How Great Leaders Build Trust, Influence, and Impact with Amanda Hennessey

In this episode of Success Leaves Clues Podcast, our guest is Amanda Hennessey, executive coach, leadership consultant, speaker, and organizational development expert who is passionate about helping leaders and teams unlock their full potential through authentic leadership and purposeful growth. Drawing from her experience coaching executives, entrepreneurs, and organizations, Amanda shares practical insights on developing self-aware leaders, building resilient teams, navigating change with confidence, and creating workplace cultures rooted in trust, collaboration, and accountability. We also explore the importance of emotional intelligence, effective communication, coaching as a leadership tool, and the mindset shifts that enable individuals and organizations to thrive in today's evolving business landscape. Whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, coach, manager, or emerging leader, this conversation offers actionable strategies for strengthening your leadership, empowering others, and creating lasting impact.

You can find her on:
Email: Amanda@sandiegopublicspeaking.com
Email: Amanda@bostonpublicspeaking.com
https://www.sandiegopublicspeaking.com/
https://www.instagram.com/amandaghennessey/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandahennessey/
https://www.bostonpublicspeaking.com/

Transcript

Amanda Hennessey 0:00

That discussion would be like where we would dive in is like we would really go into her why. Why is she doing this? Why does this matter? And not just on the personal level, but really why does this matter for the audience? Like, what are you fighting for? What are you fighting for? Let's say I want to, let's say I had an eating disorder and I want to talk about that with teenage girls. Okay. So I could make this all about really worrying about what these teenage girls are going to say about me. Are they going to like my outfit? Are they going to think my shoes are cool? Are they going to think I'm like, who am I to talk to them? Okay. So I can make that all about me. And then I'd be really nervous. Cause like I think teenage girls could be really scary, right?

Davis Nguyen 0:44

Welcome to Success Leaves Clues, the podcast where we interview business owners on how they built their businesses and the hard lessons they learned along the way. My name is David Swain, and I'm a business coach and the founder of Purple Circle, where we help business owners achieve their first six-figure, seven-figure, and eight-figure year, all without sacrificing their quality of life. Before becoming a business coach and before founding Purple Circle, I started and scaled several seven and eight-figure coaching businesses and have been a consultant at several businesses doing over $100 million each, including some that are publicly listed and doing over a billion dollars each. In every episode of the podcast, you're going to learn lessons that took our guests years to learn, and you'll be able to learn that in minutes. No matter if you're a new business owner or an established business owner, every episode is going to give you the clues in order to elevate your business.

Pedro Stein 1:28

Welcome to Success Leaves Clues Podcast. I'm Pedro, and today I'm joined by Amanda Hennessy, founder of Boston Public Speaking and San Diego Public Speaking, who has built her entire practice around one powerful reframe. Public speaking doesn't have to feel like an horror movie with terror, hiding, and dread, but can instead be experienced as an adventure with exciting risks, discoveries, and massive rewards. Amanda works with experts who struggle with self-doubt, helping them speak with power, personality, and ease so they can change the rooms and zooms they are in without losing precious sleep. Through one-on-one coaching and customized corporate workshops, Amanda's bi coastal practice serves clients across California, Boston, and New York, bringing a deeply personalized approach to one of the most universally feared human experiences. Her work proves that the same expertise that makes someone brilliant in their field can become magnetic and compelling on any stage when the right coaching unlocks the authentic communicator already inside them. Welcome to the show, Amanda. Thank you.

Amanda Hennessey 2:51

I'm excited to be here, Pedro.

Pedro Stein 2:53

Yeah, it's great to have you. You know, uh, from the moment we met, a speaking coach. So I feel like I feel a little bit of pressure right now. Okay.

Amanda Hennessey 3:03

I that I've I've heard that before. So let's go back to my last name, which is Hennessy, and and just know I'm I'm here to loosen you up, man. Like so that's so the yeah, so I'm uh we're we're just having a chat, and I'm not yeah, I'm not counting ums. Like I know people suddenly are like, oh no, and then I think, oh no, oh no, that was so not my goal. Always is like I want people to feel safe because the best stuff comes out, the best ideas, their real self comes out when they're safety. So you are safe here. Okay, all is all is good.

Pedro Stein 3:43

I feel safe already, okay. Now, Amanda, I am kind of a comic book nerd myself, right? So I love the first editions, the origin stories. So let's backtrack a little, okay? Because every coach has that moment where they look at their life and say, Yeah, I guess this is what I'm doing now, right? So, when was that for you?

