From Page to Stage with Jess Ekstrom: How to Get Paid as an Author Speaker

Ricci   (00:01.478)

Hello, authors, and welcome back to the written word pod. Today, I am thrilled to introduce Jess Ekstrom. Jess started her first multi-million dollar company, Headbands of Hope, right out of her college dorm room, so we can talk about that. Since then, she has become a Forbes top rated keynote speaker and a best-selling author. She has three books. She’s author of Chasing the Bright Side and has a new book coming out this May called Making It Without Losing It.

And she also has a book for kids called creating your bright ideas. What makes Jess the perfect guest for today is her company, Mike drop workshop. After discovering a massive pay gap at a speaking gig,

Ricci   (00:57.148)

Jess has made it her mission to help women and authors specifically turn their stories into highly paid keynotes. Jess, welcome to the show.

Jess (01:05.304)

Thank you for having me. I feel like books speaking like peanut butter jelly goes right together.

Ricci   (01:12.589)

Absolutely. Well, a lot of our authors don’t feel that way, so I’m very excited for you to educate them on how they do go together and how speaking and getting paid for speaking can be a really great way to supplement your author income. So before we dive in to all the details, to kick us off, why don’t you tell us what’s like the worst piece of advice you have heard given to authors about building their careers or their income streams or just publishing their books?

Jess (01:15.726)

Yeah.

Jess (01:26.839)

Yeah.

Jess (01:44.14)

I think that you’re either a speaker or an author is the worst piece of advice. I remember someone actually saying that to me. Well, are you a speaker or are you an author? And so I’m really trying to actually, this is a good test, Ricci, do you use the word thought leader or do people say that? Just like in general, someone who does speaking, does writes books. I’m like,

Ricci   (02:03.185)

about me.

Jess (02:13.504)

I feel like the word for that is thought leader. Okay, but

Ricci   (02:15.889)

Absolutely. Yeah, and I’ve heard that a lot and I even some people will put that on their LinkedIn profile, but I don’t feel like that’s for a lot of people where their brain goes naturally.

Jess (02:26.164)

Exactly. And so I feel like in this world of authors and speakers, thought leaders may be a little bit more mainstream, but in

I’ve like, we’ve tested ads and done something like become a thought leader and people are like, what are you talking about? And so I think, yeah. And so I’m like, I’m trying to make fetch happen. Let’s make thought leader happen. But I think that’s the worst piece of advice I got was that, well, pick one, you know, what are you? Are you speaker? Are you a thought leader? And I know that when I write books, it helps my speaking, not just from a credibility standpoint, but from a content standpoint.

Ricci   (02:41.457)

What’s a thought leader?

Jess (03:06.132)

I hadn’t updated my Chasing the Bright Side keynote in three to five years, which is okay. I’m because I got really good at it. I got enough reps, but writing, making it without losing it.

Ricci   (03:16.977)

Mm.

Jess (03:20.16)

Not only did it, having the busiest speaking year of my life because of the buzz around the book, it also helped me go back to the drawing board of content, stories and ideas for a keynote that sometimes can be really hard to do without the framework of a book. So I think doing both, becoming a thought leader is like such great advice. especially if you’re already doing the work

write the book. Such a great way to have more like monetization through speaking, more exposure. I mean, I don’t make as much money nearly through publishing as I do through speaking. And so I’m like, if you already have the idea, this is a great way to monetize it through speaking.

Ricci   (03:58.459)

Mm-hmm.

Ricci   (04:10.863)

Absolutely. And I think when it comes to authors of nonfiction books, a lot of people can see that connection. They can say, okay, you’re a thought leader, you’re an expert on this particular field of study. So you can parlay that into speaking and keynotes. But a lot of the authors listening to this pod today are fiction authors, right? They’re writing romance or sci-fi or really specific niche fiction. So

Jess (04:17.848)

Mm-hmm.

Ricci   (04:38.308)

Can they be speakers too? Is there a way for them to pull that experience and the writing of those fiction books into speaking?

Jess (04:47.342)

And I’ll give you an example of one of our students at mic drop who she was she wrote thriller novels and she used her story of writing thriller novels and like the framework that she had for it and made a keynote for corporate workplace audiences using like storytelling or her story arc and how she makes like characters and things like that. One of the things that I think it’s

important to remember with becoming a speaker is they are hiring you because you are not like them. Not because they want you to be like them. So many speakers come to me and they’re like, well, I’m an entrepreneur, so I should speak to entrepreneurs or I’m a mom and I want to speak to moms. I’m like, I speak to

you know, data analysts, when I can’t put like two cells on a spreadsheet together, this is, and sometimes they tell me you are the outside industry speaker that’s coming in. So if you are a fiction author, romance, thriller, whatever it might be, talk about like, what is your process that can become a repeatable process for someone who will never write a fiction book?

