Deb Zahn: Hi, I want to welcome you to this week's episode of the Craft of Consulting podcast. So, on this episode, we're going to be talking about how to break through any upper limits that you might be putting on what you can make as a consultant. And I brought on someone who works with people all the time on this topic, Sarah Walton. And we're going to go through and talk about ways that you can bust up any of the type of stories and thinking you have and talk about some of the actions you can take to ensure that you're not limiting yourself. So much great stuff in this episode. Let's get started. Hi, I want to welcome to my show today, Sarah Walton. Sarah, welcome. I'm so happy to have you here.

Sarah Walton: Thanks, Deb. I'm happy to be here with you today.

Deb Zahn: So, let start off, tell folks what you do.

Sarah Walton: Oh my goodness. Well, my bottom line, honestly, Deb, between me, you, and the wall. No, I put more money in the hands of more women. I consider that to be my job. I think if there was more women walking around with more money, we would not have the problems we have today. And I take that very seriously. So, that is my underlying mission. My job is that I'm an intuitive business coach and sales expert, and with that comes a rejiggering of our relationship to money and understanding of why we're afraid of it, and understanding of our fears around growing and around hitting new limits and going into places that aren't comfortable. And what happens to us when we do that and how do we overcome those roadblocks because we all have them. And then you'll break through this layer and then there's another layer waiting for you. So, it's understanding these habits, understanding how we get through that, and I love supporting people in that entire process, soup to nuts.

Deb Zahn: Love it. Well, we're going to start there because I know that beliefs in stories we tell ourselves and all of that stuff has everything to do with what we will actually put into action. So, what are some of those beliefs and stories that folks, especially women, have about success and money that are holding them back and creating limits for them that aren't really there?

Sarah Walton: Yeah. You mind if I tell a personal story really quickly around this?

Deb Zahn: Go for it.

Sarah Walton: When I share this story, people go, "Oh yeah, no, no, I had a moment like that too." So, it started when I was young. I was five years old and I was watching the Nutcracker on TV during a PBS fundraiser for people who are old enough to know what that is. And I remember I turned to my mom and I said, "Mom, I want to do that. That ballet thing they're doing, I want that." The problem was we were incredibly poor. When I say poor, I'm saying a half a loaf of bread that my mother had made from scratch and a jar of honey, the end. That's what would be in the cupboard. But as time went on, I learned from MTV, thank you, Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul forever. I'm so grateful to them.

But it came time to try out for the high school dance team. And this is something I really wanted because it was my only access to local dance and to see what was happening. And I worked so hard, lots of chair throwing, thank you, Paula Abdul, lots of knee popping, lots of Rhythm Nation stuff. I worked so hard and I made the team, which was so exciting, except then I got the letter that talks about how much it's going to cost, the jacket, the shoes, the costumes, the travel. And I don't know, Deb, if you've ever had one of those moments where you watch yourself go through something, you're like, "Oh, she's having an experience right now." It was like that because there was no freaking way. There was no way we could pay for these. My mom was a single mom. I have a little brother. I had an older brother in college. There's no way.

And so what I did, you're going to be surprised already talking to me. I was very frisky and I went and got a job at the mall. And if you don't know what a mall is, nice, think Stranger Things. So, I went and got a job at the mall at a little cart selling tchotchke's nobody needed, but it was the '80's so it was cool. And anyway, I got my first paycheck and I was so excited, but I didn't have a bank account, So, we went to the grocery store to cash the check. I go over to get my check cashed, and as we're walking into the store, my mom says, "Sarah, the strawberries are on sale. Can we get some?" So, I'm thinking of the strawberries, I'm thinking of the costumes, and I'm like, "I can do the down payment. OK, yeah, go get the strawberries. I've got the money for my costumes."

