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Audio digitally transcribed by Otter.ai

Introduction 0:01
Welcome to the #PirateBroadcast™, where we interview #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. Where you can expand your connections, your community, #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. Let’s get this party started.

Russ Johns 0:19
What a beautiful day for the #PirateBroadcast™, don't you think?

Michael Sherlock 0:23
I do.

Russ Johns 0:27
Welcome to becoming a pirate. I'ts Michael, right?

Michael Sherlock 0:31
Yes. And I'm so excited to become a pirate. Argh.

Russ Johns 0:34
I am just elated that you're here. And we're wrapping up the end of the year. And we have some exciting, fun things to talk about. And, you know, make sure that the community has something to learn and take away and be inspired by. And I want to talk a little bit about let's go back aways, what inspired you to get shock your potential going? What was the shocking news that you received, or the change in your world that moved you and motivated you into doing marketing and the things you're doing right now?

Michael Sherlock 1:13
Well, you know, it's so funny, because, you know, thinking, looking back, you always wonder, you know, was it one thing? Was it 100 things, you know, but at the end of the day, I've always been an entrepreneur at heart. You know, so a little serial entrepreneur, never knew that term. Really. When I first started my first speaking and training business in my 20s, I had no idea I was an entrepreneur, I just knew I wanted to be my own boss.

Russ Johns 1:36
Yeah. I don't want to consider those shenanigans from anyone else.

Michael Sherlock 1:40
Exactly. But I bounced in and out of corporate America, for my career, because when I first started my first company long, long ago, I didn't have the reach. I didn't have the knowledge, I didn't have the experience, I had the energy and I could motivate people. But I didn't know how to run a business. That's not saying I truly know how to run a business today.

Russ Johns 2:01
We all bump against the walls now and then.

Michael Sherlock 2:04
Exactly, yeah, bumper cars with business. That'd be an interesting title to a book. But, but the final, you know, with shock your potential this is, you know, it came at a career, you know, changing moment where the company that I worked for, was going through a massive transformation. And basically, they let go of all the executive team to try and restart. And I'd only been with the company for less than a year. So. But when you're a VP, you know, at that level, you know that that happens, you know that does happen. And so I remember, you know, just sitting down and going, okay, what do I want to do, I'd written my first book, I didn't have time to publish it, or publish or not publish it, to publicize it, you know, to really get the word out. And I looked at my husband, I said, I think this is the time. I think this is the time I've been waiting for. And he's like, yeah, I really think it is. I knew I wanted to write more. I wanted to speak more. But it's interesting when I look back over the past several years is the company that I have today looks so different than what I imagined then, because I thought I'll just write some books and speak and you know, travel the world. And now I'm like, I've got a, you know, team, we're putting out all kinds of things all the time I actually run a company again, and some days, I'm like, what am I doing?

Russ Johns 3:19
Sometimes you could take the VP out of the company, but not necessarily the company out of the VP. Hmm.

Michael Sherlock 3:25
I know. I know. And I'm like, that was a good idea, Sherlock. And whenever I call myself Sherlock, you know we're having a real good conversation.

Russ Johns 3:34
I love it. I love it. Well, you know, things have changed in the last 10 years around marketing and media and you go back, and you know, I was in and out of the corporate world, and fortunately, I was an intrapreneur, you know, changing my job role and position inside the organization. And it really, for myself, it you know, the last time I exited out of corporate world, this is I'm never going back and I haven't, you know, it's like, Okay, I gotta do my own thing now. And it's really, it really gets to the point where you have to grow, you have no choice and you have a team and I have a team and it's really about how can we produce results and an impact in the world? Yep. So you know, your brand speaks your, you know, expansion on that idea, shock your potential. So talk about the essence of what you deliver to your clientele and your customers and your partners and your people.

