Books4Guys - Vanessa Raymond

New book, "The Profit Playbook" is out now! 

Vanessa is a seasoned international speaker, author, confidence and success coach, as well as a multiple business owner.

After performing professionally on stages around the world for over a decade, Vanessa pursued a career in the fitness and wellness industry.  She focuses on helping people improve their quality of life by becoming healthier and reducing pain. Vanessa understands the connection between movement and mental-emotional toughness for success in both life and business.

As an educator, Vanessa has created multiple national CEC-approved education programs that have impacted the success of thousands. Drawing from her experience in various industries, she created the Self-Image and Confidence Coaching Certification Program, known as The Victory Factor.
Vanessa is also a successful entrepreneur and serves as the Executive Director for Achieve Systems, one of the largest entrepreneurial and business owner communities and coaching support systems in the industry. She is a devoted wife and mother of three.

Vanessa helps entrepreneurs, speakers, and leaders improve their confidence, create meaningful relationships, and establish a powerful business image, enabling them to achieve success personally, professionally, and financially.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Today it's cold, but it's been a really unusual summer.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Yeah. Yeah. I'm ready. I'm ready for uh for complete warm weather. I'm I'm over the cold voice.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Yeah, no, the winter uh I mean it was an unusual winter. We had zero snow, almost no snow.

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Incredible.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Almost no cold. It was crazy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

We had it all over here in Tennessee, so I think that's where it came this last year. But I think Vanessa, this is awesome. I'm I'm so happy to have you on the podcast. As you and I we've known each other almost a year now, which is crazy, just how fast time has gone by. But and I want you to talk a little bit about Achieve as well and the work you do there. But it's uh I'm excited to have you because you do a lot of different things. You're a speaker, you're an author, you're a business leader, you're a coach, you're a connector. Um, you help people with their businesses and how to elevate and grow those. And so there's there's so many different paths that you excel at. And so I'm excited to spotlight you and your latest book, The Profit Playbook, on the Books for Guys website. Yep, and you've got it right there. If you're not interested in learning how to make more money, I don't know, you know, what's your what your purpose is, but Vanessa, no, it is an honor to have you on today.

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Thank you, Chris, and thank you for inviting me. It's always such a privilege to be able to chat with you and share with your audience.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yeah, no, I'm excited. Well, Vanessa, just to kick things off, I would love to for you just to kind of start at the beginning of your career and how you just kind of grew into your role of, and you can talk a little bit about being a leader at Achieve Systems, which is for a lot of people see it and they think networking, but it's not networking. It's teaching people how to generate more revenue for their business. And networking's part of that. But talk about just your career and your business um path that's gotten you into all these cool areas that you're a part of now.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Chris, that is a loaded question. People always say to me, uh it sounds like you've lived multiple lives, but it kind of was like that. I'll give you the abbreviated version. So, my my background is in the performance industry, actually. I grew up performing, dancing, singing, acting, always wanted to be a dancer, right? Uh I managed to make my dream come true. I was a musical theater major, spent the first 15 years of my career traveling the world and performing all over. At the same time, I also, during doing all that, I got all the certificates in the fitness industry and I became certified in all the different methodologies, and then also uh got my aesthetician's and cosmetologist license and massage therapist license. So these are all things that I did. And without ever really realizing it, I kind of dabbled in entrepreneurship very early on. Because as I was performing full-time, my part-time gig was, you know, doing massages and facials and training people on the side. So that was kind of my fun outlet on the side. But as a matter of fact, those were actually businesses unofficially, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:34

