July 29, 2025 • 28 mins
Every single day, you use your voice to pitch your business, connect with clients, and drive growth. It is your most potent—and most FREE—marketing tool.
But what if I told you the traditional systems for getting your voice heard, whether on a stage or in a sales call, are often designed to keep you on the bench, waiting for scraps?
That's why I am SO incredibly excited for you to meet my next guest on the Mosaic Business Mastery podcast, the phenomenal Antonette. She is a powerhouse speaker agent who is literally revolutionizing the industry with a new model. Fueled by an unbelievably powerful personal story of surviving late-stage cancer as a teen, she has made it her life's mission to get deserving, "hidden-gem" voices heard.
This conversation is a masterclass for ANY entrepreneur. We dive into why your voice is your most effective way to grow your business (even if you have zero advertising dollars!), how to turn your expertise into your biggest revenue driver, and why the audience is always more important than the platform.
This episode is pure fire. 🔥 You don't want to miss it.
Set your alarms! ⏰ The full interview drops this Tuesday, July 29th, at 5:00 a.m. wherever you get your podcasts.
#MosaicBusinessMastery #PublicSpeaking #Entrepreneurship #YourVoiceIsYourPower #WomenInBusiness #BIPOCinBusiness #FemaleFounders #BusinessGrowth #NewPodcast #MarketingTips #SalesStrategy
A Mosaic is a bunch of pieces, put together, to make up the whole in a beautiful way. Here at Mosaic Business Consulting we discuss the various pieces of a business throughout the course of its life, and throughout all industries, and how these pieces, when put together, can help develop a better, more efficient, and effective running of YOUR business.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Just like a mosaic is made up of a bunch of broken
tile pieces that create abeautiful hole, your business is
a tapestry of interconnectedbusiness parts and on the Mosaic
Life we'll explore those partsof a business, from marketing
and finance to mindset andinnovation.
I'm your host, lauraWagner-Kanesh, and together
(00:29):
we'll discover how to arrangethose pieces to create a
thriving and fulfilling business.
I want to thank you for tuninginto the show and to reach me.
Contact Laura atMosaicBusinessConsultingcom.
I am thrilled thrilled to havetoday on our show Antoniette
Rose, and I can just not sayenough about her.
(00:52):
It was really fortuitous tomeet her.
She's fantastic and she's adynamic, sought after speaker
agent.
Not the speaker just by itself,but the agent who is literally
revolutionizing the health,well-being and optimal
performance industry.
With a passion for empoweringspeakers to make a lasting
(01:16):
impact, she has developed agroundbreaking system for
success that is changing thegame for speakers and producers
alike.
As a cancer survivor and I'mvery curious to hear more about
that who relied on integrativetherapies in her youth,
antoniette is on a mission toensure that people have access
(01:37):
to the best solutions for theirhealth and wellbeing.
Countless lives have beenpositively impacted by the
speakers Antoniette has workedwith, many of whom have gone
from speaking for little tonothing to making speaking a
major part of their revenuemodel, and I really have my
fingers crossed on that one.
(01:58):
So Antoniette's impressivetrack record includes founding
and producing the Texas NaturalWellness Expos, which are huge,
serving as the PR manager forthe Holistic Lifestyle
Conference and Expo, and moldingsuccessful and profitable
(02:18):
speakers from hidden gems torecognized names in their
industry.
Her unparalleled expertise andunwavering commitment to
excellence have made her asought-after figure in the
well-being and optimumperformance speakers and
producers community.
Her mission is to ensure thateveryone has access to the best
(02:39):
solutions for their health andwell-being, and she is
unwavering in her dedication tothis cause.
So welcome to the show,antoniette.
It is so good to have you here.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Thank you for inviting me to Mosaic Life.
I love what you are doing onthis show and beyond.
Thank you for having me, Laura.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Oh, thanks.
I am just so excited.
So I am kind of wondering.
At first, I'm saddened to hearthat you had to get past cancer,
but perhaps you could take us alittle bit on that journey with
you and let us understand howthat changed your life or
impacted you show in itself.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
As a very young preteen to teen, I was diagnosed
with late stage, which hadeaten away my pelvic area.
So they had basically sent mehome.
It had been caught too late.
(03:38):
I had been in and out of fosterhomes so shortly after losing
our father to a drunk driverShortly after losing our father
to a drunk driver my mom had allof us to take care of and just
needed to get things backtogether before she could have
us.
So we were in and out of fosterhomes and I just wanted our
family back.
So I was in pain for a longtime.
(04:03):
I just didn't want in youryoung mind, I didn't want
anything to come between just usall coming back together.
Shortly after getting reunitedwith my family, we were clothes
shopping for school, and the waywe did it, because of our
income level at that time, waswe would go to thrift stores and
(04:23):
then we would go to alaundromat.
At that time was we would go tothrift stores and then we would
go to a laundromat, and sobefore we could really try on
our clothes, we'd have to getthem washed, and then I was just
excited about trying my newclothes on.
So I went into the littlebathroom at the laundromat as
they were coming out of thedryer, and this particular
bathroom had just one of thoselittle pedestal sinks and a
(04:45):
little mirror above.
I was tiny, so in order to seemy clothes they had this kind of
trash can that you could kindof step on.
So I stepped up onto the trashcan to see myself.
