Christine Schlonski [0:02]
Hey Gorgeous. This is episode number 313. And I’m so pumped to have the wonderful Elena Herdieckerhoff back on the show today.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [0:11]
Hi, this is Elena Herdieckerhoff. You are listening to Heart Sells! podcast with Christine Schlonski. Enjoy.

Christine Schlonski [0:18]
Well after our last episode on “Selling For Highly Sensitive Entrepreneurs” I am so looking forward for Elena, to share how to get on a TEDx stage. Elena herself is an award-winning serial entrepreneur and a successful TEDx speaker. Her TEDx talk has over 3.3 million views on YouTube and counting. As a highly sensitive person and acclaimed intuitive coach and business mentor since 2014. Elena empowers other highly sensitive people around the world to turn their sensitivity into their greatest gift in life and business. And I’m Christine Schlonski, the host of Heart Sells! Podcast, where I interview inspirational heart-centered entrepreneurs and business leaders about how they have built a wildly successful business and overcame their own challenges in sales. Before we dive in, this episode is brought to you by Heart Sells! Academy, which I’m the founder of.

Christine Schlonski [1:19]
At Heart Sells! Academy, we typically work with heart-centered ambitious entrepreneurs and business leaders who love what they do, but who are reluctant to sell. We help them to step into selling with ease, grace, and confidence, to ask their price, and to be authentic in the process. So if you feel that sales are kind of in your way, and it holds you back from giving more of your gifts to the world, and really creating the successful business and lifestyle you dream of, then we should have a chat, hop on over to heartsellsacademy.com and learn more. And if you want to learn more on how to get on a TEDx stage, you want to stay till the end. So let’s dive in with the wonderful Elena Herdieckerhoff. Well, I am so excited to have you back today, Elena, welcome.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [2:10]
Thank you so much for having me. I’m super excited to dive into another topic with you.

Christine Schlonski [2:15]
I know I loved our first topic where we talked about highly sensitive people. And I had my lightbulb moment. So if you want to know Gorgeous, check out the previous episode. You’re gonna love it. And there were so, so many golden nuggets in it. And today we’re gonna focus on “How To Get On A TEDx Stage” or what you know, what are the do’s and don’ts and things like this. So I’m really looking forward to tapping into your knowledge. But one thing I would love to know before we dive in is what was the very first thing that you have ever sold in your life?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [2:55]
Well, the first thing I ever sold in my life was a career coaching package. This was actually something I had in mind. I was in my mid-20s, living in Paris. And I had worked in HR and headhunting. And I pretty much decided from one week to the next, that I wanted to see if I could move into career coaching for ex-pats. And I thought you know what, I have no idea if this works. So I printed some cards in a local train station, and I just thought, okay, I’ll just try this. I’ll just tell a few people that now I’m offering this package. And within one week, I had my first paying client, and I thought, Okay, cool. This can actually work. So, um, I created my business after.

Christine Schlonski [3:47]
That’s so smart, though, that’s so smart. Yes. Cool. And was there anything before? Like, when you were younger, like the very first thing like going way back with some memory?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [4:00]
Um, no, I actually don’t think I um, I sold anything prior to that? I think that was my first entrepreneurial sale.

Christine Schlonski [4:10]
So no, no cookies, no babysitting.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [4:13]
No, no, no, no, no, I think no, that was my first

Elena Herdieckerhoff [4:17]
Wow

Elena Herdieckerhoff [4:17]
Up for sale.

Christine Schlonski [4:18]
Well, you started with one of the bigger goals. That’s pretty cool. And did you know at that moment that you were kind of made for entrepreneurship?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [4:28]
Well, the thing is, I grew up in a family where my father had been an entrepreneur already for pretty much all of his life. So I had a role model. And my father always encouraged me to follow this path. And he always said, you know, you’re a born entrepreneur, you can do this. So I felt like this was the natural step for me. So I always knew I would end up in entrepreneurship. And I can only thank my father for nurturing that self-belief in me that I can do this and that I’m as he said, born for it. And I think it was like a positive brainwash, like, oh, okay, I’m born for this. I’ll do this one day. And then did.

Christine Schlonski [5:12]
That’s beautiful. That’s so beautiful. And I know that many people listening do not have that good fortune, they are just figuring it out. So that would be maybe a great affirmation.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [5:23]
Yeah.

Christine Schlonski [5:24]
Be proud of yourself or when you meditate or write in your journal, that you reaffirm that thought, you are made for this.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [5:32]
Yes, that’s right. I still say that to myself to this day.

Christine Schlonski [5:38]
So cool. And talking about sales. Before we dive into TEDx. What, what does Heart Sells! mean for you?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [5:48]
Um, for me, I think working through the heart and connecting through the heart, probably the most powerful thing we can do. Because that means we’ve dropped out of stories we’ve dropped out of ego, we’ve dropped out of pressure, we’ve dropped out of forcing an outcome to me, when you sell through the heart, you actually sell from a place of connection. And ultimately, behind that connection, also surrender to know that the right things will align. And your heart will guide you there because the heart is a place of unfiltered truth. So if you sell through the heart, you will naturally connect to the people you’re meant to connect to. And also, people you’re not meant to connect to, will filter out even if your ego might like them, or think oh, no, I need this client or I want this client, your heart knows. So what I like to do is before I get on a sales call, or something like that, I like to do like a 3-5 minute heart-based meditation, to connect to my heart, so that I know I am showing up with my heart-based truth. And then it’s going to be a matter of genuine alignment. If the other person is my heart client or not either way is totally fine. But it really helps me to align with the highest places within me and to kind of access that feeling of love and acceptance.

Christine Schlonski [7:20]
Wow, that is so powerful. Thank you for sharing that. And everybody can do this, right?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [7:25]
Everybody can do this. And they’re great free meditations. Even if you just have 2 minutes before you get on a sales call. My favorite meditation teacher for this would be Gregg Braden, he has wonderful, literally 2-3 minute heart activations. And it just opens up your energy field it opens up your receptivity for sharing from an authentic place and connecting with another human being. So I think, you know, we all have that 2 minutes to spare.

Christine Schlonski [7:56]
Oh, totally. And it’s so important for the right outcome because I do talk a lot about the soulmate client, you know about connecting to your heart before you even pick up the phone. But as you just frame that I never did a meditation like it’s more from my mind, so to speak, like, yes, knowing now I’m dropping into my heart and opening the space. What will be we’ll be, right? But yes, if the client is my soulmate client, we find a way. If not, I find a way to support them and, you know, send them somewhere else. But really sitting down and doing meditation. That’s so powerful.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [8:32]
Yeah, I found that really is helpful. It almost creates like, a little ritual.

Christine Schlonski [8:38]
Yeah. And you’re so much stronger when you come from within when you come from your truth. Yes. And yeah, and yeah, that’s basically for me, that’s what life is about. Right? Release your truth coming from that place of love. Because that’s what, ultimately we all are looking for.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [8:55]
I think so. Yeah.

Christine Schlonski [8:57]
Yeah.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [8:57]
Beautiful.

Christine Schlonski [8:58]
Beautiful. So let’s, let’s share how can we share our love from a TEDx stage?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [9:04]
Yeah, so for me, TEDx really offers an amazing, global platform for people to share their soul message with the world. And I believe every single person has a story to tell, or message to share that will change other people’s lives. And that sounds maybe like a lofty goal. But the truth is, this is really a tangible reality. I cannot tell you, I mean, now my talk has been seen, I think over 3.2 million times, and the amount of people that reach out to me and share with me, that part of my story lit up a new path for them, or showed them a new way of understanding themselves or somebody they love or even boosted their self-esteem in a very dark hour, people are transformed by ideas, and it’s all we have really to reinvent the future it’s based on our ideas. And I think now, more than ever, in 2020, when we’re recording this, humanity is standing in front of the gates to a new reality, and that new reality needs ideas to be shaped. And I think the TEDx stage is one of those kinds of global campfire places where we can get together and rally people around an idea that can change either people on an individual level that can impact our collective, that can impact our politics, our policies, our environment, so whatever it is, in India can be something that really transforms reality. And so that’s why I love the TEDx stage for giving people known and unknown, a platform to share their truth.

Christine Schlonski [10:55]
So, so, so powerful, and it’s true, everything started with an idea.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [11:00]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [11:00]
Right. If you are an entrepreneur, well, guess what? At some point, you had the idea to become an entrepreneur.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [11:06]
Exactly.

Christine Schlonski [11:07]
Yeah. And I just think dreaming big, allowing you to embrace your idea and giving it the value that it can have for the world.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [11:18]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [11:19]
Allow yourself to be on a stage to be seen, right? When you just said your TEDx talk was viewed over 3 million times. I’m thinking like, oh, what’s the impact? Like? I mean, obviously, you’re impacting over 3 million people, but also vice versa. How do you handle that kind of visibility?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [11:41]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [11:42]
What does it need to be on a TEDx? I mean, what are, how does a person need to think and feel about their message so they can succeed on that journey?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [11:54]
Yeah, I think where most people stop themselves from getting on the TEDx stage is to undervalue the importance of what they have to share because they think I didn’t invent the next cure for cancer. I didn’t. You know, like, I can’t talk about a trip to Mars, basically. So who wants to listen to me, I’m a nobody. And they discount the power and have their own experiences. And they think, well, this, everybody has this, everybody went to this. Everybody knows how to do this. And this is not true. People need your example. And they need your story. So just to share this, for example, there’s a TEDx talk on breakups. Just a simple, like, how somebody got over a breakup, I think that talk has like 4 million views.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [12:50]
Now, you might not think this is rocket science, and it probably isn’t. But it gives so much comfort for people to hear stories of others that have gone through what they’re going through and, and that can share the learnings and thinking, thinking like, wow, okay, so this person learned these things. So maybe I can apply that to myself. So it can be as mundane as getting over a relationship breakup. And it can be as sophisticated as some invention. But don’t discount that your idea matters. And that if you feel very strongly about something, to me, that means you’re designated as an ambassador for that idea. And everybody feels strongly about something, something that they feel they figured out, or they need to change, or they need the world to know about, like that thing that burns you. That’s the thing that chose you as ambassador. And if you don’t show up for your idea, your idea will have to wander to somebody else. Because the idea itself will not go away. So if you feel the idea, that’s your call to act on your idea. And to not second guess yourself, or the importance of your message. Yeah,

Christine Schlonski [14:05]
I love that I read the book of Elizabeth Gilbert a while ago, “Magic”, I think it’s called where it explains how ideas come to people. And if you don’t catch it, if you don’t execute on it, it just goes somewhere else.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [14:19]
That’s right. And I’ve experienced that myself. I work with a lot of TEDx people and TEDx experts. And they say, oh, you know, I had this idea already many years ago, and then somebody else did a talk on my idea. And then I’m like, that’s fine. As long as that idea made it to the stage, that’s fine. But what is your idea today, because you will have received a new one, you know, there’s no finite amount of ideas to go around. Then that was not may be meant for you at that moment in time to do that. But everybody today like if you ask yourself, if I said to all of your listeners right now, you have the stage you’re going on in 2 minutes, what are you going to talk about if the world is going to listen to you? What matters to you more than anything else? And then that’s the thing that comes to you right away. That’s your message. That’s your thing. Yeah.

Christine Schlonski [15:14]
So action steps for you dear listener, what came to mind? Yes, write it down and get on stage.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [15:25]
Yes. Because I think it’s, it’s right now, you know, many people feel helpless. They’re like, what can I do to make the world better? I mean, we can all see the chaos we’re in collectively. And it’s easy to fall into this fatalistic attitude of what one person can really do. But what you can do is you can share your ideas. And that can inspire action. Because, you know, before we can move into action, we need the idea. And whatever your ideas, people need to hear about it. And that’s a great way for you to contribute to the collective and to the future of humanity as well.

Christine Schlonski [16:02]
Yeah, yeah, there’s so much possible once we get over ourselves.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [16:06]
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And I think you’re touching on a very important point is, we have to get over the limiting belief that we have to be a well-known expert, we have to have pen books about the subject, we have to have all of these things, you can just get on stage, without having any of these things as long as you have something that you can talk about with conviction, and with knowledge, and really be willing to open yourself up and share and just trust, if you think it’s important, other people will feel that too.

Christine Schlonski [16:43]
Yeah. So beautiful. And that’s true for everything in life, I feel, especially when you are an entrepreneur when you have an idea when you have a message, how can you share?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [16:54]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [16:54]
And you know, I always thought, Well, you know, if it’s just one person, like what kind of influence is that? But when you really think about it, that one person is connected to other people. So if that one person’s life changes, because of your idea, of your message.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [17:12]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [17:12]
And that person influences other people in their life, you have this beautiful ripple effect.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [17:17]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [17:18]
And you really can support others in making the world a better place. And that kind of sounds likes, for me, like everybody kind of talks about making the world a better place. But we don’t really know how but it does start with ourselves.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [17:34]
Yes, and you know, what you just shared, the ripple effect is so powerful the amount of people that wrote to me, that took action, I had teachers share with me that they understood how they’re HSP students, and they change the curriculum that changed how they taught things, parents, that parented their children differently. I even have people who set up groups now where they want to do meetup groups with other HSP’s. And somebody set up an HSP. School. And so you know, so people ripple that out in the way that they then feel called because a great idea does the following: it ignites new ideas that are kind of related to your idea. And then they will run with their understanding of your idea and their expression of your idea. And that’s how your idea actually gains momentum and, and becomes much bigger than what even you ever conceived.

