IAM1410 – Best-Selling Author and Speaker Helps Entrepreneurs Write, Self-Publish & Tell Their Stories

Vickie Gould is a Law of Attraction business and book coach, best-selling author, and speaker. She is the author of the new book (Released September 4, 2018), “Courageous World Catalysts 2,” an anthology showcasing over 10 entrepreneurs and their stories. She helps entrepreneurs to write and self-publish their own business books to share their stories, grow their following, and create more impact, reach, and clientele. She has written 8 bestsellers such as Hit Publish and Standing in the Gap, and helped nearly 100 others to become best-selling authors as well.

• CEO Story: There was a time when Vickie had to run away from her story. But through forgiveness and a deep understanding that everybody has to go through toughness in life so that they can help others who are desperately in need to hear your life story. That is why Vickie has a really deep connection with her readers, because of the uniqueness of her story. And now, she is helping numerous aspiring authors to write a book, not just for fame or authority, but to connect within themselves and to touch the lives of other people.
• Business Service: Help people write a book. Turn your readers into a client.
• Secret Sauce: Not stopping by just writing a book but getting to another level by leveraging that story into other places and making the book profitable.
• CEO Hack: Automation or omnipresence like IFTTT,  Amplifier, and Byron Katie “Loving What Is” 
• CEO Nugget: Be patient.
• CEO Defined: Treating your business like a business and not as a solo hobbyist.

Website: http://www.vickiegould.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vickie_gould
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickiegould/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vickiegould/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vickiegouldcoach/
Books: https://amzn.to/2OUtw8C

Episode Link: https://iamceo.co/2018/10/02/iam076-best-selling-author-speaker-helps-entrepreneurs-write-self-publish-tell-their-stories

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Transcription

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00:02 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEO's without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share precisely the information you're searching for. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:27- Gresham Harkless

Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Vicki Gould of Vickygould.com dot. Vicki, it's awesome to have you on the show.

00:37 – Vickie Gould

Thank you so much for having me. Such a pleasure to be here.

00:40 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Well, I appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was just read a little bit more about Vicki so you can learn a little bit more about her. Vicki is a law of attraction business and book coach, bestselling author, and speaker. She is the author of the forthcoming book Courageous World of Catalysts Two, an anthology showcasing overdose, ten entrepreneurs, and their stories. She helps entrepreneurs to write and self-publish their own business books, share their stories, grow their following, and create more impact and reach in clientele. She has written over eight bestsellers, such as Hit Publish and Standing in the Gap, and helped nearly 100 others to become best-selling authors as well. Vicki, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:22 – Vickie Gould

Absolutely.

01:24 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question that I have was just kind of to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to it.

01:31 – Vickie Gould

Yeah, actually, you know, what people know about me is a lot of the stuff that you shared. Right. But what they don't really know a lot of times is that there was a time in my life when I was actually running away from my story. So back in 1989, and I'm dating myself now, I was a senior in high school. It was a second semester of senior high and I was due to graduate. But the problem was that it was always stormy, and it was stormy inside my house. So this particular day, my dad had been away on a business trip. And it seemed that stuff happened then between me and my mother when he was gone because my buffer was gone. My sister had gone to college, and that buffer was gone. It was just me and her.

And while I understand now that she did the best that she could, she was an immigrant from another country, from Taiwan. She wanted what was best for all of us. She was trying to get, you know, the best life for herself as well. It seemed that no matter what I did I reminded her of the things that she couldn't have or didn't achieve. Maybe it was because I looked like her, acted like her, something. But she took that out on me. And that day, I remember, we had a massive brawl on the kitchen floor. She pulled my hair. I pulled her hair. Eventually, I ran upstairs, slammed the door, grabbed all my stuff in my backpack, and threw my contact lenses in there. I was a good student, so I threw my books in there, too, for some reason, and I don't know why, there was a bungee cord in my closet.

And I quickly took that bungee cord, hooked it to the post of my canopy bed, tied a sheet to it, and let it out. My second-story window. And it's not like it is in the spy movies where you just kind of doink, doink, doink, you know, down the brick wall. It's not like that. When you jump out the second-story window with a bungee cord is elastic, and you kind of just plop on the ground. They plopped on the ground. And I thought, if I could just run away, I could run away from that story, I could run away from life. I could run away from the voices in my head of her saying, you're not good enough. You'll never amount to anything. You're not worthy. Nobody wants you. Just all these things that she would say. I thought if I got away, I would be away from the words.