As I was coming down, I felt asnap and could barely walk out
of the bathroom.
So of course my mom gathered upall of us kids and our items and
(05:10):
took me just direct to anemergency room and that led on a
two-year journey where I was inand out of hospitals mostly in,
but the hospital before evenmaking it to the hospital that
wound up saving me.
They basically said shaming mymom.
Basically, how could you letthis go this long?
(05:31):
She has obviously been in a lotof pain.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Anyhow, you just need to go home and have the best
final days that you can with her.
And have the best final daysthat you can with her.
Thankfully, this doctor at thislittle country hospital had the
insight to kind of put the wordout.
Of course I was too young toreally know how all that went,
but a team of university doctorsheard about this young girl
(06:01):
being sent home and petitionedfor me to try some experimental
things.
So I went to this universityhospital, which became it was
hundreds of miles away from myhome.
My mom was busy raising theother children, so I was pretty
much there alone for almost ayear straight and then on and
(06:23):
off.
So the kids in that children'sward obviously became my family
during that time.
The lucky children whose cancersand leukemia.
This children's ward had allkinds of children children with
kidney issues, anorexia butthere was a good number of
children with leukemia or cancer.
Number of children withleukemia or cancer Something
(06:46):
that struck me, even as a younggirl, is me being the unlucky
one.
Right, we all come in lookinglike regular kids and I stayed
that way, although I wasbedridden for quite a while and
then in a wheelchair, but Istayed looking like a kid, like
(07:08):
a normal kid.
Soon after the others, who weregetting more of the mainstream
treatments, they becameunrecognizable swollen, some of
them with lesions and breakoutsand their gums and losing all
(07:29):
the things that are just very,very hard to witness.
They came in happy and playfuland then pretty soon they could
barely lift their heads.
It was just very difficult tocomprehend at that age.
What I wound up I'm going totry to condense this, but what I
(07:50):
wound up realizing is that Igot to leave that hospital, feel
the sun on my face again andsee the rest of my life, whereas
some of the lucky kids and Isay that because that's how it
was kind of presented to me Iwas, there wasn't a lot of
chance for me, there was morechance for them didn't get to
(08:11):
leave that hospital, at leastnot, you know, not in a way
where they could see the rest oftheir lives.
They, they, went on to the nextlevel.
Wherever.
Wherever we go, I rememberthinking obviously I didn't know
the politics of it all at thatage but why weren't their
parents told that maybe therewere some other things they
(08:32):
could try first, right beforegoing that route?
As I left that hospital for thelast time, it was very vivid to
me, at least the last majortime where I was there for a
long stretch I remember thinkingI want to be their faces, I
want to be their voices.
(08:52):
I didn't know how that wasgoing to look, but as I stepped
into the rest of my life, thatnever left me.
So I went on to the rest of mylife.
When it came time for college, Itook business management,
computer information systems andPR and marketing single major,
(09:15):
double minor, but I still didn'tknow what I was exactly going
to do with it and just fastforward through a whole bunch of
journeys.
I wound up again.
I opened a B&B and I opened upthe doors to my bed and
breakfast a time or two a monthto bring in people who would
(09:36):
come and speak on differentalternatives.
When I first started out onthis journey in the speaking
space, it was all aboutwell-being.
It has since very much expandedin breadth.
Now I work with speakers of allgenres.
Now I work with speakers of allgenres.
However, during those early daysthat's how it was, and we grew
(09:59):
out of my B&B, which was about a650 square foot space.
So I rented a little communitycenter.
We grew out of that and then Istarted renting whole convention
centers and it turned out to bea very huge event in a pretty
small town.
People would come from all overthe world, as far as from Italy
who we were talking a bit about, italy a moment ago who either
(10:24):
attend or speak at these events.
I did that for quite a numberof years.
But my goal was that when peopleneeded solutions, people needed
solutions.
They had answers.
In those early days we didn'thave the access to information
(10:44):
as easily as we do now, but alsojust that space where it didn't
feel like a gamble anymore.
You just were able to find allof your solution possibilities,
lay them out on the table andchoose what was best for you,
whether it was allopathic oralternative or a blend of both.
That was really my earliestmission and I did that for many
years.
(11:04):
But then I got to the placewhere that wasn't enough.
My stages, as big as they were,weren't enough.
So I wound down producing andbecame an agent, opened an
agency.
When I first started the agency, I did it in the model that I
(11:25):
was familiar with because Iworked with a lot of agents
wanting to get speakers on mystages.
So I knew the commission-basedmodel of agencies.
But I also saw the major flawsin that model.
But for the first three yearsthat's the model I followed,
hating it every minute, andwound up developing a model that
(11:48):
puts the speaker in thedriver's seat and I realized the
power of voice, not just in thewell-being space but far beyond
right.
It is the fastest and mosteffective way to grow your
career.
If you're an entrepreneur, yourbusiness and it can become the
(12:09):
most beautiful career just onits own.
Fabulous, you know, speakerlife.
However, I also saw it's a lotof flipping work, and so I put
together a way to be able tohave kind of the best of all
worlds, utilizing agents,agencies and bureaus, but also
(12:30):
really making sure that you'reout there getting pitched
hundreds of times per month,because really that's the only
way to make it.
And so I realized a lot ofthese beautiful hidden gem
voices.
