Key Steps to Embrace Change for Business and Personal Growth with Cassandra Worthy

24:29I didn't know it was called change enthusiasm, but it helped me move through my career. And so I stayed in corporate for another 10 years or so. And within those 10 years, I went through yet another multi-billion dollar acquisition. This time I was an executive. This time I was having to lead an organization that was being acquired by a different business and understand those cultural dynamics and shepherd an organization through it. I had to put change enthusiasm to work in a really, really big way. And I'm so grateful that I had already been practicing it for so many years because it served me well.

25:03And so going through that experience and honestly, the thing that woke me up, the thing that really allowed my curiosity to start blasting at me was sobriety was when my drinking and my alcoholism brought me to my hole and I hit the brick wall and it was saying yes to my alcoholism stepping in full sobriety full clarity feeling all the feels going through an acquisition huh I picked a wonderful time to get sober but it was like the depth of the learning and the value of the mindset like I know it firsthand the power of this thing but that curiosity that had been a whisper and that I would drown out with alcohol and drugs was now a shout and I couldn't ignore it so I started to step one foot of the other in curiosity what does this mean I'm hearing this whisper there's something different there's something better you can be doing with your talents new gifts what could that be I went to a big conference put on by Hay House.

26:03And Reed Tracy was there. It was called a Movers and Shakers Conference. And ironically, it was back in Boston. And for that conference... Hold on. Hold on. The storyteller in me is like, hold up. You are with P &G. Yes. And then instead of being the acquirer, the organization becomes the acquiree. Correct. You decide to get sober during this acquisition. And when you look at past evidence, you say I've been here I'm going to take these tools and apply them here when I'm totally sober when do you see find or discover the movers and shakers conference how does that come about because I just I don't ever believe in in in like lightning strikes like when it comes to life change so yeah what happens here how do we see this what do we know yeah and honestly for me it was I had always had that whisper all the time that I was in corporate I had had that whisper but I just kind of ignored it because I was having fun.

27:01You know, I was having fun. My drinking career was flourishing, but so was my professional career. I was traveling the world with Proctor. I was solving really complex problems. I was designing, you know, blades and razors and, and, you know, hair care, shampoo technology. It was fun. It was a lot of fun. And so I just, you know, quieted the whisper. No, I'm having fun and I'm sharing my gifts and I'm doing something that I love. I love science and math, you know? And so I just, I didn't listen to it, But in sobriety, it became this thing that I could no longer ignore. And so because I couldn't ignore it, that's when I got curious.

27:33What could this thing be? And I actually I went through an exercise and I thought to myself, OK, if there's something better I need to do with my gifts and my talents, that's the whisper. What are my gifts and my talents? And I and I had a day where I just thought about what are the things that I hear from people, the compliments that I hear consistently. And I just started writing them down. and there was a consistency and it started to paint a kind of a different picture than leading innovation in a big corporation. I heard a lot about my energy and how I can get on a phone call, say hello, and the other person on the other side of the phone will say, oh my God, your energy.

28:08Oh my goodness. And it's like, what, for real? But I hear that consistently. I hear about the ability to influence, inspire, and motivate and empower individuals. And I also knew that I just love being on stage. And I've known that since I was a little girl. And so I started to follow that path. Okay, I have this energy. People like the way that I make them feel. Maybe I'll just, I'll write books. I'll write self-help books. Who's the biggest self-help publisher in the world? Hay House. What's Hay House got going on? There's a conference. I've got plenty of money. I'm gonna go to Boston. I'm gonna go to this conference.

28:41And as a part of going to that conference, you could submit a video sharing what your hopes, dreams, endeavors were and potentially be selected to get mentored by Reed Tracy and one of their New York Times bestselling authors at the time, Cheryl Richardson. Yeah. Does the video come before the conference? After. And because I was sitting in the audience at the conference, we had come back from a break where we were supposed to be working on like our pitch, the thing that we were passionate about, we care about. We're in this beautiful like shopping plaza area in Boston. I'm back to this place, my stomping grounds.