Ricci   (06:04.015)

Interesting.

Jess (06:04.43)

Maybe it’s just the resilience to get things done. Like how many people finish a book? Not a lot. So it must take some mental framework for you to do that, that someone who is working for Coca-Cola in HR could learn from.

So just because you’re not gonna be speaking to other fiction authors doesn’t mean that they can’t learn from your story. So I would ask yourself, like, what is my process, you know, as being a writer or something that can become repeatable? And then what is it that someone else can learn from and apply to their work? The story doesn’t have to be the same for them to learn from it. And like your message becomes…

valuable when someone else can apply it. So take what you’re doing and then how can someone else apply it?

Ricci   (07:01.241)

So that’s really interesting and candidly not what I would have thought. But as you’re speaking and I’m listening to what you’re saying, I’m thinking back to a conference I was at a couple of weeks ago and the conference was all about media. So there were a lot of speakers talking about how to build email lists and how to build media companies. and those talks were really great. But then they also had some keynote speakers who were out of industry who

were just speaking about their experience in completely other industries. they were, they were, they are what I would have termed inspirational speakers. one of the speakers that had was this woman, Cody Sanchez really has nothing to do with media, but she came on and she spoke about her experience building a company. And it was probably one of the highlights talks of the day. And everyone in that room, it lifted the energy in such a different way than kind of the more tactical functional talks had.

And so what I’m hearing you saying is that authors can be that person. Authors can be the inspirational speaker, the speaker who comes and kind of knocks everybody out of the, okay, this is the tactical track that everyone’s thinking about and putting new ideas, giving them inspiration and talking about something that maybe is slightly out of the box to what they would think of in there, whether it’s corporate or whatever type of role or audience you’re speaking to.

Jess (08:23.444)

same reason why companies or events love to book athletes. They’re not coming into this conference to teach everyone how to run a four minute mile. They’re coming in here to teach the framework as to how they did it and how they can learn self-discipline. authors are the same where they have this like really unique skill set that they have been able to do. And what are like the repeatable process

Ricci   (08:35.37)

Right.

Jess (08:53.328)

the mindset, the universal experience that can do that, especially for fiction authors. For non-fiction authors like myself, self-help, like the chapters of your book become the like lessons of your talk. But for fiction authors, like definitely it’s the…

story of being a fiction author. It’s do you use storytelling techniques that can transfer to the workplace? Is it about how to finish what you started? Is it about like imagination and innovation, like creating something out of nothing? There are so many great transferable skill sets that authors are uniquely qualified to teach that can translate into a workplace or a conference just like you’re talking about.

Ricci   (09:40.973)

So I love that. Let’s say somebody is nonfiction and know what their topic is or they’re fiction and they have an idea of what they want to speak about. What’s the next step? How do you go from having an idea of, I think there’s something I can talk on to actually creating a speech or a keynote or something like that nature. And then maybe this is for later, actually finding that speaking gig itself.

Jess (09:58.67)

Mm-hmm.

Ricci   (10:07.242)

Like, you know, how do you actually connect with the different places that are looking for speakers?

Jess (10:13.118)

Couple things you know how when if you’re going for a traditional publishing deal you don’t write the book before you sell it

this is no different. So I see so many speakers that are like, I’ve worked on this talk in my basement for three years, and then no one’s knocking on their door. So what I would suggest that you do is the first thing we do at mic drop, we call it a transformation promise. And it is after people hear me speak, they will blank because my talk will blank.

So what is the outcome that you want people to think, or do after hearing you speak? Sometimes if you’re a little bit woo woo, I can be that way. Sometimes I like to do a visualization of seeing people leave after I spoke, calling their spouses, talking to their colleagues, going about their day the next day. What do you want them to do differently after hearing you speak?

And when you can articulate the aftermath of you speaking, then you can start to sell it. So instead of saying, I’d love to come speak about my story of writing my book. That’s like asking for a favor. Instead, he’s like, is, would it be helpful for your team to learn my method of how I finished what I started?