So, after I get this cash, I'm looking for my mom and my younger brother in the express aisle with the strawberries. They're not there. And I'm looking up and down every aisle and I can't find them. Finally, I see my mom and my little brother in line, and there's a cart filled with groceries and it's lunch meat, it's bread for my brother's lunches. It's his favorite breakfast cereal. It's milk and the damn strawberries. And I'm standing there, and Deb, this is so what women experience, I was only 16, but it was already starting. I knew in that moment I could take care of something I had wanted my entire life or I could take care of my family, but I couldn't do both. And that, for me, was the moment where I decided it was always going to be one or the other.

And that decision followed me all the way to New York City where I had this beautiful glass office and I'm leading this massive team, and my family's totally taken care of because of all the money I'm making and I'm freaking miserable. And there was a moment where my daughter called me and said, "Mom, I miss you." And I'm sitting there listening to the clock tick away seconds of my life in this office that I don't want to be in. I had wonderful people I got to work with and I loved that part, but I didn't want to be there. I wanted to be with my children. I wanted to travel. I wanted to have a life. And that was the day I remembered that moment in the grocery store and it was like, "Oh my God. I decided this. I decided I could never take care of myself and my family."

And that decision carried me throughout my whole life. And I don't mean to leave people hanging. People are like, "What did you do that day?" I'm sorry. I always forget that part. But I ended up paying for the groceries and what had happened that ended up really supporting my life's work, makes me cry sometimes, I'm sorry. But another mom in the community had heard what had happened and she paid for my costumes and-

Deb Zahn: Awww.

Sarah Walton: I know, it just gives me chills, still to this day. What was so amazing, it was in 2019, I held a conference back in Salt Lake City where this happened, and I got to bring her up on stage with me and thank her in front of the audience. It was so cool. It was especially momentous because she ended up passing away in 2020.

Deb Zahn: Wow.

Sarah Walton: I got to stand there and say, "Do you see?" I wouldn't have been standing there without her. What women do when we have access to money. And I didn't know when I was 16 and she did that, what that was going to end up doing for my whole life. But it helped me understand on a broader scale. I mean, any one of us have been either one of us or my mom. We all know those moments of, "This isn't going to be possible for me. This isn't going to work out for me. I can't do this. Why even try?" And then some people go the other route, which is where I ended up of working so freaking hard. I mean, I weighed probably 15 pounds less than I do now. That part wasn't so bad, but it wasn't healthy. It wasn't in a good way. My chest was tight all the time, I wasn't sleeping, and I got sick all the time.

So, I took it to the other extreme of, "I'll never be like my mother." And we got to watch where we, as women, have shaped our lives and our beliefs and our ideas about what's possible based on what was role modeled for us. And I think we have an opportunity during conversations like this to really stop and think and I don't think we do that enough. We're so busy. I mean, how many moms, literally I'll be like, "Did you pee today?" And they're like, "I don't know." That's like not OK. And so to be able to go from that, to be able to sit and have a conversation like this where it takes a good 20-25 minutes to stop and examine so much is possible because we can start to ask, "OK, is that real? Where did I learn that? Who taught me that? Who said that?" And starting to examine this way, it just starts opening doors in ways I don't think we can imagine without these types of conversations. I hope I answered your question, Deb.

Deb Zahn: I mean, that's an incredible answer, and I think you're hitting on something that's so critical, particularly for consultants. So, a lot of folks, and I was one of them, who either don't take the leap or waited too long when they knew in their soul that they were ready to be on their own but didn't take the leap because of fear of financial insecurity. And often, that's rooted in real life experiences. I know it was for me where there was all kinds of real things attached to money that were very painful, traumatic, and things along those lines. But then we also create our own limits with the stories that get generated from those real-life experiences.

And I love how you wove both of those together. So, I just wanted to point it out because we also construct our own reality. We live our true reality, we construct our own, and both of them can impact us in terms of the choices we'll make.

Sarah Walton: Absolutely.

Deb Zahn: So, that's fabulous. Let's talk about that because one of the things we want to hit upon today is breaking the upper limit barrier that we put in place for ourselves. And you just started to dive into that, which is the origins of it. And sometimes we look up and we're like, "Well, I can't go higher than that." Where do those pesky little upper limit barriers, where is that actually coming from?