Amanda Hennessey 4:07

I'm gonna use a comic book reference for this. And I I want to tell you about a seminal moment, and and that is I started out as an actress, and I was in a play called the superheroine monologues, and I was playing Lois Lane in the version of Lois Lane, where she wants she's desperate to get Superman to marry her, and she will do anything, anything, anything to get him to marry her. It's the 1950s. She just wants to be a housewife. And uh, my husband played uh Clark Kent and Superman, but had to change in real time. Okay, so I bring this up to connect to what you said, but also to say that this was a huge moment for me of dealing with stage fright, of dealing with my own stage fight. So I had a master's degree in acting, I had so much experience, I had so much training, I had an amazing, it was a brand new play, I had an amazing piece that was a perfect fit for my humor. I was getting great reviews, my friends were enjoying the show, and I was still terrified. I was getting horrible, horrible stomach aches. I thought it was food poisoning, it was not. And so, even though that moment was a nightmare for me, it changed everything. And it really around that same time, uh somebody approached me about helping them with a presentation. And so, as I was exploring my own stage fright and figuring out how to deal with it, suddenly I had people asking me because they all they knew I wasn't. Let me back up. I was also an acting coach and teacher and professor at this time. And somebody from my community had reached out and said, Can you help me with the presentation? And so it was through invitation that the public speaking coaching began. And it was actually all of my pain and suffering and really figuring out what that stage fright was about that really has led me to make a huge difference in people's lives. And so that is so was an acting coach, became a public speaking coach, and over time I became so enamored with the public speaking space because I saw it had so much depth and deep personal change and creativity and making an impact in industries that I went all in on that. And probably going all in on that probably happened around 2014 or so, like in terms of my heart being fully focused on that. I think I answered your question.

Pedro Stein 6:51

I think you did. Okay. I'm I'm just thinking about the spoiler alert, right? Because eventually Lois Lane ended up marrying Clark Kent in real life, like you did with your husband, right? Which is interesting. Now, um, there's another thing I'm really curious about. Because at the start, you mentioned people are like reaching out to you, right? You got an invitation, help me with this. But there is a moment in every coach's life that it's coming from I'm helping people, I'm advice giving. This sounds like a calling to, you know what, I'm building a real business around this. You know, it's almost like a shift. And uh, I'm not sure in your case, and this is why I I'm asking, it's like, when did that moment happen for you? Like that you felt your identity moving from business owner towards coaching, right? Is it like first paying client, first invoice, when you realize, okay, this is happening?

Amanda Hennessey 7:49

For the public speaking coach thing, I think because I had been offering those services under our acting class umbrella. And so I've been paid as a coach already, but it was 2014 where I realized like I need a website. It had I had been getting enough requests and business from companies who had found the acting class website, from people who just kept going through the acting class website, finding me there. And I just saw this momentum was building. And so that was the moment I thought this is its own thing. I'm gonna get the domain name Boston Public Speaking. That will be very easy to search for people. And I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna make a whole website on this. And it was um, you know, always takes a lot of work to build that website. But uh, and then it became its own entity. So I think it was having feeling the momentum of it made me feel like I want to formalize it with its own website and name.

Pedro Stein 8:56

Oh, it it felt like real, like the website and the website launch and everything. That's cool. Okay. Yes. Now, yeah, let me ask you this. Um, I'm thinking right now, because in in the early days for coaching, and a lot of coaches out there at the start, they that was my case, for example. We're trying to help everyone, right? If someone calls, we're like, yeah, I can do that. And eventually we sharpen the blade and we attract a certain type of people, right? So, my question to you is the evolution from who you start serving and who you serve now.

Amanda Hennessey 9:31

Yes, I think this is such a great question and thing to explore because it is true. You are your early days, you you want to help everybody because you're excited to have money and you're excited to learn and grow. And I think that's an awesome place to be. And I have ended up working with people in so many different industries, and all of it has been fascinating and exciting. And then also moving on and doing this for quite a while. Really, the advice everywhere is you need to niche down. You need to, and I know that part of me has been so incredibly resistant to that, because why? And and it was also felt difficult for me to put into words uh what do these people do? Because I work with people in marketing, in physics, in the culinary world. It just, and I didn't want to limit by industry. And so what I decided to do is really focus in on the word expert. Because what I saw is I really wanted to work with people at the top of their game in terms of like they are so good at what they do, and now there's that next level of their career and impact they want to make. And I want to help them have that, you know, as they move towards that big conference talk or that big talk at their meeting that elevates their visibility. I want them to be able to match and be ready for that level of visibility. So it's not just getting a talk together, it's really helping them feel different in their own skin, really believe it's safe to be visible. And so I would say, yeah, shifting over to experts, that's where I am now. That's experts, and I'd say executives. Um, that is where I shifted. But I it I feel for everybody in the trying to in figuring this out, man. It's uh not easy. No, no, I still struggle with it a little bit, to be really honest.

Pedro Stein 11:44

Yeah, you know, at least on my perspective, I may be completely off here. Uh, the way I see it, it's about them and not us, right? Because at the end of the day, you know you can help everyone about in the the speaking world, right? But if they don't see themselves like you can help them, which is a positioning thing, a marketing thing, like being the right room, they question themselves. And also, if you help everyone, what happens is that you're harder to find, right?

Amanda Hennessey 12:16

Totally, yeah.