These critical hidden gemvoices were not the celebrities
on stages, but they were thosepeople boots on the ground,
right Doing the thing in theselittle corners of the world and
(12:54):
they would get on a stage.
if they happened to land one,they would pour the whole pot of
pasta on everybody's headsBecause as a speaker, you're
just naturally heart-centered.
You want to give everything youcan give.
I was seeing the flaws in howall of that worked.
I also saw that these hiddengem voices, the emerging voices,
(13:16):
were being turned away byagencies, because most agencies
will only take you if you canprove that you already have your
branding down, you already haveyour messaging down and you
have already have a track recordof earning a certain dollar
amount.
Usually that begins on thebottom edge 10,000 per talk.
On the upper edge, 25,000 pertalk, and those $10,000 speakers
(13:39):
sat on the bench a lot waitingfor the scraps.
So I developed a model thatwould serve them, along with
those more advanced speakers whoare just were at a kind of a
ceiling and they want that.
They wanted to bust through.
But all of that, to say it'sbeen driven by the desire to
(14:04):
make sure that your voice couldget out there.
When it comes to business,there is no better way.
If you don't have oneadvertising dollar, you have
your voice.
It is the most effective way togrow a business and the most
rewarding business, if that'sthe direction you want to take
(14:27):
your voice, where that's themajor part of your revenue and
business model.
But I think that the idea isthat, hey, I'm fabulous, I'm,
you know, maybe I work with highachieving people doctors,
former pro athletes, ceos ofcompanies who are experts in
(14:47):
their space and they've spokenin the line of their business,
but they hadn't really made it amajor part of their personal
model and so it's just kind oflike that heart before the horse
.
Like you can't, yeah, go ahead,you go ahead.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Yeah, I was just kind of wondering about one thing,
like you were talking about thespeaking, and I was saying,
thinking to myself, does itmatter if it's speaking on a
Zoom call?
Does it matter if it's speakingon a Zoom call or, you know, in
virtual space versus speakingon stage?
Do you either help the personexpand their business Will both
(15:27):
help expand their business?
What's the thought there?
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Two-edged sword it can.
I don't think that the platformmatters as the audience so it
can be a total bust, whetherit's on location or virtual.
To me it's all live.
You and I are connecting in alive way with each other and
with your audience, even thoughwe are not in a situation where
we can give a hug or a handshake.
(15:53):
But there's a lot of speakersout there who might say I won't
speak for free, it's just notworth my time.
Well right, it's not worth yourtime if you're in front of the
wrong people.
It is highly worth your time.
If you've defined the rightaudiences, you've made sure that
that audience has 50% or moreof your perfect fit people we
(16:15):
call them PFPs.
Your next best engagement isgoing to come from that current
engagement and that's how youreally launch into the career.
So people ask me this all thetime.
It's an excellent question.
Platforming does not matter asmuch as who's on the other side
of that platform.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Okay, great, I appreciate you sharing.
Thank you.
Yeah, I thought that excellent,excellent point, but you were
expressing information aboutspeakers and getting to the
stage and things like that, so Ididn't want to interrupt.
I apologize, I was just.
You was just wondering aboutthat one thing, so, please, Sure
(16:58):
you bet.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I think that the thought process is if I am a
proven expert, I've proven myprocess and I have some clout
behind me, right, I have someauthority in this space and I've
put together a bang and talk,right, I just get an agent or
get on a couple of bureaus andit's all good, I'm going to be
(17:23):
booked.
It doesn't work that way, justas if you and it's sad to me to
see how many speakers reallybelieve that's how it works and
I understand why but there's alot of voices out there that
then fizzle out.
They don't get out there.
They try it and they're like ah, I guess I'm not in demand or I
guess I'm not hitting it right.
(17:47):
It is like starting any otherbusiness.
Whether you're buying afranchise, opening a brick and
mortar, you have to lay thefoundation, build up the walls,
open the doors, staff it right,treat it like a business.
So, anyone willing to put inthat elbow work and treat it
like a business, you will havethat fabulous speaker life, but
(18:09):
it will not be in a snap,especially post 2020.
There's a lot of people whoexited the corporate world and
became either a consultant orspeaker.
Right, the competition,especially for those engagements
, $10,000 and above is fierce.
So you need to make yourself,position yourself, obviously as
authority and authority, butalso get super visible and get
(18:33):
pitched hundreds of times permonth.
No one agent or agency, nobureau is going to do that.
You're going to sit on a shelfwith a lot of other really great
speakers and just hope for thescraps.
So, yes, it needs to be part ofthe overall strategy to really
(18:53):
break in, but there also needsto be put some elbow grease
needs to go along with it, orhire a company like ours to make
sure that that engine getsrunning right and in the right
direction and keeps running.
It never slows down If you takeAugust off to go on a cruise
with your family.
That engine still needs to berunning because in December, six
(19:16):
months later, you're going tofeel like why isn't my calendar
filled Right?
Where did my engagements go?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, I had one of my mentors who said, basically, if
you stop, you have to start allover again, and it doesn't
matter when you stop, it justmatters that you did stop, and
then you have to start fromground zero.
You're absolutely right, andyou know, when you were talking
(19:43):
about that, I was thinking aboutsome of these business owners
and entrepreneurs that arelistening and thinking.