Well, anywhere. I mean, that's the issue, right?

Sarah Walton: Yeah.

I was having a wonderful conversation with a functional medicine doctor just the other day, and she was like, "Anything can cause anything." And I was like, "Oh dang, that's upper limits." I was like, "Oh, my God." Seriously, I don't have access to it right now, but if I were to pick up a chair and throw it across the room right now, people listening would have a story about that. You would have a story about that. I would have a story about that. And it could be there was a spider on the chair. It could be that chairs freak me out. It might be that I thought someone was coming in the room. Could be I'm crazy. We don't know. But anything can cause any belief at any moment. And that's why, and I don't say that to be scary. I say it because it gives us an opportunity to understand what's affecting our behavior.

And I consider, as a coach, my number one job is to alter human behavior. I know I'm successful when someone starts doing something differently than they were doing before they worked with me. That's what I consider super successful. So, as we're looking at how anything can cause anything, it's breaking down the moments of, "I was just about to say yes to this contract ,and I started sweating. I picked a fight with my spouse and what the hell just happened to me?" That is the question to ask. There's nothing wrong with you. And notice I didn't say what's wrong with me? The question is what happened to me? And that distinction comes from a really great book called What Happened to You with Oprah. It's a painful book to read. I actually listened to it, and it broke my heart in a million pieces.

But it's really taking a step back to say to each other, when someone starts doing something that's against their better life, their betterment at all, we know something else is at play because we humans love pleasure. We want the big life, we want the money, we want the huge contracts, of course we do. So, much pleasure involved in that. We get to fulfill on our work, we get to provide for our families, we get to go and do whatever it is we want to do with that money. And yet we will act in ways that are counter to that. Well, the only reason we'll do that is if we think there is more pain than pleasure involved with that one decision because we really are at the heart of it, we are these organic animals that are hardwired for survival. We're going to chase pleasure and we're going to run from pain.

So, we know someone has their wires crossed around what's actually going to cause them pain and what's actually going to cause them pleasure when we start acting counter to our real desires. And the question is, what happened to me in that moment? What was I attaching pain to? Because fear is pain, So, what was I attaching pain to in that moment? What am I afraid of? And the really cool part of that, Deb, I think, is that it's usually only discomfort. We don't know what that's going to feel like, so we'd rather stay here where it's safe. We might be miserable, but that is less painful than possibly making a mistake and not being in waters we understand. And so we'll pull back.

So, we hit it and we're trying to move it forward. We're hitting it, So, where did it come from? And the question is, what happened to you? What did you see? What was role modeled? And I think to really get to the heart of this, when I ask this question, if anybody's driving, just hang on because you might want to remember this part. If you can write, write. But the question is, what unspoken family rule are you keeping alive? People go, "What?"

Deb Zahn: Oh yeah.

Sarah Walton: And I'm like, "It's an unspoken family rule." And that can look a lot of different ways, especially when we're talking about consulting because you can make a boatload of money as a consultant. There are consultants who are saving businesses $6 million and charging $500,000. That is something everyone will do all day long every day. There is so much available out there and there's so much expertise for consultants to do incredible things. So, why wouldn't you? What is happening there? And if we can get down into unspoken family rules, it might look like you're dishonoring your parents if you make more money than them. It might look like mom's not supposed to make more money than dad. It might look like rich people are. It might look like if you're going to be wealthy, you must be doing something bad.

There's a lot that we have in unspoken family rules, dynamics, understandings, situations that we absorbed as children, and nobody said anything. And that's where the rub can be because you're like, "But nobody told me money was evil." But you heard them talking about the neighbor who's a jack wagon who's really wealthy. So, you made that connection. So, it's really diving down into those unspoken family rules and sitting with what happened. What happened to me? And is that true that if it happened one time, it will always happen. Is that real? That's one of my favorite questions. Is that real?