Michael Sherlock 4:37
You know, when I came up with the name, I actually came up with the name in conjunction with the person that I was originally hiring to create my website and my kind of brand logo. And I remember he was asking me, he's like, so what are you known for? I'm like, well, I'm kind of shocking, you know, I have colorful hair. I usually have crazy shoes, I'm a little bit nonlinear in terms of how I present information and my real goal is to really get people to see what their full potential is, especially within leadership and sales, which is my you know, that's where I live. I love that. But it was, it was a sense of, you know, really trying to give some people the spark, you know, what's that little jolt of energy? And so when he came back, and he said, we've got an idea, we've already, you know, bought the domain name, hopefully you like it, but if you don't, whatever, and he said, shock your potential. And at first I thought about it, I was like, I'm not sure if that's it, I probably took three weeks to make the decision. And one day, I'm like, what are you doing? Like, this is perfect. And from then I really leaned into it, because it's, although, you know, we focus and specialize in leadership and sales. What I've found is that the majority of questions that I get asked by people in my trainings, when I'm doing workshops, when I'm invited to speak at conferences, is they're always coming up saying, but how do I do this? And mainly, how do I do this means? How do I set myself apart? How do I get the next job? How do I get promoted? How do I, you know, how do I navigate, you know, opportunity in another company? And so it really became this sense of how do you move yourself forward, whether it's your career or your entrepreneurial journey, to set yourself apart? Like you said, how do you really stand out?

Russ Johns 6:26
Yeah, it's really important to understand that, and a lot of people need a coach or an #inspiration or an instigator in their ideas. Because, you know, even if you've been doing it a long time, like I have, there are still areas that you're blind to, like, I don't see the value I bring to the table, or I don't see the essence in what I could shift here in this area. And someone like yourself could see that immediately, just pick up on it say, wow, you need to play on this, you need to preserve this piece of your personality, because that's what really brings it home. So is there a process that you use for that? What is the essence of what you bring to the table when you're bringing somebody's potential to the table?

Michael Sherlock 7:21
Well, it's interesting how you set that up, because it makes me think immediately of one of my friends, James Daniels, and hopefully he doesn't mind I call him out on this, but he was in one of my workshops, and he owns a an event meeting and design company. And he was trying to see where his company wanted to go in the future. And when we got done a couple days later, he sent me this note, and he's like, I have for the last couple years been trying to corporatize myself, I was trying to get back to that, you know, what do they want me to look like? What are you expecting and he goes, you know, I just sat there and listened to you. And I went, oh, my gosh, my personality is being you know, smashed. But it's smashed by me, not by corporate America. And we had such a great conversation. And I think it always starts with me say asking people, what do you want people to say about you when you're not in the room? You know, what are the words you want them to describe about you? And then the question is, what are they really saying about you right now, when you're not in the room? Do they match and if you're not sure, then you're not controlling the message. And controlling the message is something that we do hold in our power. But it takes a lot of work. To your point, marketing and branding is not just about a company, it's about yourself. And the way we create our own brand is absolutely vital to our success, but it better be authentic, because if it's not authentic, it's just never gonna stick.

Russ Johns 8:48
Well, and what I've discovered is when you're trying and attempting to be something you're not, it's always more work. I mean, this is like, just relax, be exactly who you are. And that's one of the things I struggle with is okay, really, because I've had so many different. I've been so fortunate to have so many different life experiences. And it's really amazing. And when I relax, it becomes who I am. And it's just, I mean, it's just here. I mean, it's just this kind of conversation. It's just, I found a Facebook post from six years ago that said #kindnessiscool. It's like, I've been saying that for a while now, I guess. Apparently I better stick to it.

Michael Sherlock 9:36
Yeah. And it really is when you when you lean into it, it comes naturally and people know. And it was funny because when I first started dyeing my hair and usually it's not just one color, but COVID made it a little challenging. I've had to take care of myself quite often. My husband helped me with this one. But the first time I colored my hair, I was going through a really, really traumatic time in my professional career, and I remember going to get my hair done and my hairstylist said, alright, so what color are we going to do? Which at that time meant what color of blonde are we going to make happen this time? And I said, You know what, let's just put navy blue right in the front. And I started laughing, and she goes, are you serious? Because we can totally do that. And I, I said, well, you know, I was joking. But what the heck, let's do it. And it was this whole change, I walked out of there almost like Superwoman, you know, like, I felt just that bit of color told me I had been squashing who I really was in a lot of ways, trying to fit in, trying to meet other people's expectations. And I'm like, screw this. This is who I am. I teach serious stuff about business, but I have a personality that I want to come through. And that's my authentic self. And when I did that, wow, it was like a whole new world opened up.

