Success Champions United Nations on pharmacies in impoverished areas. It’s a long story for another time, but let’s just say I was way out of my league.
Setting the Stage! Attending the Badass Business Summit By Donnie Boivin
“I didn’t know people actually made a living from speaking. I was just having fun getting on stages and being in front of rooms full of people.”
I sat about six rows back from the stage. The lights dimmed, and the music started. The anticipation was heavy. One man walked out and stood center stage. With microphone in hand, a spotlight slowly lit him up and he smiled, looked at the crowd, and said, “HEY!” And the crowd went fucking wild. You would have thought they’d just won the championship game. It was crazy and I was totally caught up in it. To this day I don’t know where this was, why I was there, or who the guy on stage was. I just knew that one day I would be that guy. It’s wild how memories stay with you. At that moment, I was doing a job I didn’t like. I worked for my best friend and his dad doing Heating & Air Conditioning in the Texas summer. It was stupid-hot and dirty work. Hell, one attic we worked in was about 140 degrees. We’d run up, work for five minutes, then come back down to cool off for 20. Those were long days and nights. It was after that event that I started attending more conferences, trade shows, and summits. I learned that people actually taught the stuff I needed help with: Sales, mindset, money, and so much more. My first time on stage was when I worked in St. Louis. I was asked to present to a group from the
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www.DonnieBoivin.com
I was nervous and the room could tell, but I did well and loved the thrill of speaking in front of a room full of people. I really started getting on stages when I sold commercial printing back in Texas. I built a pretty solid personal brand through networking and people asked me to teach about what I was doing. I didn’t know that everyone didn’t do what I was doing. I just thought it was how networking was done. I stepped on stages and told people to make more introductions than they received. And, I had people nodding, smiling, and writing furiously. I’d say, “Go meet with someone and spend more time focused on them. Open doors for them.” People looked at me like I’d invented water. It was crazy. I didn’t know people actually made a living from speaking. I was just having fun getting on stages