Deb Zahn: Yeah, that's a fabulous question because what it does is it untangles the origin stories and untangles also the trauma piece. So, what happened to you? I have clients who do trauma-informed work and mental health work. There's been a switch in the mental health and behavioral health space of not just saying what's wrong with you, but what happened to you? And getting to the root of it to basically untangle of some of it so you can reconstruct it in the way that you want, which is a beautiful, wonderful thing. So, let's say somebody is able to, and I of course did it because I took the leap into consulting. I had to say, "Why am I staying in one of the worst jobs I've ever had?" And I'm including retail and Blockbuster, since we're both Gen X-ers. And why am I staying in one of the worst jobs I've ever had and not taking the leap and relying on my own skills and abilities.

So, I had to get past that, and I did. And then what often happens is consultants will have some success, they'll get some clients, maybe they'll charge something that they're maybe a little uncomfortable with but not a lot uncomfortable with. And then they just hit a plateau in terms of the income that they actually can generate. How do you see that manifest when you're working with folks? What does that end up looking like and how can they work with it?

Sarah Walton: Oh, so good, So good. I'm just going to say one simple thing, and that is what we measure moves. So, what happens a lot when someone's plateauing is they're not measuring their success. One of the first things I'll tell people to do is go look at the total amount you've made in your business so far ever in the history of anything. And they'll go back and be like, "Oh my God, I've made half a million dollars," or whatever it is. And it's like, "Oh, I think I can do this." But we're not measuring that. So, it doesn't move. So, you want to measure how much you've made in total ever since inception. Very good to know that. By the way, all those ads you see where, "I'm on seven figures," after 25 years, they're measuring everything. Just know that you don't have to be scared of that entrepreneur porn that's out there anyway. Another story for another time.

So, look at everything you've made for the entire time that you've been in business and then measure what is actually having people come into you. So, that is something I think so many people forget to do. If you've had success in one area and then they go, "But it's referrals." I'm like, "Great. Who referred you? What industry are they in? What other vendors do you have in common?" And I love the vendors in common. That comes from Mike Michalowicz's book, The Pumpkin Plan. I love this theory that you don't have to go after your clients, go become really great partners with people who have your clients who aren't in competition with you.

Deb Zahn: I love that approach.

Sarah Walton: Yeah, it's so great. Web developers are talking to copy editors and copy editors are talking to designers and graphic artists. Again, lawyers and accountants, so many people that can refer people to you. We want to start looking at that. Has that been successful for you in the past? Where has it been successful? What we measure moves. So, you're going to continue to look at what has worked for you in the past and just repeat it. And people think it can't possibly be that simple. It's like, "But no, I've got to get bigger." Well, OK, measure that. What does bigger mean? How many people do you need to work with to hit the financial goal you have? And they're like, "What a financial goal." I'm like, "Aha. What we measure moves. So, what is your financial goal?"

And I think what can happen, and do I get it. I think we've all done this too, is we get so busy in the business. Deb and I were joking before we hit record. I'm like, "I have days where I'm like, 'I'm going to go work at Starbucks'" Because there's so much we have to manage on a daily basis. You can have that feeling. So, oh my God, do we get why we stopped measuring the most important things? And the most important things are how much is coming in? How did it get here? How did they get referred to me? Where did they find me? And how do I repeat that? And that's very basic, but we forget it. One because there is so much entrepreneurial porn. "I make a million dollars from the beach in 20 minutes." That stuff.

Deb Zahn: Oh goodness, yeah.

Sarah Walton: So, it comes in and it distracts us from the basics. And what I love doing about this measurement strategy, what you measure moves, is I'll say to people, "Let's figure out what your financial goal is." So, let's say it's $100,000. I'm just going to use round numbers, it's $100,000, and let's say you charge," I can't do the math right now. My brain just shut down. "But let's say you charge $2,000 per person. You need to work with 5,000 people." Most people don't charge that little, and most people don't have that financial goal. But you can start to see, "Wait a minute, wait a minute."