They, too, are speaking, butnot necessarily a formal speech,
right, they might be speakingto give the pitch for their
business, or they might bespeaking to introduce people to
their business and what it does,and things like that, and we
(20:03):
all get nervous about speakingin front of others.
So what are some ideas that youhave for us?
Lay people, if you will, thatmay need some assistance in that
arena of speaking.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
One of the first things that I would tell you
actually doesn't come from me.
It comes from one of the guestson my podcast last year, Nick
Lavery, and if any of yourguests want to reach out to me,
I'll make sure they get thatguide and video, or we can also
put it in the description.
But essentially what Nick saidis just brilliant.
(20:44):
So he was a Green Beret who wasseriously injured, lost his
legs in the line of duty andcould no longer serve at that
capacity, but high ranking.
When I say high ranking, Idon't know what his rank was,
but he was a highly valuedmember of his service.
(21:05):
He had never spoken, he was asoldier.
He was not a speaker, but hisfire-ups said, well, not a
speaker, but his fire-ups said,well, let's go speak, go start
speaking.
And he had no idea how to goabout that.
So he developed a system that Inow utilize with my clients and
(21:26):
will forever give him thecredit for because it's
brilliant.
I think that old adage how doyou eat an elephant One bite at
a time.
This is the approach that hetook and I'll share it just in
condensed form, but if you wantthe actual guide, I'm happy to
give that it's something we workwith our clients on.
(21:46):
So essentially, let's start atthe beginning, which has to do
more with my methodology thanNick's, but essentially your
signature talk.
I think a lot of people believeI don't need a signature talk.
I want to be able to know whothe audience is and talk about
what it is that they want.
That's fine, except a confusedmind doesn't buy.
(22:08):
You do need to have a corebrand and when we say signature
talk, it's more like a signaturecontainer for your signature
brand.
You have one talk from whichyour posts, your promotions and
the various talks that you giveall stem from.
(22:29):
And it's the same talk,different focus, so that one
talk can be very.
It's the same talk, differentfocus, so that one talk can be
very a hundred other talks.
So in doing that, in order toseamlessly be able to shift in
(22:49):
focus, you really have to haveit down so good, so naturally,
that you could give it.
If you're called today to have atalk tomorrow right, Somebody
had laryngitis and you'reinvited to step into that
person's space for a keynote ora corporate training engagement,
and essentially this is what itis, Of course, have a talk that
flows and portion control.
(23:13):
I just wrote a LinkedInnewsletter about portion control
.
It's called Keynoter's Edge.
It's on LinkedIn.
It's free.
I just wrote a whole articleabout this so I won't go into it
, but it is essential becauseI'm very Italian, so you know my
(23:34):
family would make these amazingmeals and then as a little girl
, you know they would heap thefood onto the plate and you're
so excited to eat it, but thenit becomes overwhelming, Like
how in the heck can I get thisall in?
And then you're like oh, I justcan't do it in this big fight
with grandma and grandpaeverybody Manga manga.
Manga, it's, you know good.
(23:57):
Anyhow, the same goes.
The same is true for youraudience, right?
They're just there for a bowlof nourishment.
They want to feel transformed,not overwhelmed, when they walk
out, and then they'll go lookingfor that next bowl.
So, it's just from the momentyou walk onto stage,
(24:18):
communicating in very subtleways, that this is the first
step in a journey.
So you give them just enough toget that first step in the next
step.
Step, the first step that leadsto the next step.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
So I think that's really key and especially newer
speakers tend to give too muchin one talk right and I can see
that you know, thinking back towhen I taught at universities
and stuff, and yeah, you're,you're feeling like they need to
know it all.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Or you want to give it all right, you want to give
because you think maybe that'sthe only chance that you'll get,
but if you're done right,they're going to seek you out.
Or if you're in a situationwhere you get to give them a
resource or an invitation to aconversation with you or a
workshop you might be doing,then they can get that next bowl
of nourishment, but it is ajourney.
Workshop you might be doing,then they can get that next bowl
of nourishment, but it is ajourney.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
And think of your talks as the first step in a
journey, not as a one and doneRight.
I love that thought that youhave there.
That's just beautiful, becauseso many times we do think I
either sell now, you know, and Iget somebody from my quick
pitch, or I'm done, you know,when I get somebody from my
quick pitch, or I'm done, youknow, and the reality is so
different Because as we developthose relationships, it's
(25:41):
through those relationships thatwe actually cultivate our brand
and develop what we're knownfor, if you will, like you were
talking about.
I really appreciate all yoursharing, antoniette, and I just
really thank you so much foryour time, but I am kind of
(26:02):
curious if people want to get toknow more about you, your
business, how can they reach outto you?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Sure.
So the first thing that theycould do is start following my
podcast.
Of course, I enjoy that andhope to have you as a guest at
some point.
And that's SpeakPact and pactas in as an impact right.
So the goal is to make thegreatest impact with the power
of our voices possible.
So it's SpeakPact P-A-C-T dotcom and that's to follow my
(26:34):
podcast on your favoriteplatform.
The other way is just if youwant to be considered for my
roster or just meet with me,that's Speaker Booker.
Speaker Booker dot com.
Speaker Booker dot com.
The other way is LinkedIn.
I love LinkedIn, my favoriteplatform.
It's a little harder to sayverbally because it's
(26:55):
linkedincom forward slash inforward slash.
