Overcoming Sales Anxiety with Jesus (w/ Andee Hart)

On this episode, Darren sits down with Andee Hart to discuss her journey from Fortune 500 sales exec to the owner of a successful, Christ-centered wholesale candle company. 

Thanks for listening, and keep partnering with God in your business.  

And don’t forget to check out our sponsor at HighBridgeBooks.com. And feel free to contact me directly at darren@highbridgebooks.com if you’re interested in writing, publishing, and selling a book.   

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Welcome to the Christian Business Leader Podcast, where Christ-following business leaders explore God's will and ways for business. This show is a ministry of the Center for Christianity and Business at Houston Christian University and features conversations with today's Christ-centered business leaders who are representing Christ faithfully in the business world. I'm your host, Darren Scheer. And if you want to make your work, leadership, and company's culture more Christ-centered, you've come to the right place. On this episode, we're joined by Andy Hart. Andy is an energetic entrepreneur, sales strategist, mentor, and host of the podcast She Sells Differently. While working as a sales executive for a Fortune 500 company, she began a passion project, Heart Design Co., making candles in her kitchen. What started as a side hustle in a few local boutiques quickly blossomed into a successful wholesale business and storefront. Within a year, she transitioned from her corporate career to full-time entrepreneurship through her tenacity, engaging social media presence, and countercultural strategies. Her mission is to empower others to overcome sales anxiety. Oh gosh, we need that. And grow their businesses with integrity and grace. Andy, welcome to the Christian Business Leader Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Thanks, Darren. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

When did you first realize God wants to be involved in your work and business?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Oh man, what a great question. I would say that it was early on in my career, probably the first year I was out of college. And I remember having this aha moment. It was in a conversation with my dad. I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur, but it was I was home visiting with my parents, and I had been working in corporate America for a couple of months. And I remember having this conversation with my dad and saying, there's got to be something more. I want to make more of an impact. I want to, you know, make a difference in the lives of people. And here I am just taking calls. I was, I was literally taking calls on a small business queue. That's what we called it at the time. So people would call into this line. I worked for Dell Technologies at the time. And I would sell them a laptop or a computer. It was, I mean, that's really where I earned my sales stripes, right? And I thought, what difference am I making? You know? And it was a powerful conversation that I had with my father. I think this was Easter weekend. Um, you know, so I had been out of school for maybe a year at the time. And he he told me, I remember he said, Andy, the Lord has you right where you are for a reason. And it may not be to make a difference to a customer you're talking to on the phone and selling a computer. It could be for your peer that's sitting next to you on the row. Or it could be to a customer you're you're talking to. It could be, but you never know the difference you're making just by doing everyday life in a Christ-centered way. And you do not have to be in ministry, full-time ministry, or you know, uh have a you know, full-time ministerial job to make an impact. You can do that right where you are in a sales role at Dell and Sean for Christ. And that moment flipped a script in me. It it just flipped a you know, a switch, I should say, in that anything that I do in my work should all be for the glory of God. And so that has always been just a light bulb moment. Um, that I'll I'll never forget that conversation. And so um, yeah, I've always always carried that with me. I love that that was that was your first question.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Yeah. And not only can you make a difference as a computer salesperson uh for Christ, I mean, that is the place where it's going to happen. I mean, where else is it gonna happen? You know, like that person's not going to church. Uh, they're not going to your Bible study. You know, hopefully, maybe eventually they will. Uh, but in terms of making an impact and discipling people, I mean, that is where it's going to happen or it's not going to happen at all. So, you know, it's not just sort of uh, you know, you can uh as uh, you know, this is sort of like a little boutique Christian ministry you can do out here in the marketplace. No, this is where ministry is going to happen or it's not going to happen. Uh and then then the culture is not going to encounter Christ. Like it's just really that that simple. Um, and and so, and so what changed once you had this this revelation?