And when I do this with most people, they end up coming back to me and saying, "I need to work with 50 people a year." I'm like, "50 people a year, OK. That's four people a month. That's one person a week. What actions brought people into your business? Go repeat those and get one person per week." And they go, "Oh, well I can do that." And suddenly, the mystery's gone. So, I think what happens in those moments of plateau is because we are doing all the sales and marketing and then we're doing the fulfillment. It can get really fuzzy very quickly. So, I just invite people, take 10 minutes, pull it out of your brain, put it on an Excel spreadsheet, put it in a Google Doc. It doesn't have to be intense or insane, but if you really sit down and do that, you'll figure it out very quickly.

And then some people say, "Oh my God, I want to charge $100,000 per consulting client." "Great. You need five. That's one every other month. What do you need to do to bring that in? How many meetings do you need to have? What is your close rate? How many people end up saying yes when you talk to them?" And that's it. It is not a magic formula. All those business coaches, I am a business coach, there's so many. I'm like, "I'm sorry. I apologize to the world." But it's really, there's no magic system. That's ridiculous. It's not possible. That's bananas.

Every business is different. The way you sell is different. The way that you fulfill is different and your financial goals are different. So, there can't be “a” system, but there is a system for you. There's a system you've figured out. There's something that people that you have in consulting that you can talk about in a way that increases the close rate. So, maybe you've got your five people in the first month, great. And then go fulfill on those contracts and then ask yourself if you want to do that again at the end of the year and hit a million instead of $500,000. Totally making these numbers up, but you see what I mean?

Deb Zahn: Yeah, yeah and what's beautiful about that is if you lay that all out, you can also then see any weak links. So, if your close rate is 20%, you got to ask yourself questions about that. Am I talking to the right people. When I'm talking to them, what am I doing? Am I following up appropriately? What experience am I giving them? All those human things and strategies that might be what's actually limiting you because when you get the work you're supposed to do, you knock it out of the park and people are delighted to pay you very well to do it, but you're busy having conversations with folks who will never be a fit for you.

Sarah Walton: That's right.

Deb Zahn: Or it's some other problem.

Sarah Walton: Mm-hmm and it's like you said, it exposes that. And then it's not a problem. It's something that you can go work on. I mean, yeah, that's the beauty too, is if know, "Wow, you know what? I don't think I have the skill of sales." OK, there are lots of us out here who are happy to teach you that. Or, "Oh, you know what? I don't think I know who my ideal customer is." Awesome. That's so fixable. "I don't know what my financial goal is." Awesome. That's fixable.

Deb Zahn: That's right.

Sarah Walton: And these skills are learnable. And I think the other thing I like to say to people, it really helps people breathe because there's somuch comparison and there's such a loud world right now, but if someone's further down the path than you, they're not blessed or special or something like that. They're either doing something you are not doing, or they know something you don't know. And that's it. And the beauty is both of those are totally within our control.

Deb Zahn: That's right.

Sarah Walton: But those will always be your only two problems. That's it. That's all that's happening. And that's so helpful because you can watch them and see what they're doing. And I wish more people opened the kimono because I don't think it should be so hard to figure out. It's really not. It's just we're taking the time to do it because we're chasing what's next. We're trying the latest tactic, we're doing the next thing. And let's just look at you. Let's just look at what works for you and where we can beef up some skills. That's it. That's it.

Deb Zahn: That makes me happy to hear that. I built my entire consulting business…it's going on 13 years now in August…

Sarah Walton: Congratulations.

Deb Zahn: And I do extremely well. And I work with folks that I love to work with. I'm still a practicing consultant, even though I teach other people how to do this.

Sarah Walton: Awesome.

Deb Zahn: Because I love it. And I've never done a single social media post the entire time. Not once.

Sarah Walton: Yes, preach on it, sister. Preach on it.

