Episode 10: The Art of Selling as a Female Entrepreneur & Navigating Maternal Mental Wellness with Amy Looper
How are you always closing on the next steps? As female entrepreneurs, often solopreneurs, sales are a huge part of our businesses. However, sales and the art of selling don’t always come naturally to many of us. Today’s guest, Amy Looper, shares her selling tips and how being an entrepreneur pulled her out of a seven-year postpartum depression. Listen in as we talk sales, entrepreneurship, and maternal health and wellness.
In 2020, Amy Looper exited her award-winning software sales career and founded her first company, Relativity Sells. The journey through entrepreneurism led to a breakthrough in personal life, overcoming a 7 year period of postpartum depression and anxiety after having two kids and losing a close family member to suicide. Amy attributes her successful breakthrough to becoming an entrepreneur, giving herself the space to heal, create, help others, and have the flexibility to be present with her kids. Amy is now the founder of two coaching companies, Relativity Sells which is focused on coaching tech founders in sales best practices and supporting growth-stage startups with sales enablement. In November 2021, Amy launched Postpartum Coaching With Heart designed to help other women break through the darkness of postpartum depression and provide corporations maternal mental wellness awareness training.
During this episode, we talk about:
Importance of creation energy (2:54)
Thinking like a founder (4:26)
Sales, Service, and Authenticity (8:28)
Postpartum depression and maternal health (14:24)
Free postpartum resources (23:35)
Visit Amy:
Websites: https://www.amyleighlooper.com/ and https://www.relativitysells.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amylooper1/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyleighlooper/
Amy’s special gift to Collab with Kiva listeners: Submit a contact form at www.amyleighlooper.com and mention the phrase STRESS LESS ACHIEVE MORE to receive 1 free complimentary coaching session.
Founder Sales Accelerator starting January 5th. Visit https://www.relativitysells.com/founder-sales-accelerator/ to receive 2 free bonus advisory sessions if you sign up before 12/31!
Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Collab with Kiva. Growth stage, brick-and-mortar business owners come to Kiva to document their day-to-day processes and optimize their systems to free up their time and grow their revenue and impact without investing more time in their business.
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Let’s stay connected!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kivaslade/
Website: https://www.the516collaborative.com/
Podcast Transcript:
Kiva Slade 0:01
Hello and welcome to Collab with Kiva. I'm your host Kiva, Slade. From the marbled halls of the US Congress to my racing-themed office chair. I've learned that there is no perfect path to the life of your dreams. My journey over the past 20 years has included being a legislative director for a member of Congress, policy director for a nonprofit, stay-at-home mom, homeschooling mom, jewelry biz owner, and now the owner of a service-based business. Whether your journey has been a straight line, or full of zigs and zags. Join me and my guest as we share insights hope in lessons learned from our email entrepreneurship journeys. May the collaborative sharing of our stories be the tide that lifts your boat? Let's dive in. Hello, and welcome to another episode of Collab with Kiba. I'm your host Kiva Slade, and today I am excited to welcome Amy Looper to the show. Amy is a founder and purpose-led entrepreneur so I personally love that title. And a little bit more about Amy in 2020, she exited her award-winning software sales career and founded her first company, relativity, relativity cells. The journey through entrepreneurialism has led her to a breakthrough in not only her personal life, because she overcame a seven-year period of postpartum depression and anxiety. After having two kids and losing a close family member to suicide. Amy attributes her successful breakthrough to becoming an entrepreneur, giving herself the space to heal, create, help others and have the flexibility to be present with her kids. And that is such a huge bonus so I can totally relate to that. Amy though know is also the founder of two coaching companies - Relativity Sells, which is focused on coaching tech founders and sales best practices and supporting growth-stage startups. Its sales enablement, enablement. And in November of this year, Amy launched Postpartum Coaching with Heart designed to help other women break through the darkness of postpartum depression, and provide corporations with maternal mental wellness, and awareness training. And those are so valuable as a mom myself. So welcome to Collab with Kiva. Amy, it's so wonderful to have you.
