World of Speakers E.51: Susan Izzo | Marketing with meatballs, marinara, and psychographics

Susan Izzo: I'm good. Thank you for having me, Ryan.

Ryan Foland: Excellent. Not just good, but too good, so this is great.

I wonder if there's an equation like good-good is equal to great; great-great is equal to grand.

I now might be compelled after this to come up with a whole series of equations that have to do with words.

It's fascinating when I ask somebody, "How are you," or, "What's going on." There are different versions and variations and I think we could plot them out. I'm going to say good-good is great.

Susan Izzo: I love that because I kind of want to go with like, "I'm super duper", "I'm rad", "I'm awesome," all those good things. As long as I have a pulse and I am breathing every day, I'm amazing.

Ryan Foland: Awesome.

I use “rad” all the time and I've been called out on tweets saying like, "Do people still use that?" I'm like, "Yes, we do. It's rad."

Susan Izzo: It can be rad. You could be “stoked”.

I catch myself because I vacillate between like what I did in the action sports world, to like Corporate America, and I'd be at a board meeting, I'd be like, "I'm so stoked that this worked out," and everyone looks at me. I'm like, "No, really, I am."

Ryan Foland: Like the record stopped.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, totally right.

Ryan Foland: Alright, before we get too deep into figuring out who you are, by your good good to great and tubular attitude on life, I like to start off with a bit of storytime.

Imagine that I didn't know who you were and I was talking with some guy named Ryan and he's like, "Well, I saw this lady up on stage and she was awesome."

And then I asked Ryan, "So what is she all about?"

And Ryan says, "Oh my gosh, this one time..." and then continues on with a story.

What's the story that if you were to relate to people through someone else, it would kind of sum you up in a bubble?

Susan Izzo: All right. I got this one.

When I started my first company I was 24 years old and I happened to just go into my fifth-grade bedroom in my parents' house, with my little fifth-grade furniture.

Ryan Foland: What kind of posters did you have? Fifth graders have posters, I am pretty sure.

Susan Izzo: Yeah. It was a lot of Madonna.

Ryan Foland: Okay.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, and maybe some Turbo and Ozone as well.

Ryan Foland: Sweet.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, a little hip hop in there.

So I sat down at my fifth-grade desk, and I had built a Rolodex when I was in college because I worked at Burton Snowboards and I decided I wanted to represent athletes and be a sports agent.

I called one snowboarder, he didn't pick up. I called a second. He picked up. I said, "Hey, can I try to get you deals?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Great."

I hang up the phone with him and I'm like, "Okay, now I’ve got a client; now I’ve got to go get him deals."

This was before LinkedIn in terms of how you get in touch with people in the corporate world. I knew that marketing directors were the people that made decisions about sponsorships.

I needed to get in touch with them.

I kind of did a little detective work where press releases would always have like the PR person's email address on them.

Ryan Foland: Right, "For more information contact..."

Susan Izzo: Correct.

I would figure out the marketing director. I would figure out the publicist's email, a PR person's email address, and then put it together and email the marketing director.

I started off doing it like this, and then I get them on the phone.

Now remember, it's me alone in my fifth-grade bedroom.

First, I would call and I would cover the phone, kind of maybe like a little cloth or something to disguise my voice.

And I'd be like, "Hello. Mr. Smith, I have Susan Izzo on the line for you. Just please hold one moment."

And then I would take it off and I get on the phone. I would be like, "Hello, Mr. Smith. Hi. This is Susan Izzo with the global sports management company Mosaic Sports Management. I'm calling you about our world-renowned snowboarder Pierre Dylan."

I would start off like this, now mind you, it was me, fifth-grade bedroom… I wasn't even a sports agent at this time and I'd literally built my career by doing that from the get-go.

It was kind of the hustle.

I was always about the hustle and never backdooring it or figuring it out.

Nothing was ever polished.

It was all — I don't like saying “fake it till you make it” because I wasn't really faking it. I was just being really creative.

Ryan Foland: Right, create it till you make it.

Susan Izzo: Exactly, create it till you make it.

Finally, I get in the door and then it was like, "Oh gosh, now I have to like really play the part."

I think I had like one expensive dress shirt and outfit that I wore to probably 12 meetings in the first year because that's all I could afford.

The thing about me was creativity, and always doing what others didn't think to do because I didn't have the money to be a big agent at that time.

I was temping in the morning and working on the agency at night.

Definitely resourceful and creative.

Ryan Foland: Okay, so I'm coming up with two new words. You can tell me which one you like first or which one you like better. “Suetivity” or “Izzotivity”.

Susan Izzo: I love “suetivity”. Everyone tends to go towards my last name though. “izzotivity”.

Ryan Foland: You can be like, "You may have heard of creativity, but let me tell you something about izzotivity."

What is izzotivity?

It's pretty much this story that you just shared, and I'm assuming that that izzotivity helped you create a successful sports agency?

And if you think about it, that's pretty gnarly, dude. To convince somebody that you're going to represent them when you're not necessarily representing anyone.

And then you play a few different parts to create some sort of credibility to then get in. Wear one shirt 12 times and probably closed 4 or 5 of those deals.

That's pretty izzotative.

Susan Izzo: Yeah. It was very izzotative, and being the only female that owned a sports management company in a male-dominated industry and my niche was pretty interesting.

But it all worked out.

I had a 20-year career and amazing clients and couldn't have dreamt it nor had nightmares about it.

Ryan Foland: Amazing.

From, I'm just thinking like competitive athletes and sports, did you get to a certain point where maybe you broke an ankle, or you broke a knee, or you just got tired.

Was the sports industry draining, like, "Show me the money," everything that we think it is hyped up to be in the media?

Was it that, or did you just like get it to a spot and you're like, "Boom. I'm out."

Susan Izzo: Yeah, it's a little bit of both.

I would always introduce myself and say, "I'm the female Jerry Maguire," that's what my role was.

And yeah, it was brutal, because it's a 24/7 job like you're always on for your clients and their families and wives and I mean everybody and their mother.

It was part that, it was part like, "Okay, I built it up, it did really well, it was great," I was thinking about winding down the business, so I sold a majority stake in my company in 2015.

I was like, "I'm just going to be mellow. I'm just going to keep a couple clients, slow down a little bit."

That was my big plan and not even five months later, I was diagnosed with cancer.

Ryan Foland: Eek.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, so that was kind of out of the blue, and I went through treatment for one and a half years and stayed with sports management, and then once treatment was over and I went back to it like full, full time — I just couldn't do it anymore.

I think I was one foot out the door already, but after going through cancer, it was like, "Okay, let's make this other half of my life a little bit different."

But nothing but good memories and good times, but I think it really took me getting cancer to slow down.

Otherwise, I wouldn't have.

Ryan Foland: Yeah, and that seems to be the case I would assume with most people who were diagnosed with cancer. So that's okay.

Susan Izzo: Totally. Life unfolds and life happens and I just believe, I always have, you have to have humor through it.

I always know that someone has it worse than me, so I felt very lucky.

Ryan Foland: Did that whole process help transition you to the stage?

To sort of pursuing your ability to impact more people, more often from a standpoint that is, instead of maybe working with a team or a few individuals, was there an idea of just expanding this message across?

Susan Izzo: Yeah, 100%, I always had a lot to share and I took that knowledge and I would use it to help cultivate my athletes and the people around them.

I've always been like a teacher and kind of a personal cheerleader for everybody.

I decided cancer was kind of like one of the third things that happened to me in my life so when that finally happened, I was like,

"Okay, it's time for me to kind of step out in front now because I've been behind the scenes for so long.”

“To share these messages with people because I know I can help people not suffer or not feel alone going through things."

I truly believe that's my purpose in life.

Ryan Foland: Amazing.

Well let's talk about the how you're saying what you're saying when you're on stage.

People now know who you are.

They have an emotional draw to you.

They think that you're funny.

They know that you’re creative (or shall I say izzotative,) and you've now made this sort of brandsition and transition to sharing a message to help people out.

Is there anything that you can pull from your experience and sports agency and being Jerry Maguire that you bring to the stage that is maybe advice that people don't normally get?

Or a different playbook that's secretly hidden in the locker room?

What are some of the things that you can share with people that you use in your routine to make a larger impact, score more touchdowns or jump off more halfrails or halfpipes or whatever during your talk?

Susan Izzo: Sure. Yeah, absolutely.

I think that I have a couple things going in my favor.

Number one, I'm 100% Italian. We are very loud, dramatic people to begin with.

Ryan Foland: Everybody, just so you know, we spent about 5 minutes working on some microphone control and I didn't know that it was just that you're Italian. You should have just told me that you're like, "There's something wrong with the microphone."

There's nothing wrong with the microphone, it's just that you're Italian.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, it's just that I have a huge, big mouth.

Ryan Foland: Okay, so tip number one: become Italian. I got it.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, number two: be a Leo... because that always helps.

Ryan Foland: Oh my gosh, I am.

Susan Izzo: Are you?

Ryan Foland: Yes.

Susan Izzo: When were you born?

Ryan Foland: August 13th.

Susan Izzo: OMG. I'm August 20th.

Ryan Foland: All right, see, I knew there were some sort of kindred spirit animal or something.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, you're so kindred. I love this.

Ryan Foland: All right. So Italian I'm going to work on that, Leo checked. What else?

Susan Izzo: Yep, I think for me kind of like how I started my company.

I always just say that I own what I own, there's no Ph.D., there's no fancy degrees or formal training.

It's just me.

When you show up as you are and not try to manufacture something that you're not, that's when the best stuff comes through.

I really love speaking because I love having conversations with people and storytelling.

I don't know how to do it any other way.

Ryan Foland: Well I would assume that people don't know how to do it even that way. Right?

When you say storytelling, what does that mean for you?

Susan Izzo: Yeah, I really start with the life lesson. Like what is the lesson that I know.

And then I go back to thinking about the stories that best represent that lesson.

Like many speakers, I always want to understand my audience inside and out, to know kind of what problems they have, frustrations, or desires.

That way when I'm talking about certain lessons, I can craft a message or craft a story that hits on certain touch points.

It's kind of a sort of backwards way of going about it in terms.

Ryan Foland: Is it reversed Storynearing?

Susan Izzo: Yeah, it's reversed storynearing. Yeah, totally, 100%.

Ryan Foland: So it's not just about the stories, but this is interesting... because again, we talk about, "Oh, everybody, be a storyteller, tell stories," but you’re reverse storynearing. You know that you're going to pull stories that would resonate with what you said, desires, fears, and hopes (or something like that,) of your audience.

Susan Izzo: Totally.

I'm big about like whether it be your ideal client, it's like understanding obviously your demographics but also the whole psychographics part of the wants, needs, desires, and frustrations.

When people come to listen to a talk about something, they want something out of it, right?

So you need to understand what that audience is showing up for.

Whether I'm talking to young kids about depression and suicide or I'm talking about women in business, solopreneurs, or what have you, it's like just being aware of why they're there.

Because I know I can relate to them; I know I have a story for them.

I am definitely understanding who I'm speaking to and what they need.

Ryan Foland: When you talk about the demographic versus psychographic, for people who might have sort of listened and been like,

"Oh, yeah, I kind of got it," but they don't really get it, what's the difference between the psychographic and the demographic and some other graphic, I'm sure?

Susan Izzo: Sure, there are plenty of graphics.

Let's see here, your demographic is like,

"Okay, I'm going to be speaking to a bunch of 35- to 40-year-old guys who are making about 100k to 200k and they work in the finance category and they all drive Teslas."

Those are demographics.

Then your psychographics aspire to be the next Gary V or Tony Robbins or Richard Branson. They're frustrated because they are not making XYZ money, or they need to climb the ladder and they have a ceiling above them.

Understanding that part of it, where they want to be or what they're frustrated by, I think that's kind of where the magic lies in marketing and when it comes to understanding audiences.

Ryan Foland: I think you should come up with an izzographic as well. I'm not sure what it is.

Susan Izzo: It's okay, we could totally work on that. You stick figures + me big mouth. Will totally get it done.

Ryan Foland: I can draw the big mouth on my stick figures.

Susan Izzo: I want you to do that, I expect that to be in my izzographics.

Ryan Foland: Awesome, I will. You're saying some good stuff here. I'm taking some notes for some quotes.

This idea of psychographic and demographic and izzographic, you've got this combination of reverse story-nearing people.

If you were to say your sharpest tool in your speaking shed, something that you either use, whether it's a visual or whether it's your opening, or whether it's a joke. Is there one thing in your tool chest that you find works pretty consistently to either create engagement or get people excited or get them to lean in?

Susan Izzo: Yeah. I'm not sure if you saw the opening of that talk I did at Ontraport but I came in dancing to Dolly Parton.

Ryan Foland: I honestly think I literally came into that when you were speaking, so I didn't see that.

So please tell me about your Dolly Parton dance.

Susan Izzo: Sure. I was giving a talk on the positioning of perception in the marketplace.

My first example was a story about Dolly Parton, how she literally got third in her own look-alike contest.

She entered secretly. This happened in Santa Monica in the '80s and it was a drag queen contest and the judges perceived her as the third best Dolly Parton look-alike.

It's kind of mind-blowing, right?

It's all about controlling your perception of what you want to be known for, all of that.

So, I was like, "Okay, well, I'm going to come in talking about Dolly Parton as my first example. Well, how can I make people laugh?"

That's always a big thing for me, I love laughter.

I had them blare 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton and I came out onto the stage literally dancing, and the whole nine yards to Dolly Parton. That's how I started.

Ryan Foland: I also dance sometimes.

I believe I remember seeing you in the audience and I get so excited after everything's done. Typically I'll do a very terrible white boy dance that has no rhythm or beat other than what is in my head.

All that energy is pent-up from just being excited about sharing this information. I talked to somebody afterward, they were like,

"Ryan, great-great speech. But I got to tell you, man, that awful dance you did at the end, just that was it for me."

So, there is something about dancing.

Would you say that that fits into the self-deprecation category?

Susan Izzo: Yes! Listen, you've got to have fun.

When I took myself so seriously as a sports agent, that's when shit started going awry.

It's like you got to laugh and I don't believe in perfection and I also believe when I look out into an audience all I see are people just trying to do the best they can.

Nobody is better than me, worse than me, we're just trying to do the best we can.

That takes away a big fear for me.

I still always get the nerves getting up on stage.

But I think it's really important that we're all just trying to get along.

Ryan Foland: Yeah. I just read Brene Brown's "Dare to Lead".

It was fantastic and she talks about how when you're in leadership relationships and dealing with your teams and your employees, you have to question like what your belief is about that person and their efforts.

If you're not assuming that they're doing their best work, whatever they hand to you you're going to think of as subpar.

But if you flip the switch and go, I'm going to assume that this is that person's best work, now if you need corrections, it's not that they're doing a bad job, it's that you can help them out.

Susan Izzo: Totally.

Ryan Foland: I thought that those are really interesting distinctions.

And so you're saying from an audience to have this assumption, we'll call it izzumption, it's like you zoom in, maybe we can play on that.

You zoom in and assume that they're all paying attention, assume that they're all into it, assume that they're all going to do their best to take whatever lessons you have from the stage and implement it in their lives.

Now you wash away all those fears and you can just focus on delivering a message, assuming that they're going to get it.

Susan Izzo: Right, and if you look out there and they're texting that's just them texting their friends about how awesome you are.

Ryan Foland: Or they're tweeting you up. They're definitely in agony.

Yeah, okay, I like that.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, they're so inspired and if they're sleeping, it’s because they're dreaming about being like you.

Ryan Foland: Yes. This is the is izzo-flip, right? I like it.

Gosh, I wish my last name was was Izzo, I feel like there are so many words I can make up around Izzo.

Susan Izzo: I'll hire you to help me out with my branding.

Ryan Foland: When it comes to this idea of branding, and I know you're big on branding, and this is kind of the section where we talk about speaking tips and tricks.

I argue, which you may or may not agree, that your speech starts before you even hit the stage; your speech starts when somebody sees you on the website when they're trying to figure out whether or not they're going to go to this event and invest money to show up.

Or your speech starts when they are reading your bio or anything like that.

What are your thoughts on that process of your speech starting before you speak?

And then, how does owning your own personal brand really impact that.

It's sort of loosely strung into a speaking tip, but it's before you even speak, before you get to the stage, before you even get to the event.

Susan Izzo: I agree with you a thousand percent.

Consistency is really important.

When I teach, I talk about this a lot.

It has to be consistent across every touch point from the imagery you're using on your site to the photos, your videos.

Even the content should always be in the same voice.

You kind of have to make a decision of, like I said, how you want to be perceived and what you want to be known for.

Because you're right, that is the first interaction of, "Yeah, I'm into what this guy's about, I want to check this out."

When people are fragmented, and it's different in every single channel and that's when people get confused, and the minute you have confusion, they peace out.

Ryan Foland: There is another great word from the sporting world. Peace out. They peace out, you don't want your audience to be in peace and out, right?

Susan Izzo: No no, it's no good if they're peacing out.

Ryan Foland: I think what's interesting is even just your energy, aside from the Italian and aside from the Leo-ness, do you think that part of your energy that you bring to stage is a result of having 20-years experience in the sporting world where there is excitement, there is this sort of fun element to it?

Susan Izzo: No, I think it's from being 44-years old and living in this body for all those years.

Ryan Foland: Fair enough. I dig it.

Susan Izzo: Yeah. Listen, I mean as an agent, I was the voicepiece for my athletes for better or worse.

But I've always had this like big mouth and big personality. That's just kind of who I am.

I always just want to have coffee talk with people.

That's my opportunity when I get to speak.

It's like just having coffee with people and just putting myself out there.

Ryan Foland: I bet you have a double espresso shot with a kicker of something else and you just ramp it up. You just feed the engine, give it some gas.

Susan Izzo: I stop myself at two cups, then I'm done.

Ryan Foland: For people who are a little bit more soft-spoken, and we're both loud individuals — do you think that there's value in flexing your big mouth muscles in a general sense? Because I don't want to go out there and say, "Here's how people can be louder" and whatnot.

But just conceptually, where does it fit in on stage to have the ability to be a bit louder. What do you think?

Susan Izzo: Totally.

Here's the thing, one thing that we're not taught in life, and I learned it way later in life, is kind of self-compassion and liking yourself.

I think learning that and really being cool with yourself, like, "I'm a good person. I know what I'm talking about because I lived it. I breathe it the whole nine yards. It's okay if I mess up or I forget something."

When you kind of have that first and foremost, then the confidence can be built a little bit bigger or the volume can be turned up a little bit.

I think we're unsure of ourselves, or we doubt.

Listen, self-doubt and negative chatter — that happens to everybody.

But being able to tone down those voices but really be comfortable in your skin, know you're a solid person, that you give more than you take, you care, like you care being there in that moment and sharing what you want to share.

That's what I think you can, like I said, the volume can go up a bit.

Ryan Foland: I like that.

It's not necessarily about the volume where you’re being loud or what some people might consider obnoxious.

It's about being less coy and less shy as a result of negative self-talk or chatter or lack of confidence.

Susan Izzo: Yeah. I spent years beating myself up as my own worst critic.

Gosh, that was such a waste of energy. It did not serve me.

Learning to be a little bit kinder to myself and saying,

"Hey, there are so many amazing speakers that have been doing it for so long," and I could sit there and I could have that fester and me just crawling at my desk again and not do anything.

Or I could sit there and say, "Well, yeah, they're amazing, but they haven't lived the life I've lived. So I'm the authority on that. Let me share what I know."

I know I'm a good person, and I know that I'm willing to practice and get better and learn.

And so I can become my own little cheerleader and then the positive steps start happening that way.

I think if more people just gave themselves a break, and weren't such harsh critics, I think great things can happen a little quicker.

Ryan Foland: Could we say that the stage is always greener on the other side of the auditorium or something?

Susan Izzo: Yeah, it is, it's always greener.

Yeah. It would be weird to water it. We might fall.

Ryan Foland: If it's an outdoor theater kind of or a speaker in the middle of a field or park, but yeah.

Or maybe the stage is always redder.

Although that doesn't sound good. I'm thinking like TEDx red carpet.

The stage is always greener.

Susan Izzo: I like it greener. You know, I have a putting green in my backyard. We can maybe put that on a stage.

Ryan Foland: I like it. I'm a fan of golf because it teaches me lessons every time I swing. Like it's all about form over force and I have to tell myself that every single time before I just try to hit the ball as hard as I possibly can.

Susan Izzo: And the grip, right?

It's kind of what we're talking about, the flow.

When you grip something so darn tight it breaks, or you shank it, you shank the ball.

But when you have a loose grip and you allow room and you allow flow, beautiful things happen.

Ryan Foland: That's just giving me anxiety because, literally, my brain is thinking through.

That's why I'm terrible at the pool as well because I just want to hold on.

For me, more is more when it comes to anything.

Speaking of more, let's talk about some of the advice that you would give for people who are trying to get more stage time.

Some people who want to visit the green grasses of keynote stages. For people that are willing to loosen the grip on their golf club and they feel like they've got a good swing but nobody gives them any balls to hit.

We've all started at some point, so maybe sort of flashback to where you have originally started in this transition.

What are some of the things that stood out that you did and worked, and that you did and did not work?

Susan Izzo: One thing that I have is persistence. I've always said, "The word “No” is just “No for now". I definitely just kind of say, "Okay. Thank you for the NO. I'll talk to you in 3 months."

Ryan Foland: Or, "Hold on, let me give you to another agent here," and then you change your voice. And then you try again. I got you.

Susan Izzo: Right, and I always say it's the pitch.

You've got to go back and revise your pitch because that's what it is.

You just didn't get them with the right pitch.

One thing I'm really big on I think is personal relationships and being memorable.

We talked about the audience and knowing who you want to be talking to, the messages you have, the storytelling you what to do to a specific audience.

I believe in standing out because they get so many speaker applications, so how do you differentiate yourself?

Back in the day what I would do is show up with a pot of marinara sauce. I did.

Because here's the thing, it's like they're going to be like, "Remember that woman that showed up with pasta sauce, marinara sauce?"

Ryan Foland: "She must be Italian. She doesn't need a microphone. Let's get her."

Susan Izzo: Well, it breaks a barrier.

I'm not telling people to show up at everybody's doors with marinara, but it's like there are certain things that help you get through the door that make you stand out.

The other thing too is relationship building.

It's not just showing up just once when you want to speak or want a gig, and you have to keep that relationship building going on throughout the year and it can't be just,

"This is what I'm doing. Look at where I've spoken".

That's a recipe for unsubscribing to a newsletter right there.

Ryan Foland: That's a bad dose of marinara that's got way too much garlic in it. It has too much garlic. But I guess garlic is really good.

Susan Izzo: No, not enough garlic.

Ryan Foland: What would be the ingredient that is an analogy to not showing up all the time?

What is it that you could put into the marinara that would mess it up?

Susan Izzo: Okay.

Well, a marinara should be chunky and a regular gravy as we say in Italian.

That's more of like the sauce with the meatballs.

It would be bad if you had like a watery marinara, maybe.

Ryan Foland: Okay.

Could we take the jump that same building relationships is like adding thickness to your marinara? It's you throw in another meatball, right? What meat is a meatball?

The more you show up the more you meet with people. The more coffee hours the more relationships and more you meet them in the middle or meet them wherever, that's more meatballs for a kick-ass marinara that's thick and chunky so much you can stand a fork in it.

Susan Izzo: Yes, totally.

Ryan Foland: Yes, I like this.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, this is good. Oh my God, you're my new best friend.

Ryan Foland: One thing also that makes me think this piece of advice that I give a lot and it seems to be not enough because people still do it.

I want to know your take on it before I tell you what it is.

If somebody is going up on stage and let's say it's a somebody who's pitching their business or somebody who's giving a keynote or somebody who's doing a workshop, the first words out of their mouth.

Do you think it's strong for them to introduce themselves? "Hi, my name is Ryan Foland and XYZ," or not. What do you think?

Susan Izzo: No, I wouldn't. I don't think I go on stage and say I'm Sue Izzo.

Ryan Foland: Okay, good because I agree.

But I talk to people when and like the first thing out of their mouth is, "Hi, my name is Ryan Foland and my business is this, this is what I'm doing."

I have no investment in you at that point. I don't care who you are. Why are you wasting my time?

Versus saying, "It was October 13th, 1953," and like all of a sudden it's like storytime?

I like that it's not about you, but there's this like nervous tension, especially with people who maybe don't have the experience speaking. They feel like they’ll just start by introducing themselves — but you just got introduced and you were introduced in the program.

Susan Izzo: There's this really smart guy that I listen to his podcast and he has this thing called the 3-1-3 method.

Ryan Foland: Really, that sounds fascinating.

Susan Izzo: It is, yeah, about the problem you solve.

Ryan Foland: You know what, that guy doesn't care what anybody does, he only cares about the problems that people solve.

Susan Izzo: Exactly. I back that guy.

Ryan Foland: And if you don't know that guy is me.

Check out RyanFoland.com for 3-1-3, you can check it all out.

That is something that I think we forget. We forget that as speakers you're trying to solve a problem, and when you're trying to pitch yourself to a stage, try pitching the problem that you're solving as opposed to the material that you're doing everybody.

Gosh, there are so many speakers right now.

You talked about the kinds of applications.

So many people look the exact same, everything about them is the exact same.

How important is it to really stand out?

What are some of the practical things that they can do without having to be Italian or a Leo?

We want to make this equal opportunity information for everybody.

Susan Izzo: Well like you just said, number one: lead with the problems that you're solving. Definitely.

The other thing is, I always say, "Do your homework".

I mean, it's so easy to find out information these days on people.

I like to do my homework to know who I'm talking to or who exactly I'm trying to get to hire me because finding that common ground, I'm very much into the personal relationship like I've said about 10 times on this interview.

Ryan Foland: Meatballs, #Meatballs.

Susan Izzo: Meatballs, #Meatballs, like good meatballs.

Ryan Foland: If you want to build a relationship with either myself or with Sue or somebody — well, just start off with us.

Tweet us up and say with a #meatballs that you'd like to meet, and I think that if you send me a tweet with a #meatballs, there's a good chance I'll take a meeting with you. I'm just going to say.

Susan Izzo: Okay, and if you want to meet with me #meatballs, #marinara, you might get an invite to my house for dinner.

Ryan Foland: Awesome. What is your Twitter for people who want to tweet you out and have some meatballs?

Susan Izzo: It is @SueIzzo.

Ryan Foland: Why is that so difficult to remember.

I mean, I wish mine was that simple - mine is just Ryan Foland, like good, that's a solid brand right there.

Susan Izzo: It is. It's fun.

Like I said, I hid behind when I started my first company. I named it Mosaic Sports Management. I didn't go with my last name and as I started this whole journey everyone's like,

"You better use that last name of yours."

I was like, "All right, we'll start using the Izzo."

Ryan Foland: I feel like it would look good on a jersey like if there was a jersey like a King's jersey with an Izzo on the back I would for shizzo get it.

Susan Izzo: Well, you know Jay Z wrote a song about me, right?

Ryan Foland: No.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, H to the Izzo, it's about me.

Ryan Foland: I thought it was S to the Izzo.

Susan Izzo: No, it's an H.

Ryan Foland: No, S to the Izzo, U to the Izzo.

Susan Izzo: If you haven't noticed I'm really slow at getting jokes.

Ryan Foland: That's okay because hopefully, that doesn't interfere with people.

That's actually good because people who are listening, they might laugh and then they hear you laugh and they get a double utility of the laugh.

Susan Izzo: Yeah. I know, I like that about me. I laugh twice.

Ryan Foland: One of the final things I want to talk about here when it comes to building these relationships and meatballs and marinara to get on more green stages, what are your thoughts when it comes to social media?

Some might argue that it's a waste of time, some might say it's the most important thing, there might be some people in the middle.

We're talking about tweeting this, and tagging this, whatever else. In reality, what are some of the ways that either you use or you see people using social media to physically get booked on stage?

Susan Izzo: It's such an interesting question because working in marketing a lot of people are like, "Okay, you’ve got to do it this way… ABC,”

I see that. I see some really amazing speakers are very consistent with their messaging and their imagery.

I do think it's valuable.

I love Twitter because it's a conversation. I think that's really cool.

Again, it is about the education you're providing, valuable information you're providing but also doing it in a way that is representative of who you are, right?

It has to be in your voice, like I was saying earlier on. It's got to be consistent across all touchpoints.

I think that carries through social media. Instagram is another one of my favorites just because I like capturing imagery, and photos, and that's kind of fun for me to let people see my life.

You're either going to see pictures of me speaking, teaching or cooking or maybe some pictures of my dog.

Ryan Foland: Wait. Wait, what's your dog's name? I just like to ask people.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, so my dog's name is Pisco Sour.

Ryan Foland: Excuse me? Did you mean like Fido or Jack? You said something odd?

Susan Izzo: Yeah, Pisco. Yeah. She's a hairless 42-pound dog from Peru. So I named her Pisco Sour.

Ryan Foland: Okay, is she featured on your Instagram?

Susan Izzo: Oh, she's definitely on my Instagram.

Ryan Foland: So if you want to check out Pisco Izzo—

Susan Izzo: Pisco Sour Izzo.

Ryan Foland: I like that, cool.

This idea of the merging of your personal and your business that's working for you?

People shouldn't be scared of that?

Susan Izzo: Um, as long as you're not living an x-rated life. I think I'm pretty tame. I am a simple person, but I want people to see me. It's not a manufactured “Sue Izzo Professional Person”.

This is who I am and this is what you're hiring. It works for me. I don't know if it'll work for everybody.

Also, when I am using social again, I would like to give insights into what I think, what I believe, what I like to share. I recently posted something very personal on Facebook and it's something I never shared with people publicly.

I did it because I finally was at that place, like I said, the self-compassion in myself of like, "This is what I want to talk about," and I've gone through these experiences for this reason to share to help others. I felt like why wouldn't I post it?

If I'm like putting out all this other stuff, it was kind of like, "Oh, you're kind of a phony by not being truthful or keeping that to yourself when this is a big platform for you".

So I put it out there and it was so interesting, the amount of people that just couldn't believe that I had had that experience and been through that, and how many private messages I got?

Ryan Foland: Yeah, it's crazy. Right?

A book that I'm writing with Leonard Kim comes out October 2019, watch out for it, it's called, "Ditch the Act" and it's about that whole situation where the thing that you're the most afraid to share is probably what's going to connect you the most with your following.

Susan Izzo: Yeah, I agree.

Ryan Foland: Well, you're going to have to go online to figure out what that mystery revolution exposure is and you can check out Izzoness on all of her social sites.

This has been fun.

It's been a fun conversation and what I think is consistent is you're talking about how it should be fun.

And for the same person, the one that dances out to Dolly Parton is giving advice that's full of sort of wisecracks and jokes and not taking herself too seriously.

I think that that's important for people to understand because though speaking is a profession, if you're too black and white and not unique enough, you're just going to blend in with everyone else.

Whether or not you're Italian, whether or not you're a Leo, whether or not you have a very friendly last name to make up words, you got to own what you got, right?

Susan Izzo: 100%. And like I said, I love learning, so always be working at becoming a better speaker.

But whether I remember those techniques or not when I'm on a stage, I always know me.

Ryan Foland: It's exciting at the end of the day because all of this can be intimidating, especially if you're just starting or even if you're not just starting if you're into it, speaking is the kind of thing where you're the one up on stage.

It's not like you created an automaton for yourself that can take care of it.

Although I created GingyBot which is my chatbot which is an attempt to doing that.

If you want to say hi to the GingyBot, you can say hi to GingyBot on Facebook and she'll talk to you. She'll get you whatever you need.

But we're not at a spot now where GingyBot can take the stage for me and nor should she, because as a speaker, you are you and I think that's really what would sort of stuck out throughout this.

Whatever that is, you've got to own what you have and if you're not, then that's maybe a reason why you might not be getting the traction that you want to see.

All of that was some meatballs and thick sauce to boot at a table. I mean, come on, what a good food for thought we've had here today.

Susan Izzo: Right, so much fun.

Ryan Foland: All right, if somebody was going to try to find you online, where would you point them?

Susan Izzo: Sure. You can find me on Twitter at @SueIzzo,

Ryan Foland: #meatballs

Susan Izzo: #meatballs, #marinara. You can also find me on Instagram, same Sue Izzo, and yeah, you can shoot me an email sue @ sueizzo.com.

Ryan Foland: See how great that is, everybody? If you're listening to this and you saw how easy that was, her Twitter handle, her Instagram and her email all happen to be very similar.

That's another great way to make it simple for people to find you.

So Sue Izzo is out there. Throw a.com behind it, put it into a social media platform and you'll find it.

Your speech starts before you speak and Sue, you're speaking all the time whether you're on stage or not.

I'm excited that we got to connect and I look forward to sharing the stage with you sometime soon. I will forever look at meatballs and marinara just a little differently.

Susan Izzo: Well, I am so happy to have met you. And yes, it would be an honor to share the stage with you.

Ryan Foland: Okay, and if we do, we're definitely going out for pasta, hands down, that's not even a question.

Susan Izzo: We're going to open the talk with dancing, we're going to close the talk with dancing and then we're going to have pasta.

Ryan Foland: That sounds like a trifecta of amazingness.

Susan Izzo: I know, it's so rad.

Ryan Foland: All right, everybody. Hopefully you enjoyed this dinner conversation as much as I did and hopefully, you got some stuff, some great nuggets of information that you can add into your marinara.

This is just one plate, one dish. We've got tons of people that are serving up all kinds of great information.

Make sure to enjoy going back through some of these podcasts.

If you like this one, leave a comment share it with people, especially if they're Italian, especially if they're Leos, they're going to get connected right out the gate.

We appreciate you as an audience, and the more we can introduce you to the World of Speakers, the closer you are to joining us.

And you know what — it's not even about joining us. If you're listening to this, you are speaking in any capacity, you are part of the World of Speakers because that's the most powerful thing we have, is our voice.

So take your message and share it, connect with people, and don't forget to be you.

Sue, I appreciate you and this has been a pleasure.

We're out of here and we'll talk to you later, adios.

Susan Izzo: Ciao.

A bit about World of Speakers

World of Speakers is a bi-monthly podcast that helps people find their own voice, and teaches them how to use their voice to develop a speaking business.

We cover topics like: what works versus what doesn't, ideas on how to give memorable presentations, speaking tips, and ideas on how to build a speaking business.

Connect with:

• SpeakerHub profile

• Email: sue @ sueizzo.com

• Twitter | LinkedIn

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