29:14I didn't do the exercise. I didn't do the work during the session. I went shopping instead. And when I came back, I'm sitting in the back of the conference and Cheryl Richardson, who's up front, you know, she was like, all right, let's have some people come up and stand in front of the entire group and talk about the thing that you did during the session, during the breakout. And I didn't have my hand raised. And she was like, I want you to come up, you back there with a big smile I want you to come up here and so I go to the front well hold up did you put those shopping bags underneath your chair well I'd already put them in my car okay I am literally picturing this in my mind's eye and so what's the she calls you out well what's the thought before you get on that stage you're not afraid to get on the stage nobody nobody thinks you're afraid of getting on the stage no everybody knows that I had just written in my journal that I want to lean into this and I want to become more of an active participant I had just written that in my journal and then she calls me to the front of the room I was like, okay, I just wrote that into existence.

30:09Let's do this And so I walked to the front of the room and I tell her I was like, Cheryl i'm gonna get straight up with you I did not do the homework. I didn't work the session. I went shopping instead I was like, but I can wing it like nobody's business And so I talked to them about how you know I want to bring bliss into the world and allow people to find their bliss and bring joy and happiness and share my energy And she was like cassandra you need to be on a stage You need to be in front of people sharing this energy. That's what you're meant to do. And she asked like 200 other people, don't you think so?

30:36They're like, yes. Oh my goodness. I'm going to sit behind her and I want her energy. And it's like speaking. And I had seen motivational speakers because I work in corporate. I've seen them. And I had always just assumed this is not what they do for a living. They have another job. They just come here and do this because it's fun. I didn't realize you can get paid really well to speak professionally. It wasn't until then. And while I was up there, she was like, I want you to submit a video. I want you to submit a video, talk about the thing that you want to do and do it. And so I submitted the video and I won.

31:07And I became one of their mentees. And I went through a six month mentoring program where they talked to me about the in and outs of the speaking industry, the importance of carving on a niche, the importance of video, the importance of website and introduced me to what it means to be a professional speaker. Oh, hold on a second. Yeah. Hay House is books or do they also represent speakers? So they don't they don't represent speakers. but so many speakers have books. Right. That's like a calling card. Yeah, exactly. And so they still operate in that space. See, dude, dude, man, they get it. He gets it very well.

31:40Ninja. Very well. Okay. Yeah. And so they helped me understand the workings of the industry and helped me find a niche that's actually sellable. So still true to who I am, my pain points, my experience, and what I want to bring to the world, but something that's packaged in a way that a corporation would buy it. and so those six months was like a springboard for me okay are you this six months are you doing this while you're still still in corporate still okay so this is your five to nine yeah absolutely yeah i'm just on the side and i'm loving it i'm loving it and they're guiding me you need to find anywhere that you can to speak get in anywhere where people will sit in front of you and you can say something do it whether you're getting paid or not so what was the first thing so the first thing was actually through the company they had a deal with a local college and they wanted people in like professional life to come and speak to their students about their journey and kind of why they got into what they do I was like oh I'd love to do that I'd love that so I was able to do that for that I brought a videographer I brought a photographer yes you did my very first speaking reel speaking in front of a classroom of students and you know I had my videographer come in I'm doing on-camera interviews answering questions as if he's just asked me like what am I passionate about why do I do what I do I'm making up the questions and I'm just talking to the camera you know but I mean that's how I started so I created my first reel and still learning this is the thing I'm meant to do so I'm doing all this in 2018 so 2018 January is when I launched my first speaker website.

33:18And is this still while you're working for P &D? Still, still. At this point, I'm at Berkshire Hathaway because that business has been acquired. So I'm with Berkshire. I'm leading innovation. I'm working my organization through the acquisition. Do they know that you have this side hustle? They know that I have a passion for speaking. Okay. And they know that it's something that I'm interested in. They don't know that it's a business that I'm looking to build. I'm not completely divulging all of that. But that's exactly what I'm doing. I'm getting better at, you know, what is the niche? How do I talk about this?