Amy Looper 2:27
Thank you Kiva, for having me today. Yes,
Kiva Slade 2:30
there's so many things that I feel like we can definitely touch base on. Some of them, we could dive deep into rather personal level, I personally lost my brother to suicide, so I can totally relate to you as it relates to that as well. So we're gonna start off though, with more of a business focus. And let's just talk about how did becoming an entrepreneur actually changed your life?
Amy Looper 2:54
Yeah, I think, you know, becoming an entrepreneur, you you cannot, you can't hide behind any mask anymore, right? You don't have a team to hide behind or leverage that you just have to get out there and be raw, and, and create. And oftentimes, I think in that creation energy, we find, you really kind of redefine ourselves again. And that's certainly happened for me, you know, and it came in a good point where my kids were starting to get out of the baby phases. And I said, you know, what, I'm at that point in motherhood, where I need to, like, go create and kind of find myself again. So it was a perfect journey to go through.
Kiva Slade 3:32
Yeah, absolutely love that. I mean, I think that that, you know, it's like the motherhood part of us. We're like, yes, we're here for the kids. And we love all of that. But there is still such a yearning inside of us to, as you said, create something, or to build something. And to utilize those skills that we have in out of that I've seen a lot of businesses birthed by women because of that creative nature that we do innately possess. So let's talk about something that is somewhat difficult for founders of businesses. And that really comes around finding what is your best market? Or who is your best market? So if you're in an early stage founder, how do you recommend that they can validate their ideas quickly, especially when it comes time to, you know, kind of blocking out some of the noise that's out there that might have them going in many different directions at once?
Amy Looper 4:26
Yeah, a couple of things. So first of all, I think as a founder, you need to really like dive in deep to reading what you want to do, not what you think in your head like you have to do as a business. But trying to reconnect your heart and your mind together to really read like where do I really want to take this thing? Because only you yourself know the skills you know that you innately have and you know the people that you want to work with, but more tact more more tactical recommendation would also be to You know, interview your top friends, your family members, interview people maybe that you've worked with people that are in your kind of your trusted circle, and ask them like, Where? Where do they see your expertise? Like, what is the value that they turn to you for? And because oftentimes that feedback, you may not even realize you're helping someone or you're providing influence on someone on something that you didn't even recognize yourself. And it may take your business and you know, a little bit of a different direction, or help you niche down into specializing in one certain area.
Kiva Slade 5:34
Yeah, I think we have a lot of blind spots, you know, something that comes easy for us, we don't think of it as necessarily a skill set that someone would pay for. Because to us, it's like, oh, goodness, I can do that in my sleep. But because we can do it in our sleep, oftentimes, most other people cannot do it in their sleep. And that's the I love that getting feedback from others. And that outside kind of, you know, validation, and a lot of cases is so helpful as we begin to move forward. So let's talk fails, because that's a tricky one, I feel for a lot of solo based entrepreneurs in particular, they get they freak out over sales calls, but they know they need to have sales calls in order to grow their business. So you have a sales career, how do you feel that was preparation for your life as an entrepreneur,
Amy Looper 6:27
you know, it's funny, I sold my whole career and then becoming a solo entrepreneur, it is totally a different game, it is totally different game, you have to sell yourself. And that is instead of somebody else's product, right? That has been like marketed and all the things. But, but really, what it comes down to is really being authentic and creating authentic relationships, you know, and not thinking about thinking about as, like, I have to make 50 calls today, or I have to do this thing called sales, when really I think of it as a four letter word, like just thinking about, like, I created this business, because I want to make X amount of impact, but in the world. And so if I can act with people and build authentic relationships, and connect with them with value, I'm going to be able to then a validate my business, but be, you know, get closer to creating the impact that I want to. And I think we, you know, get out of that mode of like, I have to make a certain number of dials out to make a certain amount of money, I have to do all the numbers, things that are logical side tells us to do, you can then just make it a lot more fun and just a lot easier process.