Pedro Stein 12:17

That's the thing. They're like, oh, but I I'm just typing here, uh, speaking for X, Y, and Z, and I got like 200,000 results instead of a hundred, you know? So it's a marketing thing, uh, and a bit of a them understanding where they're at in their room, if they they they belong to the room, you know. I had this guy that I I met a while ago in a retreat, and uh he created a vertical, right? And his vertical was something like this. Um, he places VAs for people, right? Different industries, and he can help all the industries, but he had to come up with like a website, for example, VA for painters and VA for accountants, which leads to the same stuff, it's the same VAs, it's just a thing of specificity. Specificity. People like I I type VA for I'm a painter. I type VA for painters. His website pops up. It's not just VAs, you know what I mean? So it's not really uh an us thing. The way I see it is more about them and and them understanding they belong to that room. Did that make sense? I'm sorry, I gotta do it.

Amanda Hennessey 13:25

Completely no, it totally made sense, and I think too, it's that way to help people self-identify. I sell chocolate ice cream. Oh, good. I like chocolate ice cream because uh for me, so many people don't like public speaking, and so many people need help. That doesn't mean everybody wants that help. That doesn't mean everybody even wants to work on it, you know. A lot of people like are like, no, I'm just gonna not do this, and that's fine. And that's fine, right? But for me, it's the people who are like, I love what I do, I'm really good at this. And for me to keep doing what I do on a bigger level, I need to develop the skill. I am all in, even though I'm really uncomfortable. So, yes.

Pedro Stein 14:11

Okay, so let's do a little bit of a game of pretend here. Let's pretend I'm one your ICP, I'm one of those experts. Okay. The only thing that's preventing me to get to a higher level is the ability to speak on bigger stages, for example. Okay. Great. Um, so first question: how would I be able to find you, like marketing-wise?

Amanda Hennessey 14:37

So I chose Boston Public Speaking and San Diego Public Speaking for very specific reasons. It has been incredibly helpful. It has been great because so many people find me through Google. Now there's all sorts, I get referrals, I there's all sorts of different wacky. I have a book out there, uh, your guide to public speaking. People find me through that and uh through other things. But I would say SEO for Google and now AI has been my number one thing because people typically Google public speaking and then the city they're in. And I'm in two different yeah.

Pedro Stein 15:20

I gotta ask you then, because that's a a great a like this. Is it's so interesting. And I'm gonna I'm I want to deep dive a little bit on that because I see a lot of coaches using their names, right? As a the name of the firm, the practice, whatever they want to call it. It's very usual for people to brand themselves in coaching because in a way it's a very personal thing. But now I I want to talk a little bit about what you did, which is using a public the city and uh the thing you want to do, right? It's almost like that. So, can you walk us through the the the logic behind that and why would you distance yourself of using your own name?

Amanda Hennessey 15:58

I have several answers to this. And so let's let's rewind. It's over 20 years ago, and my husband and I start offering acting classes, and this is where you know we're not taking classes on SEO, but we just thought it through. We're like, let's be Boston acting classes. That's what people are gonna Google. Even though it is the most boring name, it's not clever, it's not quirky, it is exactly what it says. So we we were number one forever. Okay, and so this was incredibly helpful. So I looked at that and I thought, I'm gonna do public speaking coaching. Clearly, I'm gonna do the same thing again. So guess what? We're teaching acting classes in San Diego. Quick quiz what's the name of our business? San Diego acting classes. Okay, like it's just no one is taking these names. People are not thinking it through. Okay, like just I was like, wow, these are also available. And so that was the that was just the smartest thing we did. Now that okay, so in San Diego, I have a friend who's good in business, and she said to me, because now I had like the world of Boston, which I had spent a lot of years in, built up a lot of experience, worked with so many different interesting, smart people. Uh, moved to have my base in San Diego. I still go to back to Boston very regularly for work, set up San Diego public speaking. And my friend Jasmine said to me, Well, don't you want to work with people outside of those markets? And I said, I do. And sometimes people are refer me, and they don't have to, you know, I do work with people from all over the country. So that that does happen. She's like, Don't you think you should also have amandahennesy.com? So, Pedro, I do. I also have that. And like, so what's interesting, what's been interesting about looking behind the scenes of that is knowing that if people know my name, then they'll look it up that way. That's the way they're gonna get there. And in San Diego, when I've come here, often people know me more as Amanda Hennessy if I meet them in person. They remember the name over San Diego Public Speaking. So people are going that way to find me. So I've given, yes, so I'm maintaining three different websites, but it's working, it's it's working. And what, yeah. So that's that is so uh yes to everything you said. Why don't you have your name? I do. How did you do that? It was available, dude.