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Yeah, that's a great question. So I think, you know, a couple of things. One is just naturally your outlook on work. And so work to me was not a, oh, I've got to go to work today, you know, I've I've I've got to show up. It was a I get I get to go to work today. It's a blessing to be able to show up and use the gifts the Lord has given me to, you know, glorify him and also just to be a light to others around, around me. So it's it was my attitude. I feel like, you know, because other people are seeing how I am showing up, how I, you know, I'm I'm not, you know, trying to be negative because it's very, very easy in those types of situations just to be, you know, negative and bring the culture down. And so that was just a simple way to turn things around. Um, also just looking for opportunities to simply invite others to church. Um, and there were plenty of those opportunities. Um, you know, it's it's a it was a young culture. People were, I lived in Nashville at the time. People were moving, um, moving to the city right after graduating, and they were looking for friends. And so it was a great opportunity to say, hey, I'm I'm going to church tonight. You want to join me? You know, no, no pressure.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Um, and so just those simple, simple opportunities that I was intentionally looking for um just to be a light in the workplace.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Yeah. So you started your candle company after working as a sales executive at you went from Dell to Lenovo, right? And and so how have you been able to, and certainly when you have your own business, you have more freedom to influence and kind of direct the the culture in the direction that you feel called to go, um, which is toward Christ and the ways of God and the ways of God's God's kingdom. Um, what how how were you able to operate differently? And how did your organization begin to look more Christ-centered than perhaps you know the previous organizations that you were in?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Yeah, so you know, fast forward from those kind of early years of selling, and uh, you know, now I've moved to Raleigh in the pandemic and I've opened my candle company. And um so much of what, you know, over the I was I was in corporate America for 17 years, and so much of the training, the sales training that I had received over the years was a very cultural worldly view of selling that is you hear a no, and how do you overcome that? How do you sell to someone regardless of hearing a no from them and overcome their objection? And so I knew when I started my candle company that I wanted to be different in that I wanted to sell and serve people with my the products that I created. I wanted it to be a way to bring joy to those that I created these products for. And so um I didn't want to force them on people. Um I think there's a way to sell your creations and your products to others, um, but also provide an exceptional customer experience and still have a profitable business because those go hand in hand. I think a lot of times people think, you know, creating a great customer experience means letting customers roll over you or just, you know, um you just bend over backwards for a customer. And you can create an amazing customer experience and still sell well to a customer and serve them with intentionality. And so what that looked like for me was simply um, you know, showcasing my products in a different light and how I talked about them. Because listen, everyone has candles. And if I had a dollar for every time someone told me, you know, you're you're the candle market's saturated, right? But what it looked like for me was how I talk about my products and how I talk about them and the story behind them. And so instead of talking about my products of, you know, they're hand handcrafted and they have a you know, all natural products, I would talk about the joy that they bring your home and sitting around a dinner table and gathering as a family or relaxing after a long day of work.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Right.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

You know, and so bringing even even sometimes just bringing the the spiritual aspect of of my products into into people's everyday lives can be a simple way to get people thinking about that. Um, I even have a a client that I've worked with and she named her candle company Topos Candles. So it's T A T O P H O S, which means the light in Greek. And I love this because she was intentional about bringing her faith into her candle company, and she shares the re the meaning behind it, which is um the light of Christ.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Yeah, I love that. It's like the old adage, don't sell the the hammer, uh sell the sell the hole. But then, you know, because people don't buy the hammer just so they can have or sell the sell the drill, not the uh sell the hole, not the drill. I'm getting it all mixed up, goodness. Um, but even the hole is not ultimately what they want. They want to be able to to hang a picture, yeah. Um and and they they want to hang a picture of their family to enjoy those memories, you know. And so as salespeople, what we often do, especially in markets that do tend to be saturated, is just you know, kind of sell the features like everybody else is doing rather than selling the story behind it. Um, and so what like what is how do you tell that story?

