you got to perform especially at Snaplogic when you went there you weren't proven yet. So how do you how do you put the cart before the horse and and and detach when you might feel like you really do need the results to be able to provide for your family or just to be able to keep your job.

>> I remember this being such a point of discussion for you and I when we were working together that first year and I remember you saying to me every day, it's all about your daily inputs. And you have to trust that with your right daily inputs, the actions you take as a seller and your mindset to just show up and serve, the results will come. I want you to have this conviction. You would tell me, Kelsey, I want you to have this conviction that the results are going to show up. Period. like full stop. And that just became like almost a mantra, like an affirmation for me, Ian, that I was like, "Okay, if I if I take my uh we'll talk, I'm sure, about revenue generating activities and the importance of prioritizing your time as a seller and doing those high priority tasks first and always, every single day. Those inputs, they're like tokens. They add up and eventually they will prove the results." And I just had to stick to it and believe believe that what I was learning was tried and true and going to work and believe in myself that like in service there's no judgment. You're just there to learn and and give. And that energy helped me just like let go. And when I let go of it,

>> it just started to snowball so quickly for me.

>> How quickly?

>> Like within a quarter, two quarters. I mean, my first year at Snaplogic, I was AE of the year, and that was not even like on the realm of my possibilities. I was just like, I hope I can hit quota. And then once I started to say, you're going to crush quota if you just continue to do these inputs and just sell from a detachment, it happened within months.

>> What gave you that faith though to really believe that when you didn't see the results right away? I mean, you said one or two quarters later, right? It's not like tomorrow, you know, but it's pretty quick. But what what gave you that blind faith to trust the inputs?

>> I think seeing others in the program do it, Ian, gave me like a level of confidence. You know, you're obviously a proven seller. There's so many proven sellers that have sold millions and millions of dollars that mentor and provide frameworks. And you kind of look at it and you're like, if they did it, why can't I? It was almost this confidence of just being in the energy of other top performers who were doing the same inputs and saw the results. And I think it just was this conviction that like if it worked for them, it has to work for me.

>> Yeah.

>> And I'm just going to stick with it and I was just religious about it.

>> It's belief.

>> It's belief.

>> It's unwavering belief that if I do the right things, I will have the the success that I I I know is coming. What about the impostor syndrome? How how did you you know you said you were like anxious and you were like how do I sound? How do I think? How did you get over that when you were with you like with people with executives or with with customers?

>> Oh my gosh. I I so many things, right? But I think when I started to when you take your you take your focus off of like proving and like oh if I don't hit quota I'm not worthy. I'm not like a good enough person. I'm not whatever insert like negative statement there. When I started just saying like I am good enough regardless of what my number shows up like at the end of the year. I started to see a lot of the self-doubt kind of melt away and I was replacing it at the same time we worked together with like rewiring the subconscious right and a lot of those like internal dialogues. I used to have a really negative self voice that would just talk all day long.

>> Today it is very very small. It's still there cuz I'm a human, but like it's a much quieter voice. And what's instead in replacement of that is just like you're here to help understand and see if you can serve them. And at the end of the day, you're still an amazing human. You're a mama. You're a wife. You're a person. And you have value regardless of what your numbers say. And I started to just like focus on that like, okay, I'm really good enough without this. And it it just all that other impostor syndrome, I think it just comes from a place of like wanting to prove, you know, feel like you're worthy without the accomplishment. And I just said the accomplishment is like a moot point. It will be an outcome eventually, but I don't get to be attached to when and how fast. I'm just I just know I'm going to do what I can. I'm going to focus on what I can control. And it just started to dissipate. But you got to replace it with some more affirming thoughts like you are not tied to your your worthiness as a human as an individual is not tied to your quota or your attainment. It is just not because

>> I love this and we were at Lake Arahead and you you spoke this is in 2024.

>> and I'm just looking back at my notes working with you. I mean you were a stubborn woman. really stubborn.

>> Um, you told me Ian, I just want to get the sales skills. You were you were an enagram 8, which is a challenger and just like control freak and you're like, I need to control what I'm doing and and uh here are the outcomes I want, right? I want to know that I'm putting in the right inputs. I want to, you know, make sure I have a 12-week plan, get the right habits, like productivity stuff. So, we started like, "All right, Kel, here we go." So, we did territory planning. We talked about POV development, right? This is our third call. Our fourth call, the first one was the enagram review. The fourth one we did messaging. And then you're like about about three three or four months into into coaching, anxiety around failing. Where does this anxiety come from? And you're like, and then we got into some limiting beliefs work. And you started reading Loving What Is with Byron Katy. You watched The Shift with um Wayne Dyer. And we worked on the belief I could lose everything if I don't work non-stop and perform all the time. I don't know if you remember that, but

>> Oh, yeah.

>> It's it's interesting that came up after like eight months of coaching together. And that's when you really started to actually get the results cuz you were anxious. You were anxious and I'd tell you what to do and you didn't believe it and then he tell you what to do. until we got to the source of like, you know, I don't it was like this fear of failure that was driving this workcoholism that you had to go and rewire your brain. The results didn't come. So, you can kind of talk about that a little bit like what you did to rewire your brain and in in terms of knowing that you're going to be okay even if you're not working, you know, 70 hours a week like your father did.

>> Well, I was stubborn, huh?

>> Yeah. Usually I start with mindset and then I go to habits. But Kelsey said let's go right into territory planning and POV development. Like I that's that's why I keep notes on every call. So I I you didn't even want to go there. You're like my mindset's good. My just tell me what to do and I'll do it. I remember like it was yesterday. So isn't that funny? Isn't that

>> It is funny. It is. Oh, I still have that stubborn streak. But yes, I agree. I I thought it was a strategy problem and then with the epiphany, the breakthrough at that lake arrowhead mastermind was like the biggest breakthrough of my life to date and I think I think Elise Archer was speaking at that one.

