Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Sedlock.
Jennifer, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Prior to becoming a public speaker, I held management and corporate training positions. After an undergraduate degree at Berkeley, I started my management career at Meier and Frank of Portland, Oregon. I moved back to California and worked for three other organizations in management – The Broadway Southern California (at Fashion Valley Mall), Jenny Craig International (also as a traveling corporate trainer opening new centers in Detroit, Toronto, etc), and then Office Specialist of Boston, in Mission Valley Branch. There I began “outside” sales along with management as opposed to “inside sales” with the previous positions.
One doesn’t go “out” to sell clothing or weight loss, customers come to you – but I began to want to do outside sales as I always knew I wanted to be an Entrepreneur, I just didn’t know what the product would be. I never dreamed it would be me, speaking, but as I began to see the picture of “outside training” vs. inside a company, I needed outside sales to learn how to sell something else before launching into selling “me” as a brand one day. Many steps happened, but one day I was training for Jenny Craig flying all over the country and beyond and hopes of working in their Australia and New Zealand offices (for a month at least!) when all that came crashing down and the company decided to change directions and not open more centres so the traveling trainers all had to find another position asap.
I loved learning about Myers-Briggs personality styles which I was doing in outside associations, so when I grasped at a job in the computer department at corporate, I knew it was “all wrong” but had to do something. 4 months later I left for office specialists where I spent the year managing a very small staff of 5 (after 30 and a busy centre this was easy!) and “outside sales” where I literally knocked on doors all over mission valley and surrounding area. I still have a few friends I met from those days “cold calling” and instead of try to sell the services I asked each person I met (which were HR directors and owners, presidents, etc) and in their presence my more important questions surrounded: “how do you like your job” and “how did you get here” and “what are your successes and failures you are willing to share that got you here? I sold a lot of temporary help never talking about temporary help! I was doing research! And selling more than most of the country in our organization as I started winning rookie awards, but then I digress…we are to focus on speaking here. I started by offering one single “free speech” to “California Association of Temporary workers. CATS. First gig. I offered the only thing I had to offer for a raffle and that was two hours of my consulting time. I had three calls for jobs from that first event and must have given that first gal 5 hours of my time who won the raffle. Four months later I was so busy I had to quit my day job. It’s been all referrals since then.
That was November of 1995 when I got my Carlsbad business license. For about 10 years my company was called “Executive Enhancements” and I focused mainly on business topics. I only took jobs for topics I thought I could repeat because I was writing the curriculum. In 2009 I rebranded to Jennifer Speaks which is ironic because all along I had the domain and website of JenniferSpeaks.com since 1995. There are a lot of Jennifer’s that have begun in this business since then that would have liked to buy that name. Call my kids when I’m dead because I’m not selling! There is even another Jennifer Sedlock (in Portland) who would probably like my other domain that points to JenniferSpeaks – but she will have to wait too. In the past 22 years I’ve created 18 programs on CD and DVD, I have done a few joint ventures where you can see my work in books and CD sets where I’m packaged with other speakers, birthed 3 wonderful children who are currently 19, 17 and 12 (two boys then the princess), and completed a master’s program at USF along with a Master’s thesis on the accuracy and Validity of the Myers-Briggs (MBTI) Team Report. MBTI has continued to be the bread and butter of my business all these years. I ventured into keynoting in 2004 with “Running Toward Your Dream” – a talk about having a 1. Vision 2. Plan and 3 Action or you aren’t getting to your goals, and I ventured into Christian “women’s event speaking” in 2007.
I am an avid sports fan (of my kids sports in Basketball and Volleyball) and in my spare time I am a coach in Cross Country for high school boys which keeps me young running many a mile and listening to what high school boys think is important in the world today. I’m still Running Toward My Dreams and soon I have my first book coming out which will take my work in a new direction. Stay tuned on that one! (and no, I won’t tell you the title yet….)
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I spend time with a lot of speakers and I don’t think “smooth” is the road we seek or have. Speaking events come and go, short or long relationships with clients always come to an end, and yet, the relationships live on and the memories for both companies and the speaker live on for decades. Speaking is an odd but very rewarding job. When a bunch of speakers enter a room or conference together there is just a huge feeling of “these are my people – they get ME” – the rest seem to sit in awe and well, the “I would NEVER want to get up in front of an audience” reaction. Good. There are plenty of us to go around!
