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

Alright, Bridgett thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

We’ve all heard it before:  You can’t be it if you can’t see it.  And I readily challenge that notion. It’s a lie and a crutch too many use. You CAN be what you can’t see. As someone who became an award-winning international professional speaker, an award-winning author, and an award-winning publisher (someone who didn’t see any of those people when I was growing up), I believe if others stop and think for minute, they will agree that they took the risks.  They made the tough choices.  They pursued the opportunities.  They pushed forward even when all odds may have been against them, even when it felt like they didn’t know if they were going in the right direction or not, even when they had not seen what they were trying to be. You can indeed be what you can’t see.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As a child, I received “talks too much” in the teacher comments section on all my report cards.  So it would stand to reason that I would grow up to become a professional speaker!

At BMH Companies, I provide professional presentations such as keynote addresses, conference breakout sessions, and professional development workshops as well as public speaking coaching.  Our audiences are professionals in sales, learning and development, higher education, marketing, training, and human resources. Plus, we provide full-service book publishing services to aspiring non-fiction authors via our hybrid publishing company, Press 49.

I was inspired to start my company when I was laid off in April of 2016. I’d been traveling the country, delivering presentations as part of a team at an edtech company. When I lost my job, I decided to continue doing what I’d been doing, what I loved, and what audiences seemed to also love from me–great presentations as well as coaching others on how to make great presentations. After running my own speaking business for just over three years, then publishing my first book in 2019 that sold out at a large international conference and that also won an award the next year, I decided to found and open a hybrid publishing company in December of 2019. And this decision came none too soon because in a few short months, I, along with countless other speakers, found myself with virtually no speaking income due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down large events and conferences.

Once again, I wanted to solve a problem for professionals. Before publishing my book, I focused on solving the problem of how sales and marketing professionals can deliver compelling presentations. After publishing my book, I focused on solving the problem of how business coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs, and speakers can get their feet in doors, seats at the tables, and recognized for their expertise in a more formal way and on a larger scale, and the solution was through publishing their books.

Aside from winning a Stevie Award and getting featured by major press outlets such as CBS, NBC, and MarketWatch, we are most proud of having published Amazon bestsellers, #1 new releases, and the award-winning titles of more than 160 authors and co-authors.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

If you keep your nose to the grind and work hard, you’re safe, and it’ll all pay off. False. Wrong. Cancel that thought.

It takes a heck of a lot more than hard work–such as self-promotion, personal branding, recognizing your worth, and knowing you are more than a job title–just to name a few. Don’t get me wrong–definitely work hard and be a devoted and motivated employee. Just don’t think that is what will future-proof your career and keep you employed.

Make sure you toot your own horn–not to the point of being obnoxious but to the point that those around you know who you are and that you are more than capable. Create a name for yourself that will leave a legacy and that will have people talking about you (in a good way!) even when are not in the room. Think to yourself what you want to be known for and center your energies around your every move and your every word clearly communicating that. Own every room you walk into. Be the most unforgettable person within those four walls. And go beyond telling people you are a ______ (fill in the blank with your job title). Tell people what you do, what you’re a rockstar at, and what you do that no one else on this planet can do better than you can do it.

Avoid keeping your head down and just doing your job. If you grew up in the same kind of environment I grew up in, then you were most certainly taught that lesson over and over again with all the right intentions in the world. But after following that principle, working dutifully, and putting in more than the minimum, I still got laid off. However, that layoff was the best thing that could have ever happened to me because if I had been allowed to remain comfortable working a 9-to-5, I’m relatively certain I would have never established my own award-winning business that services and impacts people all over the globe.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

On paper, she’s not my cofounder or my business partner, but in theory, practice, and life, she may as well be—that’s Simone E. Morris. If I’m trying to play it safe, she pushes me to take risks. If I have a fleeting moment of doubt, she gets on the horn and insists I put some big thoughts in my head. She celebrates my wins as if they are her own. I could go on and on!

It was late April 2018 in Tempe, Arizona at a National Speakers Association event. I was doing something that was certainly typical of me—delivering a “Don’t come for me unless I send for you” message that immediately caught Simone’s attention. We first started by connecting on social media and exchanging email messages, talking a lot about our businesses.  Emails turned into occasional phone calls, calls turned into adding in a text message here and there, and all of that turned into us reaching out to each other every free minute we get!

We bonded over being professional speakers and running our businesses while running our households. There were so many parallels until our friendship became an easy one, and I’m forever grateful. When we get less than stellar news, we commiserate with each other and search for the lessons in it. When we get big news (or even little news that feels big to us!), we tell each other before anyone else knows.

I couldn’t image business or life without Simone!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bmctalkspress.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bmhcompanies/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bmhcompanies
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/bmcgowen
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/bmhcompanies