That’s a value. so creating like what that transformation promises after people hear me speak, they’ll learn how to finish what they started because my talk is going to go through my, how I’ve written five books in six years. So figuring out what’s the transformation promise. That’s kind of the North star and then adding the word speaker to your bio, wherever you have touch points with people that is like the low hanging fruit, especially on LinkedIn.

Jess (12:02.732)

And then articulating that transformation promise. And if someone’s like, yeah, well, let’s do it. Usually they’re not going to be like, are you free tomorrow to speak? It’s, you free in three months, six months, a year? and then you build your talk. And so use your transformation promise and ask yourself, we have this framework and mic drop workshop where we call bumps that spike, which is,

teeing up the lesson, setting the story, give them the takeaway, and doing that throughout your talk. But I think the goal that in the kind of the mindset that I want you to think about when you’re first becoming a speaker is like, not what I want to say on stage, but what’s the aftermath that I want to create.

And it’s the same with books. It’s like, yes, you want them to enjoy the book while reading it, but it’s also what you want them to feel after they finish the last page. It’s the same with a talk and it’s the most important thing to figure out right off the bat.

Ricci   (13:08.576)

Got it. So if we’re using your analogy of the trad, you would pitch, you know, your, your book or you would get an agent. what’s the analogous process for pitching a keynote is for speaking. there a database out there of, you know, the places who are looking for speakers? how does that all work?

Jess (13:34.548)

I wish there was just a central feed of everyone that was looking for speakers. We are creating one, something like that at Mic Drop Workshop called Carrie Booker. And it’s like an AI speaking agent that helps comb for those opportunities. But the way that the game is changing a bit, there are still a lot of what they’re called RFPs, which is requests for proposals.

Ricci   (13:39.266)

Yeah.

Jess (14:02.858)

we’re having a conference, RFPs are live, here are the topics, here are the themes, and you go on and you say, here’s why I’d be a fit, here’s what I can do, here’s a link to a video of me speaking, even if you just rent out a conference room. What I am seeing more so now is, we call that outbound opportunities, like where you find the event and you pitch. But…

inbound I think is obviously more fun when people reach out to you, but it’s more about platform building and using social or referral opportunities. So that might look like

optimizing your LinkedIn, putting speaker on there and like three times a week doing video or posting something about your transformation promise and including that your speaker. So it might not be like, Hey everyone, book me to speak, but it might be a story like transformation. And when I speak about this to audiences, usually they say blank or even ending with a footer like hi, I’m Jess extra. I’m a

speaker for bookings come here. That is becoming way more prevalent. Meeting planners are looking on LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram for speakers, but don’t confuse like having a presence with having a following. It’s less about, well, how many followers do they have? And more about

your value in 60 seconds so they trust you with 60 minutes. So that’s what I would say is like focus more on platform than outbound.

Ricci   (15:49.204)

That’s actually, yeah, and I think that’s actually very heartening because most authors today are doing some kind of social media, whether it is LinkedIn or Facebook, Insta, TikTok. And so being able to, as part of the usual postings that authors are doing, which are mostly about book or their books that are coming out, maybe it’s about process, they’re really talking to their fans. What I’m hearing you say is start to layer in a post or two about

what you think your transformational promises or what you think you could speak about that people outside of your fans could be interested in. And that is a way to be discovered by people looking for speakers. And I say this to authors all the time, you just never know who’s listening, right? You don’t know who’s on your email list, you don’t know who’s on your social media, you just, don’t know, we did an episode last week about local press and you’re like, you don’t know who’s reading that local magazine.

There are all kinds of people out there and just by having a presence, putting it out there and saying you’re a speaker, somebody might see it, whether in your local community or national community and it’s like, hey, he or she would be awesome to come and have them speak at our XYZ. So I love that advice. It’s really great advice and an easy tactic, low-hanging fruit for lot of the authors who are listening today.

Jess (17:11.77)

minimally, just tell people you speak. It’s really hard for someone to book you to speak if they don’t know you’re a speaker. So it could just be the word speaker, it could be weaving into conversations like when I speak about this topic or it but I mean, I’ve gotten a gig before from my Uber driver who was taking me you know, to a gig and what are you doing in San Antonio? I’m speaking at

this thing, I’m a public speaker, my daughter works for Marriott as the learning and development and then like three years later, booked me but if I had not, if I was just like here for work, you know, you just don’t know, you got to put it out there.