Deb Zahn: Yeah, not a single time. I didn't like LinkedIn. I still don't like it. I thought it was boring. I did Instagram and Facebook for a while. But the truth of the matter is that was to look at cat videos, and it wasn't to build. I didn't do any of that to build a business. I figured out what worked, and then I did more of that. And what I see a lot of consultants doing is, "Oh, you have to have a social media presence. You have to be here. You have to be there. You have to be here. You have to do all..." So, there's a ton of “shoulding.” And they don't stop and say, "Where has my past money actually come from? And oh, wait a minute, it's through relationships because people dig my chili when they're talking to me. And maybe I should go have more of those conversations because obviously there's something magnetic about me." Instead of, "I'm going to hire somebody who doesn't know me, doesn't know what I do, and they're going to post, but they're going to post four times a week, so now I'm doing something."

Sarah Walton: No, and actually, it's so funny. I just had a client send me a Voxer this morning, "I want to get off social media." I'm like, "That's great. We're going to back it up with data. Don't run. I can't have a U-shaped hole in the wall. Let's get the data. Let's find out how people are coming into the business breakdown by breakdown. And if we can get rid of it, let's get rid of it." I am a big fan of that. And it's one of the reasons I have people figure out how many people do you need to work with every year? Because if you need to work with 10 people, most people, it really is 50. You don't have to be on social media. And if you are on social media and you love it and you enjoy it, that's awesome. And you have 2000 followers, the chances are 50 of those who are ever going to work with you, great, awesome. Go for it. Go find them. That's fantastic.

And I am a big believer that, as business owners, it is our job to find our people. It's not for us to sit back and go, "Well, come find me." No, it doesn't work that way. That's why we still see phone numbers on trucks. No, we still have to let people know we exist. But a lot of that does come through relationships. And what I love to say to people is, "Money comes into your business through people, through people. People make the decision to put money in your business bank's account, not you." You showing up, that that's nice and all, but no, it's the person getting that what you're going to do for them is what they need. End of list. And it's your job to make sure that's clear for them. If you want to do that on Twitter while you do handstands, great for you. If you want to do that through conversations over coffee, fantastic. This is what I mean by there's not one size. I think we all get to figure out what really works for us with the amount of money.

Sarah Walton: Oh my god, Deb, I'm so happy you said that because the amount of money being pushed around to make subpar posts that nobody sees, is frightening to me. It's just such a drain on a business's resources. And I think that's really a shame. And the other thing I'll say is if you are not on the platforms you're on, you, the business owner are not aware of what's happening on these platforms, if you don't know who's talking to you on these platforms or checking the comments, it's a liability because it's your brand out there. And if someone asks a question or they need help and no one responds to them, you look like a jack wagon. So, it's really important that if you are going to put your company's information on a platform, you better be ready to engage. That's a serious thing. That is your brand, that's your reputation. It's not just a fun thing you got to do and learn how to use Canva.

Deb Zahn: That's right.

Sarah Walton: It's really understanding this is your business. These are human beings that are reading this and interacting with this. And if that works for you, fantastic, do it well, have pride, show up, treat it like a business asset. It's not something to be trifled with. And I wish people took that a little bit more seriously, but here we are.

Deb Zahn: But here we definitely are. And then now they're spamming people's inboxes like it's going out of style.

Sarah Walton: Horrible.

Deb Zahn: But what I always think is, people are frightened and they want a formula because it's something to latch onto that's less scary. Just tell me what to do, just tell me step by step. And what I always tell people, which I suspect is similar to you, "That'd be fine, except that human beings are involved."

Sarah Walton: That's so great. That's so good, Deb.

Deb Zahn: I don't know what else to tell you. Human beings are involved, and people buy from people, So, you have to show up as a person, you have to respect the person on the other side, and you have to figure out how to do that people part. And that doesn't lend itself to formulas. It doesn't mean you don't have systems to support the actions you take. But it isn't, "I do robotic this and then I do robotic this, and I do robotic this, and boom, I have business," which is what a lot of folks out there are selling.