>> That was one of our guest speakers that we invited.

>> Yes. Yeah. And she was phenomenal and she just um she really started to talk about I think she she spoke about how your mindset drives your actions and your behaviors and like your identity. And when she started to talk, she was teaching us about like how sellers get so focused on the strategy and all these tactics and how we all sound and that it's actually the opposite. Like how your mind thinks of you, like what your your self-identity is actually drives how your actions take place and how you show up in conversations. And so I played with this after that mastermind. And I remember like driving down that mountain and just knew my life was going to change because I said I made a commitment coming down from that mastermind that I was no longer going to be a victim in any of my thoughts. And I just said your your mindset is the key to unlocking your next level of potential. You got to figure out and weed out any not like not selfserving or supportive statements. ideas or beliefs about yourself as a seller, as a mom, as a person and weed them out. Weed them out and you are no longer going to speak them. And it was just like it was that adamant because I started to realize that like oh my god, even after working with Ian for so long, I was still feeling anxious and you were always trying to tell me like it's it's how you perceive it, Kel. Like it's it's how you're perceiving yourself and you're not approaching it from like a true detachment. And when I had that unlock, everything started to feel so easy. I actually started listening to my own inner voice. I felt like my instinct and my my own ideas were like worthy and valuable. I started to have more creative ideas with approaching with customers. And I just started to believe that I could actually do this like and it was just a belief a belief unlock. But it had to come from the awareness that these little things that you tell yourself in your mind are going to dictate your result. No matter the strategy or the playbook you had, if you first don't change your identity to be a top-notch elite seller, you're never going to start to act like one. So that's what I went on was the second the second year of the journey was like, who is Kelsey as an elite seller and mom that balances all of it and what can she do in that container? And so yeah,

>> well, let's let's get into it. So it starts with mindset. I think that's a good good um takeaway for any listeners is you have to believe it before you can achieve it, right? And and to shift mindset, you have to shift your whole beliefs, right? And and be around people that have a different mindset to help you open up because if you're around a bunch of people that are all 200k earners, you're only going to make 200k because that's their belief. But when you put yourself in a room with people making a million, you you see what's possible and you start to believe it for yourself. So, I love that you had that big unlock at the at the first mastermind you went to, which which is super powerful. So, let's let's talk about what happened afterwards. You have this big aha moment. You know, life is never going to be the same. How did you show up differently after that at work specifically?

>> Yeah. I mean, it was a lot of like, if I'm being very honest, it was a lot of homework offline. homework of like I was doing audits every day of um how I thought about different things in sales. I think when I spoke at your next mastermind, was it like a year later or maybe 6 months? I can't remember. Ian, so after the the big aha, I remember sharing some of like the different ways I was thinking about

>> It was 6 months. Yeah, it was you spoke in you spoke in the fall one. You had the aha moment in March of 2024. Then you spoke at the fall and then last year we we brought you for Georgia as well as a guest.

>> Okay. Yes. So, so many great conversations, but in just a short six months, this is how quickly this this mindset unlocked change for me. And what I started to do was like look at all these elements of my my selling journey. So like how did I view pipeline for example? You hear a lot of different you get a lot of pressure from your managers like you got to have 3x 5x whatever your quota and pipeline and if you don't you're screwed and like I started to be like why does that have to be true for me like what if instead of that thought cuz I would always focus on like this fear this lack a scarcity like if I don't have it then I'm not going to have it and like by gosh if you say that like for sure it's going to happen that way and I used to remember I used to feel like, well, what if I don't hit quota? And I would banish those thoughts. I started being like, I'm a woman. I'm a seller and a mama who always hits quota every single year. My pipeline shows up for me every single every single quarter, no matter what. As long as I'm doing the right actions, taking the daily actions, doing my RGAs, it will show up. It will come through.

>> Don't worry about the scoreboard. Like, I would start to be like, my the data doesn't reflect who I am. And I would start to affirm it. And I actually started doing less. Like I stopped friendsing so much in my day. I would kind of just like look at my RGAs. I was still doing the 12week year at the time. And I would I would actually go through my list and once it was done, I'd be like, "Okay, like I can sleep well at night now. I know what I've done and the fruits of my labor will show up." But it was a lot of rewiring of like you had to become aware of the thoughts you had on any particular topic in your selling profession and then choose a more supportive abundant thought that like you could actually get behind. And when I started playing with that like magic really started to happen but you had to become aware of it. So a lot of the work was just understanding what was going on between my two ears.

>> And what was that work? What did you do to understand and become aware of your negative selft talk?

>> I did a lot of meditation and journaling. I started just like really becoming hyper aware of things that weren't supportive to me. Like and I would start to feel it in my body. Like if I said something, oh, I I'm not confident that where I'm at today, I'm going to hit my number like, oh, I don't know. And I would feel almost worry in my body. I would have a journal out on my desk. I still had do this today.

>> And I will catch the thought. I will say like this felt really tight or uh constrictive in my body. I don't like the way it's making me feel. So, I knew it was a lie, like some sort of limiting belief in there. And then I would rewrite it to be a more supportive thought. So, as the woman who easily makes COA, as a woman who always crushes her number and sales is so easy for her, how would she think about that? How would she think about pipeline? How would she think about that deal that seemingly slipped or, you know, we close loss? What is the what is the way she thinks about it? And I would start to play with that and it just really started to open up so many different dialogues internally for me. But it was a constant audit of like the thoughts that were going on in my head.

>> If you're listening to this podcast, it's because you want to be the very best in tech sales. You want to grow, earn more money, and perform at your full potential. You hear the guest speaking and you say, "Hey, if they can do it, I know I can do it, too." But here's the thing. Every guest that you hear made a critical decision before they got the results. They decided to invest in themselves and hire me as their sales coach. If you're not getting the results that you want, you know you're capable of more. I'm offering a free strategy call to all my listeners. Visit untapyoursalespotential.com/mpodcast to book your free strategy call today. I'll see you on the inside.