Pedro Stein 18:47

That's this is hilarious, like the simplicity of it, and it worked, and it's working, right? I really like that now. Okay, back to the game of pretend. That was a side note. I'm still your ICP. I literally typed Boston public speaking, and then boom, Amanda, right? I clicked on the on the link, and I was like, this makes sense, okay. Uh, that resonated with what you got out there resonated with me. And I'm like, I reach out, right? I I want to work with you. So let's we can speed up the sales process a little bit, if you will. Like, let's say there's alignment. Uh, you can help me. I sense you got it.

Amanda Hennessey 19:26

You want to give me your credit card right now over the I don't think we should do that. Yeah, I'm this is a game of pretending. Give me your pretend credit. No, I'm just kidding.

Pedro Stein 19:37

Okay, no, yeah. Then we closed, okay?

Amanda Hennessey 19:41

Yay!

Pedro Stein 19:42

Deal yay, new client. Now give me a little pick behind a curtain of how how does it look like to work with you? Okay, and any outcomes I can expect. Like, let's let's rock and roll. I want to see a little bit about that.

Amanda Hennessey 19:55

Well, I have one question for you. Uh, what are we working on together? Are we do you have a specific talk coming up in this pretend scenario?

Pedro Stein 20:03

Give me the bread and butter, like the main one you usually help people with.

Amanda Hennessey 20:09

Yeah. Let's say you have a big, you have a big uh you've just been promoted at your company and now you have to speak at this really big conference.

Pedro Stein 20:18

Let's say And I am afraid.

Amanda Hennessey 20:21

You are afraid, but not for long. Okay, so here's here's what will happen. We've closed, yay, and then what I've done is I've found out your mailing address. And so I and I send you two presents. I send you a copy of my book because I know that the learning process is helpful when it things come at us from different angles, right? We're talking and you're learning, and then you can read. Or some people are like, I hate reading. I want in, you know, I want an audiobook. We can make that happen. We have the technology, and so that can happen. And I also send you a deck of my affirmation cards, which actually I have some right here. Oh, that's a little not really showing so much because there's a lot of blue happening here. But mindset is such a critical piece of things, and so I want to give you physical aids to help you, the book, something tangible you can touch, um, and affirmation cards because we're gonna immediately dive into your mindset about this in our first session, unless you are really pressed for time in the conferences next week. Then we're going to do other things. But we're gonna do you know who Marie Kondo is, Pedro?

Pedro Stein 21:34

No, please enlighten me.

Amanda Hennessey 21:36

Yeah, she's an organizer who helped popularize the term spark joy. Does this spark joy for you? Does this you know make you light up? Anyway, we're gonna go through your mindset. We're gonna like Marie Kondo your mindset and find out what what belief systems around public speaking make your body feel safe. As I s and so as I said earlier, like creating that sense of safety so people can. Think clearly and creatively under pressure is critical. So we're going to jump into a whole mindset exercise, which is very individual. You can't get it wrong. And we're going to find out what lights you up in terms of moving towards this experience. How do we make this about service instead of about self-consciousness? How do we think about your audience so we become obsessed with them rather than like, oh my God, what are my hands doing? Or oh my God. And like, and we talk about nerves. What the heck do you do with them? Should I feel none of them? Like, are they my enemy? What the heck do I do? And my body is giving me this very normal response. What do I do? So we talk through all of that to find out specifically, it's not one size fits all. Specifically, what helps you feel or at least start to feel excited about this engagement rather than feeling like you're about to get in front of a firing squad. And I do know that some people, it is a little bit like they they're getting in front of a fire squad. There's maybe really critical people in their company. They're getting up to defend their dissertation. And there's people who want to pick their ideas apart. So we we get them ready to make it so that the stakes out there of impact are bigger than their personal stakes. Does that make sense? It's basically like, why does this talk matter? Like, why does it so important that people hear this and get it? Because we want to get excited about that rather than, oh my God, I'm not getting a promotion. Or oh my God, they're gonna think this. We want to take this and have it not be about you at all. Yes, I realize you're gonna be assessed. Yes, I realize you being good at this could help you get promoted. I understand all of that. I don't want that front and center. That puts so much pressure and you can't think clearly when you're creating this. We want to create something that's really interesting and takes the audience on an intellectual journey, an emotional journey. We want to find the funny parts, we want to find the serious parts, we want this to be an embodied performance. So we're gonna go from finding out how to make you feel safe as you prepare and how to really analyze your audience so we can find out the best way to get them to take the action you want them to take by the end. And we want to move them intellectually and we want to move them emotionally. I've said a lot of things here, Pedro.

Pedro Stein 24:24

No, that's good. It's a podcast, right? Like, expect it. No, no, okay. Uh, here's the thing. Pedro joined, and Pedro did all the homework. Has like read part of the book, has doing the the the things, all the crossing all the Amanda is very pleased. Okay, Amanda's pleased, but Pedro is like, you know, Amanda, I'm still scared. Whenever I am I'm practicing, even in when in practice, I'm I I I cannot get relaxed. I I'm always stressing, and I did like a mock with even some friends, like at my home, five people, and I was like super nervous, and I'm doing the things how can can I, you know, be helped? Am I a lost cause? How do you navigate that, Pedro?