Of course. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

So never did I actually think of myself as an entrepreneur at any point. It was just me doing all the things that I was passionate about, all the things that I loved doing. And part of that was always service to other humans. Like just I loved helping people, whether it is helping them lose weight, getting out of pain, or making them beautiful. And then, of course, as a performer, my my love and joy was watching people's faces in the audience and taking them out of their everyday stresses with some, you know, performance, things that are away from reality. And so that was really where everything started for me. However, in an eight, I decided to retire from stage and I officially started my own fitness business. At which point, about a year and a half in, maybe two years later, I realized that I had no clue how to actually build and grow with this. So, you know, I went online back when we had Google, we didn't have chat, we didn't have chat GPT, but I Googled fitness business help, and up popped this conference that at the time I lived in Las Vegas, and the conference was in Vegas. So it was ideal. So I went to this business building conference in Las Vegas where I met this gentleman named Robert Raymond. And I sat down with him in a meeting, and he had obviously done some research on me, and I had some workout DVDs and things online at the time that I was selling. And he looked at me and he said, Well, looks like you're quite kettlebell expert. Why don't you start a kettlebell certification program? Well, my first response, Chris, was, I can do that? Really? I mean, I don't number one, see myself as an expert. And number two, really, I, me, little me, can just create a certification program. And he said, Yes, we can help you. We've done this a million times. So, anyway, long story short, I ended up joining Achieve. And with the help of Achieve and the resources, the templates, the blueprints, the things they made available to me, as well as the guidance from the leadership team. For fast forward five years, I had a very, very successful kettlebell certification company, which then at that point was serving the US Army, some very large gyms. I was the preferred method for YMCAs, uh, a lot of places all over. And then fast forward another, I don't know how many years, eight or nine years, after creating this company and starting to pivot in other directions with my expertise, I actually sold the company with the help of Achieve. So that is just an example of one of the very many ways that Achieve helped me grow as an entrepreneur and a business owner. And subsequently, of course, I ended up marrying the CEO of the company. So became a much bigger role in Achieve. I am now the COO of Achieve, and I help with operations and I actually manage the leadership team. And I'm now a confidence and success coach, a business coach, a sales coach. I've learned so much through the years from this organization and Rob and the leadership team about all things business and business growth. So my evolution has been lengthy, but now I really talk about how to use revenue streams in your business to generate passive and additional income.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Yeah. No, Vanessa, I'm glad you broke all of that down because I thought I knew a lot about you, but you have done so much more than even I, than I realized with your certification program and just your story of how you got here. But there's two things I I took away from that as you were talking. And and I I would love to know, I guess, just where you got this from and just kind of where that led because you seem like someone who's always been a hard worker. Like that, that was never an issue. You just needed a little bit of guidance, but you were also seeking that out. You were like, hey, I work, like I'll do whatever, I can I can figure this out. Someone helped guide me along the way, but and but you were open to receiving that coaching and and guidance to to grow and and get to the next level. Where did that work ethic come from early on? Because again, now you're you're still working and doing just a crazy amount of things, but you described building a business and and doing a lot of things as a dancer and in music and all of that. Where did that drive come from?