Russ Johns 10:59
Almost like a pirate, right?

Michael Sherlock 11:01
Ah, yes, arghhh.

Russ Johns 11:07
The funny thing about that story is sometimes it takes a moment and time just to reflect and have somebody shift 2 degrees, it doesn't take much, you're just, change your sails and catch the wind and and take off.

Michael Sherlock 11:25
Absolutely. You never know where what destination you'll find.

Russ Johns 11:28
Yeah, yeah. And also, you know, with COVID, in the last year, it's kind of had to shift a little bit in your speaking engagements and training and things like that. So I know you have an app that's evolving. Is that a result of the change this year? Or is that another way that you can add, you know, something more to the funnel, more to the flywheel of offerings.

Michael Sherlock 12:01
I tell you, you know, it was one of the most exciting things, let's see if I can get in there, that we did was our shock your potential app. And, you know, I never know which way I'm going on this. I'd always wanted to do an app. And I talked about it for several years. And mostly because when I would go speak at a conference, you know, you get done, you've got 600 people in the room, you got 30 of them lined up afterward to say I love your stuff, I'm going to buy your book, I want to follow you. And you're like, yeah, and then you know, they go on to the next session, and they forget about you after a while. And I always thought, if I could just say, well, I'm there. And by the way, if you want to follow us, you know, here's our shock your potential app, got a ton of free content, we've got some things that are in a very small membership fee as well, that people would be more inclined to follow. But I'd never had time to do it and the calendar was getting booked and booked. And when you know, COVID hit, and we started seeing cancellations. And 2020 was my greatest setup since the beginning of this business, speaking all over the world, I was most excited about one in Australia and Melbourne. And you know, but I had a ton of things all over the globe. And as it started to go and I realized at that point in time in March of 2020 95% of my business income came from me getting on an airplane, going to speak and train. And now in the world today, it is very difficult. People don't want to pay speakers. They think if you're going virtual that because you're not traveling that, why would you charge? You'll just get the exposure. And they forget what you get when you hire a speaker...

Russ Johns 13:35
Years of experience that you added up to be able to talk about the subject you're presenting.

Michael Sherlock 13:40
Yeah, exactly. And it was very frustrating. It's still very frustrating. It's very disheartening. I understand it, I understand other businesses and associations are also struggling a lot as well. But I knew that I had to pivot. So that's when we said okay, we're not going to give up on speaking and training. We're going to go after it with all we can, but we're really going to work on reaching directly to the consumer. So in essence now, instead of being primarily b2b, we are almost equally b2b as b2c. And when we just downloaded the app, kind of the beta test in July, we've had almost 1000 downloads from I think, 17 different countries. And our reach is great. So we've taken all the knowledge that we've taken that we've gained over the last few months, and we are relaunching officially in the beginning of January. And it's really, it's going to be a new opportunity for my business because I won't have to get on an airplane anymore to go speak. And it's really led us the opportunity to build other things where we're now we have sponsors and business partners and some things that I would have never thought of.

Russ Johns 14:41
Yeah, well, it's amazing. I mean, and I don't want to diminish anybody's challenges this year because there's been so many, however, for myself and my business. You know, I started the #PirateSyndicate™ and started remote broadcasting other people and my whole entire...it was an evolution of my podcasting days, you know, when I was doing radio and streaming, high school varsity football games and doing this whole episode of streaming. And I thought, well, I think it would be really wonderful if a business owner like yourself, could start a live show. And all they had to do is come to the mic and show up, I'll take care of the production, I'll take care of the social media, I'll take care of the promotion, I'll take care of the the technology and all the the orders and you know, getting on the show when signing up, and all that stuff. And hopefully, your experience was wonderful.