Yeah, I think approaching it from that standpoint of, you know, I'm trying to help someone solve a problem, you know, and that's what I know that I can do. And, you know, if they're a fit, that's great, but I think there's something with understanding that not every call is going to end in a sale. And when you can close that part of your brain that doesn't really have that anxiety, maybe that's building up. Gotta close this, you know, that it's it's a bit more freeing to have an actual conversation with someone to understand their pain points to understand what they're going through and whether or not you can you are the best solution for that problem, you know, that they have sometimes we're not the best solution. And we got to give ourselves that grace, but I can't solve I'm not here for everybody.
Yes, yes. And then I think you'll find that your enrollment is so much easier, right? People are going to then realize that you don't have a guard up and you in you are coming across with like a real true passion to help them and figure out their problem and partner with them. And I think it's just received in a whole different way. So the client experience that you're providing is just so much better.
Kiva Slade 8:51
Yeah. So related to that, do you feel there is a line? Because I hear this often where people feel that they might over give during a sales call? Is there such a thing as over giving? And if so, how do we stop ourselves?
Amy Looper 9:08
Ah, you know, you know, the old me would have said, Oh, kind of right. But I think I think now that I've been doing this for about a year and a half? I'll say no, there's really not because you know, and then this is the this is the greatest benefit. I think of being an entrepreneur, you control what you're selling, right? So if you want to give away whatever you think that client needs, and you want to package it and certain things or you want to just give them enough information and knowledge on your initial sales calls, you're helping them so that is a win. And guess what people do business with people that they like and trust and you're building that trust with them. So to answer your question, I don't think I don't think you can overcomeit.
Kiva Slade 9:54
I love it. I mean I love the contrast like the old me what I've said give you this much. Okay, that's enough. So when given any goal or like, yeah, or but, yeah, it's definitely a fine line. But like you said, if we're coming from that authentic place and wanting to help people, you know, with their problems, then you're right there isn't in a place where we over give. And I think being able to have that conversation with ourselves that we then are not kicking ourselves at the end of a call, you know, that kind of ties back to, oh, I didn't close it right then or something of that sort? Oh, maybe I, you know, it's like all of the self doubt that comes out afterwards. And it's like, you know, what, serve that person, and I was able to help them, let's go ahead and walk away with that part of it and not focus on the other part that we're thinking about may not have gone the way that we were hoping so. Yeah. So another just, you know, sales related question is, do you have a recommendation between maybe like old Amy and new Amy and how you approach things? At the end of a call? You know, are you looking to close a sale at the end? Is there a follow up call maybe where you're more? So looking to close the sale? Or what do you have a recommendation?
Amy Looper 11:14
Yeah, you should always be closing on next steps, right? And always be qualifying to like, is this a relationship, either from a partnership standpoint, or a client relationship standpoint? That would, you know, be beneficial? Is it mutually beneficial, if so, then, you know, let's schedule next steps and go into further relationship there, if it's something where you're just literally serving and creating, like community based relationships and things like that, you know, obviously, you're not, you don't need to do any, like hard closing, or selling or enrollment in those types of things. But, um, you know, I think always understanding what your next processes like leading your prospects to the expectation of, Okay, wonderful, you can expect to have this experience with me moving forward, or, you know, this is the next step in our relationship, whether you invite them to an event, or whether you, you know, have some sort of assessment for them, or, you know, whatever it is that you're selling, you need to really understand your sales process so that it can become repeatable as well. Because the scalability of your business is huge. I
Kiva Slade 12:19
love that always closing on next steps. And that's, that's going to be my kind of new, I'm huge on my sticky notes, to be written down and say, because it's about a process and understanding that, yeah, everybody may not end up as a client. But what are some of those next steps that you can still have with that particular individual? So I appreciate that. So that's really helpful. So I had Are you okay if we touch on some of the postpartum work that you've done?
Amy Looper 12:50
Yeah, I'm very, very open about it. Cuz I just wait awareness for other moms.