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Chris, I believe that, you know, my mom put me in ballet when I was three years old. And my parents both had very strong work ethic. My mom was an entrepreneur. She worked in the bank, and then eventually started her own computer business when I was probably around eight or nine years old. So I always had a hardworking family. My my dad always, well, he actually started the business, but he wasn't entrepreneurial material. So my mom took over, and my dad continued to be in the education side of things, and he's also a pilot. So he, you know, I I come from a hardworking family, but I believe that as a dancer from a very young age, it's like any discipline, maybe playing the piano or taking up a sport. My mom was a very strong enforcer of discipline. And when I committed to something, there was no way out. Like I had to stick to it, I had to see it through. Even though I, I mean, I I loved dancing, it was my life. I loved it. But, you know, even when I started really disliking ballet and just wanted to do the other dance forms, my mom made me stick to it because she was like, this is the foundation of everything. So I believe that my work ethic and my discipline and my grit comes from those dance classes from a very early age. You know, from a young age, it was once or twice or three times a week in the studio, just following instructions and doing the things uh week after week after week. And I I literally continued that my whole life. I mean, I never stopped taking dance classes. So I, and then, you know, of course, singing lessons and music lessons, piano lessons, all the things, but I believe that the foundation of that was in the ballet class.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Yeah. No, that's great. I love I that's incredible that you were able to experience and learn those traits at such a young age, both from your parents who had a big influence on you, but also being in uh in class and and learning skills and learning how to be disciplined earlier. I love that your mom was like, nope, you have to finish this. My parents were the same way, like, nope, you're not quitting until this is over. And uh I appreciate that, you know, later in life now because it does help a lot as you are growing a business or you're trying to do different things, there's always roadblocks that you've got to overcome. You know, a lot of people they don't, you know, they they quit instead of having that discipline to keep pushing through. So I love you sharing your story of of how you got that mindset and and all the great things it's led to because you have had discipline in your life and you've practiced those traits. So I just think that's very cool. And I didn't want to go without you being able to talk about that. But Vanessa, let's talk, let's dive into a lot of the things that you preach and and you help people with. And that and and the Prophet Playbook jumps right into that too, of how to create different revenue streams. And I would like to know just your philosophy and your theory, for lack of a better term, on why you coach people on trying to find different revenue streams instead of putting all the eggs in one basket and and hoping that one is the path. But talk about just your thoughts and the way you you formulate that for others.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Absolutely. Chris, so let me just make clear when we say multiple revenue streams, we also recommend that these aren't haphazard things that has nothing to do with your core business. All right. So everything that I talk about and that that Rob and I talk about in this book is recommended because these are things that not only add revenue to your core business, but also their visibility tools, credibility tools, things that lead people to that main source of income, right? Plus, the other thing is um I work with a lot of entrepreneurs who are service-based, the coaches, the personal trainers, the massage therapists. Anyone who has a service-based trade as such, or that has to be present with their clients has a business structure where typically they exchange time for money. Right. And when we exchange time for money, we have a very definite ceiling on what we can generate financially because there's only one of you, you only have so much time in the day and you can only charge so much, right? Or so we think. That's one of the things I coach on is you know how to structure your packages and your your prices. But in order to lead people to number one uh revenue stream that you have, your core business, we recommend that you do things like author and publish books, maybe go out and speak. Maybe you create a certification program or an education program. I mean, we have 28 revenue stream opportunities listed in this book. And and the goal of this book, and the the goal of the whole thing and my talk, which I do now when I go out and I speak, is to really open entrepreneurs and business owners' minds to what are all those possibilities. We don't recommend anybody go into all of them once, right? We say start with one, add one revenue stream when you have that one rolling like a well-oiled machine, then you go on to the next. Because we all know if we divide our attention too much, spread ourselves too thin, then we're also not going to reach that revenue goal that we're looking for. But here's the point. The point is if you are exchanging time for money, how wonderful would it be to have other revenue streams out there that is generating and bringing in additional income? Most of the time, these are passive income revenue streams that we work on setting up so that you don't have to spend more time, more energy, more effort to create more revenue.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Yeah, I I love that. And I love that you broke that down because that's exactly it. You the most successful people, you always hear them talk about how the most important thing to them is getting their time back, being able to do the things they want to do. And while there is that season of hustle you have to do to get to where you want to go to, you're right. There's only so much time in the day, and you can only be stretched so thin. But to get to those levels of financial security or success, you see these people all the time have different streams of things that are taking place while they're not really do having to do much work. They've put the work in and those things are now paying dividends back. And I love that you describe 28 different paths, you know, that that you break down for people to decide what's the best for them. And I also love that you talk about not trying to attack them all at once, but spending time to perfect one. And once that gets going, then jump into the other. So it is a true kind of goes back to your discipline thing. You it's gonna take time, it's gonna take discipline to do it. But if you follow these steps and this guide, you're gonna get to where you want to go to. So I love the way you break that down. And again, if if someone's everyone, I think wants to get to that place, but you just gotta be open enough to to read something like that you and Robert have put out there, it's a guide. You know, just read the book and you'll you'll be able to do these things. Just take a little time. And so I'm so glad that you put all this out there for people to see and learn from.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Yeah, we always say, you know, if you can add, just think about this. If you can add one additional revenue stream to your business per year, where will you be in five to eight years? Right. We always say we recommend seven to eight revenue streams in any given business to be able to create the income and the profit that you desire. But like I said, it's also we always talk about all the touches and the time that people need to be able to consume of your of your materials to be able to engage in your service or your product or what it is you have. And each one of these revenue streams offers you the opportunity to get out to your audience in a much bigger and better way. And so if it takes five to eight years to get them all in place, I mean, I think you're still in a very, very good, good place.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Yeah. And and five to eight years is not not very long. I mean, if it really goes by fast and you're really, I think when you get past those points, you're gonna look back and be very thankful that you started when you did. So I'm I always encourage people, hey, get started today. Don't if you don't know what to do, do something. But try to try to improve 1% every day, and you'll look back over time and be like, wow, look at everything I accomplished. But Vanessa, in those revenue streams, have you noticed that there are some that are, I guess, easier to implement and have a bigger impact? Or does it depend on the business and the person? Like, is there a core group that everybody should do, or is it all depending again on different circumstances?

