Easy Peasy Books

071: Sales Training Meets Dr. Seuss: Writing a Children's Book for Professionals with Tom Whalen

Gillian Whitney Season 3 Episode 1

What happens when a seasoned sales director with 20+ years of Fortune 500 experience writes a children's book? You get The ABC Book of Professional Selling—a rhyming, illustrated guide that Tom Whalen uses with everyone from his college students at VCU to his own sales team at McKesson. In this episode, Tom shares his unconventional three-year journey of creating a book that serves dual audiences: kids learning their ABCs and early career professionals learning the fundamentals of selling. He gets refreshingly honest about the self-publishing challenges he faced, from PowerPoint formatting disasters to copyright rabbit holes, and why selling your own work feels different than selling someone else's product.

Tom drops knowledge bombs on the power of creating something tangible that becomes your legacy, working on passion projects in the cracks of a busy life, and why he's not worried about becoming a New York Times bestseller. Whether you're considering writing a book, struggling with how to market yourself, or just curious about how to package your expertise in unexpected ways, this episode will inspire you to think differently about your own author journey. Plus, find out what Tom's planning next—from audiobooks to merchandise to his next ABC adventure in sales leadership.