Conference Challenge Accepted
In the early days of my entrepreneurial journey, I ran a lot of experiments. The biggest? Seeing if people would actually pay for my Kaizen Ninja approach. Spoiler alert: they did.
Once I had a small, but loyal client base, I wanted to grow. Then came the offer: speak at the Business Transformation & Operational Excellence Summit (BTOES) in Orlando.
I was skeptical. Why me? Was it legit? And how much would it cost?
I spoke with Jeff, one of the conference reps. He explained the audience, the platform, and the opportunity to sponsor. It came with a booth, a book signing, and two workshops. After some negotiation and soul searching, I signed up.
I talked to my marketing mentor. Her advice: “Don’t expect to get business by speaking. You’ll only be disappointed.” Challenge accepted.
I set three goals:
Have as much fun as possible.
Meet great people.
Land one new client.
I had no idea how to set up a booth, but I figured it out. I even brought dozens of Ninja squeeze toys to draw people in.
At a networking session, I met a guy with great energy. We hit it off instantly. When he asked what I did, I told him: “I get $!&% done!” He laughed and kept finding me throughout the conference.
That man was Ronald, the CEO of a hydrogen startup. By the end of the week, he told everyone I was going to help him. And I did. For the next year, I supported his growing company and built a great friendship along the way.
Opportunities don’t always knock, sometimes they whisper. Be bold enough to say yes, and prepared enough to follow through. That’s how doors open.