We recently connected with William Faulkner and have shared our conversation below.

William, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The Story Behind Out Loud Strategies, Inc.

I have been a leadership educator and trainer for many years at the college, graduate, and professional levels. During the last third of my career, I have added professional coaching to my portfolio.

The one message that I constantly reinforce to my audiences and clients is that leadership is an “out loud” proposition! This keys off the idea that as leaders, we are amplified people. Whether we like it or not, believe it or not, everything we say or do does take on a higher profile due to the roles (notice I do not stress title!) we occupy, whether it be an educator, business owner, community leader, or parent. We are in the spotlight when we take on the responsibilities of leadership. Our actions, words, and attitudes are constantly communicating to others what we believe about ourselves and others and how we intend to show up in the world.

The other important concept the name of the business implies is that leadership cannot be done in isolation, eventually you will have to lead out loud! You will have to make a tough decision, you will have to speak up when you witness an injustice, and you will have to encourage others to be and do their best. All of this requires us to find our leadership “voice” because it is you, we are all waiting on!

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?

Dr. Bill Faulkner is the founder and principal consultant for Out Loud Strategies Inc. He has spent over 20 years as a leadership educator and corporate trainer drawing from his own experience in leading teams of professional staff along with hundreds of emerging influencers. He is known for creating innovative and relevant leadership and team development workshops, trainings, and other organizational development experiences designed to increase the engagement and human capital of an organization. Currently, he serves as the primary Career and Leadership Coach for Executive MBA students at one of the nation’s Top 20 Business Schools. He has been an invited speaker for a variety of universities and corporations along with conferences and professional associations.

Bill holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Student Andrews University and holds both a Masters and Doctorate from the University of Georgia. He also holds an affiliation as a certified coach, speaker, and trainer with Maxwell Leadership and is also credentialed as a certified Gallup Strengths Coach, Designing Your Life Coach, and DISC Personality Profile Consultant.

What Bill is most proud of and what sets him apart is the believe that any training engagement must both educate and entertain. When clients and participants are engaged and actually enjoying their own learning, the content has a greater probability of making a lasting impact. This has resulted in high participant ratings and a Net Promoter Scores for his coaching engagements consistently in the .90s.

His passion is to teach lessons for now that produce leaders for life because leadership is done best out loud!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Making a Big Change –

For many years, I had enjoyed a successful career as a higher education administrator and adjunct professor. I had earned advanced degrees and gained roles of progressive responsibilities, budget oversight, and was leading larger and larger teams.

About ten years ago, however, I realized my content was resonating with my adult learners and graduate level students. I was also becoming more and more invested in the study and application of professional leadership coaching. I was also concerned that the workplace regardless of type of organization was becoming too dysfunctional if not a toxic environment. I wanted to help leaders and teams do and be better!

This eventually led to a decision to pursue my passion for helping individuals and teams thrive by leaving the comfortable and predictable and form my own leadership development and coaching firm. This was a huge leap of faith! I had to build an entirely new network, learn the art of relationship-based sales, and creating content that was topical to the niches I wanted to work in (i.e. medium-sized businesses and professional associations).

The experience was frustrating, confusing, and glorious! I learned a great deal about myself, my value add, and just how committed I was to my mission. As I share with my clients, this was a journey of “getting to core” of what I really wanted to do and be and the impact I wanted to make in the lives of others.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Building Cliental on Social Media

The good news for anyone thinking of starting out in a business is that due to social media, the costs of doing so is very accessible in terms of both money and effort. Platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc. are easy to access and gain followers. Advancing to platforms such as YouTube may require a bit more of an investment in equipment and editing software but again, entry level equipment can be as inexpensive as a decent smartphone!

When I first started out, I took a lesson from the author and entrepreneur Gary Vanyerchuck in his best-selling book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook! The basic premise is to focus more on adding value to potential clients than asking for the sale. I took this advice to heart and disciplined myself to write a leadership blog each week. I would post this on a social media consolidation site to help automate posts. I would intentionally focus on creating actionable content written in everyday language that would encourage and help others. Only at the end would I include a call to action. I would eventually use the steadily accruing content to write my first book!

I also happened to meet a great group of freelance content and media creators who would gather at a local Starbucks every morning to share ideas and take advantage of the great free WiFi! For a round of coffee, they would look at my efforts and provide solid advice. Their best advice was to first be consistent with my efforts. The only way I would be able to build a following and generate interest was to create a steady rhythm of content released on a weekly basis at the time and day of the week most likely to be read. I cannot stress the importance of consistent action enough. When you are able to outlast and outperform others in your space, potential clients will take notice. Second, it is important to offer a few (but not all!) opportunities for free. When you are just starting out your problem is not intellectual piracy, it is anonymity according to marketing guru, Seth Godin.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://outloudinc.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/outloudinc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billfaulkner/
• Other: https://outloudinc.blogspot.com/

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