The number one AntonietteA-N-T-O-N-I-E-T-T-E.
Antoniette Perfect.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Wow, the clarity you have and the articulation you
have is just beautiful.
I've got to say it's justwonderful, and I really
appreciate the conciseness inwhich you are able to express
some of the information thatyou're sharing with us.
And just astounding.
So thank you very much for yourtime and all of your
(27:27):
information.
It's just fantastic.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
An honor, Laura.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Thank you so much for having me Well, thank you, and
thank you so much for listeningto the Mosaic Life with Laura W.
Be sure to tune in next weekfor a conversation with and I'm
not sure who at this point, butwe'll be talking about a whole
bunch of new business ideas, andso I want to thank you once
(27:52):
again for listening and have agreat rest of your day.
Tune in for now.
Just like a mosaic is made up of a bunch of broken
tile pieces that create abeautiful hole, your business is
a tapestry of interconnectedbusiness parts and on the Mosaic
Life we'll explore those partsof a business, from marketing
and finance to mindset andinnovation.
I'm your host, lauraWagner-Kanesh, and together
(00:29):
we'll discover how to arrangethose pieces to create a
thriving and fulfilling business.
I want to thank you for tuninginto the show and to reach me.
Contact Laura atMosaicBusinessConsultingcom.
I am thrilled thrilled to havetoday on our show Antoniette
Rose, and I can just not sayenough about her.
(00:52):
It was really fortuitous tomeet her.
She's fantastic and she's adynamic, sought after speaker
agent.
Not the speaker just by itself,but the agent who is literally
revolutionizing the health,well-being and optimal
performance industry.
With a passion for empoweringspeakers to make a lasting
(01:16):
impact, she has developed agroundbreaking system for
success that is changing thegame for speakers and producers
alike.
As a cancer survivor and I'mvery curious to hear more about
that who relied on integrativetherapies in her youth,
antoniette is on a mission toensure that people have access
(01:37):
to the best solutions for theirhealth and wellbeing.
Countless lives have beenpositively impacted by the
speakers Antoniette has workedwith, many of whom have gone
from speaking for little tonothing to making speaking a
major part of their revenuemodel, and I really have my
fingers crossed on that one.
(01:58):
So Antoniette's impressivetrack record includes founding
and producing the Texas NaturalWellness Expos, which are huge,
serving as the PR manager forthe Holistic Lifestyle
Conference and Expo, and moldingsuccessful and profitable
(02:18):
speakers from hidden gems torecognized names in their
industry.
Her unparalleled expertise andunwavering commitment to
excellence have made her asought-after figure in the
well-being and optimumperformance speakers and
producers community.
Her mission is to ensure thateveryone has access to the best
(02:39):
solutions for their health andwell-being, and she is
unwavering in her dedication tothis cause.
So welcome to the show,antoniette.
It is so good to have you here.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Thank you for inviting me to Mosaic Life.
I love what you are doing onthis show and beyond.
Thank you for having me, Laura.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Oh, thanks.
I am just so excited.
So I am kind of wondering.
At first, I'm saddened to hearthat you had to get past cancer,
but perhaps you could take us alittle bit on that journey with
you and let us understand howthat changed your life or
impacted you show in itself.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
As a very young preteen to teen, I was diagnosed
with late stage, which hadeaten away my pelvic area.
So they had basically sent mehome.
It had been caught too late.
(03:38):
I had been in and out of fosterhomes so shortly after losing
our father to a drunk driverShortly after losing our father
to a drunk driver my mom had allof us to take care of and just
needed to get things backtogether before she could have
us.
So we were in and out of fosterhomes and I just wanted our
family back.
So I was in pain for a longtime.
(04:03):
I just didn't want in youryoung mind, I didn't want
anything to come between just usall coming back together.
Shortly after getting reunitedwith my family, we were clothes
shopping for school, and the waywe did it, because of our
income level at that time, waswe would go to thrift stores and
(04:23):
then we would go to alaundromat.
At that time was we would go tothrift stores and then we would
go to a laundromat, and sobefore we could really try on
our clothes, we'd have to getthem washed, and then I was just
excited about trying my newclothes on.
So I went into the littlebathroom at the laundromat as
they were coming out of thedryer, and this particular
bathroom had just one of thoselittle pedestal sinks and a
(04:45):
little mirror above.
I was tiny, so in order to seemy clothes they had this kind of
trash can that you could kindof step on.
So I stepped up onto the trashcan to see myself.
As I was coming down, I felt asnap and could barely walk out
of the bathroom.
So of course my mom gathered upall of us kids and our items and
(05:10):
took me just direct to anemergency room and that led on a
two-year journey where I was inand out of hospitals mostly in,
but the hospital before evenmaking it to the hospital that
wound up saving me.
They basically said shaming mymom.
Basically, how could you letthis go this long?
(05:31):
She has obviously been in a lotof pain.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Anyhow, you just need to go home and have the best
final days that you can with her.
And have the best final daysthat you can with her.
Thankfully, this doctor at thislittle country hospital had the
insight to kind of put the wordout.
Of course I was too young toreally know how all that went,
but a team of university doctorsheard about this young girl
(06:01):
being sent home and petitionedfor me to try some experimental
things.
So I went to this universityhospital, which became it was
hundreds of miles away from myhome.
