We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Chang Irish. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.
Jessica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?
A woman named Sonia, who was the COO of a large nonprofit organization, reached out to me for help after feeling like she’d made a fool of herself during past presentations. She felt crippled with fear, defeated and traumatized, and avoided public speaking at all costs.
When speaking one-on-one with anyone, Sonia was assured and well-spoken. But put her in front of a group of people, especially her organization’s board of directors, and she’d stumble and freeze. So when it came time to give her quarterly report to the board, she’d usually defer to the CEO.
This fear of speaking, and her belief that she was “not a public speaker,” kept her stagnant in her career.
During our first coaching session together, I asked Sonia what attributes she’s proud of and wants to be known for; I like to call them “brand super powers.”
She defined her brand super powers as transparent, empathetic and collaborative.
I then guided her through defining and refining her “why.” In other words, her purpose in life or why she wakes up every morning.
This is what she came up with: “In everything I do, I believe in giving my best whole-heartedly with transparency, empathy and collaboration.”
Then I asked her: “By hiding away from speaking opportunities, are you giving your best whole-heartedly and being transparent, empathetic and collaborative?
She said no.
So I encouraged Sonia to step into and live out her brand super powers and her “why” every day, so she can be that leader she knows she truly is.
The better understanding you have of your brand and your “why,” the more confident and authentic you can be in your interactions with other people, whether in conversation with one person or while speaking to a large audience.
Throughout the 8-week one-on-one coaching program together, I taught Sonia my frameworks and strategies to write and deliver a presentation concisely and compellingly, transition phrases to say when the board president asked for her report, and exercises to manage her nerves. We practiced together, both in person and by using her camera phone to record herself, so she could observe her voice inflections and body language that she wouldn’t have realized otherwise.
Nowadays, Sonia still gets uneasy sometimes before public speaking, but she faces her nerves by standing firm in her brand super powers and her “why.” She no longer cowers from opportunities to speak to the board of directors or other audiences because she knows how to prepare, and is proud to be able to speak articulately and confidently.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m Jessica Chang Irish and I’m an Emmy-award winning news reporter turned public speaking coach who empowers ambitious professionals looking to build their confidence and influence through live or on-camera speaking.
Many business owners and rising professionals are afraid of embarrassing themselves when they speak in public or on video. And this holds them back from growing their businesses. I have proven frameworks and exercises that reduce overwhelm and fear of the unknown so they can speak with conviction and credibility to attract more clients and customers.
Since starting my business in 2015, I’ve helped hundreds of professionals – from business owners to executives and corporate teams – amplify their voice and messages.
As I always tell my clients, I’m more than a speaking coach. I often serve as a therapist, accountability partner and a cheerleader. Whoever I work with, I listen to and observe their needs closely so I’m able to personalize the strategies and approach most effectively for that person.
In everything I do, I strive to empower people through engaging and compelling storytelling and messages.
Whether as a TV news reporter, a marketing manager for nonprofit organizations, or as a speaking coach, that’s why and how I make my mark in this world.
And when you think about it, this has a far-reaching domino effect. If I can teach and empower other business owners, community leaders and entrepreneurs through effective storytelling and messages, they too will empower their audiences and make their mark by inspiring us with their gifts and unique voice.
Before I started my business, I had a decade of experience in TV news reporting and producing, plus several years in marketing and outreach for universities and nonprofit organizations.
While TV news reporting is not as glamorous as it may seem on TV, I’m so proud I was able to bring people’s stories to life on screen and to educate and inspire my viewers. From car accidents to rain storms and fried food treats at the county fair, I covered it all. I loved meeting people from all different backgrounds and professions, catching a glimpse of their lives, and getting to share a piece of them with our viewers. As a journalist, I had an all-access pass to some of the most fascinating people and a front-row seat to some of the most fun experiences of my life, like traveling to China with the San Diego Padres and interviewing my favorite singer, Jason Mraz!
During my career, I had the opportunity to live and work in the San Diego, California; Norfolk, Virginia; and Midland, Texas markets. And while in San Diego, I was so honored to earn four regional Emmy awards and two Golden Mike awards.
I moved on from the news business after realizing the lifestyle and crazy hours weren’t conducive to starting a family and living the kind of life I wanted. This is when I discovered my journalist skills were transferable to many other jobs: public speaking, interviewing, writing, relationship building. So I took those skills to universities and nonprofit organizations as a marketing and outreach specialist.
It was during this time, I had another realization: I can combine my expertise as a TV news reporter, presenting and writing compelling stories, with my expertise as a marketing specialist, devising succinct and personalized messages for targeted audiences, to help business owners amplify their voices.
[see the last question on how I started my business]
How did you build your audience on social media?
