HOW EMPOWERED WOMEN

HOW EMPOWERED WOMEN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

INTERVIEW WITH JEN BUCK

RESILIENT WOMEN MAGAZINE

With over 30 years of experience as a Professional Speaker and Trainer, Jen Buck’s strength and conviction on the platform have earned her standing ovations and rave reviews, around the world. Jen began the first decade of her career in a startup where she helped launch a billion dollar global and award winning brand while in a leadership development role. She has since launched an online learning academy for women, founded several non-profits, and sits on the executive board for two organizations. She is a Bestselling author with six publications, has a television show that is seen in 50 countries worldwide, and is the host of a podcast that highlights female leaders who are changing their corner of the world.

Kim: You are a long time in a speaking career. Is that trailblazing yourself as a female speaker? Can you give us the background as to who you are? What do you focus on speaking and a little bit of your journey?

I am a bit of an OG in this space. I remember when I turned 50, a friend of mine said to me, “You are now an elder.” I was so upset about that, then she said, “Stop. You have made it to that space where you have been in your career a long time. You have the accomplishments.” I’m settling into being an OG and an elder, but I started young. The truth is I was eighteen and I was going to college at that time, not doing well, and running amuck. My mom brought me to a women’s conference and that event changed my life.

I knew instantly that the lightning bolt was striking and that was what I was supposed to do. It was Joan Rivers, who was the keynote speaker. She is my favorite human, but at that time, I did not know who she was. I asked my mom, “Who is the old broad?” It was so early in my life. I was eighteen. At that point, I knew that is what I was supposed to do. I was a college student, a waitress at Chili’s, and I started telling every couple and family that came in that I was going to be a motivational speaker. It took about two months and I got called, believe it or not, from a startup. This is now an internationally known billion-dollar award-winning global brand. I helped launch that brand for the first ten years of its inception. I was there in the beginning. That is when I got the job at eighteen to be a trainer for them. That started everything and the whole launch of my career. I was there and I have been doing this for so many years.

That is what I have been doing. This is the irony of all of it after spending ten years at the startup, which is Discover Card. After I spent ten years there, I was hired to go and work as a speaker at the women’s conference. It came full circle within that ten-year period and I spent seven years on that platform traveling around. It was amazing and incredible, and it was like a rolling sorority. I have since then built an entire career off that. That is the whole story in a nutshell.

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Kim: Let me ask you because there are a lot of startups. There is a lot of stuff going on and a lot of movement. What are the key things that you saw within Discover or that startup that you go, “Okay.” I’m guessing with a startup, the money was not huge.

I was eighteen and I did not know what I was doing. They must have been desperate to hire. If you think about this, an eighteen-year-old, who was still in college to be a trainer for their leaders, was crazy. At that time, they had so much money that we were on yachts, wined and dined, staying at five-star resorts, and we were constantly literally poured into. It was all about the energy, staying so loyal, and being so totally in.

What I learned most at that time is that nothing is permanent. That lesson has become a true north throughout my life. Nothing is permanent. No matter what it is, whether it is life, family, death loss, marriage, major emotional devastation, a process, a project, or the amount of time you have put into something. You have to be willing to pivot, shift and do things differently on a dime. That was the greatest lesson I learned in those ten years there.

Kim: That lesson, I’m guessing, did come in handy when all of a sudden, the world stopped. This time has felt much like the old classic movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still. When you talk about pivot, I know that you have the triple-A look at your business, the activate and amplify. Can you share with me the lessons that you put forward and how you pivoted? How do you go from an in-person coach or a speaker, and that is your money-maker? I do not know in your home, but in my home, I’m pretty much the front end of the money. If I’m not working, the money is not coming in. You got to love these men who are not afraid.

When the pandemic happened, thankfully, my guy rallied, stepped up to the plate, and hit a home run. I had very little to worry about in that respect but I have spent all these years in front of audiences. That is how I shaped my money-maker and got all of my leads. My events come from that platform. It jumps me into people’s corporations and working with their CEOs, and all of a sudden, everything is gone. It was not just the gig. It was the stream of events, trainWHAT I LEARNED MOST AT THAT TIME IS THAT NOTHING IS PERMANENT... NOTHING IS PERMANENT. YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO PIVOT, SHIFT AND DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY ON A DIME.

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ings, coaching, and all the things that come with it. All leads were gone overnight.

I struggled like every other speaker I know. There are very few of us left. It has been an interesting and sad time for me to see how many speakers have left the speaking industry and have retired, gone into corporate training, or just moved and pivoted. I knew I could not afford to keep the people employed who were running my front end, back end, and all the technical. I could not do it anymore because there was no income. I also knew that everything was transitioning to digital, and I had nothing. I had no digital whatsoever. I think I had 700 people following me on Instagram. That was my big win, the 700 people.