33:46Trying to get on podcasts, talk about the thing that I do, trying to understand what is the thing? What should I call it? I hadn't come up with change enthusiasm yet. And I'm learning and I'm growing through 2018. I'm doing cold calls. I'm reaching out to people on LinkedIn. I'm reaching out to my network, getting a lot of no's, getting a lot of just blankness, sending stuff out and nothing's coming back. And what are you sending out? Like I'm a speaker. I want to speak at your organization. Yes, I'm beginning to pivot my career. I'm speaking in the realm of emotions and change. I think there's value that I can offer.

34:16The thing. But little to no response. I'm door knocking. That's exactly what I'm doing. And it was challenging. It was frustrating because I was met with so much silence and so much no. But I still held the belief that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I know that I have a gift for it. And I know the knowledge that I'm bringing is something that can solve a pretty major problem in corporations. And it's that belief and the joy that I was having in the journey that kept me going. And I kept telling myself, even if I never leave corporate, if I continue doing the thing that I do as an executive, as a chemical engineer, and just do this on the side, I'll do it.

34:53Because I love it. Because I enjoy it. And I feel like it's what I'm meant to do. But life had different plans. And as I kept in the grind things began to fall into place i did my first paid engagement back with procter and gamble uh leveraging my network yeah first paid one and are you are you at berkshire and you're hired by png and i'm hired by png as a speaker hired by png as a keynote speaker and after i got off the stage and so many of my colleagues that i worked with in the past they're like cassandra this is what you're supposed to be doing they're like, this is your gift. They said, of all of these conferences that we've been to, that was one of the best speeches that we've ever heard.

35:40And the meaning of that, because these are people that I know, these are people that I've worked with that have seen me work as a chemical engineer. And now they're seeing me show up in a very, very different way. And they are validating the work. and it was like okay this is it this is it and I felt that magical moment that feeling where this divine energy that I feel flows through all of us that same energy I feel in myself came and bounced out of somebody's face out of their smile out of their eyes and out of me to greet itself and it was like this magical moment of authentic connection that I inspired because of 60 minutes on a stage and I was like okay that's what I want to live for these magical moments.

36:24Okay, so from magic moment to quitting, what's that timeline? Let's see, my first paid engagement was in February of 2019. And I turned in my resignation March of 2019. So it's like a month later. But let me let me give some more context. So I had already had enough keynote engagement bookings lined up that I didn't have enough vacation to take to do the speeches so your pipeline out outpaced your vacation days you got it you got it and so then it was just it was called to you make a decision it was like since i started in 2016 late 2016 back at hay house walking one foot over the other one for the other curiosity curiosity it just came a point where the next step was leaving corporate sunsetting as I had known it and continuing full time.

37:15Okay. And so then you get into the business of keynote speaking and then you write the book. And after that point, there comes like a next iteration of you being an entrepreneur because you have to add beyond because you're trading time for dollars, right? You can get to like a high rate of speaking, but in order to increase your revenue, you have to speak more. And that requires days on the road and tax and toil and time away from family. Okay. So then does the next iteration of your business come to you or you, you happen to it? Oh, does it come to me? I would say that it came to me. And I do believe it was because of the client asking in the poll.

37:54We love what you're doing on the stage. A lot of our, our people are beginning to practice the mindset, but we want to take it deeper. We want to bring it to people in a much, much deeper, more meaningful way. And so I was like, how can I do that? I can bring the content to life through some type of classroom experience, whether it be a course, whether it be a training. And I think because the work lies at the intersection of change and emotion, for me, the importance was for it to be in the classroom, to create that transformation, because this is a mindset shift. This is a shift in a belief system that we need to inspire.