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Yeah, so it depends obviously who you know my my target audience is specifically for, you know, I I could be talking to a retailer and their aesthetic is you know a farmhouse um retailer, right? And so um it really depends on what retailer I'm I'm looking at, but um because I mainly sell wholesale, um, but I really um look at it from how it's going to benefit them. Because in the same way that um, and and there's really an application here in selling of that in the same way that our Christian life, it's not about us. It is the same way when you're selling, it's not about your brand. And so I really stay away from talking about my brand and my products, but what they're going to do for them and how they're going to benefit their store and fit into the overall aesthetic and fit in and help their business. Right. Um, and a lot of times, and this is where I want to be different than the other brands. Yeah. A lot of times they might say, we're not interested, or the timing is wrong. And so there's a time and a place to to dig in and ask, but I always want to be respectful and to understand where they're coming from, but to also follow up when the timing is right. And and that's where I think a lot of brands go wrong is that they think that following up is being um annoying. And I want to flip the the script from a sales perspective, um, and especially from you know, just a Christian perspective, that you know, actually following up is serving, is serving because I I truly believe when you have a product or a service um and your business serves others, you know, the Lord's given you a gift or product that you're creating that serves and provides value, then you actually owe it to them to share about it and to follow up with them. That's actually serving them.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Yes. Yeah, and I love your emphasis on um on the results and and selling the results and not just the features and and why you think it's good. Um, and and we can learn from the example of Jesus, you know, Jesus did a lot of branding, personal branding, you know, I am the door, the good shepherd, the vine, uh, all of these visual um branding elements that he used to help people understand who he who he is. And and yet when John the Baptist is sitting there in prison and he's discouraged that he's not, he doesn't, he he's kind of doubting that Jesus was who he said he was, and Jesus said to report back to John what you have seen. And and the the the lame walk and the blind eyes have been open, and he's he's emphasizing the results, and and that's what we have to do in ethical Christ-centered selling, right? Is to sell the the results. Like this is this is the kind of joy that our customers report they are experiencing from these products as opposed to aspirational selling, you know. I hope you're gonna get this kind of benefit. Um, this is what I really envision this product product doing, as opposed to these are act, this is actually what people are experiencing. You know, you can make what you want out of that.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Yeah. So it's it's interesting too, um, as we talk about selling, that especially um, and I don't want to, you know, overgenderize uh if that's a term, um, but I think women often struggle with it. Um for first I've I've noticed this, like you know, if women that we struggle with putting our products out there or our services, but I want to call this out because um Proverbs 31 is often used as in scripture a wife of noble character, and it's like this high standard. Um, but what a lot of people don't realize in scripture, if you look at Proverbs 31, um what this woman is doing is she's actually selling, she's creating products and she's selling her products. And even in and I specialize, you know, in teaching and in wholesaling my candles and teaching wholesale. Um, it says that she takes her goods to the merchant. I mean, that's wholesaling right there, you know. Yeah, and but I also want to take that a step further because I think in common in in our cultural everyday sales trainings that we see in the world, the end result, what you see is you see these people that are getting out of their Lamborghinis or their helicopters or or what have you. And it's the end result is so that you can have money or assets or you can have this comfortable life. And I want to challenge that because it's easy to fall into that mindset. And if you look in scripture, selling and business in general is not so that you can have all and accumulate all this wealth and have a comfortable life, but it's so that you can provide for your family, and it doesn't mean that you can't, you know, um, enjoy the fruits of your labor. I think there's a gift in that. I mean, it says that in Ecclesiastes, but so that you can provide for your family, so that you can give to the poor, so that you can give generously, so that you can um use for and and use for the kingdom of the Lord. Um I think there is so much to be learned in scripture from a business perspective that the gifts that we have, and when we use our gifts wisely, it is for kingdom purposes, not for wealth accumulation and you know, to have all these, you know, cars and nice assets and things like that. And so that's where I think um it it's important to remember from a sales perspective as well. That is a great lesson from scripture.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Yeah, and that profitability allows you to stay in business so that you can really carry on the core purpose of business as a Christian, which as I understand it, is to make disciples of the people that you influence through that through that business, which looks different than the way that it is done in church, where you know, we're gonna sit around and go through a book of the Bible or have coffee once a month, and that's gonna be our discipleship. You know, this kind of discipleship is more day in, day out modeling the lifestyle of Christ. Uh, and and people are either drawn to Christ as a result of what they see in the in us and the culture of our organizations, or they are led away, or they're led toward the the pattern of this world and the sphere of the age, you know, which is the way that a lot of companies are are oriented. So, can you give us an example of how disciple making has happened through your company? Certainly through it's a little a lot easier to see it in the coaching side of what you do in your coaching business, but specifically in the the candle business, I'm curious about yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