But what I realized was I took that baggage and all those words with me in my head. There was no running away from the story. And like I said, you know, I know that she did the very best that she could with what she had given. This was a country where she still didn't speak the language very well. She felt like an outsider. She wasn't confident in herself. But what I realized through that and through all that forgiveness and everything is that there are so many reasons for us to go through what we go through in life. Many of us probably say at some time in. In life with our struggles. Why me? Why did I have to go through this? Why is this happening to me? I don't understand what the lesson is.

And I think for me, it was understanding that those lessons, what we share and how we share them with the world, those are the things. Those journeys are the things that we help each other with. And sometimes you go through stuff so that you can help others to go through their stuff and hold their hand along the way. And so part of what I do with helping people to write books and one of the things I say a lot is the most transformational book you'll ever read is the one that you write. So many of my authors say that by going through their story and digging through that story and getting really into that pit and that valley of sharing their vulnerability, they have healed so many things within themselves while writing the book.

And that's what I love so much about writing the book. It's not just the book that you get. It's not just that you become a bestseller. It's not just that you get more credibility authority and expert status. You get a connection with your audience that you can't get anywhere else by sharing that story. And you get to help people and make a bigger impact and create change in the world. That's why I do what I do now, and that's why I love what I do now in helping others to share that story from a place of vulnerability so that they can really touch the hearts of the people that they want to help. So that's how I got started. That's how it all happened.

06:01 – Gresham Harkless

I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through that difficult period. But as you said, it's been a great way for you to kind of maybe help out the clients that you work with so that they understand and can be transparent and can be authentic in telling their story and being able to help out others through their story as well, too. I wanted to drill a little bit deeper and hear a little bit more about, like, how you help out the clients. How do you serve the clients that you work with?

06:22 – Vickie Gould

Yeah, a lot of times they come to me with a lot of different topics. Cause, you know, we all could probably write about a bunch of different things. So the first thing that we do is we get really clear on how they want their book to connect to their business. Because I work with entrepreneurs, right? So what they want, in essence, is to leverage that book, and turn readers into clients. If you are a, let's say, relationship coach, it doesn't make a lot of sense to write a book about cooking, even though you could. Maybe that's your hobby and your passion, and that's part of what you do, but it doesn't make sense, right? So we have to make sure that it's aligned first. So we pick the topic.

Usually, that topic is going to be aligned as well with some sort of signature product that they have. Because the book, profitability,y, and ROI, return on investment are actually in the upsell into a product rather than the royalties. Again, it's not just about the book and the credibility that you get. But I also help them to see how they can leverage that into getting that reader to purchase something else with them, but not in a salesy, slimy, awkward, sleazy way. And then also within that story, because I'm really about the story, in case you haven't figured that one out.

So we leverage a story in the book. And while I'm best known for the book, you know, the book coaching part, it's leveraging the story and everything else that you do because we all have major stories, minor stories, and stuff. So it's like we use that same story that's in their book, in their videos, in their media features. Maybe they want to get on entrepreneur.com, or maybe they want to get into HuffPost or Thrive Global. You know, we use that because those platforms are all about sharing stories and actionable items and content, right?

Kind of like what you've done here in your podcast. We're sharing stories, but you're now wanting to know some real nitty gritty, let's have some actual items, right, that we can actually use in our business. We then leverage those items that are within their books so they can get even more following, even more opportunities, and even more features.

08:21 – Gresham Harkless

That makes perfect sense. And I think it's great that how you have and start out with a story and then everything else kind of flows from there. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce or what you feel kind of makes you unique or distinguishes you as an entrepreneur or business owner.

08:35 – Vickie Gould

Well, specifically with the business, I would say that what makes me different is I don't stop at writing the book. Now, if that's where you want to stop, we can stop there. And I've had clients that stop there. Right. We continue to go on, like I said, you know, with the previous example about leveraging that story into other places and making the book profitable. I've heard before that some people just consider a book an expensive business card. Well, sure. It's going to be a really expensive business card. If all you do is hand the book out and you don't do anything else with it, you really need to leverage it. So I think my difference from other book writing coaches or publishers or editors or whatever people want to call them these days is that I have a marketing background and I'm all about leverage. We don't end with your book and your story.

09:22 – Gresham Harkless

I love that. I love that. And as you said, it's like a living, breathing thing because you're able to do so many things on top of writing the book, that's just kind of like the start of everything, so to speak. So I think that's pretty awesome. What I want to do now is switch gears a little bit, Vicki, and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. This might be an app a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.

09:45 – Vickie Gould

So there are actually a few things that I really, really enjoy. One of the things I like is automation. I like being able to do one thing and be able to have that spread out all over the place. And I call that, in my marketing terms, I call that omnipresence. And I want to, and I want my clients to have their visibility seem to other people, like, oh my gosh, she's everywhere. So one of the things I love is this app called iFttt. So it's if this, then that, ifttt.com. so you can take your applets is what they call it inside it. So I can post something, let's say, to my Facebook page and it will post it out to my Instagram. Oh, no, it won't. Sorry. Not Instagram. It goes the other way with Instagram.