38:27And so I knew that that's the route that I wanted to take. And I thought, okay, let me just start facilitating these learning experiences. Let me be a workshop facilitator. I do a keynote and then I can come and do some workshops. And I landed really big contracts doing it solopreneur on my own. And I realized facilitating is not my jam, man. That's not where I'm best talented. That's not what gives me the most energy. The content is there, but I'm not the one to be the guide in that type of a context. So I was like, okay, if I want this thing to scale, if I want this thing to really work, I'm going to have to find some world-class facilitators.

39:06Facilitators that believe in the content and the work and that have the majesty and the power to inspire that transformative experience that I know is possible. Got it. And that is really when the infrastructure of the business started to get built out. I hired an instructional designer, a couple of them, to take what I had built in my little rinky-dink workshop, you know, expansion and created this really transformational learning experience, these learning modules that we can plug and play. And we're building now this global network of facilitators that are certified in our content that are delivering these transformational experiences with clients.

39:39So you had to build out a certification program. Yes. Yep. And then do you license them? So as long as they are a certified trainer, they're licensing the content. So that's not happening yet. Oh, did I just? Are we calling that into existence? So we are. I know that that's a part of the vision. That's something that's coming, I would say, in the next year or two. but right now we're keeping it inside of CEG. So are they W-2s or 1099s? So right now they're 1099s. Yeah, yeah. Interesting. Yeah, so I have one W-2 who's my chief operating officer. We're actually hiring three more by the end of this year because we're growing so quickly.

40:18Three more what? Three more. So we're going to have a chief of staff who's also going to be doing a bit of client enablement, also a sales account executive and then someone to lead all of L &D. So the client-centered product portfolio. Got it. Interesting. You're going to double the size of your W-2s? I mean, more than that, and some change this year. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. And this is where the fear and the anxiety creeps in in me as a founder, as a CEO, and seeing the growth of this thing and knowing, I think I can envision these things. I saw the way that my speaking business could grow and manifested i see how i can grow cg and the manifestation it is exhilarating it is exhausting and it inspires so much anxiety and fear in me okay can we pause there yeah oh this is where we get real this is the tea so you see the future and the gap between the present you and the future you is filled not filled maybe like pop marked with anxiety yeah there is people who are listening right now and they're like the gap between who i am in the future and the vision of the and where i am now is also pockmarked with anxiety what are you doing and help me do that i am practicing change enthusiasm every day every hour on in the day what does that look like for you though as a founder because one thing let's just be real there's one thing staying on a stage standing in front of corporate and be like we're gonna be we're gonna embrace this we're gonna do this It's like, yes, you're the Moses.

41:48And then all of a sudden in your own business, you're like, all right. All right. What are we doing? What are we doing? What does that look like every day? So for me, it is taking my emotional inventory. It is understanding what are the emotions that I've experienced in the day or in the week? What are the thoughts that are inspiring that? What is the opportunity that I have that I'm trusting that's hurling its way to me? And then what are the little steps that I'm taking along the way? So it really is the very practical application of the mindset. And for me, my growth edge is truly stepping into vulnerability and truly expressing, you know, when I have that fear, when I have that anxiety about the growth that we're going to see, sharing that with my COO, sharing that with the executive team that I'll form, sharing that with my advisory board and just being very open and honest.

42:36because even though I invented this thing, I, step one, the signal, I suck at it. I'm terrible at telling people and expressing and sharing the more difficult emotions because I just want to run away from it. And I got really good at running away, run into the bottle for many, many years. And now in full sobriety, it's like, no, let's embrace this. It's a gift. I am feeling anxious. Let me talk about it with the board. I had my board meeting not too long ago and I told him, I was like, yo, I just want to have a CEO therapy session. Okay. I just need y 'all to talk to me. Give me some words of wisdom as we're on this rocket ship and all the growth is happening.

43:11What can you tell me when I'm in my dark place, when I'm in my low spot? Give me your words of wisdom. And we had a little bit of therapy, which was nice. What was one key takeaway from that? I mean, because we could spend all day and talk about that therapy session because we could all use it. But you were in the fortuitous position and you get to go before us and you got access to a room that many of us don't. So what was one key takeaway? Yeah. For me, it was about really remaining laser focused on how I see myself in the business as the business grows. And is my vision, is my desire that I remain that CEO, that I remain that operator in the business, or is the vision that I step away and I become a chairperson and I find that incredible operator to run the business and then I get to go and do the keynoting, which is truly the thing that I love.