So I I love this question. Um one of the things that I have really strived to do is um be intentional with my messaging and with the the way that Heart Design Coast started um was through um it it would it was actually to help raise funds for adoption um through for some families at my church um at the time that were pursuing adoption. And so um I have that messaging on my website and also um you know the reason that I love creating is because I'm made in the image, we're all made in the image of the ultimate creator. And so I I weave that that thread into um you know our our core. brand messaging and um you know backstory and so i've it's opened up several conversations with some of my customers uh they've reached out and said i saw your story about why you started heart design co and i'm interested to learn more and so i had a retailer they're actually based out of charlotte north carolina and they reached out and asked me um to tell them a little bit more about why i started my company um and so i shared you know more about being created in the image of god that's why i love creating beautiful candles um you know it's it's a joy of creating and um they ended up placing an order with me and they've been a retailer ever since so that was when i very when i first started so it's been several years and so i actually do white label candles for them so they put their branding on them they've been one of my biggest retailers and um it's been a really fun partnership and it's just planting seeds like that that's been a joy um to just open those conversations and it's just doing business differently and I have a my pastor in North Carolina said when in in the business world it's doing you're just doing everyday life in an extraordinary way and I love the way he says that in a you know Christ like extraordinary way you know it doesn't mean that you have to be out there um every day or you know opening scripture and sharing the gospel but you're you're shining your light in an extraordinary way and so that's what I want to be about um with my candle company.

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Yeah I love that so the company the retailer were they also a like-minded Christian-led Christ-centered company yes when I when I opened up and shared learned a little bit more they were um I've had a couple of conversations where people have not been um I have another very large retailer and uh actually in North Carolina as well um and they um are not at all um they are in in fact any of my candles that um they are very adamant any of my candles that are branded with anything religious they will not buy um but um that's okay um they're probably my closest retailer to me which I don't think is a coincidence um I you know text them all the time I've gotten to be very good friends with them um will go to dinner when I'm in town um I don't think that's a coincidence you know I um and so I I I think that there's um the Lord is opening up doors to have conversations there um in in just organic ways and so um yeah it just a very very sweet um friendship that is deepening there um from from that started out as a business partnership that's slowly becoming even as I have moved away slowly becoming a deeper friendship um so yeah very interesting yeah yeah I mean you have influence with Christian led companies and companies that are not uh decidedly you know not not going to to present anything to their customers that has any sort of religious or christian yeah affiliation and I mean if you're not reaching them who who is um and reaching them not in the sense of that you're you're gonna get them to come to your church but that they know you're a Christian this is what you stand for and so now every interaction that you have with them can be just more um illuminating and more illumination about who Jesus is um in you and and through your company I love that I was thinking about another you know kind of similar example of the apparel like the company and I don't know if they still provide the apparel for Chick-fil-A or not but it's this company um Ubi Ube I'm not exactly sure how you pronounce it but it's O B E which is a really famous brand now but um they it stands for out of Bible experience so obviously a play on out of body experience but that also Christian foundations for their company uh Ube and I think they make a lot of their all their shirts out of like recycled plastic bottles uh I want to say which is really cool um but they had like no staff I mean they had no sales hardly to speak of especially for to to meet the the the the demands of of uh clothing all of Chick fil A's employees and and and they but they still gave them the contract because they believed in them and they believed in their their mission. And so I think we're seeing a growing number of companies like that that would prefer to do business with a a a company that isn't isn't necessarily just selling like Christian themed products but is selling products and services that have grown out of a culture that is Christ centered you know because every product every service is really a cultural expression of whatever that culture stands for and is ultimately leading people toward and so I I love that that example from from you and the other candle retailer. Yeah and I know she's she's very um intentional too about um in the in the same way about reaching out um and making disciples as well through her her candle company which I love as well um so yeah so Andy how can people hear more from you um I know you have some sales tools for entrepreneurs that people can check out at andyhart.com uh forward slash sales tools and by the way that's A-N-D-E-E-H-A-R-T dot com. Um what else do you want to say about how people can get involved with you?

SPEAKER_00 29:00

Yes so that's a great place. I also have my podcast which you can find um it's she sells differently and that is on any um podcast platform and then my candle company it's heartdesignco.com and you can check that out um online.

SPEAKER_01 29:16

Awesome well Andy thank you for the example you're setting out there for uh other Christian business influencers like us um and may God continue to prosper you and your company and your family thank you so much Darren it's been a blessing to be here thanks for listening to this episode of the Christian business leader podcast be sure to subscribe leave a review and tune in for the next episode as we continue exploring God's will and ways for business