My mom was busy raising theother children, so I was pretty
much there alone for almost ayear straight and then on and
(06:23):
off.
So the kids in that children'sward obviously became my family
during that time.
The lucky children whose cancersand leukemia.
This children's ward had allkinds of children children with
kidney issues, anorexia butthere was a good number of
children with leukemia or cancer.
Number of children withleukemia or cancer Something
(06:46):
that struck me, even as a younggirl, is me being the unlucky
one.
Right, we all come in lookinglike regular kids and I stayed
that way, although I wasbedridden for quite a while and
then in a wheelchair, but Istayed looking like a kid, like
(07:08):
a normal kid.
Soon after the others, who weregetting more of the mainstream
treatments, they becameunrecognizable swollen, some of
them with lesions and breakoutsand their gums and losing all
(07:29):
the things that are just very,very hard to witness.
They came in happy and playfuland then pretty soon they could
barely lift their heads.
It was just very difficult tocomprehend at that age.
What I wound up I'm going totry to condense this, but what I
(07:50):
wound up realizing is that Igot to leave that hospital, feel
the sun on my face again andsee the rest of my life, whereas
some of the lucky kids and Isay that because that's how it
was kind of presented to me Iwas, there wasn't a lot of
chance for me, there was morechance for them didn't get to
(08:11):
leave that hospital, at leastnot, you know, not in a way
where they could see the rest oftheir lives.
They, they, went on to the nextlevel.
Wherever.
Wherever we go, I rememberthinking obviously I didn't know
the politics of it all at thatage but why weren't their
parents told that maybe therewere some other things they
(08:32):
could try first, right beforegoing that route?
As I left that hospital for thelast time, it was very vivid to
me, at least the last majortime where I was there for a
long stretch I remember thinkingI want to be their faces, I
want to be their voices.
(08:52):
I didn't know how that wasgoing to look, but as I stepped
into the rest of my life, thatnever left me.
So I went on to the rest of mylife.
When it came time for college, Itook business management,
computer information systems andPR and marketing single major,
(09:15):
double minor, but I still didn'tknow what I was exactly going
to do with it and just fastforward through a whole bunch of
journeys.
I wound up again.
I opened a B&B and I opened upthe doors to my bed and
breakfast a time or two a monthto bring in people who would
(09:36):
come and speak on differentalternatives.
When I first started out onthis journey in the speaking
space, it was all aboutwell-being.
It has since very much expandedin breadth.
Now I work with speakers of allgenres.
Now I work with speakers of allgenres.
However, during those early daysthat's how it was, and we grew
(09:59):
out of my B&B, which was about a650 square foot space.
So I rented a little communitycenter.
We grew out of that and then Istarted renting whole convention
centers and it turned out to bea very huge event in a pretty
small town.
People would come from all overthe world, as far as from Italy
who we were talking a bit about, italy a moment ago who either
(10:24):
attend or speak at these events.
I did that for quite a numberof years.
But my goal was that when peopleneeded solutions, people needed
solutions.
They had answers.
In those early days we didn'thave the access to information
(10:44):
as easily as we do now, but alsojust that space where it didn't
feel like a gamble anymore.
You just were able to find allof your solution possibilities,
lay them out on the table andchoose what was best for you,
whether it was allopathic oralternative or a blend of both.
That was really my earliestmission and I did that for many
years.
(11:04):
But then I got to the placewhere that wasn't enough.
My stages, as big as they were,weren't enough.
So I wound down producing andbecame an agent, opened an
agency.
When I first started the agency, I did it in the model that I
(11:25):
was familiar with because Iworked with a lot of agents
wanting to get speakers on mystages.
So I knew the commission-basedmodel of agencies.
But I also saw the major flawsin that model.
But for the first three yearsthat's the model I followed,
hating it every minute, andwound up developing a model that
(11:48):
puts the speaker in thedriver's seat and I realized the
power of voice, not just in thewell-being space but far beyond
right.
It is the fastest and mosteffective way to grow your
career.
If you're an entrepreneur, yourbusiness and it can become the
(12:09):
most beautiful career just onits own.
Fabulous, you know, speakerlife.
However, I also saw it's a lotof flipping work, and so I put
together a way to be able tohave kind of the best of all
worlds, utilizing agents,agencies and bureaus, but also
(12:30):
really making sure that you'reout there getting pitched
hundreds of times per month,because really that's the only
way to make it.
And so I realized a lot ofthese beautiful hidden gem
voices.
These critical hidden gemvoices were not the celebrities
on stages, but they were thosepeople boots on the ground,
right Doing the thing in theselittle corners of the world and
(12:54):
they would get on a stage.
if they happened to land one,they would pour the whole pot of
pasta on everybody's headsBecause as a speaker, you're
just naturally heart-centered.
You want to give everything youcan give.
I was seeing the flaws in howall of that worked.
I also saw that these hiddengem voices, the emerging voices,
(13:16):
were being turned away byagencies, because most agencies
will only take you if you canprove that you already have your
branding down, you already haveyour messaging down and you
have already have a track recordof earning a certain dollar
amount.
Usually that begins on thebottom edge 10,000 per talk.
On the upper edge, 25,000 pertalk, and those $10,000 speakers
(13:39):
sat on the bench a lot waitingfor the scraps.