Ricci   (17:53.491)

Yep. Yeah. You got to put it out there so people know. Yep. So, a lot of authors, I think, or just people in general as humans, we don’t like to call ourselves something until we feel that we are that thing. Right. So if you’ve never had a speaking gig, people might be like, I’m not a speaker. or maybe they’ve spoken, you know, at small events or at their local indie bookstore, but they think I’m not good enough to actually get paid to speak. I’m not good enough to be on the stage.

This is like an imposter syndrome that we all suffer from regardless of what your career or station in life is. So what would be your advice there?

Jess (18:35.21)

there is no one awarding badges that say that you’re officially a speaker. And so it has to come from you. And what I would say is that you speak every day, it might not be to in a sold out arena. It might be at your kids PTA meeting talking about school lunches. We have a lot of teachers that are in our programs that teach a class. We have people are like, well, you know, can I

use this footage. wasn’t from the keynote that I’m pitching. Speaking is speaking and so don’t minimize it. And it’s funny the other day I was on a call with someone and she was she’s won three Emmys. I was like, Holy cow, you won three Emmys. And she goes, Yeah, but they were daytime Emmys. And I was like, who?

qairs. And I see this all the time with speaking like, yeah, I’ve spoken before, but it was for free. Or I’ve spoken before, but it was just, you know, like at work or to class. Like end period. Speaking is speaking and you it’s like what comes first, the chicken or the egg. People can’t book you to speak if they don’t know that you are speaker. So you almost have to

claim it before you step into it, which can be really hard for people, but it’s the only way it works.

Ricci   (20:02.886)

And a lot of what you do at Mic Drop Workshop is helping people overcome that obstacle. Is that right? Can you talk a little bit about the process and what exactly is Mic Drop and how does it work if people need a little bit of help getting over that hump? And, you know, we all discount ourselves all the time, which is what you’re referring to. So how does that all work? What have you seen work? Tell us a little bit about that side of your life.

Jess (20:30.72)

It started when I was speaking. It was a way for me to grow my first company, Headbands of Hope. And then I looked around one day when I was doing quite a bit of speaking and realized multiple times I was the only woman in the lineup or…

even worse found out what I was getting paid to speak versus what some of the male counterparts that were speaking were getting paid despite ranking higher in audience like testimonials and reviews, which is tales old as time, no matter what industry you’re in. and so I just rented out the bottom of the floor in Raleigh here of a restaurant and put up an event bright and was just like, any women that want to learn how to do this public speaking and get paid

to do it, just show up Thursday night, I’ll have wine and cheese. Because what I was learning was not only, you know, sometimes we’re women not charging, they weren’t applying. I would talk to event planners are like, yeah, we want to book more women, but they’re like less than 10 % of the applications that we get every year. And it goes back to like, but they’re daytime Emmys. A lot of women are like, well, but I am not, you know, this or I don’t have a viral that.

Ricci   (21:41.969)

Yeah.

Jess (21:48.59)

I mean, I started speaking before my first company was successful. was negative $10,000 in the hole. So that became that meetup became the first ever mic drop workshop where we help women become paid public speakers. And so it’s online, micdropworkshop.com. have a boot camp.

starting April 20, which is a great way for anyone who’s interested to just get their feet wet as to what they might want to speak on who they might want to speak to what people are paying. And it’s been really amazing to see how many women just needed not just like the encouragement, of course, we can all be each other’s height people, but the

Ricci   (22:17.191)

Mm.

Jess (22:37.228)

Just the, the guiding, like the framework of like, this is how you structure a keynote. This is what you charge. This is here are the downloadable contracts, just taking all the guesswork out of it. So they don’t have to think too hard, but, yeah, it’s just been in like, know it’s the same with written word where you’re just like, man, we get to take all these people and help them put their stories out there. Like what better job is that?

Ricci   (23:04.486)

Yeah, totally, completely. And I think, you know, I think what mic drop really helps with is some of that confidence building. One, it’s like, feels like such a black box, this world of speaking, right? Which is what we’re talking about today. I have so many questions. I’m like, how does it work? You know, and so you’re, you’re kind of pulling back the curtain on what, what is the world out there of paid speaking.

And then you’re providing people with the tools and the confidence to be able to apply, to put speaker, to name that they can actually do this. And then I think also the community and the support is pretty amazing. And we see that in the author community as well. It’s just so helpful to have other people who are going through the same journey, who are having similar experiences, who are cheering you on to help you build that confidence and be successful in the thing that you want to do.