Kiva Slade 12:57
I think that's lovely. Because I do think that's something that we don't obviously talk about enough in this country. And it's very real. And it's, it manifests itself, I think, in different ways for different people. And for I think some of us, like my oldest child, she had health challenges, you know, like, I had a difficult pregnancy. And then we found out that she, you know, three and a half months, she had a rare liver disease and needed a liver transplant list, like, you go through all the things and you're, you know, you're having to show up as obviously, that, you know, cognitive parent is like a hair test, taking this information and figure out next steps, and there still hasn't been the processing of wow, I just welcome this, like new life into the world. And now we have these health challenges and so many other things that come with that. And you know, you don't there's not always those support systems in place as to you know, hey, I'm going to nurse Oh, I can't nurse her now. Okay, do Is there someone I can talk to you about that? Because maybe now as a mom, I'm feeling a certain kind of way. So when you're had your journey that began, obviously, you know, for a seven-year period, what were some of the signs that you've knew that you were actually going through or experiencing postpartum depression?
Amy Looper 14:24
Yeah, and my experiences were different, you know, you see a super different, but both times they presented completely different ways. So the first way, but my first starter, I was on bed rest for many months before having her. And so you know, and I had just gotten a promotion at work. I got into sales leadership, and so my mindset looking back, I was like, oh, man, I put so much pressure on myself to try to keep all the balls in the air when really, I had a child that I was trying to keep in my stomach for as long as I did. And then however, and then you know, navigate accordingly. but it really started to present irritability with that particular one. And, you know, there are a couple of episodes of just really like, you know, anger or frustration. Both of my kids had tongue ties, so the breastfeeding thing never went smoothly. And, you know, when you I think, at least for me, you know, I'm kind of that type A personality or I can be, you know, and so when you're really ambitious, you just want everything to be perfect, right? And you want to be that Vanity Fair. You know, marketing cover at all times. And guess what motherhood isn't that way, but you get this in your, in your head. And I think our society kind of, certainly enables us to believe these things as well, you know, they enforce kind of the idea that we can just do it all. And sometimes you just need a break, and you need to slow down and give yourself some grace. Yeah. Yeah, the second time around was more of a traumatic birthing experience, where I had a failed epidural and had a forceps delivery. So it caused a tremendous amount of physical pain. So for like, several years, I had PTSD over that, because of just that experience in the hospital and in different things that had happened there, which I talked about in my, in my ebook called Miss motherhood. And that presented than just a lot of anxiety in fight or flight mode for a long, long time, you know, of trying to overcome some reoccurring nightmares, the visions that you get from, from having that PTSD is really a real thing, which I didn't realize, you know, until actually going through it.
Kiva Slade 16:40
Right, definitely. Do you it looking back now, what would you have liked to seen in place?
Amy Looper 16:49
To be, you know, yeah, the gaps that I talk about in my, in my book, and certainly, you know, they're very common, is, you know, when, when people working moms go out on maternity leave, obviously, our maternity leaves in the US are not near long enough, right? Right. I mean, let alone being paid fully for 12 weeks, if you look at 12 weeks of your baby's life, you're just getting your first swing down, right. So the fact that we have 12 weeks is just crazy, you know, and you look at the spectrum of where we are against the world, and we're actually the lowest level of maternity leave in the whole entire world. And I thought, okay, but putting that aside, I think employers, you know, can really start to train their leaders and how to support working moms and start to understand that anxiety can pop up, depression can pop up. So returning from maternity leave, you know, getting the proper training of maternal, you know, mental health is so important, because it's not that moms don't want to return to the workplace, or they want to leave, you know, shortly after coming back from maternity leave, so many do, because the pressures are oftentimes not taken off their plate. And And oftentimes, if you're in a high performance role, like I was in sales for an example, you know, your territory may have even shifted or your whole book of business. So when you get back, not only have you had a baby, and you have this astronomical amount of responsibility of having a baby, but you're coming back to having to rebuild a whole business at the same time. So or your income may have been affected just because you had a baby, these things are real. And so you know, I just want to create awareness out there. And hopefully, over time, we can change this, the way that you know what working moms are treated, because a lot of times things are taken from them when it's just not needed. And I don't know that that would happen in another scenario, you know,