Amanda Hennessey 25:18

How do I navigate that, Pedro? I think really just continuing to reframe what this is about. And one thing I want to say right out is that it is okay to be nervous. Like I realize there's a because often people are getting very nervous about being nervous. Like, oh my God, my nervous. This is bad. Oh my god, I'm nervous. Now I'm nervous about being nervous, and that's really nerve-wracking. And oh my God, that's nervous. I understand. It's it's like, where does that begin? Where does that end? So my goal isn't necessarily to say, I want you to be totally calm, because like if I like delivered a whole talk and I was totally calm like this, it'd be really boring and I'd put you to sleep. Right. So if I I want people to be alive, I want them, it is okay that your body has sensations. And so having a relationship with like, oh, my heart is racing a little bit, it's okay. Oh, my hands are shaking a little bit, it's okay. Because then we're not letting those sensations set off that something is really wrong. Something is wrong. Like if we think I know that you're a football fan, soccer fan for whoever's listening, just so we know we're talking about a black and white ball. Imagine what those players are feeling as they start, or even if you've played sports, the the coach is about, you know, the referee is about to blow that whistle and you're you're there on the line, and you can maybe feel yourself sweat a little bit, you can feel fully present, your heart is racing. And it's okay though, because you are focused and you're ready to get the ball in the goal. And even and as you're running, even if you trip and you rip your uniform, you get dirty, you do not care. It is not about you, it's about getting that ball in the goal. So I really try to help people make have peace with what their nervous system is doing. Now I realize that some people, it it's some people come to me, they're like, oh my gosh, I take beta blockers. Is that okay? Sure. Like you gotta do what you've got to do. But often it's really what can help people also is feeling really, really good about their material. I have watched people say to me, they're almost confessing. They're like, I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I'm actually really looking forward to doing this because I think this is really good. I'm like, all right, all right, we're you're almost there. You're almost there. And it's it's just like if they're like, oh, that's a good point. Oh, I love what I'm saying there, this makes it make sense. Oh, that's gonna be fun. It really starts to get the focus off them. And then sometimes you do just have to jump in and you still have those sensations. Uh and uh you can actually still do an excellent job. I had a I had a client for whom she was new to a company, newly an executive at this company, and needed to speak at their huge all-staff event, like a huge thing in Europe. And everything that could go wrong during the tech rehearsal leading into it did. So, like, we had pictured her having lots of time to rehearse on that stage. Nope. There was like echoing in the building, there was things wrong with this and that. She was dealing with a time change, and so she was really, and I'd given her a meditation to listen to, and she was really like, Oh my gosh, did all that work pay off? Like, oh my God, can I do this? Oh my god. But the minute she got on that stage, she was so solidly prepared with her material that she's like, I know what I'm doing. It was just there was so much unknown and weirdness leading into it. But she landed, she's like, as soon as I got on there, I knew exactly where I was going. I knew exactly what I was doing. And so even all the nerves leading into it, it didn't, it didn't determine. And she got so much positive feedback on how good it was. Like, and she was different afterwards. That's what I love too, is like not we hope the audience is different after, but I'm also excited for the my client to be different in their own skin. Like she did it. Her she is like the way her the way her whole colleagues see her now, the way she sees herself, which is almost the most important thing, is like she can do the next thing. And one and one thing I want to add is oh good. Oh good is something that it's really easy to go into situations like I described, where the rehearsal is going sideways, that that you the mic isn't working, we're delayed, I have to cut my my presentation short, all these unknowns. We can go into panic very quickly with the response, oh no, oh no, oh my God, oh no. And I cannot think clearly when I go into oh no. And what I do with myself and also with my clients is I'm like, we're gonna practice saying, oh good, to absolutely everything that crosses your path. We're gonna decide that life is for you and that you can handle it. And it becomes funny, even if you don't believe it. Hey, we're running behind. Oh good. Like I end up sitting up straighter, I can breathe. I'm like deciding that's all right. And my brain then will tell me why this is an advantage. And so, oh good is your secret weapon for anyone listening. Try it.

Pedro Stein 30:34

Oh no, I just forgot what I was about to ask about.

Amanda Hennessey 30:38

Oh good, I can talk more.

Pedro Stein 30:40

Oh good, I can talk now. Okay, let's rock and roll then. Uh oh good. Uh, so a couple things, right? It's so funny. Like you're mentioning the rehearsal and all that. And I'm thinking about my some of my high school days when I was prepping to cheat the next day on an exam, right? Have you ever done that? You're prepping to cheat, and then you don't even use the paper because hey, is this what studying looks like? Really? I don't need to cheat now, you know? That's one. The second is okay, um, let's fast forward a little bit, around two to three weeks. This episode is aired, and I send it over to my cousin, long-distant cousin called Pedra. Okay, she's an evil cousin, by the way. That girl, she's sassy. And I send her the episode, and she's like, yeah, easy for Amanda, right? Amanda is like a master acting, whatever. I mean, she can talk, but can I talk? You know, so how would you navigate that type of mentality? Because I bet a lot of people out there are like, yeah, she's great, she can talk, she she's had all this background. Good for her. If I don't, good for her, but that doesn't serve me. I'm terrible, you know.