Jess (23:58.4)

And in the speaking community, it’s extremely strategic to come at it from a community approach, because what’s interesting about it is that speaking is usually a one and done.

opportunity where let’s say you’re going and speaking at this company retreat that they have every year. They’re probably not going to bring you back to speak that next year because they already heard you. And so it’s a really great opportunity to team up with other people that said, and after we like train our speakers, every single time you speak, obviously ask for a testimonial footage, but ask if they’re looking for speakers for their next event, 100 % of the time I’ve been doing this for years.

they are like, yes, who do you know? And it’s a great way to refer other people and have other people refer you. And so community is such a big part of our business model at Mic Drop because the ROI is so big in speaking.

Ricci   (25:01.519)

That makes perfect sense, right? Even the top athletes, once they’ve spoken some way once, they don’t intend to bring that same athlete in next year. They want to bring in somebody different. And so you get to bring your friends along, bring your community along and have them take next year’s keynote. And then you can take the one that they just did. So that seems like a really synergistic business model and just a way for the community to grow and thrive together.

Jess (25:19.949)

Yeah.

Jess (25:26.368)

Yes, I mean, it’s same with books. It’s like people who read books read books. There’s no like harm, no foul of saying, you know, introducing people to your readers to someone else. But with speaking, it’s a really, really beneficial thing to have other people you team up with.

Ricci   (25:44.431)

Yeah, yeah, we see a lot of authors doing newsletter swaps or even, you know, doing anthologies together, kickstarters together, things like that, that work very, very well. So let’s, one more question around speaking as an author. So let’s say an author is like, okay, I’ve gotten past the hump. I’m going to put speaker on my socials, on my LinkedIn. I’m going to start putting it out there. Maybe they draw, join mic drop or they start working.

on some kind of pitch and putting themselves out there. How do they think about that aspect of speaking with some of the PR stuff that they’re doing locally, whether it’s going to do a local book signing or speaking at their local bookstore, should they be asking to get paid for that or because that is more goal oriented towards selling books, should they be doing those types of appearances free of charge?

Jess (26:41.11)

Yep. So here’s the line that I think would be helpful in knowing what to charge for and what not to charge for. I mean, first of all, it’s you, your time. You’d put whatever value you want on it. But just what’s the norm that I’m seeing is that I want you to think of a keynote, which is typically 45 minutes to an hour as a product that people pay for. And so, yes, they’re paying for your time, but they’re mostly paying for your product.

and versus going and being on a podcast, doing a panel, going on the local news, you’re not delivering that product. That’s 10, $15,000.

I’ve heard people charging a couple hundred bucks for a panel or something like that, but it’s more rare to get a fee for something that you’re doing on the fly. So start to think of the keynote that you’re building as a product that people pay for, and everything outside of that is just PR and promotion.

Ricci   (27:45.112)

That makes a ton of sense actually, and I love framing it as a product. So authors think about their books are products. Now the keynote is a product as well. Some of our authors have, you know, merch or collectibles. That’s a different product line. So the keynote and speaking is just another product line. You threw a few numbers out there. Can you talk a little bit about how much authors can expect to be paid for a keynote? What that range might be so that they can determine whether it’s

something worth investing in.

Jess (28:16.622)

So beginning speakers, like you’ve never done your keynote before, anywhere from 500 to 5,000 is a great starting point. And maybe that is sticker shock to some people, but if you quote $5,000 to speak, it is a entry level.

speaking, not to say that that’s not a lot of money, but just in the speaking world, it is like, this she’s, they must be new. You know, you’re not seeing people who are doing this a lot speaking for $5,000.

And then once you have some reps under your belt, like speaking, you know, once a month, maybe you have some really great testimonials from companies, maybe you have a credible company that you’ve spoken for. Maybe you have now a demo reel, which is about a one to two minute video of you speaking in different settings, then anywhere from five to 10 is a great point to be there. Associations are

great for that kind of price point. They book a ton of speakers and then above 10 K is again, it seems like maybe that might feel crazy to some people, but it is I remember being so afraid years ago to go from like 10,000 to like 12, five or something. And it was like a rounding error.

you know, for some, it’s was just not even a blip. And so above 10 K is probably either you’ve gotten a lot of reps, have a book about this or you have some sort of like

Jess (30:11.95)

as it gets in the higher price point, some sort of celebrity status, but I would say my fee today as a speaker who’s been doing this for many years, I don’t have celebrity status, but I know I’m really good at what I do. have a lot of reps, I have a lot of testimonials, and I’m at 35K a talk. But I mean, my first gig when I got started in 2012 was for a slice of pizza and then

Ricci   (30:32.323)

Wow.

Jess (30:41.904)

my second gig was for 2200 and for years I was in the like 2200 to 5k range. It’s also about who you want to speak to. If you are speaking at colleges and universities, that’s great. There’s a ton of opportunity, but I wouldn’t expect to make above 7k. If you’re speaking at companies, corporations, things like that, you you’re going to be above 10.

Ricci   (31:07.255)

Great. But what I’m hearing is this, can be a very lucrative product line for authors. So if you start thinking about how much you’re making off your books, and if this is a product line or, know, an additional business line that you start investing in, and yes, you’re going to start small. But if you get up to the five to 10 K mark and you’re doing three or four talks a year, that’s, you know, significant income supplementation. And then not only are you getting paid to talk.

Jess (31:13.031)

Yeah.

Ricci   (31:34.017)

But in general, do you see a halo effect on your book sales when you go out and speak?

Jess (31:38.562)

gosh. mean, with my first book, with Chasing the Bright Side,

think we sold somewhere between 80 and 100,000 copies of that book and like 80 % of those sales were from speaking. And that’s one of the things that we’re doing at Mic Drop now is we’re starting our own imprint, which is what I’m actually publishing, making it without losing it through. And we know that book sales through speaking is such a specific methodology. And whether it comes to like, do I?

sell books like before I speak, you know, in my contract, in part of my fee, do I sell books on site, you know, but it is not a matter of if you sell books through your event, it’s just how and when. And so that’s why we’re creating an imprint, like for women speakers who want to publish books, because it’s very, it can be really lucrative, and it can be very specific. But I think about just talking about the money side.

I think about my books and this is just me as a way to

support the impact and income of my speaking. It is a great like impact for everyone who just heard me speak to now have something that they can walk away with and then go read that’s more detailed. It’s a great income opportunity for me to have a speaker fee and then also make money from book sales from it. Or be able to increase my fee because I have a book.

Jess (33:17.312)

So those are just some different ways you can think about like the ecosystem of your thought leadership and how books and speaking can work together.

Ricci   (33:25.706)

that. And let’s talk a little bit about Making It Without Losing It. As you just mentioned, that’s your book that’s coming out in a couple weeks time. What… my god, she’s beautiful. It’s always so amazing when you open that box for the first time, right, and pick up the book. So tell us, what is the book about and what was your inspiration for writing it?

Jess (33:34.062)

Here she is. Thank you.

Jess (33:42.156)

I know, yeah, yeah.

Jess (33:51.298)

think if you are listening to this podcast, you might be able to relate of the feeling of being ambitious, maybe being dubbed an overachiever, high achiever, maybe an over thinker. And if you’re like me, when you have ambitions towards the future of like the next book you want to write, the next talk you want to give or become a speaker, then it can also feel like you’re always at a deficit. Like there’s always more that you want to do or accomplish.

and never enough for what you’re doing right now. But then at the same time, it’s like you’re an ambitious person. You like creating things like, Ricci, we have conversations about this all the time. It’s like, I don’t have to do more, but I like it.

Ricci   (34:34.498)

Yeah, it’s fun.

Jess (34:34.614)

And so it’s fun. So making it without losing it is about finding that fun again, whether you’re in like working at a job, whether you’re an entrepreneur, a writer, a speaker, how do we have ambition towards the future and then joy and peace in the present at the same time without those feeding, feeling competing. It’s probably the thing that I struggle with the most is like trading productivity for peace of like, once I can just, you know, get all this done, then I can find.

and becoming a parent also just like shook that, like just set that into a far universe. And so I’m like, man, if life is never done, if we’re always gonna have problems, if there’s always gonna be things that we haven’t accomplished yet, then how do I stop chasing finish lines and start?

Ricci   (35:09.684)

Hahaha!

Jess (35:26.956)

finding like some joy in the process of building and the process of work and maybe even in the problems. So it was the book, I feel like, I think we write the books, we give the talks that we needed to hear and this was what I needed to hear.