Michael Sherlock 15:38
Absolutely.

Russ Johns 15:39
And so that whole process is something I enjoyed doing. And so it was like, okay, not everybody, not every business owner wants that hassle or that overhead. And so it's like yourself, okay, let me shift my thinking. And now that people are unable to travel, you know, now I'm doing live streams on, you know, events and activities around, you know, associations and those things and setting that up. And it's much different, and it's a shift that's been beneficial for my business. And I can see a lot of people that are reflecting on, okay, how do I shift my business? And how do I think about this in order to achieve results? I mean, the app is a brilliant approach to that. And then splitting direct consumer with your information is another brilliant approach. Very shocking, I would have to say.

Michael Sherlock 16:34
Yeah, there were some sleepless nights, don't get me wrong.

Russ Johns 16:37
Oh, I trust you. I believe, you know, we've all had our sleepless nights, you know, anybody who's willing to take a risk is willing to lose a little sleep.

Michael Sherlock 16:47
That's true.

Russ Johns 16:48
And so from a marketing perspective, how did you position this in the market to get the downloads that you have so far?

Michael Sherlock 16:56
You know, um, it was, I don't even know how some of it happened. Strangely enough, I mean, I have a really good following on LinkedIn. And that's where I built my home. But I've really, when I started this business, I went strategically towards the customer that I wanted. So on LinkedIn, I have about 18,000 followers. And 80% of them are mid to advanced sales careers in leadership positions. And it's, you know, because I'm passionate about that group, I know what they face, I know, what keeps them up at night. And I know what makes them want to advance their skill set. So when we released the app, you know, just the uptake was huge. But I didn't expect it coming in other countries to it, that was just really fast. In fact, it's amazing. I was just before we got on today, I was taking a look at my book sales, and my Kindle book, sales of my two books, I just had I think five downloads from Japan. I'm like, who's reading me in Japan? This is so exciting.

Russ Johns 18:04
And that's the beauty of where we are today is, you know, when I started in advertising, back in my day, you know, the pre internet, it was essentially a different world. And now we have so many opportunitiesand you and I would never have met before LinkedIn. Our paths would not have crossed, typically, historically. And it's just amazing to me to think that we have so many opportunities out there that if you're willing to take the chance, and kind of shock yourself into existence here. It's one of those things that you have an opportunity to reach and access millions of people. And it's just, I mean, to me, it's amazing. And I mean, as I've been doing this since 2014, with podcasting, you know, it's like, out there you are the media. You have a gift, you have a message. You have something going on. So it's really a beautiful thing. Hey, I want to give a shout out to some of the people that are in the in the audience here today. Angie is here. Great morning, everyone. Lorrie Scott is coming in the room. Thank you so much. Loren, another pirate. She's here and Good morning, Loren. I love your locks. Nick Gemmell up from Canada here. So Patrick is saying good morning, Mary-Ellen Shay. Fantastic. Gabriel is here. Hello, fellow pirates. And Wendy is here. Good morning. Monday morning Gabriel says Loren Greif. Good morning Loren. Kenyatta is here. Good morning to the #RussJohns the #PirateBroadcast™ crew. So where can they download the app? Let's make sure that we get that in the comments.

Michael Sherlock 20:04
So oh yeah, just search, shock your potential, in your app store and you will find it and you'll know because it has my beautiful colorful logo on it.

Russ Johns 20:13
I love instigating #inspiration. I like that.

Michael Sherlock 20:17
Yay, love it. You know, I gotta tell you too, Russ, I'm kind of jealous of you know how you have these pirates. You have followers. I've tried to figure out, you know, since I follow john Lee Dumas I'm like, Alright, Fire Nation, like I don't know who my...I don't know what to call my tribe. Like, hello, potentialites. So if any of your followers or you have any suggestions, I need to come up with something catchy. So you know, even when I do my intro to my podcast, I can say Hello, fellow Shockers, or, yeah, none that sounds all that exciting, but somebody will come up with something.

Russ Johns 20:53
Somebody will come up with something. Just like your web developer came up with shock your potential, right?