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Say we have all these options available. And, you know, Chris, it's one of the things we do here at Achieve is we have templates and blueprints in place, all these things, and we have all our preferred partners that we work with that can help our members bring these things to fruition. Because a lot of times for entrepreneurs, it is, but where do I start? I don't know even how to start with this thing. But to answer your question, I would say it really does depend on the business and the person. Not everyone wants to write a book. Not everyone wants to get up on stage and speak. However, our most popular ones are those two that I literally just mentioned. You know, getting up on stage and speaking is a daunting thought for a lot of people, but we really break it down and we really bring it to a point where entrepreneurs can understand that it really is just like, well, and when we talk about speaking, it can be many forms. It doesn't have to be getting up on a stage. It could be teaching a workshop virtually, or it could be just facilitating a a group, right? It doesn't have to be getting up on a stage live in person and doing all that, or just doing this. This is speaking. This is being a podcast guest or owning your own podcast. These are all things that we help our members with. And these are all things that are part of the speaking world. But I mean, even if I if I asked you, hey, Chris, what has this podcast meant to you and your business? Speaking is definitely, in my estimation, the number one uh thing that you can do in your business to grow additional revenue. And uh it's it's maybe not as hard as you might think. It's like anything else, a little practice, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes. I mean, you are a gracious host and you ask fantastic questions. I'm sure that took a while for you to cultivate, right? But all I'm saying is uh definitely authoring a book and education are my three favorites. Now there's a ton more, like I said, there's 28 in this book. We also more recently started really educating people on how to create joint venture partnerships, which is another incredible way to generate revenue streams. So sometimes it's not only about things you create or products like a book or education program, but it could be that you are creating relationships, amazing joint venture partnerships, and we show you how to set those up, what it looks like, what's the difference between that and for instance an affiliate partnership, things like that. So there's a ton of fun stuff in this book to explore. I could tell you that.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

No, I love that. And I was wondering if you were gonna say the ones you did, because uh, you know, and I'm gonna I'm a member of Achieve, and I've met several people who, you know, if you're interested, they can help you figure out how to write a book. And there's several people that have podcasts that can have you on as a guest, and vice versa, and you can learn from them. And so it's really cool to see all the collaboration and all the people willing to help. There's so many resources and so many cool things about it. Which leads me to, I've just got a couple more questions for you, Vanessa. I would love to know, just over the course of your career, and as you've seen achieve grow, and as you've seen yourself grow and and and putting different books out there, because this isn't your only book. You have a few of them out there. This is just your latest one. But what is something that has been, you know, I want to ask the question like, what are you most proud of? And what has been the thing about all of this that you look back and just and you just say, wow, I'm so grateful that this happened, or I'm so, I can't believe this happened. And I love sharing this. So, what has just been a couple of those moments for you?

SPEAKER_01 20:48

Well, the first thing that always comes to mind is what I already shared. Creating that company and then actually eventually selling it for a huge profit, that is not, that was never a goal for me. That was never in the cards for me. That was never something that I really planned. But because of the guidance and the knowledge that Rob and the leadership team here at Achieve has, that was something that organically happened, but it organically happened because everything was set in place for it to happen, right? Everything was built the right way so that that acquisition could happen. So that's something I'm incredibly proud of. I really've been with Achieve now since 2008. Just being in a leadership role here, being able to make myself available to my leaders and being a resource for them, you know, my my personality, I've kind of become more of a mediator and a troubleshooter here at Achieve, which I love. And my my members and my leaders are like my family. So having been able to create I mean, some of my best friends have come now from this. Group. I've just been able to create a whole, even though it is a group of entrepreneurs and business owners, it has become my core group of friends and the people that I hang out with and the people that I socialize with. And I'm awfully proud of the kinds of people that we have brought into this organization. We've never been about quantity, it's always been about quality. That I'm incredibly proud of is looking at the people I'm surrounded by and being able to call a bunch of them my friends now because we become so close. I mean, we've had members that have been with us for over 18 years, Chris. You know, so these people have just become part of our lives.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