Instagram is a freaky freak of nature and social media. So Facebook page to maybe LinkedIn or Twitter or Pinterest or it'll even save something to a Google Doc if you want. It'll take my Instagram. And you know how sometimes with Instagram it'll post, you can link it to LinkedIn and Twitter, but then it doesn't have the native photo with it, so it looks funky and ugly. You can get it to post it with a native photo, so it actually looks nice. So it really shortcuts a lot of things because I don't have to double-post in other places.

So that's one of my favorite ones. Also, the amplifier is kind of like that thing that you can post it in one place and then it spiders out into other places as well. And then my, I know you asked for one, but I'm telling you, more than one. My favorite book is Byron Katie loving what is. And that one is about letting go of some of your limiting beliefs, turning them around, and getting to experience life as if those limiting beliefs don't exist. Like what would happen if? So I love that.

11:41 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, I love those CEO hacks. Just helping people to of course be more efficient like you mentioned. But also great resources that you mentioned as well too. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this might be a word of or something that you might tell your younger business self.

11:59 – Vickie Gould

What would I tell my younger business self? It's probably going to take you longer than you think it is, but it's so worth it to muddle through and not give up. I think a lot of times, I don't know about you, but I'm kind of impatient and I want stuff to happen right away. And while things can happen fast, it probably does take a little longer than you might give yourself time for.

12:24 – Gresham Harkless

Very true. Yeah, I always, you know, sometimes when you want things to happen, you want them to happen yesterday. So it makes perfect sense that, you know, being able to be patient and understand that, quote-unquote, Rome wasn't built in a day is a very good reminder and a very good CEO nugget. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is kind of like the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different CEO's on this show. So what does being a CEO mean to you?

12:49 – Vickie Gould

It means treating your business like a business and being a savvy business person rather than a solopreneur hobbyist. So I think being a CEO means that you have the mindset of being in charge of something phenomenal and brilliant and wonderful and that you act that way. I hope that makes sense.

13:14 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah.

13:14 – Vickie Gould

I think a lot of times we start out so much being a jack of all trades, wearing so many hats, especially when you don't have the money right away. Right. So you're like, okay, I have more time than I have money, so let me do this, this, this, and this. And 1 second you're your assistant, and next second, you know, you're the janitor, you know, and another second, you're the social media manager, and then, you know, you're doing all these things, but when you really put on that CEO hat, you look at things differently. You price yourself to be profitable rather than to be liked.

13:53 – Gresham Harkless

I love it. Yeah. It's all about kind of a different mentality that you have. Vicki, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know and how best people can get in touch with you.

14:07 – Vickie Gould

Yes. So anything additional would be when you put yourself out there, especially in a book, one of the biggest things that comes up for my clients, at least, and it's come up for me as well. Is that fear of judgment? What if somebody doesn't like my story? What if somebody doesn't like me? What if, you know all the what-ifs? And then it's like, what if they don't read my book? And one of the things, my very first book out there, I was like, oh, my gosh, what if nobody reads my book? Like, ah. What if they don't read it? It's not good. And I finally got it out there and I was like, oh, crap, what if somebody reads my book? You know it's going to come up. You're going to get judged. We're judged every day.

So you might as well get judged for something that you're passionate about, that you love, that you feel convicted to share with the world that is really making a difference. If you stay within the safety zone of what you're comfortable with sharing, and comfortable doing, at the end of your life, all you can say is that you kept comfortable, you stayed in a comfortable place. Personally, I would rather have it at the end of my life. You know what? I risked all these things. I risk judgment. I risk my fear. I risk my failure. I risk success. I risk all these things to make the world a better place, to leave my mark, and to have my children and my grandchildren, then go back and look at words that I put on paper, that live forever and feel like they get to know me as well as the rest of the world, that I can help. So that's my last parting words, I guess.

15:46 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Thank you, thank you. And then people who want to follow up, what's the best way?

15:49 – Vickie Gould

Yes. They can get in touch with me. My email is Vicky, but okay, I gotta spell it. Vickie@vickiegould.com. all sorts of things. If you google it, you'll find all sorts of things as well. Hopefully all good things.

16:06 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Vicki, for those links in the show notes, but I appreciate you for being transparent and being so powerful to be able to help others out and also tell your story. And I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:18 – Vickie Gould

Thank you so much for having me on. It was great.

16:21 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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