Michael Sherlock 21:00
There you go, there you go.

Russ Johns 21:01
Wendy says, "we already bought the domain....." Isn't it wonderful when others see who you are? That means we have been so consistently genuine that our identity is like breathing.

Michael Sherlock 21:15
Yeah, that's true. And, you know, when they did that, I thought, well, that's a risk. I mean, but how much does a domain cost? But it really was...oh, thank you, Gabriel. It really was for....thank you. Love it, you guys. They're so great. I love your community.

Russ Johns 21:35
You know, and it's really about....and pirates do connect with Michael, and make sure that you say I'm a pirate, let's connect or something.

Michael Sherlock 21:46
I'm a pirate, let's connect.

Russ Johns 21:55
I want to really leave behind some nuggets of knowledge that from a marketing perspective. And you know, going through all these iterations that you have building an app, what was the most challenging kind of segments of that process? Kind of walk us through the experience.

Michael Sherlock 22:13
The experience actually was great. I work with a company that has basically the platform. So it's really a drag and drop for what you want to use. But what I wanted to figure out was the content. And I thought that I knew what people would want in terms of content. And they liked what I had, but there was more that I even thought of. And we actually have taken a couple months off from putting out new stuff, which we start again on January 4, but for instance, I was doing a Monday #motivation. And I kept getting people saying this is great, but I want it every day. So I'm like, okay, you want a morning #motivation. Alright, so I get that. So then some of the longer content that I thought people would really be invested in, they're like, that's great. But I want more of this, I want more, we have a place that we call the side hustle room, where I interview other entrepreneurs who are maybe doing, some of them are doing things like multi level marketing, some of them started their own business, some bought a franchise. And in that side hustle room I'm finding especially because my followers are so many of them are leaders and sales leaders, you know, they're looking for their side hustle to make it their full time gig. And so the awareness with that is great. So what I really learned in the process is don't think I know the plan. Make sure you're asking your customers.

Russ Johns 23:30
That's what Wendy says, asking for a nugget: what's your best way to tell someone, "you can do more!"?

Michael Sherlock 23:38
Well, I think the the end of the day is, you know, when I look at somebody and I know that they're not up to their full potential, but they're having this conversation with me. So you know, they want to...I just go always back to that. What are the words that people are saying about you right now when you're not in the room? But what are the words you want them to say? Because that's where the gap is. Because when somebody says, well, I want them to say, oh, she's a go getter. She is a dependable, she's whatever. And I say, but what's the difference between what you think they're saying about you now? Then I'll say, why do you think there is this difference between the words that are spoken about you now and what you want those words to be? And that's usually when somebody goes, well, maybe I haven't put myself forward enough. Maybe I haven't shared my ideas in the meetings enough. Maybe I haven't gone for that promotion. Maybe I didn't negotiate well enough for myself. And in those words, then they get that awareness. And it's all part of my strategy where I ask more questions than I try and give answers. Because you ultimately know the answer. My job is to get the answer out of you. So that you can say, hey, all right, I see it. I'm gonna look in the mirror on that one.

Russ Johns 24:48
Yeah, sometimes we're afraid of the answer, though.

Michael Sherlock 24:51
Oh, gosh. Yes. Heck yeah. And that's the thing that you know, and that's okay, too. You can be afraid of it. But if you want to manifest it, then you're going to have to also deal with the fear. And I'll just tell you a quick little story. The other day, I interviewed a gal for my podcast, she'll be on my February lineup, her name is Heather Dominic. And she has a company called business miracles. So if any of you feel like you're ever like, overwhelmed, I'm going to give a free plug to her because I took her, she has this little test to figure out if you're a highly sensitive person, and meaning not just like your feelings get hurt a lot, but that you get overwhelmed that maybe you might be afraid of some of those things. And so before I interviewed her, I took the quiz. And so you could come back as highly sensitive, very highly sensitive or whatever. Or you could be like her, and you could be a super uber, highly sensitive. And as I was getting ready to interview, I go, Oh, I just got my results, I have to open them up. And she goes, What are you and I go, I'm looking through and I go, I'm a super, uber, highly sensitive, she goes, Oh, my God, we're gonna have a great interview, or else we're both going to be crying.