One of my favorite quotes is to be a, you know, I always say a million-dollar earner, but we'll say 500 to a million. To make 500,000 to a million, you must first become a person who thinks and works like that type of earner. And and I like what you're saying because you're basically saying if I were to not worry about quota, if I knew it would be effortless, how would I be thinking about this instance? So, you really did catch Chris Doris has he's one of my mentors, but he has catch replace, right? So you caught your thought, you owned it. Say, "Hey, this is me being in scarcity." And you replaced the thought. You were practicing that in real time every day. And you still are, it sounds like.

>> Yeah. Because there's always a new uh ceiling, a new threshold to go through, right? I'm sure you even experienced that.

>> Um, you know, like as an entrepreneur and as a dad and like there's always new things that you get challenged with. But the most important like when you think about how you accelerate that result the power in doing that was it catch release and what was the

>> catch catch own replace

>> catch own replace when you do that what you're actually doing is like you're daydreaming you're imagining about this version of yourself who's already accomplished what you have and like when you start to really believe like I've already done it and it's it's done like you have a totally different attitude around like different how problems if You perceive problems as problems. Like there's so many great Chris Doris quotes. What's I know you have one.

>> The problem is the gift.

>> Yes. The problem is the gift. You start to reframe things because you're like, well, I'm already someone that's accomplished this. So, how did she see that that challenge you're seeing? How does she view it? If she's already accomplished the million-dollar W2 year

>> and it just it starts to like you get to unlock a different way of thinking about it. So, yes, that's exactly what I was doing just religiously for like three months. I went all in on like auditing my thoughts and I was like no more no more BS about it. No more

>> I'll send I'll send this to Chris. He would be proud to know that I love Chris so his work is infused in our community. It was really cool to see him come speak the last the last mastermind. So getting a little bit more you know tactical. You said I I don't want to be a mom that is not around for her kids. and you proudly work I think you said crush I'm most proud of crushing my professional goals by working 9 to5 as a mom without burnout. So talk to me about if you're only going to work from 9:00 to 5:00, which is more than 99% of sellers work. Just to be clear, to be clear, most sellers will work 10 to 12 hours, but 99% of them are not working 12 10 to 12 hours. Your 8 hours in work is the equivalent of their 40 hours. So I want to be really clear. It's not about number of hours working. It's about what you're working on. And something I think you do better than anyone else is you don't work on things that don't matter. you really do only work on deals that matter. You work on RGAs, you work on um you know the the right opportunities. So I think it'd be helpful for people to understand how you think about your time in the 9 to5 and what you spend your time on during those those hours because I think everybody wants to only work 9 to5 and be number one at their company but like I said maybe 1% of people are actually using those hours in the way that you do.

>> Oh my gosh. Yeah, that was we talk a lot about mindset which is foundational, right? But the the tactic around managing your time and understanding the premium of your time and how you can do so much valuable work in a condensed time frame was something I learned very specifically from like your RGA framework, Ian, and I love it. I tell all my peers about it when they're like, "How are you doing all of this in such a short amount of time?" I'm like, "Time premium. I got to go be with my kid eventually and I know the value of my time and I know what moves the needle for my business. I really have like an entrepreneur u mindset when it comes to like my territory. I feel like I'm the CEO of my own company at Snaplogic. I take real ownership in what I'm able to do it in my territory and that just comes out like you know I'm going to focus on deals that are qualified that have like executive presence that we're solving real problems that have urgency and I'm going to say no to things that aren't in that bucket. So it's it's a lot of like saying yes but also Ian what I've gotten really good at as a mom is saying no thank you. And that's like an undervalued skill I feel like that we don't talk about enough is like you kind of become a yes person in sales. It's just like you you want to be client serving. You want to go and be above and beyond. But you can be above and beyond without overextending your time.

>> That's key. You you don't have to overextend your time to be over and above on service for your customers if you're prioritizing your day correctly. And so your RGA system um which helps sellers prioritize like what are the highest value activities that contribute to revenue for your business. That's how I think about it like your territory and what are the things that are less and less important or some some things that you could just say no to or do asynchronously or don't require a meeting. And when I started to look at my calendar like that, it was so liberating because you could start to see certain meetings that maybe weren't really tied to moving a deal forward or creating pipeline. It was more of like internal dialogue, you know, maybe some brainstorming, which some of those things are really great, right? like you can't always it's not black and white all the time but you could start to see like for deals that's your number one move move pipeline forward that you have and active deals the second is create pipeline if you do those two things in the first four hours of your day what do you say Ian you're probably doing more than like 60%

>> well, the

Average seller spends about two hours a day on revenue generating activities. The other six hours are spent with internal meetings, or distractions, or Slack, or email, or not working, or busy work, or admin work. That's the stat from the State of Sales. The latest, uh, State of Sales from 2025.

"That is insane. Two hours a day."

"Two to three. Two to three hours. Two to three hours." Yeah.

"I can tell you right now that I spend at least six hours a day doing what are the revenue generating activities. So tie to deals or creating pipeline or doing something in those buckets. Everything else has been delegated, or I check in asynchronously, or it just is like, can that be done by someone else, or does it have to be done at all?"

"How do you feel at 5:00 p.m. at the end of the day when you're done with the day?"

"Well, I must admit, as a mom of a 2-year-old, I still still feel like it's a pretty, it's a long day."

"The work begins when you get home. That's the real truth. Is like, when you have young kids, that's when the real work. It's easier to be. I think I just had my kids for 3 days and Sandy was in Arrowhead by, with, well, with her family, just chilling. She deserves time for herself, but I had the kids and it was like more work. I texted her. I'm like, I appreciate what you do so much. She's a full-time mom. It was a lot, just emotionally."