Sarah Walton: And it's poo-y. I mean, I hate to say that because it gives those of us who love business and those of us who love our clients and we love to teach, it gives us such a bad reputation too because they're like, "Well, what's your three-step formula?" I'm like, "You're the formula. I got to do so you can go do your business, man." And I think that's one of the reasons people come to me is because they're like, "I was so tired of the dude with the AirPods and the shaky thing from a fake plane he rented, telling me he's a billionaire and I just have to follow this three-step process." There's no such thing, you guys. There's just not. Could you imagine?

Deb Zahn: Oh my God, there's no other industry that this happens in. Could you imagine if people are like, "Marriage, it's a three-step process." What the... How could you…

Sarah Walton: Oh yeah. Good luck with that.

Deb Zahn: Yeah, and that's going to be a rinse and repeat strategy since you'll be married and divorce multiple times.

Sarah Walton: I guess so. Maybe that's your rinse and repeat on that one. It's bananas what's happening out there. You guys, I'm so sorry to everybody on behalf of business coaches, I formally apologize. There's no such thing. There's you. There's what's happening for you. There's what works for you. There's your strengths, and there's a system in you that works really well. You might be the best coffee shop salesperson on the freaking planet. And we know if you just booked a coffee date, sweet. And you might be a genius on Instagram, fantastic. Lets go. You might be extraordinary on video at YouTube or in email copy and people are lining up like mad.

We have to figure out what it is for you. And it might be that you're offline completely except for a website. And that's what has you function the best. Well, we got to figure that out. And I think anybody telling you that they have the magic. Can I just vent for one sec, Deb? I'm so sorry.

Deb Zahn: Please.

Sarah Walton: I just saw a 20-something business coach, and God I love her, I hope she really is showing up. She's massively successful. She's like, "I sold $800,000 in the DMs." And I'm like, "Oh dear God, what is happening?" And it's like, why? And then people are like, "Oh my God, teach me how." And I'm like, "She just told you what she did."

Deb Zahn: Of course.

Sarah Walton: "She just told you what she did and now she's going to do it to you. You have her template. She's going to do it to you." There's no secret sauce here. And it's a preying on our fears. It's preying on my mom in the grocery store that day.

Deb Zahn: That's right.

Sarah Walton: It's preying on us in our moments of, "Do I just call Starbucks?" This is a real thing. Doing what we do is not for the faint of heart. It's very challenging. And we're, all of us, I don't care how successful, I've so proud of how much money our business has made. And that doesn't mean I'm never scared. That doesn't mean I don't ever have moments where I'm like, "Is this ever going to stop?" We all have it because we're human and our brains are wired to look for danger. And so for someone to come in and prey on that, it's so upsetting to me. And I think it's the basis of human nature. And I hope anybody listening when you're consulting, when you're sharing what you do, lift people up, show them what's possible, know that they're scared, and honor that fear in them without preying on it.

And I think if we, as business owners, and again, women, I really only work with women, but when we have real money in our hands that we have earned and we know we can help more people, it gets really good. Doesn't mean you're never going to be scared again, and I don't sell that. But it means you're up to so something. You're about to do something really cool and you are going to have to grow, you, to be able to hold that container as it grows. And so don't be afraid that you hit another upper limit. It just means we got something else to challenge and get new skills for.

Deb Zahn: That's right.

Sarah Walton: I've done it before. I'll do it again. And I think the other fear that I've seen a lot, Deb, is people are like, "I've sold all this stuff. How am I going to fulfill on it? What if I can't do what I promised?" And I love that fear because my question is, "Yeah, what would you do?" And they'll go, "Well, yeah, I'd get books, I'd learn." I'm like, "Yeah, are you going to let them down?" And they're like, "Hell no." I was like, "There it is." It's that self trust. And I think for women especially, our self-trust has been so severely damaged from a young age, we're supposed to make sure everyone else is OK. Our emotions aren't supposed to matter, thank you very much, please stop having them.