Let’s see – so many struggles, so little space, (but I know you will edit) Perhaps the time I was sitting on the floor of the hotel bathroom in my nice suit because they wouldn’t give me a room for 15 minutes to pump milk for my baby! I not only sat on the floor with contraption in hands, there was only one stall and the plug was IN the stall and I had to sit OUTSIDE the stall in order to allow others to “go.” I literally was almost in tears (while the room of attendees were doing an “activity” while I was pumping – all I could think was – is this really worth it? Oh, and that was after a snowstorm where I was driving from one city in Ohio to get to another in January and the road re-routed, this was before cell phones and GPS people, so I arrived 5 minutes AFTER the seminar was supposed to start, dropped my bags and began…. then 20 min later put them in an activity so I could go pump that I planned to do an hour prior! Yes, many odd struggles.
My most “embarrassing moment” also had to do with motherhood. Somehow, one day while speaking to about 500 women at a women’s conference at Hewlett Packard, my “milk pad” shot out onto the floor in the middle of my talking. I’d already learned that when certain things happen, you must address it or the audience will be distracted – so I grabbed it quickly and asked if there were any mothers in the audience that needed that more than I did? Laughter erupted as I tossed it into the crowd. The only problem was the spot on my shirt that formed later to which I realized putting it back in would have been a better option.
Given in one of my speeches, I rip off my business suit down to running gear in a matter of seconds there have been a couple “wardrobe malfunctions” at times of ripping panty hose. Many people dream of standing somewhere in their underwear – I dream I’ll forget to put on my shorts one day. One time, I hit my forehead on the trunk of the car just 30 minutes before going on stage while trying to schlep the products to the event. I learned that day I really should have told the audience because I’m sure my words were a bit jumbled and I had a very bad migraine within 30 minutes. I learned that if you tell them, they will sympathize, if you don’t, they just start judging you. I’ve heard you only have about 7 seconds to make a first impression. That’s not long. On a stage.
My biggest challenges over the years have been in juggling work, life, home/family balance. I never feel like I’m 100% on any of it, but then I’m guessing no one does. I just try to make choices each day and month that best support our family and the season we are in. Thinking about my work as “seasons” has helped with the ebb and flow of writing and creating vs. delivering and traveling. There is ALWAYS something to do and more opportunities then availability so rather than choosing something great to do, I choose what is BEST given everything takes time. One example is doing this interview in the midst of various other projects I am completing and it’s the end of our Cross Country season so there are awards to prepare and another “roasting” speech to write. “Name that Runner” is what I will be writing this afternoon to cover our entire season of funny mishaps and things the boys did that they may have long forgotten, but a speaker takes notes!
Jennifer Speaks! – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I consider myself at this point an “Inspirational Speaker” – A cross between the content and the inspiration to “do” (perform) the content of whatever we are talking about.
I offer 18 programs in the areas of leadership, communication and teamwork. Myers Briggs Keynotes and trainings are the most popular of my programs. Communication in the workplace is among the most challenging issues facing organizations today – especially given technology advancements, differing generations working together and just plain personality differences. If personality differences are not addressed – it creates resentments and if spoken about, become launching pads for better communication. When we can add a little humor to laugh at ourselves and others, we unite and get the job done.
I had to learn that what set me apart was me. I wanted to promote content and in 2009 Media4women pulled a focus group together that told me “YOU” are the marketable specialty, not your content. That was weird. But Jennifer Speaks was launched and my “personality” started to show up in all the branding and covers of DVD’s etc. Things that make me happy were important and made business better, but I came from “business is business” mentality and not a “focus on you” for marketing, I majored in Business at Berkeley and I won the Entrepreneurship Award that year for not only writing a business plan, but starting the business and successfully making a little coin while selling “laundry bags with Cal emblem” that I created on them. I borrowed money, made a little coin, hired seamstresses and bought fabrics at a local dealer, endured a fire and paid back the loan, gave a speech about the business, then closed it down when I left Cal. But, I was hooked. I knew one day I would be an Entrepreneur. That last part probably belongs elsewhere, but I’ll leave it here for you to move, use or toss.
I am most proud of having a career I can wrap around my real prize – the family Steve and I have created and are raising up to be responsible adults living out their dreams of work and family ambitions.
“I am the vine and you are the branches” – I want to be a well-watered branch that is bearing fruit in all I attempt.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success to me is when we use our gifts to help others in some way.
Pricing:
- CD’s, DVD’s and downloads available for $10-$30 price range, http://www.jenniferspeaks.com/shop-now/
- $5000 event speaker, Heavy discounts for non-profit, ministry and women’s retreats
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jenniferspeaks.com
- Phone: 760 635-3305
- Email: jennifer@jenniferspeaks.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferRSpeaks/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferSedlock
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheJenniferSpeaks
Image Credit:
CeCe Canton
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