"A lot of work. It is. And and you have to have that emotional capacity to be with your children after the end of work. And so when I'm done with work, I feel like I've done what I could for the day. Before, I never used to feel like I'd have fully closed it out. I always be like, could I have done more? Was I doing the right things? Now I have the conviction. I'm doing the right things. I know I had a good day of work and I feel closed out with that. So now I can be with my family for the most part. Like that, I would say 85%, 90% of my year I feel like that, like complete, which is a huge pivot from where we started, right? And that's why people work overtime, cuz they're burnt out. They spend time on their phone. You also taught me something so fascinating, Ian, about just like putting away distractions. Like your community, our community at Untap is so good at like the Opal ring or, um, or the Opal app, right? Which is like blocking your social media. Like it's kind of cutting out things that distract. Unintentionally scrolling on LinkedIn. LinkedIn we use all the time for prospecting, right? Or just understanding who's where. And we're on LinkedIn all the time, but I actually have a screen now where it doesn't show me feed because the feed would get me distracted. And then you see someone's moved jobs and oh, is that, you know, then you're down a rabbit hole. So you actually, there's so many great tactics and strategies people are using to like cut the noise.

"Because we live in a hyper data world. There's always something trying to grab your attention, but cutting that out helps you then refocus your time to the most important activities. So, yeah, that's also been a huge thing, cutting out like Instagram."

"Do you feel like you're you're able to be present with Olive and have the emotional energy after an intense day? Because I know this 9 to 5 can be, when you're actually working on RGA all all day, that can be very intense, you know, and I I get tired when I work a full day. But again, it's it's it's I'd trade that a hundred times out of a hundred versus feeling at the end of the day like I didn't get anything done and that I wasted the day. So, I'm I'm curious because I know that's something I struggle with is like, you know, I now I have to help Max with this homework, or I got to cook, or, you know, whatever, um, the family needs. So, I I feel sometimes exhausted. Do you feel that way, or do you feel like your energy is pretty high after after a 9 to 5?"

"I think it ebbs and flows for me, Ian. I think that when I I use it almost like as an awareness. So like when I feel more exhausted than normal, it's a usually an indication that I need to help expand, you know, offloading another kind of like another thing that's maybe taking up time. So I I mean, with a 2-year-old, it's a lot and you have two two kids, right? So it's it's a lot of work. You still feel tired at the end of the day, but it's also the guilt. The guilt piece of like, oh, could I have done more? Did I do enough? And you knew you weren't working all day and you were just scrolling on LinkedIn. That guilt piece is gone for me because I know I've done what I can. Am I still tired at the end of the day when I'm cooking dinner and we're doing, you know, part-time?"

"Absolutely. But I'm not worried that I was being a loser at work because I trust the value of what I did. And that is in and of itself a gift, right? And then you can always still, we talk about how you expand too. And as you get more and more successful in your business or at your company, like there's always ways that you can get more help. And I think one of the beautiful gifts in this community is like, I never thought of help like that, like delegating to, you know, house workers or gardeners or like things that you were taking on before. You taught me like how to think like, oh, I could still do all this, but you might have to offload some responsibility. And like that was a huge unlock for my life, too. Like millionaires don't spend time."

"Yeah."

"Wealthy people spend their money to save their time. And the poor and the middle class spend their time to save money. It's a big unlock because they know how valuable their time is. And it's not just so they can work more to make more money. So they can enjoy the fruits of their labor doing things they enjoy. They don't want to spend 3 hours on a Sunday morning. Unless you love gardening, if that's a passion and a hobby, by all means. But if you're just mowing the lawn because you don't want to pay other people, you're actually costing yourself a lot of time, energy, and money because you can easily just plan your week during that time. If you like, only work on things you you actually enjoy, that's that's a big a big unlock, um, that we teach. The other thing Kelsey's talking about is something called the golden rule of time management. And said the quality of time you spend at work, the quality of time you spend at work will determine both the quality and quantity of time you have outside of work. So if you actually get your stuff done during the day, you're going to have more free time for vacation, more free time because you don't have to work as many hours, and you're going to have higher quality time because you're not carrying any anxiety about work with you because you know you've done all you can during those hours that you're giving. And I think you're doing that beautifully. And and the fact you only work 9 to 5 and you've, number one, it just tells me that it is possible to have it all. And I'm guessing Kelsey, that you're also healthy and that you're committed to your relationships as well. And you know, any other things you've been able to do with that time when you're not working?"

"Yeah, I mean, I I mean, of course, like priority is is work and family, and that's what I've done very well, um, during the week. But I also find that I give myself more permission to play. Like playing wasn't always like the biggest priority for me before I started changing the way I operate. And now I get to play pickleball and and I make sure I prioritize that like at least once during the work week and then once on the weekend as well to just have the me time. Uh, cuz as a mom, you know, you're like, you're wanted at work and then you're with your kids and."

"Yeah."

"You're you're kind of like, you need to refill your cup too. You can't pour from an empty cup, I think is something someone once taught me in this program and and, um, that I found is also true of me. So like how I reinvested in myself through just like self-love or playing or doing something active. Yeah. That's still an absolute priority for me because it has to because that's how."

"Otherwise, what's the point of working so hard and being number one if you can't enjoy it and play?"

"Kind of a miserable life."