Amanda Hennessey 31:58

So, my question about your sassy cousin Pedra, and I'm part of me thinks she's real, and then part of me thinks you're making her up. But um, maybe we'll never know. You'll never know that. Okay, great. Uh does she want to get better at it?

Pedro Stein 32:19

Okay. Yeah, I know where we're going with this, but let's say yes.

Amanda Hennessey 32:24

Just tell me, and I'll take it either one way or other. Because if she doesn't, let's not waste our time.

Pedro Stein 32:28

She wants to get better, but she's like skin deep at the moment. She's like surface level wanna be better because she's in denial about her own stuff. Okay. But yeah, she wants it.

Amanda Hennessey 32:40

She's a resistant here, she's a reluctant hero. Is in like if we think about a movie, she's the reluctant hero.

Pedro Stein 32:47

Yes.

Amanda Hennessey 32:48

Okay, so that discussion would be like where we would dive in is like we would really go into her why. Why is she doing this? Why does this matter? And not just on the personal level, but really why does this matter for the audience? Like, what are you fighting for? What are you fighting for? Let's say I wanna, let's say I had an eating disorder and I want to talk about that with teenage girls. Okay, so I could make this all about really worrying about what these teenage girls are gonna say about me. Are they gonna like my outfit? Are they gonna think my shoes are cool? Are they gonna think I'm like, who am I to talk to them? Okay, so I can make that all about me. And then I'd be really nervous. Cause like I think teenage girls could be really scary, right? Or like I would, you know, let's say I was my client, I would be like, what happens if these young ladies don't hear what you say? Where could their life go? What could happen to them? Like you have this chance to like help them not struggle the way you did. You have a chance to like let them sleep at night and not derail their whole lives. You've a chance, like you've that opportunity. And that is the direction I would go. The whole thing of like really moving to impact and empowerment and getting people fired up. Like if you're really angry about, let's say, use this example that I'm grabbing out of thin air, but this idea of, you know, are you upset that there are messages out there for women having to look a certain way? Let's get fired up about that. Let's let's get fired up and be like, you know, I'm I'm upset that young girls think they have to starve themselves. Or I'm, I don't, I don't know what young girls think they need to do these days. But like I'm that upset, like, I don't like that. I'm like, great, let's fight for that. Let's this, let's help women see something different. Let's help them feel something different. And so I want to get them more in their heart and their gut of like, all right, yeah, this can't stand because it's amazing when we're you might be like uh like pretty shy, but if you're really angry about something or fiery about it, you get a lot more courage, right? And so it's like getting people charged up to make a difference. Like, okay, what you know, who are we fighting for? Who are we advocating for? Who are we fighting for? We want to make it about them instead of us. Time for a drink of water. How does that feel? Do you think Pedro? That is well, okay, good. Yeah, because we again, passion, courage is in the heart, it's in the gut. Go team, go Brazil.

Pedro Stein 35:21

Okay, go Brazil. Yes, I like that. Okay, now let's shift gears for a second here. I want to talk about future a little bit with you. Okay. So where are you taking all this? Look ahead. Where do you see the business going? What's exciting, you know?

Amanda Hennessey 35:36

Brazilian public speaking. No, I'm just kidding.

Pedro Stein 35:39

Um good luck with that.

Amanda Hennessey 35:41

I know, I know. I don't speak Portuguese, so like I don't think that's gonna be for me. But um, where am I taking all of this? For me, things I'm working on right now are I have some group programs, both in person and online, because I want to have that bigger impact. So I think uh one I'm gonna newly launch in the fall. So I'm excited about that. But in terms of things that I'm like working through mentally, are some of my packages in terms of figuring out the best way to describe, because it is like I can help you with your fear, I can help you with your writing, I can help like it's a little bit of that like, what do you got? But it's having to make the it's everything we talked about, making the packages even more specific so that people self-identify and they've no question, they're like, oh, I need that. I, you know, they see the menu, it's very clear, and they pick it. And what I have so far has worked out, but I think it could be working even better with that specificity. So I think it's yeah, really wanting to just get the word out more about myself too.

Pedro Stein 36:53

The word out more. Okay. Now let's step in into a little bit of a sci-fi moment here. Okay. I'm ready. Let's pretend we have a time machine in front of us. We're gonna have two stops. Two. First one, you can go back in time when you started the coaching business, the speaking coaching business, and you can give uh past Amanda that they you just started one piece of business advice you wish you knew back then. What would that be?