43:55That's truly the thing that lights me up. And so for me, it was affirmation and reaffirming the fact that I do see myself stepping away from the business at some point, hiring a rock star operator and letting the business flourish under that person with my guidance, of course, but then stepping away so that I can do this thing that I really enjoy and perhaps even do other types of ventures. okay so as we as we kind of turn here we talked about the business of the business that we're on the elevator together and you explain what it is you do and then we got into origin story and we had practical tools around shifting our mindset and then we got into like the business of the business like what actually is it we talked a little bit about the future and what you're building into and then we had to reconcile the future you and the present you and when i juxtapose the version of the business that was the door knocking version of you.

44:44And that was marketing. Yeah, that was that was the purest undistilled marketing is the door knocking. And then you built up this resilience and this ability to be told no and still move forward. And so now that the business has street cred, what does marketing look like for you now? Yeah, this is the funny part that I've that I'm discovering now. So that feeling that I had when I started my speaking business, the feelings that I had when I'm doing the door knocking, when I'm getting the nose, still stretching and reaching and driving because of the belief, I'm in that same zone right now. That feeling of wanting to create the impact of wanting to grow of wanting to expand, I'm never going to be rid of it.

45:25I don't think it's ever going to change. And for me, that almost is it creates a peace within me, because I know that it's always going to be there. So I need to know how to live in peace with it and in co-creation with it. And I'm actually revisiting old journal entries when I was starting my speaking career back in 2018, because I'm feeling kind of the same way in many aspects within the business. Yeah, right. We're doing product market fit. We're learning as we get into these clients and we're hearing the feedback and we're changing the products and the learning experience and it's growth and it's challenge.

45:58And it's that same feeling that I felt when I was building the business, the speaking business. And so for me, it is, again, that piece that, oh, this is the zone that I'm just forever going to be in because I am one who was always wanting to be on a growth edge, who was always wanting to expand and make greater and greater impact. And so that's been a really nice realization for me. OK, but what is marketing? Like what what are you doing for marketing? Yeah. So we have a new agent that we just hired, actually, a marketing firm who's going to help us with Top of Funnel. We have a different agency that's helping us with content creation.

46:31and for now it's really about laser focusing on top of funnel filling the pipeline getting the exposure out there so that people continue to understand what it is that we bring and then laser focusing in getting people through the funnel and then this account executive that i'm going to hire weeding through those leads bringing us the hot leads so that we can close them and so who's your target demo like top of funnel what is that made up yeah so predominantly it's chros it's c-suite executives that are leading organizations to a lot of change and transformation information we're seeing some DEI leaders who are coming to us because if you think about you know culture shift there's a lot of change and a lot of emotion that goes with that as well and so there are DEI executives that are coming to us as well not as much L &D but honestly I think it's a miss and I want to use our marketing to inform that I want I want industries to shift the way they think about traditional change management because it's not just this tool that you grab off a shelf when you're going through a change initiative.

47:31It's something that needs to be in the core of the L &D that you do. And I want to create change enthusiasm pillars in organizations around the world. And these are skills and a mindset that everyone needs to learn and practice whether you're going through a defined change initiative or not. Okay, so the content creator in me, if we back up about 47 seconds, I want you to clip that, put that on LinkedIn, and run ads to that because that because you know who needs to hear that and you know the gap and they're not listening yeah so let me just give your agency a gift please do listen to us that clip is a calling card i will just take about an eight percent commission fee on this on this thing because it's like i hear the thing and i just everything everything through my eyes yeah unfortunately and unfortunately my skill set is strategy and marketing and i just see that everything you say is a piece of content but how do you then get that content targeted to a very segmented audience because your goal is not breadth it's depth yeah and so it's like your agency cannot apply a cookie cutter model to the marketing that you need you're not there for awareness yeah you're there for notoriety with the world's smallest crhos yes that's it lnds whoever that is and so i want you to get that content and run ads to that on LinkedIn.