"I know. I mean, you've been you've been to my house in the Arrowhead. You know, we like we like the lifestyle for sure. But that's Yeah. I mean, I I was thinking about this with my my family. I know you just bought a beautiful house. I mean, it's so funny cuz Kelsey called me and she was like freaking out your second year about not wanting to renew because she had this house she was going to buy. I'm like, 'How are you going to pay for the house if you don't renew?' And he did. And then you worked with Mike and look what happened. So, um, it's it's it's we're constantly going back into scarcity mode. And and something, you know, that like detaching, you want to have nice things, but you don't need nice things. So like for me, having a pool we use all the time and yeah, it comes with maintenance and there's cost associated with that, but I wouldn't trade it for the world because the experiences that we get to create by having that, it's like are more important and more valuable than, you know, the 150,000 we paid for it. So I I know you think this way because you bought a really nice house and congratulations on that. I mean, that's incredible in Southern California. And I want to kind of dive into, uh, the third element of of what you've done. So we talked about lifestyle, working mom. We talked about, uh, mindset. I want to talk about time management a little more and then I want to get into like skill. So we teach mindset, habits, and skills. Those are the three things we focus on in Untap. And the purpose of this podcast is to give you insight into what we work on and have everybody who's maybe not in the program hear from people who've gone through it and have made these changes so you can, regardless of whether you not you know, you work with me, you could still at least know what you need to do and what you need to change to to get these results. So time management, you you hinted at the 12-week year. This is something I still I still use, but you said I was using. I don't know if you've moved off of that or you've moved into another type of program that works for you for time management, but uh, I'm curious how you plan your day and you you block your hours to make, you know, to make sure you you execute the things that are most important. Are you still using 12-week year or did you go to a new system?"

"Now, I've gone to a hybrid system for what works for me. The 12-week year though was a a absolute must have for me when I was adopting the the time management system of the RGA. So like for I think I used it for almost two years. Beautiful. And."

"So just recently I started to come I took the training wheels off."

"So you just you just switched over. Okay. Because it's so."

"If results drop, get back on that system because two years, two massive years. I would I don't think it's coincidence that."

"It's not coincidence because it's a it's the thing with the 12-week year is it just it helps you one, writing down your goal in a 12-week fashion is like there's so much power in just writing down like what you're trying to accomplish and then the exact things that you need to do to achieve that goal. It keeps you laser focused. Now, as I've as I did that for so many for two years back to back. It's almost like ingrained in me now. I still actually write things down like on just a notepad and then I use calendar blocking to make sure that like RGAs, they're in a color on my calendar and I make sure that there's at least two hours of that activity, if not more, in a if for well for RGA1 and then RGA2, which is creating pipeline. So another two hours and two hours. So 4 hour blocks."

"Okay. So you have two hours of advance pipeline and two hours of create pipeline that are color coding. So you're prospecting for 10 hours a week."

"Yes. Yes."

"Everyone while she's has all these huge pipeline and big deals, she's prospecting every day for two hours. Make a note of that because that's how you keep the results and stay consistent."

"Yes, you have to. Right. And the thing is is like sometimes, and let's be real, when some deals when your deals are all maturing and getting closer to final stages, some prospecting will drop off just to maintain like a good balance, but it always has to come back. And the most important thing with the 12-week year is that it keeps you accountable for your goals for every quarter, right? And that's like that flywheel effect. I feel that happening now, even at SnapLogic, but just like in how I manage my time, I'm in a flywheel effect. So it's almost so habitual that I know how to prioritize my time. But the one new thing that I started to do, Ian, is I also create space for creation and just ideation. And I think that was one thing that even in the beginning, so much like push push push like these are the things I do. But now I've actually adopted a more, um, it's like a feminine mindset to just be like, well, what if I closed all these deals and I'm already well over my number and I'm three months into the quarter, hypothetically, right? What would I be doing right now? And I kind of give myself some time just to like be alone and think about things so that I can get some cool downloads from just like that version of me that's already."

"Is that you sitting in front of a computer staring into an abyss, or are you taking rocks, or like do you block off the space, like me time? How does that work?"

"I actually like prefer to see some white space on my calendar now. It makes me feel like I have breathing room. And I'll use that time to like either just go on a walk. I'll actually like have I'll have lunch with my husband outside, or I'll just like go and sit out on, we have a beautiful like backyard and I can go sit out and then in the grass and like meditate for 20 minutes and just be calm because then a lot of the problems too that you fester on during the day, they kind of dissipate as well. So I try to keep actually white space. I know you and I might disagree on that because I think you don't like white space so much, but I."

"White space is dead space. That's my philosophy. I'm joking, by the way. I hope I've adapted this. That's why I'm asking you about it because I'm I'm definitely moved more into your corner for sure. Yeah, I just think the human brain can't, you get burnt out even from focusing on the RGAs if you do them for just like seven, eight hours a day. It's so taxing. So you've got to give your brain an opportunity. And things with like AI, right, in GPT, like in GPT, like all of that stuff has helped really condense a lot of the heavy work. So now you have to give yourself more time to kind of reset, ingest new ideas, and you have to be quiet and still for that. So a lot of it was just like, how can I just take a breath, reset, do something different than the grind work. So."

"Yeah, that's that's been the evolution for me."

"I think I think my I usually start work around 9 and then I finish around 5 to 6. And I'd say one to two hours of that is white space typically where I'm not as structured. And, you know, even if I put it in my calendar sometimes like tasks, doesn't mean I'm going to do it. So I just find that like when you've been going for 3 hours straight or whatever, just to have a a break is really really important and to be able to think clearly and and keeping the nervous system calm as well. You know, that's a big one. That I've been I've been meditating every day for the whole year and it's been a huge."

"Does it change things for you too? So, when like problems or challenges arise, does the meditation help you?"

"I'll show you. I'll show you what it I'll show you what it has done. If I can take out my Whoop. The Whoop has a a stress monitor function where you can kind of see."

"What is the Whoop? What is that? Is that a."