I started messy and imperfectly. And if you know me, that’s against every grain in my body to do anything imperfectly! On May 31, 2017, I went live on Facebook for the first time and launched my Wow-Me-Wednesday video tip series on Facebook Live. I figured if I’m coaching people on how to speak more clearly and compellingly on camera, I need to get on camera myself, show them how I do it, while equipping them with tips and strategies to do it themselves.
I rigged my iPhone on a mini tripod with bendy legs that I wrapped around a contraption to air dry your clothes. Behind me was a bookshelf and a piece of abstract art from CostPlus World Market sitting on the floor. I had good natural lighting coming from the window in front of me, so I figured this is good enough to start with! I didn’t know if anyone would watch, but I did it!
I hit the button to go live and shared my tips on exercises to manage your nerves before you give a presentation. In the beginning, shooting this video tips was new and exciting so I was motivated to go live every Wednesday to build my credibility and offer valuable tips to my audience. But as I continued throughout my first, second and third years, I’ll admit; there were crickets at times. And there were moments I felt so exhausted and didn’t feel like I had much to share. But I did it anyway and stayed consistent. I nurtured trust and authority in my audience by showing up every week, now on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn (even if it was with Wow-Me-Wednesday replays).
Throughout the six years of providing my video tips on social media, I’ve received countless texts and DMs from friends and followers thanking me for my tips and how they helped with an upcoming presentation or interview. I’ve seen my followers and revenue multiply. And that’s validated what I teach in my on-camera speaking workshops: consistency is key!
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
In 2015, I was working a full-time marketing job at our local Cal State University. In my spare time, I love volunteering in my community, so I served on the board of directors for a young professionals organization and was coordinating a workshop for our members about public speaking and on-camera speaking. I called around to a few different local experts who’ve given workshops on this topic before. One man I spoke to told me he wasn’t available, then asked me a question that changed my life:
“Why don’t you do it?”
I never thought about doing it myself because I didn’t think I had the qualifications to teach about public speaking, even though I’d been doing both for two decades!
Despite my doubts, I took on the challenge and I received great feedback about the workshop! One woman in the audience connected me with our local Small Business Development Center and I became a marketing consultant for their clients. That allowed me to gain experience consulting and coaching small business owners.
Soon after, I had an opportunity to change jobs and work 32 hours a week in marketing at a local nonprofit organization and thought this would be my chance to build my business! But it was still very much a side gig.
Thanks to my Wow-Me-Wednesday video tips and my community involvement, people I knew in my community would reach out to ask me to speak to their organization or hire me for one-on-one coaching or to give a workshop.
My life shifted again in 2019 – this time because I became a first-time, full-time mom. My time and energy was focused on raising my little boy, with my business as an occasional outlet for using my brain and my professional talents when community members and colleagues contacted me for help.
During the pandemic, more and more organizations hired me to provide workshops to sharpen their presentation delivery skills online. So my son’s naptimes and hours with grandma became my work time.
When my son started preschool a few days a week, I knew it was time to focus more time and energy on my coaching business. In 2022, I hired a business and productivity coach for busy moms who transformed my approach as a work-from-home mompreneur. I went from scatterbrained and disorganized to productive and structured. She helped me understand my value as a speaking coach, set my rates accordingly, and create a solid offer suite that has helped multiply my revenue.
Nowadays, with the guidance of a business coach and a community of female entrepreneurs, I’ve been strengthening my mindset as an entrepreneur; to do the hard things despite my fear of “failing,” to resist my tendencies to be a perfectionist or to compare myself to other business owners, and to put myself out there and share about my insights and services, consistently and vulnerably.
In June of 2023, I launched a new venture: The Savvy Speaking Social Community. This community provides a positive, non-judgmental space for ambitious women to build their confidence, skills and influence through speaking – whether for a presentation, on video, or at a networking event. Think Toastmasters meets ladies’ meetup. At each event, I provide a group coaching session on a topic like how to introduce yourself, give an elevator pitch, or tell a compelling story. Then, the ladies get to put that lesson into practice right away by mingling with the other women in the room and getting a feel for their newfound message. So far, many ladies who’ve attended have told me how grateful they are to be able to make meaningful connections with other female business owners and leaders in a comfortable space, while getting advice and practice on their introductions and pitches.
Whether I’m leading this community, a workshop about speaking on video, a one-on-one coaching program, or my son’s soccer team, I’m proud to say I’m a full-time mompreneur and relish the time and energy I dedicate both to my son and to my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: Under construction
- Instagram: @jessicachangirish
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessicachangconsulting
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicachangirish/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4cJ8bJqE7krx-6TWJtRa-A
Image Credits
Neon Howe Beckie Woodfield