48:52Yes. All day or day. Yes. Yes. Please. And I'm going to take this recommendation. Yes. And no, y 'all hold her to this. We don't stay connected. Yes. So that you can continue to give your brilliance. Oh, absolutely. And so your main platform for acquisition will be probably LinkedIn. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's where the decision makers live. And that's where my clients live. That is beautiful. So, you know, we got into this and I feel like this has just been when I think about like what make for me, for me, because I'm just being 100%. I got obsessed with the podcast. I got obsessed with creating stuff in a place of service.

49:27And I'm creating the podcast first and foremost for me. Thank you. When I look at a podcast episode, and we get to do the things that I know are fully transformative, people come for the business and they stay for the mindset, you just oozed the mindset and your energy brought the captivity and we started off with such a good hook and a value add to where they were and your origin story, while so different, like many of us cannot be you. You're so good at you. We could see slivers of ourselves in that. And there was one thing that you had said, and I had to write it down, is if you are in a place of wondering and you're looking at your perspective wheels, there was an exercise that Cassandra did and she just simply said, what are my gifts and talents?

50:10And she said, what compliments do I hear? Now, I want to talk about how she had enough wherewithal. And this is the thing I want to really highlight. And she said, her energy, her ability to influence and empower and being on stage. And many people might hear that and be like, oh, well, maybe I need to be in my synagogue choir. You know, maybe I need to do PTA. And she just started asking herself, how do I look at this and think bigger? And what she saw was write a book. And even though she had never done that, she put herself in situations that might amplify these somewhat disparate ideas and thoughts about what her skillset was.

50:47And then on top of that, despite the door-knocking, marketing structures of yesteryear, door-knocking, she said, I'm gonna continue to do this because of belief and joy. And I had to write those two things down because I feel like I'm in a place of pivot and I'm like, no, I believe. I believe in my future. And what I do now is pure joy. even if I'm not get if I'm getting the nose we're not getting doors opening the belief that I have and the joy that this brings is that's going to be a thing so I have to say thank you for that thank you for just being a vessel and a thing for us and thank you for coming out ladies and gentlemen this queen came out just for the show got on a plane just for this show she got here for you so the way that you show joy where do you where do people go how do they go deeper with you how do they support this beautiful thing that you're doing please go to changeenthusiastnglobal.com Pretty soon, we're going to have something on the site where you can actually register to become certified as a practicing change enthusiast yourself.

51:42And I'm going to send you the link specifically so that you can get into the podcast. Yes, yes, yes. We'll put them in the show notes. So you can go through one of our learning experiences, whether your company is paying for it or not. Okay. So again, content and marketing. So Cassandra, do y 'all see what she's doing? She's taking her superpower. She's finding ways to scale it and leverage it because she knows where the business is going. She don't even have the structure quite yet to get these people in place, but she knows the value of getting on a plane from ATL to come to Newport beach to say, I'm going to tap into an audience of people who want to create change.

52:10And they might not be the visionary on the stage, but they're really good at facilitation. So now part of her business marketing model is not just to create content that attracts the CRHOs or the L and D's. She's creating content to build out a separate funnel and part of her business. I tip my hat to that. Y 'all that's what we do. That's what we do on the show. That right there is like a perfect show. Y 'all, let's just go connect with Cassandra on LinkedIn. Please, please, please, if you just want to be in this queen's orbit and attracting her energy and be a disseminator and in power of change, connect with her.

52:44Thank you for being on the Jasmine Star Show. Thank you for all you do. Keep shining your light. Beautiful, beautiful. Thank you. Thank you again for watching and listening to the Jasmine Star Show. It is an honor, a privilege, and I say it with much humility. Thank you for being here.