"It's like the Aura ring, but it's uh it has I think a little more more detailed. But this is this is the Friday last Friday. This is low stress. This is my stress level. This is Thursday. This is Wednesday. And that's like a eight hour meeting day on Wednesdays, or my busy day Tuesday. So every day at the end of our quarter being low stress, like it's a nervous system thing. I don't feel feel physiologically um heightened, even as we do this call today. Interestingly, having my kids, uh, all weekend and look what happened over the weekend. Saturday 13, no work. Sunday 14. So, it's it's very fascinating to me that it's harder for me to, you know, to to be around a five and a 10-year-old than it is to be, you know, I mean, some things are just easy, some things aren't. So, but but that's how it's helped. It's really just calmed my nervous system and it's been more physiological for me just to like, I feel the difference. I feel like we're in the end of our quarter now and we we're kind of flat year over year. And when we grew 50% last year, so that's, you know, something that is alarming, but I don't feel any alarm in my body at all. It's very cool, which is great."

"Which is so helpful because it also helps you just be so much more resilient."

"And in sales, you always have things like you just have curve balls. You have some cyclicality to things. And just to have a calm nervous system where you're not in fight or flight, which evokes weird actions from people, right? That's when you get back to the."

"Well, yeah, it's energy. It's all energy, Kel. So, so let's let's talk. The last thing I want to talk about is selling skills. I kind of want to ramp a tangent there, but one of the things you do really really good. You you mentioned the whole 3x, 4x, 5x pipeline. I want to tell everyone listening to to to you guys, that is the biggest load of horseshit. Anyone who says you need 5x pipeline has no idea how to close. That means you're closing 20% of your deals and the pipeline is fake. It's a pipe dream. It's not pipeline. So 2x pipeline on a real pipeline, okay, if you're an average closer, you're closing 40, 47% of deals. That's average. Okay. The big difference is that your deal needs to be a real deal that's heading towards a proposal, not something parked as an opportunity. So, you should have 2x pipeline of real deals that are actively moving towards proposal. And how do you know if it's a real deal? Three Ps. Number one, you're at power. You are directly working with the the decision maker and you know they have buy into the project. Number two, it's a high priority. It aligns with their strategic priorities for this year. And number three is they're following your process, your discovery process. They're giving you access to their people, their systems, and you know, whatever's needed to build a business case and come up with an implementation plan and an actual order of of um SKUs that you're going to position. So, if you don't have those things, not a real deal. So, my goal is to get it moving or get it out, period. I'm curious how you think about this because I think you're probably better than anyone I've coached at getting out the BS and only working real deals. So, you don't need a 5x pipeline."

"Bingo. Yep. Amen to that. Yeah. The 5x thing, it's it's hogwash. If you have a high closing rate, which my closing rate is somewhere in the 70%. Se Okay, so you're 70. So, I said 50 is a 47's average. Top performers are between 60 and 70. That's consistent because they're not working deals that they don't have a great chance of winning. So just give give us like how do you how do you qualify and make sure everything you actually work is real."

"Yeah, the what is it the five keys, those power, priority, and, um, process. Those are the same fundamental frameworks I still use. And I will qualify out quickly, like quickly, because, you know, the thing is, I work at SnapLogic, which, uh, one of the cool things is because it's a smaller sized company compared to a Salesforce, I don't have the luxury of a million different resource teams at my fingertips. So because I value my time, I inherently value my team's time and I only want my team working deals that are highly qualified. If they're not highly qualified, then we have to go find more pipeline that is. And the biggest thing is like, yeah, power, getting into executives. That was a huge mindset shift. I used to think like, I don't know, what worse do do I have going to an executive? But now it's like a requirement. Like if we don't have power in a deal, I don't even pipe it yet. I really don't. Like if I haven't with an executive or know who executive, what executive is sponsoring this, it's not qualified yet. And then is it a priority, right? Like, are we moving in the next 12 months? Because again, if it's a four-year timeline, great, we'll keep in contact, but I'm not going to put my resources into that unless there's some, you know, event or urgency. And then I think the one amazing thing that I love, love, love, and I you do still, is I I don't know if you call it still the strategic value assessment process, Ian. I think that's a Mike term. Maybe you guys all use some version of like this, um, helicopter model."

"Yo."

"I call it the yo-yo model."

"Yeah, the yo-yo model, right? Which is how you get up to executives to get the sponsorship to go and create a buying process, not a selling process, a buying process, which is so important. And if you're not getting access to do that and people and and teams aren't engaging with you, you don't have a deal. You really don't. And or it's still too young."

"So walk us through what that looks like for you to get that early buy-in and then to have to create that buying process. What do you mean by that?"

"It's it's executive alignment. Like this is the most important thing. Is so you can take it from different angles depending on the kind of deal you're working on, but like by default, executive alignment always has to be a part of early process of my deal. So getting into an executive and making sure you I bring an executive with me. So someone from our SnapLogic executive team or even working with board of directors, very smart to get some warm intros, get executives talking about their priorities, their road map, and how we can potentially help them. So like coming in with a perspective, here's how we're helping your peers, here's what we've done with that. These are the outcomes we helped enable. We think we can do something similar for you. Would you sponsor us into your VP to go do an evaluation of your tech stack, of your pro problem, of this challenge that we're helping to solve? And we'll come back to you with a full readout. We'll come back with an assessment. We'll come back with an ROI. We'll come back with an implementation plan, the the what, why, and how of like why you would want to work with SnapLogic."

"Mhm."

"And when you create that buying process, which again, I'd completely adopted from proven sellers who have done way bigger deals than me, it is an easy it's an easy yes. It's like very de-risk for an executive, especially if it's a priority. And when you get that sponsorship, it just helps unlock sticky parts when you're down in the VP or lower level. So it's it's just an accelerator. And that is a playbook I try to run on every deal in some way, shape, or form, just depending on."

"Do you get do you get pushback from people when they say, 'We're we're not ready to bring in our execs yet until we vet this out.'"

