Jenn Scalia: Million Dollar Mommy

In This Episode

Jenn Scalia knows people don’t respond well when they feel they’re being sold to. That’s why she created the “experience marketing” technique. In this episode of Modern Ontrapreneur, she shares this method for bringing customers on a journey, how she learned to shine on stage despite being an introvert, and why breaking down complexities is her go-to approach.

Topic Timeline:

1:05 Be Yourself

Don’t settle for a job; find your calling.

2:41 Give People an Experience

Taking clients on a journey before the sale is what nurtures them.

4:57 Break Down Complex Concepts

Making things easy to understand has been Jenn’s go-to approach.

6:45 Public Speaking Is Hard

Even coaches need coaches.

8:45 Helping Women Create Wealth and Freedom Through Business

You don’t have to depend on others to harness your power.

9:23 Evolve

As time goes on, share your transitions and phases with the world.

– Jenn Scalia

Show Transcript:

LR: Welcome to Modern Ontrapreneur. I’m Landon Ray and I have Jenn Scalia with me, who’s a visibility strategist for entrepreneurs who want to make an impact. This self-professed introvert and single mom went from rock bottom to creating a seven figure business in three years. Known for her tough love and no BS style, Jenn helps entrepreneurs overhaul their biggest fears and empowers them to share their message with the world. She’s the CEO and mastermind of Million Dollar Mommy, a company founded to help women across the world reach their dreams and financial goals. Thanks for being here, Jenn. Awesome.

JS: Thanks for having me.

LR: Yeah, so three years. Did you just start three years ago or has it been longer than that since…..

JS: Yeah, I feel like I’ve been an entrepreneur my whole life, but this particular business I started in 2014.

LR: Yeah. So if you think back at the beginning maybe of your entrepreneurial career, maybe not just three years ago, but younger….

JS: Yeah.

LR: What would you say is the piece of advice that you would give yourself that would have made it easier?

JS: Oh gosh. So many, but I think that the number one thing is to be yourself and really do, like, what your calling is. I feel I actually went off the beaten path and was like, “Oh, I should probably try something new,” when I really ended up where I was supposed to be and something that was always ingrained in me to do.

LR: So, be yourself. Tell me more about what you mean by that because you hear, “Do what you love, and the money will follow,” but being yourself doesn’t cause stampedes of people to come and pay you money.

JS: Actually I think it does.

LR: Oh, you do?

JS: Yeah, I do.

LR: Tell me why.

JS: The basis of my entire business is really just how you can bring in your stories, your uniqueness, your experiences and connect with people in a way that is so much different than just going out there and saying, “Hey, buy my stuff.” But you’re really creating relationships with your audience and your potential clients.

LR: It sounds like you had an early experience of trying to market in a more traditional way and then something happened. What was that thing?

JS: Yeah. I think I was trying to be someone else or I was trying to do things very traditionally, and I just found that it didn’t work for me. I have a lot of different quirks. Like, I say I’m an introvert and a lot of the normal things that worked for other people, like live video or webinars didn’t really work for me. So I had to kind of transition and figure out how I can connect with my people on a different level, in a different way that actually works for me and also works for them?

LR: Yeah. So what is it that’s working for you now, that’s bringing you customers?

JS: Yeah, so I do think, like we were just saying it’s really just bringing my personality and my story to it. And one of the things I do is actually help people, or actually give people an experience, is what I call it, experience marketing. And I essentially take them on a journey, longer journey so it’s a little longer than just, hey, buy my stuff. Or here’s, you know, a leaf magnet or here’s a webinar, now buy from me. But I’m actually taking people on an experience and really nurturing the relationship before I ever make the sale. So they actually want me to sell them something at the end.

LR: Yeah. So tell me more. What do you mean by you take them on an experience? If somebody finds you … How do they find you to begin with?

JS: Typically, it’s through the magnet, social media….

LR: You’re advertising?

JS: Yes.

LR: On?

JS: Facebook.

LR: Facebook advertising to some kind of opt in.

JS: Yeah.

LR: Or social media….

JS: Something pretty simple, Checklist, cheat sheet, something of that sort. And then what I do, I invite people to do a five day challenge with me.

LR: Okay.

JS: And so that’s what the experience is for them. So before we even exchange money or before they buy something from me, I’m actually giving them massive value up front and I’m giving them a taste essentially of what it’s like to work with me.

LR: Yeah. And so tell me about the five day challenge. What happens?

JS: Yeah. They’re awesome. So essentially what it is, is it’s step one or step zero before they actually need my product or can get the most benefits from my products. So essentially what I’m doing is, I’m creating a small result for them so I’m giving them massive value. They’re getting a result from me. They’re starting to associate results with working with me. And then in the process of that challenge, I’m also creating a new problem for them. And my service or my product, whatever it is I’m selling at the time kind of fills in that gap and says, okay now you have this new problem, I’m here to help you solve it.

LR: Yeah. And you’re doing this whole experience through email?

JS: Yes. Email and then we bring them over into a community. They’re on Facebook or Instagram or whatever the preferred social media platform is. So we’re also creating community with the people. And a lot of the time they don’t want to stray away. They don’t want to be the one person that doesn’t take the course or jump in on the program. So it creates a real interesting dynamic.