Amanda Hennessey 37:29

I know it looks like some uh like Riverside just froze, but it didn't. I'm just really I'm just really still and thinking one piece of a business advice. I think it would be to feel okay to talk about pricing with people. I think pricing is such a a sensitive topic. And when I was doing all of this, there weren't like a million coaches everywhere. So it didn't feel like there were tons of places for me to go to have those conversations. And typically when I ended up having them, the the feedback would be like, I really think you should be charging more. So I think it'd be having charge more earlier because it's weird. You get, you know, you get feedback like charge your worth. And it's like, I thought I was priceless, I thought I had intrinsic worth, I thought I was, you know, and that's something I'm always I work with people on is like release the need to prove your worth because that gets in the way of the creativity of doing a talk or a pitch or whatever it is, like release the need to prove your worth, prove your point, prove that your widget, prove that your system, prove this is great with data and all that, but you, your worth is set. So, yeah, so charging my worth. I this coaching is priceless, but priceless doesn't pay the bills, right? So I think figuring how to think about pricing earlier would have been cool. That was a long answer to your specific. What's the one piece of advice? Yeah.

Pedro Stein 39:08

You're hitting a nerve here, right? I'm a coach too. So there's the this, right? There's this. Uh, I was charging by the hour for some time, and then I realized I was turning myself into a commodity, and people were like comparing my fees to whatever industry people charge by the hour, like cleaning lady to dentist, you name it, like made no sense. Also, whenever I'm charging, I was charging by hour, I was like, if I end up like 10 minutes later, should I charge them more? If I wrap up 10 minutes earlier, do I owe them money? So that's one thing.

Amanda Hennessey 39:44

Oh, that's weird. I love well, I also, but I do love the ethics. I do love that you're an ethical person in that way who's like, what's the right and fair thing to do? I like that you have that struggle, even though it's really it's cute and funny now. And I know that's not the point of this conversation, but I do want to I do want to like say that's cute. Okay.

Pedro Stein 40:04

Okay, yeah, and then eventually got to a point of I I oppose the the charger worth quote. I am more about right now the transformation, right? What's the transformation you deliver? It's not about your worth, it's about amen. I'm with you, yeah, right, and what you can help them accomplish. Not necessarily because I I also think it's kind of weird, the the worth thing. And by the way, coaching, it's a very self-worth path. I see coaches out there struggling with that, right? And sometimes I see coaches out there, like for example, trying to do pro bono, right? And I always go back to I I've used this example in the podcast sometimes. It's just like that meme. Uh, you have a fridge on a sidewalk, and it's like there's a note free ticket. Okay, a week goes by, nobody picks it up, and then someone puts a price tag, $50, and it vanishes vanishes the other day, right? Because it's the perception of value. Some people, when they see free, they feel like uh it's worthless, you know, because you're in their point of view, you're you're not charging for your time, so you don't value your time. And and whenever we're talking about coaching, sometimes it's very a personal thing about buying your time, right? You can package it, you can whatever you want to do it like hourly, but eventually it's your energy out there, right? So, oh my god, you hit a nerve. Sorry, I got into a like long rambling too, right? Beside you. So sorry about that.

Amanda Hennessey 41:44

Oh my god, no, that's fine because it's a it's a really wild topic. Yeah, and I haven't done things. I'm trying to think about. I think there have been some nonprofits that have approached me where I'm so in love with their mission. Like I'm just like, I'm smitten. There was there was a company like where I'm like, oh my god, you're doing amazing things. And I give them a reduced rate because I do want to, because I well, I want them to have skin in the game. I want this to matter, I want them to value it. And I want to also make it's almost like a a little bit of a contribution to the organization. So I will I will do that. And that's different than like a volunteer gig, you know what I mean? But I will not all nonprofits, it's the ones that I'm like super crushing on.

Pedro Stein 42:32

Yeah, it's like I've seen people like if you frame it like the money as an exchange, like you can exchange other things, right? You could exchange a testimonial, a guaranteed testimony at the end if it succeeded. Uh, you can exchange um, you could pilot something through a pro bono, like, oh, I'm not sure about the suffer. I want to try here, or I want to put some reps here. So if you if you frame it properly, you can get out of things out of pro bono. It's doable, like totally. And also the mission, right? When you love it. Now, moving forward to our second stop in our time machine, okay, before we got into another rabbit hole. Um, let's say you can go back in time.

Speaker 1 43:16

Yeah, okay.

Pedro Stein 43:17

You picked a point in the your journey in the in the coaching business, it's that moment you felt the most fulfilled, right? Uh, a moment that you realize, okay, this is why I'm doing this. Because this happened. It could be like several moments, but I've I'm kind of a one moment guy in case you haven't noticed. But if you have one moment, why would that be? So specific, Pedro. Top of mind, right? Yeah, top of mind.