So I developed a model thatwould serve them, along with
those more advanced speakers whoare just were at a kind of a
ceiling and they want that.
They wanted to bust through.
But all of that, to say it'sbeen driven by the desire to
(14:04):
make sure that your voice couldget out there.
When it comes to business,there is no better way.
If you don't have oneadvertising dollar, you have
your voice.
It is the most effective way togrow a business and the most
rewarding business, if that'sthe direction you want to take
(14:27):
your voice, where that's themajor part of your revenue and
business model.
But I think that the idea isthat, hey, I'm fabulous, I'm,
you know, maybe I work with highachieving people doctors,
former pro athletes, ceos ofcompanies who are experts in
(14:47):
their space and they've spokenin the line of their business,
but they hadn't really made it amajor part of their personal
model and so it's just kind oflike that heart before the horse
.
Like you can't, yeah, go ahead,you go ahead.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Yeah, I was just kind of wondering about one thing,
like you were talking about thespeaking, and I was saying,
thinking to myself, does itmatter if it's speaking on a
Zoom call?
Does it matter if it's speakingon a Zoom call or, you know, in
virtual space versus speakingon stage?
Do you either help the personexpand their business Will both
(15:27):
help expand their business?
What's the thought there?
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Two-edged sword it can.
I don't think that the platformmatters as the audience so it
can be a total bust, whetherit's on location or virtual.
To me it's all live.
You and I are connecting in alive way with each other and
with your audience, even thoughwe are not in a situation where
we can give a hug or a handshake.
(15:53):
But there's a lot of speakersout there who might say I won't
speak for free, it's just notworth my time.
Well right, it's not worth yourtime if you're in front of the
wrong people.
It is highly worth your time.
If you've defined the rightaudiences, you've made sure that
that audience has 50% or moreof your perfect fit people we
(16:15):
call them PFPs.
Your next best engagement isgoing to come from that current
engagement and that's how youreally launch into the career.
So people ask me this all thetime.
It's an excellent question.
Platforming does not matter asmuch as who's on the other side
of that platform.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Okay, great, I appreciate you sharing.
Thank you.
Yeah, I thought that excellent,excellent point, but you were
expressing information aboutspeakers and getting to the
stage and things like that, so Ididn't want to interrupt.
I apologize, I was just.
You was just wondering aboutthat one thing, so, please, Sure
(16:58):
you bet.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
I think that the thought process is if I am a
proven expert, I've proven myprocess and I have some clout
behind me, right, I have someauthority in this space and I've
put together a bang and talk,right, I just get an agent or
get on a couple of bureaus andit's all good, I'm going to be
(17:23):
booked.
It doesn't work that way, justas if you and it's sad to me to
see how many speakers reallybelieve that's how it works and
I understand why but there's alot of voices out there that
then fizzle out.
They don't get out there.
They try it and they're like ah, I guess I'm not in demand or I
guess I'm not hitting it right.
(17:47):
It is like starting any otherbusiness.
Whether you're buying afranchise, opening a brick and
mortar, you have to lay thefoundation, build up the walls,
open the doors, staff it right,treat it like a business.
So, anyone willing to put inthat elbow work and treat it
like a business, you will havethat fabulous speaker life, but
(18:09):
it will not be in a snap,especially post 2020.
There's a lot of people whoexited the corporate world and
became either a consultant orspeaker.
Right, the competition,especially for those engagements
, $10,000 and above is fierce.
So you need to make yourself,position yourself, obviously as
authority and authority, butalso get super visible and get
(18:33):
pitched hundreds of times permonth.
No one agent or agency, nobureau is going to do that.
You're going to sit on a shelfwith a lot of other really great
speakers and just hope for thescraps.
So, yes, it needs to be part ofthe overall strategy to really
(18:53):
break in, but there also needsto be put some elbow grease
needs to go along with it, orhire a company like ours to make
sure that that engine getsrunning right and in the right
direction and keeps running.
It never slows down If you takeAugust off to go on a cruise
with your family.
That engine still needs to berunning because in December, six
(19:16):
months later, you're going tofeel like why isn't my calendar
filled Right?
Where did my engagements go?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, I had one of my mentors who said, basically, if
you stop, you have to start allover again, and it doesn't
matter when you stop, it justmatters that you did stop, and
then you have to start fromground zero.
You're absolutely right, andyou know, when you were talking
(19:43):
about that, I was thinking aboutsome of these business owners
and entrepreneurs that arelistening and thinking.
They, too, are speaking, butnot necessarily a formal speech,
right, they might be speakingto give the pitch for their
business, or they might bespeaking to introduce people to
their business and what it does,and things like that, and we
(20:03):
all get nervous about speakingin front of others.
So what are some ideas that youhave for us?
Lay people, if you will, thatmay need some assistance in that
arena of speaking.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
One of the first things that I would tell you
actually doesn't come from me.
It comes from one of the guestson my podcast last year, Nick
Lavery, and if any of yourguests want to reach out to me,
I'll make sure they get thatguide and video, or we can also
put it in the description.
But essentially what Nick saidis just brilliant.
(20:44):
So he was a Green Beret who wasseriously injured, lost his
legs in the line of duty andcould no longer serve at that
capacity, but high ranking.
When I say high ranking, Idon't know what his rank was,
but he was a highly valuedmember of his service.
(21:05):
He had never spoken, he was asoldier.
He was not a speaker, but hisfire-ups said, well, not a
speaker, but his fire-ups said,well, let's go speak, go start
speaking.
And he had no idea how to goabout that.
So he developed a system that Inow utilize with my clients and
(21:26):
will forever give him thecredit for because it's
brilliant.
I think that old adage how doyou eat an elephant One bite at
a time.
This is the approach that hetook and I'll share it just in
condensed form, but if you wantthe actual guide, I'm happy to
give that it's something we workwith our clients on.
(21:46):
So essentially, let's start atthe beginning, which has to do
more with my methodology thanNick's, but essentially your
signature talk.
I think a lot of people believeI don't need a signature talk.
I want to be able to know whothe audience is and talk about
what it is that they want.
That's fine, except a confusedmind doesn't buy.
(22:08):
You do need to have a corebrand and when we say signature
talk, it's more like a signaturecontainer for your signature
brand.
You have one talk from whichyour posts, your promotions and
the various talks that you giveall stem from.
(22:29):
And it's the same talk,different focus, so that one
talk can be very.
It's the same talk, differentfocus, so that one talk can be
very a hundred other talks.
So in doing that, in order toseamlessly be able to shift in
(22:49):
focus, you really have to haveit down so good, so naturally,
that you could give it.
If you're called today to have atalk tomorrow right, Somebody
had laryngitis and you'reinvited to step into that
person's space for a keynote ora corporate training engagement,
and essentially this is what itis, Of course, have a talk that
flows and portion control.
(23:13):
I just wrote a LinkedInnewsletter about portion control
.
It's called Keynoter's Edge.
It's on LinkedIn.
It's free.
I just wrote a whole articleabout this so I won't go into it
, but it is essential becauseI'm very Italian, so you know my
(23:34):
family would make these amazingmeals and then as a little girl
, you know they would heap thefood onto the plate and you're
so excited to eat it, but thenit becomes overwhelming, Like
how in the heck can I get thisall in?
And then you're like oh, I justcan't do it in this big fight
with grandma and grandpaeverybody Manga manga.
Manga, it's, you know good.
(23:57):
Anyhow, the same goes.
The same is true for youraudience, right?
They're just there for a bowlof nourishment.
They want to feel transformed,not overwhelmed, when they walk
out, and then they'll go lookingfor that next bowl.
So, it's just from the momentyou walk onto stage,
(24:18):
communicating in very subtleways, that this is the first
step in a journey.
So you give them just enough toget that first step in the next
step.
Step, the first step that leadsto the next step.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
So I think that's really key and especially newer
speakers tend to give too muchin one talk right and I can see
that you know, thinking back towhen I taught at universities
and stuff, and yeah, you're,you're feeling like they need to
know it all.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Or you want to give it all right, you want to give
because you think maybe that'sthe only chance that you'll get,
but if you're done right,they're going to seek you out.
Or if you're in a situationwhere you get to give them a
resource or an invitation to aconversation with you or a
workshop you might be doing,then they can get that next bowl
of nourishment, but it is ajourney.
Workshop you might be doing,then they can get that next bowl
of nourishment, but it is ajourney.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
And think of your talks as the first step in a
journey, not as a one and doneRight.
I love that thought that youhave there.
That's just beautiful, becauseso many times we do think I
either sell now, you know, and Iget somebody from my quick
pitch, or I'm done, you know,when I get somebody from my
quick pitch, or I'm done, youknow, and the reality is so
different Because as we developthose relationships, it's
(25:41):
through those relationships thatwe actually cultivate our brand
and develop what we're knownfor, if you will, like you were
talking about.
I really appreciate all yoursharing, antoniette, and I just
really thank you so much foryour time, but I am kind of
(26:02):
curious if people want to get toknow more about you, your
business, how can they reach outto you?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Sure.
So the first thing that theycould do is start following my
podcast.
Of course, I enjoy that andhope to have you as a guest at
some point.
And that's SpeakPact and pactas in as an impact right.
So the goal is to make thegreatest impact with the power
of our voices possible.
So it's SpeakPact P-A-C-T dotcom and that's to follow my
(26:34):
podcast on your favoriteplatform.
The other way is just if youwant to be considered for my
roster or just meet with me,that's Speaker Booker.
Speaker Booker dot com.
Speaker Booker dot com.
The other way is LinkedIn.
I love LinkedIn, my favoriteplatform.
It's a little harder to sayverbally because it's
(26:55):
linkedincom forward slash inforward slash.
The number one AntonietteA-N-T-O-N-I-E-T-T-E.
Antoniette Perfect.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
Wow, the clarity you have and the articulation you
have is just beautiful.
I've got to say it's justwonderful, and I really
appreciate the conciseness inwhich you are able to express
some of the information thatyou're sharing with us.
And just astounding.
So thank you very much for yourtime and all of your
(27:27):
information.
It's just fantastic.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
An honor, Laura.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Thank you so much for having me Well, thank you, and
thank you so much for listeningto the Mosaic Life with Laura W.
Be sure to tune in next weekfor a conversation with and I'm
not sure who at this point, butwe'll be talking about a whole
bunch of new business ideas, andso I want to thank you once
(27:52):
again for listening and have agreat rest of your day.
Tune in for now.
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