LR: Some enthusiasm and some commitment.

JS: Yes. And lot of engagement.

LR: Following things through.

JS: Yes.

LR: Very interesting. So it sounds like you’ve been through a lot of different entrepreneurial experiences. What is thing you think is your unique skill set that’s had you be successful like this?

JS: Wow, good question. Lots of different things but I think it is really just breaking down things really simply. And so a lot of people come into this world and they may be service providers or coaches and they’re not marketers. They don’t really know how to do certain things. They’re not very techie. So for me, I’m able to really take certain things like even funnels or the challenges and break it down in a way that makes sense for them, that’s easy for them to do.

LR: When you say them, you mean your team?

JS: My ideal clients.

LR: Your ideal clients.

JS: Yeah. Like how to market themselves online.

LR: Oh, got you. So you’re a great educator?

JS: Yes.

LR: Is what you’re saying. It’s interesting because it’s kind of amazing how many people when I ask that question, what you’re unique skill set is, say something in that ballpark. Like, I break down complex ideas into simple concepts. It’s not everybody but it’s like maybe, definitely top one or two or three answers that we get. And it’s starting to make me wonder if that isn’t a really core skill. And I don’t know if it’s necessarily as much about being able to distill complex concepts like that, some kind of special brain thing that we do or if it’s more about having the confidence to just ask the silly question. Or like, admit that we don’t know and go, wait a minute, how does this work. I need to break this down into, and really understand it instead of worrying about looking good and … You know what I mean?

JS: Yeah. That’s actually what I talk a lot about too, is just this authenticity, vulnerability, bringing that into your marketing as well and really just connecting with your audience in a way that most people can’t.

LR: Interesting. So what is your cutting edge right now? What are you struggling with? What’s hard for you? What are you trying to learn?

JS: Well, funnily enough, speaking. I actually hired a speaking coach at the beginning of the year.  And, for me, I try to be the best at everything. And so when I know that I’m lacking in a certain skill I’m like I need to go find the best person that’s going to help me do this. And so I hired a speaking coach, and that’s kind of my mountain for this year.

LR: Interesting.

JS: Is getting more speaking engagements. Getting more comfortable on the stage especially being an introvert, and I used to have this deathly fear of being on stage, and now I just kind of just go up there. I’m not even nervous. I’m excited.

LR: Interesting. So many people talk about forgetting about your weaknesses. Focus on your strengths. You’re like you said, a self-professed introvert. It seems obvious to presume that jumping up in front of a couple of hundred people or whatever is, or the whole world on Facebook live or whatever would be a weakness. Why did you choose to focus on shoring up that part of your game?

JS: Well for me, I feel like I want just complete self-mastery. So I’m always looking for the weaknesses and saying, okay where can I improve and where can I do better? Last year it was sales even though I’ve done lots and lots of sales, I still felt like that was a weakness for me. So that was somewhere where I wanted to say, who is the best salesperson and where can I learn the most from that salesperson. So I’m always looking for the weaknesses and how I can improve them.

LR: A little bit of a sadist.

JS: Yeah.

LR: And so do you tell people that’s what they should do? Like go find the weak spots and fix it, and that’s what it takes to barrel through and….

JS: Well, yeah.

LR: Be well rounded and be able to figure it all out.

JS: Yeah. I feel like some people lack confidence or they doubt themselves. And I’m like, okay, but you can always get help. So wherever you’re lacking confidence or wherever you’re doubting, go get training. Practice. Do that one thing until you are confident in it. I feel like you can always get confident in any area where you feel like you’re lacking.

LR: Yeah. You’ve got, obviously years ahead of you, but if you could imagine yourself towards the end of your career, what would you like your legacy to have been? What would you like to be known for having built?

JS: Yeah. I want to help people, specifically women, create wealth and freedom through business. Yeah. I think as women, you know back in the day, it was always like get a rich husband and have somebody take care of you and I really want to help people. I’m a single mom and I kind of had to do this on my own so I want to help other women who are in my position like really own their power and be able to create those things for themselves and not have to depend on other people.

LR: Awesome. Well we’ve called this thing Modern Ontrapreneur and we’re trying to shine a light on what it is to be an entrepreneur in 2017, 2018. We have some unique opportunities and maybe also some unique responsibilities as kind of people that are taking advantage of the tools that we now have available to us. What do you think those unique opportunities are, the unique responsibilities? What does it mean to be a modern entrepreneur do you think?

JS: Yeah. I really think it is about just evolving. I think we all have transitions. We all have phases that we go through in our business. And I’ve only been in business for a few short years, but I feel like each phase and each evolution is just bringing me closer and closer to where I need to be. And I think as a leader, it’s our responsibility to share that with others too. And have that vulnerability that it’s okay to change your mind. It’s okay to shift things and transition and evolve into that person that you ultimately will want to be.

LR: Yeah. Awesome. Well thank you so much for being with us today.

JS: Thank you.

LR: It’s been a total pleasure. Will you sign our wall?

JS: Absolutely.

Want more Modern Ontrapreneur Podcast?

Check out the previous episode featuring John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing.