Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Vanessa Raymond. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Vanessa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I have always been an entrepreneur of some sort without actually realizing it… at age 23 I already owned my own in-home beauty business, but because it was a side-gig I never really thought of myself as an entrepreneur. At the time I was working in the performance industry, I majored in Musical Theater from college and was performing full-time while running my beauty business part-time – going to clients homes to do facials, manicures, pedicures, waxing and massages.

In 2008 I decided I wanted to retire from the performance industry so I started my own fitness business. I had already been teaching Pilates for years and have always been an avid fitness enthusiast – being a dancer and all… However, starting a fitness business was definitely a challenge. I have never really run a full time business and definitely needed help. That is when I started seeking help and found Achieve Systems. I was not in a financial position to hire a one-on-one business coach so this seemed like the perfect solution – and it was… Little did I know at the time.

I joined this organization back in 2008 – a fantastic support system for health and wellness professionals, offering coaching systems and resources that are very affordable… This is where my growth journey started in the biggest way. The CEO Robert Raymond took me under his wing and lead me through creating education as an additional income stream for my business. I created a kettlebell certification program as well as a self-image coaching program, which quantum leaped my business to the next stage. 12 years later I sold the Kettlebell Certification company for a wonderful profit and I did this because I realized I wanted to focus on my self-image and confidence coaching.

During the last 12 years, not only did I continue to run my certification companies, but I also ran the education division for Achieve Systems and mentored many entrepreneurs through the education creation process.

Bringing together my years of experience in the performance industry where I experienced lots and lots of rejection as well as unbelievable successes, and then working with numerous clients in the gym helping them create the bodies and confidence they want, and then working with entrepreneurs and helping them shape their own education programs this brought me to now focussing on my Confidence Coaching and Public Speaking career. I am able to use all my years of experience in the performance, beauty and fitness industries to help entrepreneurs create congruency in their self-image and business image and step into their own power so they can create the businesses and lives they desire.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born and raised in South Africa so the thought of one day living in the United States, having a beautiful family and successful career in this country was very far-fetched. Never mind my dream of being a performer… in the small industrial town where I grew up no one performed for a living … so that is where I learned how important holding onto your dreams and living your passion is. Persevering and believing in pursuing my dreams is what brought me where I am now. I could have easily given up and settled into a regular job… but I knew that was never going to be enough for me, and as I pursued my “far-fetched dreams” the possibilities and opportunities unfolded in front of me – not without its challenges, blood, sweat and tears, but all for what I love… what I am passionate about.

I consider my careers in the performance and fitness industries a huge success and the best teacher of perseverance, tenacity and discipline which has stood me in very good stead when I became an entrepreneur. As a confidence and success coach, these are also attributes that I help my clients to instill in their lives and businesses.

A lack of confidence creates so many obstacles in all areas of our lives and that is why I am so passionate about it. You are the billboard for your business, your life, and how you carry and project yourself and your energy determines the type of prospects, clients, friends and acquaintances you draw into your life and business.

I have helped numerous entrepreneurs, speakers and educators understand the importance of the mind-body connection. See – what makes me unique as a coach is my “physical” approach to mindset. Once you understand the connection between the way you posture yourself – the way you move and your mental emotional state, it is mind-blowing how empowering that is. I have spent so many years “emoting” through movement that I understand the power of that. As you might already know – the way we feel affects our posture and body language, but the opposite is also true – the way we posture ourselves and use our body language can absolutely change the way we feel! This has been scientifically proven, so why not implement this in our everyday lives to empower ourselves and improve our quality of life and the way we communicate with others.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

I actually sold one of my companies about a year ago. In 2008 I created a Kettlebell Certification program. It became very popular amongst personal trainers as their preferred method. This company ended up being endorsed by the US Army as their preferred method as well as Gold’s gyms all over.

Selling this business was a huge decision for me because it had become one of my largest revenue generators, but I realized that I wanted to focus on my coaching business and I just had too much on my plate and need to clear some space for my coaching business.

I was able to create a contract where I handed over the whole business to a new owner who wants to keep the method and philosophy in tact (which is important to me) but relieves me of all my responsibilities within the business. I was able to negotiate ongoing percentage of revenue even though I do not own the business anymore. Always try to optimize the opportunity to sell by working in some kind of revenue share or ongoing revenue as a result of you growing a solid business.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I have various ways of creating new business and clients but by far the most successful is in person networking and speaking. I love speaking in public and it is a platform that allows you not only to share your passion and reason for helping others in the way that you do, but speaking in front of groups large or small allows them to get to “know, like and trust you” much faster than trying to create those relationships via email blasts, text messages or even social media. There is also a lot of credibility attached to getting on a stage and speaking.

As far as in person networking goes, again – being able to speak to people in person, letting them experience you and your passion for what you do and being able to express in person how you can help and be of service is unparalleled… People also love to talk about themselves and if you can show honest and deep heartfelt interest, then they will remember you forever!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.victoryinbiz.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vanessaraymond04/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeeRay04/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-raymond-3a5897200/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Veedance04

Image Credits
Kelly Weaver for Headshot