Christine Schlonski [18:29]
That’s so beautiful. That’s so beautiful. So how can we tie it back to sales? Well what kind of experience can you share from people you have helped on the TEDx stage and from your own experience, how did it also influence your business?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [18:46]
Hmm? Well, I would say probably many entrepreneurs actually look at a TEDx talk, first and foremost, to that business lens versus the idea lens, because there’s a known TEDx effect, meaning when you are on the TEDx stage, and you’ve you have landed and completed a successful TEDx talk, what that means is you are elevated to an expert level. And that then opens doors in multiple ways. So many of my clients have gotten book deals on the back of their TED Talk, where they say, oh, there’s clearly an audience for this idea. And publishers reach out and say, Wow, can you expand on this? Let’s do a book together, or high paid speaking gigs where people ask you, okay, on our stage at our conference, can you talk but for a longer period of time, about your area of expertise, you have brand partnerships and collaborations, of course, and also, probably one of the most primary and simple things is you attract new followers and clients because if people spend up to 18 minutes with you, which you know, in the online world is like, almost forever.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [19:58]
So if people spend that amount of time with you, they know you, they like you, they trust you, they understand what you are all about. So great TEDx talk, I would say it’s like a coffee date, it makes people like, wow, this statement, great, I want to go to the next level, I want to go to the dinner date. And that’s where they actually want to connect with you more, they want to find out more about you. So you are actively being sought out, they come to your website, they look at your free and paid offers, they want to continue the journey you started with them. And so the quality of people that come to you is different, because these are people that are highly engaged with you, and your idea and your vision, and they are really actively looking to consume your content and to engage with your content and to buy from you. So this sets you up for really great sales, actually. Because you start from such a point of connection.

Christine Schlonski [21:00]
Yeah, wonderful. So what will people need to have in place to make the decision that they are now ready to go to TEDx?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [21:09]
Well, that’s a good question, I would say, you want to be able to leverage the TEDx wave once it hits your business. So you need to have both free and paid content available that is online-only content, meaning, ideally, you will have an online course, or a book or a podcast, or something that people can then journey with you through. Because if people fall in love with you, on the TEDx stage, and then they come to your website, and there’s no extra content for them. It’s disappointing. They want more from you. So whatever you can offer free or paid. And ideally, you have two tracks that directly correspond to the topic of your talk. So create a bucket for your free content that really picks people up where they left off at the end of your talk. And we’re like, oh, fantastic. He has like a video training recording or like, in my case, you know, we mentioned this in the previous episode, like I have a mini-course for highly sensitive people. So they listen to my talk on highly sensitive people, they want more, there’s a free course for them. And then for people who want to go deeper, they’re like, oh, maybe there’s an online course to take that goes much deeper. Maybe there’s this. So you want to make sure you have offerings in place so that you’re able to leverage that impact.

Christine Schlonski [22:35]
Yeah. And also have your tech and connections in place.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [22:38]
Oh, yeah. But the tech? Yeah, definitely, the tech needs to work and you want to have your even very basic funnels, and you don’t need like mega sophistication. But you just want to make sure that what you do has that it works and that you have a way of welcoming people into your world.

Christine Schlonski [22:56]
Yeah. Awesome. So when does somebody know that they’re ready? Obviously, when that’s sorted out, is there like, an internal thing or trigger? That when they feel that they can, they should just go for it? Or is there anything where you say, Well, you know if you are in this place, you might want to be prepared a little bit better?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [23:20]
Yeah, I often feel that most people actually come to the TEDx stage much later than they could have. Because I would say most people put too many barriers in place for themselves. And too many mindset limitations. But you know, their prospect of managing this, their prospects of doing it well, and also people have these misconceptions, for example, that you have to be like an amazing public speaker, and they’re like, oh, I’m going to take like, two years of public speaking courses and workshops before I can do this. And just to reassure anybody listening, my claim to fame was my brother’s wedding speech. Before I did my TEDx talk. Like, I am not a professional public speaker. And you don’t need to be perfect in any of these domains. You don’t need to be the most well-known expert, you don’t need to be a super prolific speaker. You don’t need to have 10 books published on the subject. You just need to care and you need to dare. These are the two things you really need to do. And then go for it and don’t overthink it.