It's this thing we've been learned to not trust our own emotions and we're not to trust our instincts. And great business is actually the opposite. And it's why women are so fantastic as consultants and great as coaches. Because when we learn to trust our instincts, we'll sell like crazy because we know we would never let someone down who's given us money, no freaking way. We'll go hell or high water, I will call somebody. We will figure this out. There's no way you'd let someone down. And as soon as somebody breathes into that, all of a sudden their sales skyrocket because the self-trust is starting to increase.

Deb Zahn: That's right. And talk about motivation to do well. And that's what I tell a lot of folks that I work with as well, which is, "If your desire is to be of service and help people achieve their dreams, solve problems that they can't imagine solving today, achieve things that were unimaginable to them before they met you, I mean, what better reason to get out of bed in the morning and then do that for yourself?"

Sarah Walton: You can't not.

Deb Zahn: Love it.

Sarah Walton: You can't not. That's where coaches and consultants, man, we have the best gig ever because everything we teach or get to learn about, we must apply, right?

Deb Zahn: Yeah.

Sarah Walton: It's so great. It's like, "Oh my God, I get to eat my own dog food today. Here I go, let's go."

Deb Zahn: Yeah, it better be good.

Sarah Walton: I'm going to go talk about abundance, and I hate everyone. Can't do it. Not going to work. It's so great.

Deb Zahn: Well, yeah because folks can tell the difference. They can tell when you're eating the food you're cooking. They can tell that. So, if you were standing in front of a couple newbie consultants today and you said, "Look, if you want to do good in the world and you want to do well financially, do this above all else." What would you tell them?

Sarah Walton: Oh, that is a good question. I would say it's hard for me to just do one, but I would say trust yourself that you'll always fulfill and speak to one new person every single day. Just speak to one. You don't have to tell them about your business. Speak to one new person every single day. You'll be more financially successful than you could ever imagine.

Deb Zahn: That is nice. And I love that you snuck a second one in. That's perfectly good.

Sarah Walton: I had because they go together. It's hard to talk to someone…

Deb Zahn: I knew. I knew asked one and I was going to get an extra, and then it just feels like a bonus. I love it. So, where can folks find you?

Sarah Walton: All right, I do have a YouTube channel because, as you can see, I love being on video. It's just so my medium. I just feel so comfortable, and it has people know they can trust me. We all know we have to do like and trust. so you can grab me over on YouTube. I have a podcast called the Game on Girlfriend Podcast because this is not your practice life. The game is on.

Deb Zahn: Nice.

Sarah Walton: Yeah, and those are the places I really tend to hang out the most.

Deb Zahn: Wonderful. So, let me ask you this last question, and you know this is coming, which is how do you find balance? However it is you think about that?

Sarah Walton: Oh, it is really challenging. I won't lie. It's something I think that's ever-evolving. And I think if someone says it's one thing, I always question that. As you can tell, I'm not much of a formula follower, but I think I know for me, there is a request for balance from my own body. If I find myself being short-tempered or my chest is tight, that's when I know I may have crossed my own boundaries because I'll get so involved in work. And what I'll do, is I'll go for a 10-minute walk. I swear it's that simple.

And I have a standing massage every month. I really do. That, to me, is the ultimate. There's touch and relaxation. There's an outlet when no one can bother me. And that is standing, you can't move it. My whole team knows about it. You can't touch it, nope. And I really think that's how I do. I listen to my body. I have the massage, and I'm a huge runner. I love to run. Running's my thing. I think it's how I move cortisol through my body really well. Again, no one can reach me. I can be out in nature and I really enjoy that.

Deb Zahn: Lovely. Well, Sarah, thank you so much for joining us today. This was full of so many good nuggets. I think people are going to have to go back to the top and listen to it again. So, thank you so much.

Sarah Walton: You're so welcome. Thank you so much for having me. Such a pleasure.

Deb Zahn: Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Craft of Consulting Podcast. I want to ask you to do actually three things. If you enjoyed this episode or you've enjoyed any of my other ones, hit subscribe. I got a lot of other great guests that are coming up in a lot of other great content, and I don't want you to miss anything.

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