"Of course. Of course. And then I say, 'What concerns do you have with that?' Because what I've seen is when my executive meets with your executive, you get the best access to our best people, our best pricing, and our best, uh, our best like models for you. So, I I see it as a win-win. And I, what concerns do you have?"

"Well, we don't want to put something in front of them when we haven't properly determined if it can help yet. And if we don't know what it costs. That's why they have our team doing that."

"Yeah. Yeah. And I I then I would say again, it's still important that we have our executives in line and understand that, you know, let us talk roadmap. There's long-term strategies. And I kind of will pivot again. And if they still have concerns with it, I just continue to ask like, what concerns would you have with us going up? Because to me, it feels like this would be a win for your team to ensure this is an initiative that your executive wants to sponsor before we invest all this resource and effort behind it. Right? We ultimately want to make sure we're aligning our teams together."

"What's the reaction most often when when you you put it that way? Are most people willing to bring you in and."

"Most people do."

"Yes. For qualified deals, you usually won't get the objection from more than one time. They might initially be like, 'Well, why?' And then I'll explain it to them because look, like our executives getting involved. It means they care. It means we're going to bring our best people in. It means they want to expand on this partnership. And when we make you successful, you make us successful. And when you put it like that, like it's a partnership thing. The real buyers, I'd say, Ian, they don't object much more to that because they also want to be successful."

"Yeah. Yeah."

"So, and it's also a good qualifier because if they refuse to gatekeep you."

"You're probably at the wrong level."

"You're probably at too low, or you're just like, you're not, you don't have a real priority."

"That's right."

"If you, a real execs care about talking to potential partners that are solving a really big problem."

"You know, it's a good qualifier, too."

"What, um, what did you mean when you said go to the board of directors? Like, how does that work for you? You said it's really smart."

"Yeah, I didn't I Mike taught me that, but one way to build really qualified pipeline is through warm intros. Like the executives are all professional networkers, right? So like get to know your board of directors at your company. And when you start to canvas their network, they are so wildly connected to, I'm sure some C-suite member in your territory or in your list of accounts. And just reaching out to a board of director, they're actually less busy people. They respond so much faster to me. At least the board does."

"Do you email? Do you email them or what what's the process for start? Because you don't have their network yet. You haven't even met with them. So, how do you how do you position that?"

"I'll connect through LinkedIn. Like I'll see if they're active on LinkedIn. If they are, I'll try to connect through LinkedIn and then just introduce myself. Hey, I work for your company. I know our company has big growth goals this year. Like would love to just hear how you're thinking about it as one of our board directors. Open to a quick 15-minute coffee chat and just come in not to like ask for anything, but just to be like, I'm a shareholder in our company and I want to understand like how you see it and what are you seeing in the market. And oh, well, by the way, do you happen to know this executive? I saw you guys were connected. Like, how well do you know him? Would you be open to, you know, brokering a quick intro? And like those are just such easier conversations."

"Have you met with all of your board members at SnapLogic yet?"

"Not all of them, but a couple of them I have. Yeah."

"Good. Good. Did you identify that they were connected with your prospect first before you reached out to them?"

"Yes."

"I think that's important to everyone. So, like looking at who I'm targeting. Here's the map of executives that we're going after and then seeing because you're connected with your board members and your executives, which people on my team potentially know them, right? And then reaching out to them for a quick coffee chat. Did you mention that that in your outreach to them as well that they were."

"I usually do. I usually like I see, you know, we have a common network connection with a really strategic account that we're trying to, you know, grow. Would would you be open for 15-minute coffee chat to see if it makes, you know, sense? I'm always very like uncommittal to it because, you know, it's a it would be a favor. It's a favor for them, but they oftentimes they've been like in a fraternity together. They're buddies."

"Yeah. Do they make an intro to to you? So you're getting the board member to introduce you to a C-suite that is in your territory that then the board member says, hey, um, let's connect, or is it just making an intro to you, or do they connect first?"

"It can vary based on the relationship, but I've had like my own executives outreach just to say, 'Hey, you know, we're we're doing this for some of our customers. Would love to connect to you with our CTO.' So, CTO to CTO. You guys can talk, see if there's an opportunity for us to solve similar problems that we helped with X, Y, and Z. So, even just like the brokering of like, hey, I know you, you know, me, personal favor, would you take a meeting? That's so much easier. So much less."

"But do the board members meeting first, or is it just a note and then they're bringing in the CTO and it's all happening before the CTO to CTO meeting?"

"Oh, well, usually I talk to the board member first, but then they usually will like, if they know the CTO, they'll say like, yeah, I want to introduce you to Jeremiah, for example, he's my CTO and he'd be the right person. It just depends. It's a case by case, but yeah, I'm like coaching indirectly, very lightly, the board of director just to to get a feel for the connection and how warm it can be and then positioning from there. Yeah, I think it's just important to be really direct around what your intentions are, right? It's not just, hey, I'm reaching out. It's no, hey, I'm reaching out. Actually, this is a strategic account. Would love to chat for 15 minutes, get hear your vision, and also see how we can align to serve this customer in a big way. You know, this is who I'm targeting at the account, right? And then they'll they'll basically take it from there and bring in the execs before you ever get involved. And now you have exec sponsorship."

"Yes. Yeah. Which so many of our top sellers in our community, they do this all the time. All the time, right? Wouldn't you say that's a big unlock? Is that executive networking layer, board of director layer, is it's what's helped deals that have stalled get unstalled. It's also what's helped me qualify out when I was like, I'm sure, is this something we should spend time on if there's not an executive around. It's just like it makes it very easy. Yeah."

"Yeah. So, you're you're of the belief that you always want to have an exec on your team meeting with an exec on their team. And that's how you position it. It's not I need to meet with your exec to make sure this is a priority. It's we need to make sure our execs meet because that gets you the best pricing, the best product, the best support, and ultimately make sure that you know if, uh, if this thing's going to happen, that we have the right people engaged early on."