Ricci   (35:43.786)

Yeah, for sure. Well, I’m so excited to read it. I can’t wait to… Yes, I would like a signed copy, please. And, yeah, everything you just said resonates pretty hard. So I’m excited to see what some of the tips are that you talk about and all the wisdom that you’re dispensing the book. As we close here, let’s talk about where people can find you.

Jess (35:47.66)

Yes, I need to give you a copy next time I see you. I’ll bring it to lunch. Yeah.

Ricci   (36:10.304)

where they can find Mic Drop, where they can find your book. Give us all the things and all the places,

Jess (36:16.802)

Yes. My favorite thing that I do is I send out a hype text every Monday at 11 a.m. Eastern. And so you can text me the word hype to 704-228-9495. That’s 704-228-9495. Text me the word hype. And then I just have a lot of like maybe a question I’m thinking about that week or a thought. And it’s just fun for me to have more bite sized information that I send to

I also read that it’s not just a robot. So if you want to reach out to me that way you can You can pre-order making it without losing it just section comm slash making it But I would also love if you called your local bookstore Ordered it through them. You can still redeem if you’re ordering it before May 5th You can still redeem your pre-order books If you order locally, you can go on to our website. You can get the audiobook for free When you show that you pre-ordered

1. What else? Mike drop workshop.com if you’re interested in learning more about our upcoming boot camp starting April 20th or it’ll be in the show notes here on this episode and we’d love to have you.

Ricci   (37:29.065)

Wonderful. And are you on social?

Jess (37:32.522)

Unfortunately, yes, Ricci. I’m not hard to find. I am highly available. So yeah, but I would say my favorite is LinkedIn. You can find me at Jess Ekstrom. Yeah, I’m not cool enough for TikTok or the other ones.

Ricci   (37:34.431)

That’s how I keep up with you mostly is just watching your LinkedIn feed.

Ricci   (37:51.875)

awesome. Well, all of this information is, we’ll be in the show notes. also will have a blog post as we always do with all of the, wisdom that Jess shared today about speaking. I would definitely recommend you check out the April bootcamp. If April doesn’t work for you, there’ll be others in the futures. So just sign up for Jess’s email list. And thank you so much, Jess, for coming on today. It was just delightful to hear about.

your journey and then all the ways that you’re helping people become the thing that they already are. We are all speakers. Yes.

Jess (38:26.582)

Can I say one more thing, Ricci? I just have to give you your flowers for a second. So I don’t even know if you remember like when we originally met years ago, I was looking at starting this other business, which I ended up not doing, but you, think that there are.

you are the example that I tell people about when I talk about the difference between mentorship and sponsorship, where we have so many mentors, especially as women of people giving us advice versus people who go out of their way to give opportunity. And you are always the shining example of introductions, investment, what do you need? And I just will never forget that. you were, we didn’t have like the long standing history that we

have now of friendship, but you are the definition of sponsorship, like you sponsor other people instead of just giving them advice. So I want anyone who is listening to this podcast to just know how incredible you are. And it really taught me about like, how am I showing up for other people who need help? And you made a big difference in my life.

Ricci   (39:40.477)

Thank you, Jess. That means the world. And, um, you know, I’m so grateful for our friendship and you are somebody that I, that inspires me every day. I, as I said, I follow you on LinkedIn. We have our lunches and I, you know, you always give me new ideas and new things to strive for. So it’s wonderful to have you here on the pod today. And thank you so much for joining us. And I know that there are a ton of authors out there who’ll be listening and it’s opened their minds to new possibilities, new income streams. You know, this part will be something that changes.

somebody’s life as you do with mic drop and a lot of the other things that you’re doing. Somebody out there is going to listen to this and say, Hey, I can be a speaker. And in three years from now, they’re going to be out there speaking and getting paid, you know, 10, 15, $20,000 a pop. And it’s because of this conversation. So, what those writers back in the months and, and, and you guys that follow this. Yeah.

Jess (40:23.982)

and I’ll take 15%. No, I’m just joking. Yeah, I’ll send you my wiring and account information. no, I would love to see it. And if you do get something from this, just please let me know. I love seeing those kinds of stories.

Ricci   (40:40.893)

Yeah, and if you do get something from this and you build a speaker business as a supplemental income, we’ll have you on the pod and come and talk about your journey. It’s always great to hear from authors who are doing this from the ground up. So, okay, that’s a wrap. Thanks so much, Jess. Thank you, authors, for joining us again this week, and we will see you again in a couple weeks time. Goodbye.

Jess (40:47.564)

Yes.