Christine Schlonski [24:25]
I love that care and dare. Dream big, right. It’s so so important. Like when you’re ready to take your business to the next level, like when you have the basic setup, right? Because they can opt-in for something amazing, that’s free and supports them.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [24:43]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [24:43]
Also, you have some tracks where they can directly pay you. Right? Correct. difficult for people to pay you.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [24:49]
Yes, you need to have something that’s immediately available, and that they can purchase. And that you know it’s not tied to you know, being like an annual thing or something thing that you know only happens in offline like, it needs to be something that’s digitally available and right away, because people that are really warm from your talk, if they feel it, and they want to do something with you, they don’t want to have to wait. They want something now.

Christine Schlonski [25:19]
Yeah, awesome. Well, just a little reminder, before we wrap up like you have this beautiful gift on highly sensitive people, where you share about the sensitive power and the 4 transformational videos that help you to connect to that. And due to the amazing TEDx topic, you have a second gift for us.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [25:42]
I do indeed.

Christine Schlonski [25:43]
Tell us about that.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [25:44]
Yes, I do. Indeed. So I run two businesses. And my TEDx business, I have a great gift there, too, is if you’re now thinking, you know, what I care and out there, I actually cycle you through the “5 Stages Of A Successful TEDx Journey”. And I take you by the hand in an hour-long training, and I give you all the tools and tricks you need to succeed on the TEDx stage. So I’m going to share that with your audience.

Christine Schlonski [26:14]
Well, that’s super amazing. And we’re going to make sure to put the link in the resource section.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [26:18]
Wonderful.

Christine Schlonski [26:19]
So what do you want to leave us with what would be like your final advice, or yeah, love you want to share with us?

Elena Herdieckerhoff [26:29]
I would say that, if you hear the call, act on it, because we’re all here for a reason. And we will all know that we are meant to do something else and just run our businesses and make money and do all of these things. We all have that deeper soul called soul calling. And don’t make it a Sunday project. Start today. Just don’t wait to share what you’re really here for.

Christine Schlonski [27:02]
Love it. Thank you so so much. This was so fun. I can’t wait to catch up with you soon about all your great projects. And thank you so much, for sharing with us all these golden nuggets. And yeah, just want to say thank you.

Elena Herdieckerhoff [27:19]
Well, really, thank you for that, from my side. It was truly amazing to be here. And I am overjoyed that I could share some parts of my TEDx journey with your audience. Thank you so much.

Christine Schlonski [27:33]
Thank you. Having a conversation with Elena is always exciting, interesting and all the golden nuggets she has left for us are amazing. Hop on over to christineschlonski.com find the podcast tab and the episode with Elena. In the resource section, you find her amazing gifts, as well as a link to the “Heart-Centered Lead Generation Summit”. So you can always have a pipeline full of clients when following the advice of 40 amazing, highly successful entrepreneurs. And when you’re over there, as well, you find all the links that connect to Elena and her amazing work. So you want to make sure you check her out and if you have the chance to work with her.

Christine Schlonski [28:16]
And the big celebration going on this week is actually the 2nd Birthday of Heart Sells! Podcast with over 300 episodes, and so many amazing guests just like Elena. So I’m so super excited and when you hop on over to christineschlonski.com you will find our giveaway in the resource section. We are actually giving away a full episode for variety Friday. And you also have the opportunity to get your own voice on Heart Sells! Podcast by joining the celebration, where we will ask you a couple of questions. Record your answers and create a celebration episode. So how epic would that be if your voice was on Heart Sells! Podcast. Get your hands on that opportunity, hop on over to christineschlonski.com. Find the podcast tab and there you will find all the details you need to sign up and join in. Thank you so so much for listening. Thank you so much for having been here. Happy Thanksgiving if you are in the US and you’re celebrating and happy celebration to all of you listeners on Heart Sells! Podcast. Thank you so much. And I am looking forward to having you back for the next episode and I’m saying bye for now.