Russ Johns 25:58
Oh, no.

Michael Sherlock 26:00
It was great. It was so much awareness of myself. And there are times that I kept myself from reaching my full potential because of fear, or feelings of overwhelm. And it just, I mean, if you look hard enough, you will find somebody whose message resonates with you and helps you unlock that piece of yourself that you're still not letting out into the world.

Russ Johns 26:23
Yeah, you're protecting because there's either one or two things that take place, either fear commitment, and owning it. Or the fear of judgment, and the ego still holding you back. So it's really important to understand what unlocks that key for each and because I believe truly that everyone has a gift, everyone has a message, everyone has an opportunity to share some incredibly amazing things. And with technology the way it is right now, we have an opportunity to do this. In fact, I don't know if you're familiar with Dubb yet. Or, you know, Ruben and Darius and Shannon over at Dubb. It's an amazing technology that if you're in the sales arena, we'll have an offline conversation about this, because I really want to share it with more people. So I set it up. So I could actually from my phone, I could put it on a post. And then I set up email where I could actually send out a video email directly to my community. So I can, you know, out on the fly, just shoot a video, and then have it delivered an email in and out. With the technology like that and it's like, I don't know if anybody needs it, or wants it or cares about it, but it's it was a thought experiment that I thought, okay, I want to see if I can do this. And the reality is that we all have potential to change lives. And when you own that, and you understand that that is in fact, part of the process of who we are. It makes it so much easier.

Michael Sherlock 28:03
Amen. Amen.

Russ Johns 28:05
So besides LinkedIn, what's your favorite method of people getting a hold of you?

Michael Sherlock 28:12
Well, I think you can find our website at shockyourpotential.com, shockingly enough, that people can also reach out directly at michael@shockyourpotential.com and you'll see it on this screen there. It's spelled just like a man's name, although I'm a girl. And you can pretty much find us anywhere. But all of our links are there and shock your potential on YouTube, a lot of great things that are coming out again, beginning January 4, so we're kicking off 2021 with a whole lot of content.

Russ Johns 28:42
Well, I would love the opportunity to connect and coordinate and create some amazing content together.

Michael Sherlock 28:50
Awesome.

Russ Johns 28:50
It would be fantastic to get the shocking potential out from the pirates as well.

Michael Sherlock 28:57
I love it

Russ Johns 28:58
And pirates go download the app, go experiment, go explore and learn more about Michael today because I get the sense that you know 2021 may not change it January 1, however, there are going to be a lot of people changing the way they look at life and the way that they have potential develop in 2021.

Michael Sherlock 29:23
Amen.

Russ Johns 29:24
Thank you so much for being here, Michael, I really appreciate you and the things you're doing and the adventures that you're going on. And I look forward to more in 2021 and seeing you and your adventures take unfold and come on the pirate ship again. In fact after you get launched and in the public. book another slot and we'll get you on and give you... will do a recap and have some adventures.

Michael Sherlock 29:52
Awesome, thank you,Russ. It has been a pleasure to be a part of the pirate community.

Russ Johns 29:56
Yeah, and I really I really...my intention this year is to continue to grow the #PirateSyndicate™ and the #PirateBroadcast™ and help more people. Because bringing people to the table and having these conversations I think is incredibly valuable. And the way you can help us out is to go like and share and comment on the podcast, on the YouTube channel and sign up to get notifications when a new episode comes out. It's really important for us to grow and share this valuable information with others. And it's only because #kindnessiscool, and #smilesarefree, so you #enjoyyourday. Till next time, see you then. Take care everyone.

Exit 30:49
Thank you for joining the #PirateBroadcast™. If you found this content valuable, please like, comment and share it across your social media channels. I would love the opportunity to help others grow in their business. The #PirateSyndicate ™ is a platform where you show up, we produce the show. It's that easy. If you want to be seen, be heard and be talked about, join the #PirateSyndicate™ today.

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