I had to learn about social media, digital content, creating a newsletter and funnel. I did not have any of it, and when I say none of it, not even a YouTube. I had nothing because I did not need it. At that time, I was just cruising on easy street. Based on the inperson events, as it turns out, I went into full learning mode that year. I went into a space of consuming so much content, taking so many courses, learning how to use these social media systems and platforms as lead magnets and money generators. I really had to learn, but I also did something interesting that was very different. I did not know anybody else doing this. I contacted every one of my clients and I said, “As long as we are in lock down, you get everything for free.”

I gave away all free training, all free keynotes, all free coaching, all free everything. We started doing fireside chats once a month with the leadership teams where we just all get on Zoom and talk about what is going on. Every single thing, I did not make one penny. That is why I say, “Thank goodness, my guy jumped up and carried us.” He did. He was great, but I thought that it was important for me not to become a vulture and try to pull every dime out of my customers and clients who were dying on the vine themselves. It ended up paying off. 2021 hit and then it was off to the races again.

Kim: That is a true sight of service. Also, having been in real estate for years, that is top of mind. They may not be able to buy now, but they are still looking. If you are in front of them, you are available and contributing. That is really important. First thing I want to ask before I even go down the rabbit hole. When you are in front of a person interactive, how do you maintain your energy where it transitions over the different platforms or you are interfacing through the computer? I know for myself that is one of my greatest personal struggles. It is my energy and human-ness. Share with us your energy, and then we are going to come back to my rabbit hole.

For me, energy is one of those things that are in abundance, so I do a lot of talking. Right now, I’m not using too much gestures like I normally do. Energy is on fire here in general. You are right. Being on camera, you have to be way more contained. It is what you and I know about working in front of a camera. Your gestures can only be so big and all of those rules that we have. I do not pay attention. I am all in. I use all the gestures and I move around. One of the things I’m doing now with my clients is actually doing the training and keynotes, the ones that are virtual and out of a studio.

I’m standing, on a set, moving around, and I have got the two camera shots. I have a team that is following me because that is the way we truly transcend and make this hybrid world really feel like it is real. It is by having that energy of movement. It is somewhat restrictive, but I still use all the energy and have all the crazy gestures and whatnot. I will say that I think getting back to working in a studio and actually being big on stage takes it to another level. That is what we want. We want all that authentic, wonderful energy.

Kim: I see this interesting duality with women. We have younger women coming up and they have been hearing like, “Do not give it away or do not do it for free. Demand the money.” They will come out of the box when they are starting their social media company or a consulting company. They are going, “I’m going to get $65 an hour,” yet they do not have anything to prove that. A lot of the older women were raised with this, “Sit properly in church, ladies. Do not behave that way,” then there is a lot of this negative self-talk. It is almost like we have this overabundance of confidence at one side that does not have a lot of experience.

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We have the feeling of Imposter syndrome on the other side. Statistically speaking, when they pull people who go to see speakers, men in the majority will go to a male speaker or male coach, and women, 50% of the time, will identify a male coach or a male speaker. That means 25% of the audience will intentionally seek out a female speaker or a female coach.

Two questions here. If we have this duality of confidence but no credibility or credentials, and we have these incredible credentials and women who have just busted it, yet do not maybe have the competence to step on stage, then we have a small pool of people who will intentionally seek these women out. What are some of the solutions you could see that would help our planners change their language on their copy to attract an audience and help the young women get their credentials and the older women get their confidence? I see it as this trifecta of the reason we do not have enough women on our stages.

Here is what we have going on. We have so many male speakers compared to female speakers. We also have a huge disparity in what men have been paid in their speaker fees versus what women are paid. I have right on my website Reasons To Hire Jen Buck. One of them is, “It is because she is a woman and we need more representation on that platform than seeing a bunch of dudes.”

I throw it right out there. It is ridiculous that we have so few women but we have 8 men and 1 woman on a stage. I have lived through this for many years being the only woman on a stage, so it is not okay. It needs to change, but what also needs to happen is there needs to be this upswell in women with their confidence and their ability to say, “I am worth this.”

I have a guy that I started speaking with way back when, and we have spoken exactly the same. We even share a lot of the same clients. We are on a lot of the same platforms. I finally decided to look at what he was charging. Keep in mind all are the same. We are talking twenty-plus years and he was charging $5,000 more than I was. I had to think about this. I have more books, an online platform, and my client list is larger now. I realized I was in this space where I was undervaluing myself. There is a huge need for women to come out and say, “I am worth this.” I get speaker stats every day and when I look at my speaker stats, I can see exactly what my fee is versus all other women. The average is I’m 40% higher than every other woman speaking in my industry. Not every, but the average. Do you know why I’m 40% more? I have done 40% more because I have helped and created this massive behemoth in the startup I was a part of. I have created businesses. I have two non profits, I sit on boards, and I do more.