Yeah. No, that's incredible. And yeah, not everyone's can say they've built a business and sold it. That's a big accomplishment. But I can also hear just your passion of helping others. And that's why you do all of this work and you are a resource to be there to help guide people. And again, you can just see you just glow when you talk about it and being there to help. It's just a it's a trait that I think means a lot to people. I'm sure they feel comfortable coming to you for help and they appreciate all of the time and energy that you put into it, um, which is fantastic. And you're going to continue to do more and more incredible things, and Achieve's going to continue to grow. So there's, you know, obviously the job's not done, and you've got so much more to offer. But Vanessa, I've got one last question for you as we wrap this up. And I I ask everyone that's that comes on the podcast just from a book standpoint. And obviously, we've got yours on there. So if anyone's interested in learning how to grow your business or even how to get into entrepreneurship, it's a great book to go pick up and read. But Vanessa, I'm always curious what my guests are reading or what books they recommend. And so my question to you is what is a book or two that has meant a lot to you, either personally or professionally? And what's a good book recommendation that you like to give to others?

SPEAKER_01 23:58

This might come as a surprise or maybe not, but one of my favorite books ever, and I tend to read self-help books. I'm not really one that reads a lot of uh nonfiction. Uh fiction. Sorry, fiction. I read a lot of nonfiction. But one of my favorite books ever was The Artist's Way, which is basically a course that you go through to unlock your creativity as a human. And I did this way back in college, but that book stuck with me. That was really one of my favorite favorite experiences as far as a book goes. On a more spiritual end of things, conversations with God was a revolutionary book for me. I just love that book. And then more in the business side because I've always been into relationship building, and I'm trying to think of the name of the book and the author, but it's um how to win friends and influence others.

SPEAKER_00 24:56

That one, I knew you were going there with that one.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Yes, yes. And I mean, I think most people that read have probably already read that book, but that really kind of solidified for me my philosophies and my thought processes around communication and how to communicate effectively with people. So those would be probably my top three that I would bring to the table. There are others, but oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

It's such a hard question. Um, because I'm like you. I love personal development and self-help books, the how to win friends and influence people. That book, it's incredible how many people recommend that and just how big of an impact that has on people who have read it. Um, such a good book, and it's one that you can implement and practice. But that question, I love that question because the the answer can change depending on what phase of life you're in, you know, what's going on. There's so many books that mean.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

Of course, there's the four agreements, too, which is another four agreements.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Yeah, another great, easy, short read that can that can provide a lot of insight and and value. And so, no, that's another good one, Vanessa. But no, thank you. Thank you so much for doing this because again, the work you're doing, I want to spotlight that. You're you've done some incredible things in building Achieve, and and now you've you've got several books out. And just again, the job's not done. You have so much more that you're gonna go on and accomplish. But I it's an honor to share your story and everything that you're doing. And Vanessa, if anyone's interested in learning more about Achieve and what you all do, where can they go to find that information?

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Absolutely, Chris. They can go to achievesystemspro.com. The website pretty much has there's a page that says why become a member. On there, you can pretty much get an an overview. Achieve is a bit of a beast, as you know. You've been involved for a while now. We do a lot of different things, but on that page, they can really, everyone can get a good idea of all the different resources, assets, and things that we have available to help you grow your business and increase your revenue. And like I say, not everything on there is for everyone, but there's something for everybody.

SPEAKER_00 27:07

Yeah, absolutely. And we'll make sure we put that link in the show notes so that anyone interested can go find out more information. But Vanessa, thank you so much for doing this. Keep keep doing the amazing work, and uh, thank you for for being a part of the Books for Guys podcast. It means a lot.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

You're welcome, Chris. Thank you for having me on today. I really appreciate uh just being here. Thank you.