Amanda Hennessey 43:47

Okay, okay. Top of mind. All right, so I'll go we'll we'll go back in time. There was a woman who was super, super, super smart and was preparing for. for to be interviewed at Harvard for a role in their science, one of their sciences, uh science departments. And she she was just she was young, she was very ambitious and very, very smart and really wanted this understandably. And like here it is, it's Harvard, which has a lot of weight to it. And so and she had and to any of these academic teaching tracks, like it you have to do so, so much to like a million interviews during the day, maybe the next day during meals, you have so little time to think. And then you have to perhaps do a public something for the public and something for the campus at the end of all of this. You're very tired. And so what I really worked on with her and I had the insight to do and I'm just gonna um is really leaning into the idea that she's gonna do this amazing I'm just gonna call it science. She's gonna do she's gonna innovate she's gonna do this whether Harvard hires her or not and like they can jump on her they can jump on her party like the party and I think I use the analogy like the train has left the station you're going to do this period you're gonna get funding and support from somewhere and they are would be lucky to be alongside as you like do these amazing things. You invent completely new things that would be so like it's not that you are desperate for them to hire you which would be very easy to step into right but it's like they like how and not turn it into arrogant like you are just lucky to have me you know but more more that like I'm do let me show you my vision. I'd love to have you you know with me on this journey but this is what I'm doing period. Like I wanted that energy. So I feel that my own inner healing work my own inner journey work in terms of really seeing the nuance of power in terms of like when do I feel empowered and when do I give my power away and being able to explain that to clients and help them to see what like that belief system around what this means is everything. You bring that in the room that's the way you write the talk it's everything it it determines how many nerves you have is like what is this? Am I there to be like please like me not attractive in an interview not attractive on a date right or if it's like I'm excited to share with you what I am about what I see what I'm doing. I, you know, I would love to be here and do all of this but I'm doing it. Right. And find the the nuance of what feels good to your nervous system and and sounds like it echoes in the room in a good way. So we did all of that and she was hired she got it. And so the idea of having female in a top position at Harvard like that like I'm not a scientist but I'm impacting science and so all the layers of helping somebody go after their dream in an empowered way and like make a difference in their field and me having like a little piece of that like really I want to smoke a cigarette after Pedro it's very satisfying yes it's like yes this is awesome. Okay I love that now Amanda if someone listening wants to connect with your follow your work right and we're gonna have all the links in the description but what's the best way for people to find you and connect with you well there's a few different ways I would say as we already established as we've established yes you don't need to and it's okay if you live in Kansas City you live in Tallahassee you live in Reno you don't have to just live in those places you can really the power of Zoom is behind us. So even if you live across the world you so we got Amanda at sandiegopublicspeaking.com if you'd like to type a little less we've got Amanda at bostonpublicspeaking.com and also I do do training in companies for teams so if you're if you're trying to get your team to have more confidence and more personality and less fear then I'm your gal.

Pedro Stein 48:31

So reach out okay now a few moments I feel the urge to highlight from the chat today. Okay let's start from from the origin story all right the Lois and Clark uh story love that now it's not just about that right as the when you start coaching it's like a you received invitations to help you with stuff like uh can you train me on this can you help me with that and uh so organic so natural right in a way that it's not like you woke up a day and like yeah I'm gonna do this I'm a coach now and like go for it not necessarily it's just something that grew on you people start reaching out so realize that and in a way based on your origin story and looking back at the conversation to me you're serving past Amanda right it's like you you had that uh you've been there done that you you suffer from a little bit of a stage fright you know physically even so there's that so that's always great to watch you know uh because you do have skin in the game okay so that's one thing I get it I get how bad it's exactly and um I love the fact when we were talking about uh a little the little peek behind a curtain you're like yeah it's okay to be nervous you mentioned right it's almost like acknowledging the reality it's like it's okay own it you know breathe a little uh understand this is normal um and then move forward it's not just no I'm not scared nothing on the Nile or something like that I'm not nervous no it yeah it's not it's not gonna be a walk in the park but we'll make it right so there's that too um now about sassy pedra right oh my god I started on the high note and you brought me deep right sassy pedra like why this matters like if she's giving you a hard time she's like you're attacking her purpose it's almost like anchoring the why the goal right and that eventually is it it has to be bigger than you because you're gonna have your upsides and you're you're gonna have your downsides and then when you're down you're gonna need that anchor that that why that purpose you know why is it worth it you know so and I this is just my I right and I would and I would channel Pedra's sassiness because when you tell me she's sassy whether she's fictional or you're gonna talk to her after this podcast you never know oh you never know um like she has feelings and thoughts and a point of view let's work with that fire.

Amanda Hennessey 51:20

Okay yes yeah I gotta match the energy now I appreciate what you do and I appreciate you being here and sharing so openly today Amanda it was great having you on thank you so much I I loved it too I loved our conversation thanks for letting me share and have a good one.

Davis Nguyen 51:38

That's it for this episode. This episode as well as this podcast was brought to you by Purple Circle where we help business owners elevate their business through six, seven and eight figure years all without burning out if you're looking to grow your business as well as get the time freedom that you are looking for, visit us at join purplecircle dot com and see what we can do to help you and your business