Kim: You also asked for it. A lot of women do not ask for it. We have been programmed and trained to keep giving, especially the both of us are over that 35 mark. We give to our children, community, partner, employer, family, and crazy uncle. Three times I moved and I’m just as guilty.

It is a paradigm change because, for some reason, we equate asking for more for ourselves as being somehow less that can be given to others.

Kim: Do you know many times I hear women say, “I do it for free?” I’m now like, “The bank does not let you live in your house for free.” I was talking to a gal and she does not have, as you were mentioning, those credibilities and assets in place. We were talking and I said, “Let me ask you, what is your goal? What do you want to make next year or in this year 2022?” She goes, “I would like to make $150,000.” I said, “Is that all? That is doable.” I understand that I live in a very different world because I am in the top 10% earning real estate in North America. I have always been very high numbers, so I work in large numbers, but I still do not think that is a lot to ask for.

I’m looking at her going, “That is doable. Let me ask you this. If you stuck to your guns, you asked for the money and you made that money. Who would you empower? What change would you create and who would you support?” She goes, “I would do this and this.” Isn’t it selfish or negligent almost not to ask for the money that you are educated in and you can get? Those people are counting on you. They just do not know it yet.

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It is much like in the world of professional speaking. Because you are a professional speaker, if you are in media and in front of a camera, you are a professional speaker. You may not be a stage speaker, but you are a professional speaker. You understand that, even though it seems very strange that people in this professional speaking roller paid this much money. The truth is we are the messengers and there is a sense of responsibility with the messengers. You have got to be careful with what you do, how you say it, where you are sharing, how much you are sharing, and the energy you bring.

Messengers are paid a lot of money, and I know that seems strange and backward, but it is true. To undervalue yourself at this point makes no sense because you are stepping into an industry that is known for paying messengers very well. There is something there that is hard for women. I see it every day when I’m looking at speaker stats and I see their fee, and I think, “This woman has been doing it for as long as I have. She has just as many speaker assets. What in the world?” She is asking for half of what I do and I know that I’m in the right place.

Kim: If you are coming from an employee world or a work world and have not read Rich Dad Poor Dad, you need to get on that. It is important because you need to know the four quadrants of where your money goes to and comes from. Being a speaker, which you found having those assets moves you over into the business owner, you are still selfemployed. It is time in, money out. The bigger the speaking, the more people you have to employ. It is the same as real estate. Time in, money out. Most people go, “You are going to make $40,000 off the sell of my house.” The reality is I’m going to pay $20,000 to sell your house because this is where all the money goes and this is my staff.

Maybe we could do that whole credibility and understanding the business side of speaking. Everybody wants to run in because everybody has got a passion or a message, but the reality is it is a business. You need to know how to run the back end in order to ensure that when the zombie apocalypse happens and we go all behind the screen again, you still have revenue. Although you did come right out of the gate and take the bull by the horns, what would be the advice in the first three steps for somebody new coming in or a young person wanting to come into speaking?

I’m one of those people that says, “Go all the way in. Follow that purpose. You were given that spark for a reason.” Every one of us is on some level of messenger but we do it differently. If you feel that your message is that big, do not listen to one other person’s advice because you were the one that was given the talent to carry through your lifetime. They were not given it and do not have the advice for you. Unless you are speaking to another speaker who can tell you exactly what steps to take, go all in. Your message was given to you for a reason.

Kim: Can you share with us what is the North Star quote when the chips are down or things are spinning? What is your quote?

“Chin up, shoulders back, march.” That was from my grandmother who raised three girls. I was the only girl in our family of seven boys. I’m not the very youngest, but I’m at the bottom of the heap. I only have one younger cousin younger than me, but the only girl and seven boys. That was what my grandmother raised my aunts with and my mom. It is what was given to me as I was being pummeled by seven boys at any given moment. That goes along with that whole idea of you have to be willing to pivot because nothing is permanent.

Kim: Progress over perfection, every time. Do not be afraid of imperfections because it is what makes your story amazing. Thanks for joining us, Jen!

Watch the interview now! youtube.com/c/KimTalks

Connect with Jen Instagram: @JenBuckSpeaks Twitter: @JenBuckSpeaks Facebook: @JenBuckSpeaks Website: www.JenBuck.rocks