"That we're executively aligned from a partnership level before we go and invest more time together."

"Because people care. They care about their resources' time too. We all have limited time. We're all on the same metric. So, they all want to."

"They all want to make sure they're resourcing and the teams are spent efficiently."

"Perfect. Well, I don't know if you can believe it, but we're all over an hour right now and I I we have till, you know, we have about 7 minutes left till we end here. I'd love to just kind of wrap up with a few a few key questions. Um, first and foremost, what's life like for you now in terms of like, you know, now you at you're you're a superstar alumni, you're coming to the, you know, to the mastermind this weekend. Curious kind of how things are going after all this, you know, all this, uh, investment in yourself now. How's life?"

"It's so beautiful and great. I would say that like mentally I've never been more stoic in my life. Like it's been a, you know, with AI coming in and the the SAS market has been under a lot of pressure and like there's a lot of talking in and amongst my peers and just between companies."

"Everyone's freaking out for sure."

"Freaking out, right? Asking to get in the."

"And this is the craziest thing. In like two years ago, I would have been like, deploy all sorts of like, you know, measures, hedge my bets. And I can't shake this feeling that I'm like, well, everything is happening for me, not not to me. And what beautiful outcome gets to come out of this? Like, it's so that's like a huge shift. Like I'm amazed by the turbulence that we're experiencing in the market because I just believe that like despite the container of a company, I always win. And these skills that I have learned are transferable everywhere in life, whether it's through entrepreneurship or another SAS role or just taking it to the next level at my current company. I just feel so secure in that that it's like such a it just quells so much of the anxiety of like what's going on externally that I just feel very like at peace with the investment and what I've learned. So that's a huge it's a huge way I just like kind of be my life still today."

"Yeah, it's, um, everything's happening for a reason combined with this is actually guiding me to my life purpose. I think that's how I look at this year too. You know, if we're flat and we don't have the growth, it's like, okay, well, that means that we're being redirected towards something even more impactful, right? So, it's like it's not, you know, whatever. It's like it's moving from self-doubt to full self-trust in in you that you're going to be okay because I think a lot of us are operating from that fear, that scarcity mode. So, just when you trust yourself, you can navigate all the chaos of wars and, you know, tariffs and, you know, AI now taking over and all the news fear mongering that that's going on. And I I think you you're a good example of what you just shared of that. If people ask you, what is your superpower? What do you do that makes you so successful? What do you think? What do you think that is?"

"Oh boy. It depends."

"Your greatest superpower, your number one superpower?"

"I would say I would say my voice. I think like having an authentic voice and being secure and feel safe to speak your truth and speak what's on your mind to your clients, to your customers, to your manager, to your executives. Just feeling fully like supported by my own my own voice and what I want to vocalize to the world that has like consistently been strengthening. I've always had that seed in me, like even as a little one, but I got all confused and at war with it. But now I'm kind of at peace that like what my truth is is valuable and someone out there gets to listen to it. Maybe they resonate, maybe they don't. But what's been so amazing in getting to share my story of transformations through our time together and the Untap program is like so many people have reached out and just been like, I was in your shoes, or I'm right there where you were like two years ago. And just to know that our stories and your experiences and your."

"What is it? Your scars become your superpower. Remember that was the theme of Terran once at a mastermind like."

"To feel that conviction that like it was all meant for me and it's something that gets to be a gift and the teaching for my friends or my kids or my family, whatever it is. It's like that's been just a beautiful thing that I think has become a huge superpower is just using my voice."

"I would call that courage. Courage to speak your truth. Courage to speak your truth. To that point, if if someone is in your shoes, you're speaking to your former former self, they're struggling with impostor syndrome, feeling that constant anxiety, you know, scared of failure. What would you say to them to encourage them, you know, that where to meet them where they are? What would you tell them right now?"

"I mean, I would say I've been there too. And to get help and not do it alone. I think, uh, there's some sort of like badge of honor that like if you like struggles through it and you figure it out on your own, you're like a hero. Stop being a hero on your own. Like go get help and get community and get get mentorship from people that have been in your shoes and went through it and learn from them to accelerate yourself out of it. Don't sit in that. It sucks. It's painful. And I know cuz I've been there, but there's always a way out. But you're worthy enough to say yes to yourself and yes to that investment and yes to that change. You just have to declare it. So don't be have the courage to ask for what you need there."

"Have the courage to ask what you need. The courage to get help and not to try and do it alone and just keep keep, uh, nothing changes unless you make the change and decided to really find people who are where you want to be and learn from them. And you've done that beautifully, Kelsey. And I'm really excited to see you and I'm so proud of you and I'm so happy for you. And you're just a a ball of light and inspiration for everyone in our community. And now hopefully a lot of people outside of our community too. So, thank you for all you do and, um, really appreciate everything that you bring to this, uh, community. And if anyone wants to get in touch with you or reach out, what's the best way to reach you?"

"Hit me up on LinkedIn. Um, I'm always an open book. And I just want to say thank you to you, Ian, and your amazing community of coaches and guest speakers. Without any of it, my life would still look a lot different. So, I owe so much to, um, what you've taught me and your community and Mike and all all of you guys have just been so transformational. And I'm an open book. So, if you ever want to get my perspective offline or if you're a mama and you're like, 'How are you doing it?' and, uh, want to get the nitty-gritty of the the baby schedule, the toddler schedule, I'm always available to talk offline."

"I love it. Well, I appreciate you, Kelsey. And, uh, thank you. Thank you so much. And I'll see you this weekend. And."

"Yeah, I'm excited."

"Yeah, excited for what 2026 has in store for you. Take care."

"Thanks, Ian. Bye."

"Bye."