no, no, I totally agree. And even during pregnancy, depending on who your teammates are, and who you're working with, things are starting to be taken from you then or, I know, one experience I had. It was difficult for a colleague who just had different thoughts about you know, having a family and it was just like, you know, well, why can't you do this and why can't you do it? You know, and you're like, I'm like you I had a period of bed rest like, it like doctor's note at all, and it still wasn't like enough and you're feeling like, Okay, you're it's a constant almost feeling of failure for those of us who are like a we're just like, Okay, I've gotten all this going and I'm still not hitting that mark. And what does that look like and in the fact that we know our body internalizes that stress, you know, and those impacts health wise, so Yeah, we have a long way to go. Because, well, weeks you're like, I'm finally able to like bathe the baby bathe myself, like, you know be able to accomplish like a nice little rock in the rocking chair. So it is a very short timeframe and more supports are needed on I feel like a lot of different levels in order to just get us to a place where it health-wise, there's a lot that can happen with a mom when she goes out to have a baby. But then that on that return that both of those supports are in place. So that it's just a much easier transition before it because you have pretty much a it's a same employee coming back, there is a change, like you have literally, you know, birth this new human into the world, and, like you said, like amazing and enormous responsibility. So it's just definitely something I feel that we all need to continue to work towards. And it's for the betterment of every company. It's for the betterment, I think of our society as a whole, that we have those supports in place to support moms around this particular, you know, around childhood and in maternity and pregnancy and all of the things that come with that. So I am grateful for the work that you are doing. And let's just keep that ball going.
Because, yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, there's just a lot of education with our spouses that need to happen, as well as our own health care providers, you know, even OBGYN, they're given less than an hour, right of education through their whole period of giving, they're getting their physicians, either doctrine that you know, it's just not enough. They're not trained in perinatal mental health unless they go back in and specialize in it later. And oftentimes, you're given an assessment, where anybody can lie on the assessment, I totally lied on the assessment a couple of times, like, you know, and so there's just better ways, and there's a lot of great people out there trying to make better ways in healthcare too. So it's a good time, it's positive, positive signs are out there that are trying to support moms. But to your point, a lot of work ahead.
Kiva Slade 22:24
Yeah, definitely, I think, a lot of work ahead and just even parity on maternal health. And I know for women of color, like having a baby, it's just downright dangerous. You know, rates are very scary in terms of what can happen after pregnancy. So I think, yeah, we have a lot of work to do. So definitely keep supporting each other, and others who are doing that good work out there in the world. So I am so grateful, though, for you, Amy. And for you being able to share not only obviously about sales, which is super important to us as entrepreneurs, but then also as women, you know what that looks like as well to balance motherhood and, you know, being a business owner, and also at many times going through things related to postpartum depression after we've given birth. So I appreciate you sharing on both of those fronts today. And for those that are listening, who would love to learn more, and they want to be able to say, Hey, I like her. How can I learn more? And how can I work with her? What do you have available for audience?
Amy Looper 23:35
Yeah, so, I have some really great resources at Amy Leigh is A M Y L E I G H Looper .com, my website, you can download a bunch of resources to help you navigate, you know where you're at, in your postpartum journey. Maybe you're just having a stressful day and you want to like meditate and unwind, you can certainly go there and download some things there too. But if you do want a session that I'm giving everybody that's listening to this podcast, a free one-hour session with me. So if you fill out the contact form on there and just type in the code stressless achieve more than you will be able to get a one-hour session for us. So for free, because I just want to make sure that everyone is okay during this crazy time that we're all still in this country.
Kiva Slade 24:23
Yes, thank you so much for that generous offer. And again, those details will be in the show notes, but that code is stress less and achieve more. I love that. So that's how we're going to end today. I appreciate you Amy for sharing. For those that are interested in additional information, make sure you check out Amy on her website, Amy L E IG H looper.com. We will also include that in the show notes as well. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Collab with Kiva. You know my heart and it wants you to know that you are uniquely made in that your business path is unique to you. I hope that now you have some clear takeaways from this episode that have left you inspired and motivated to keep pressing forward on your unique path. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss out on any future episodes. And of course, your reviews on Apple are greatly appreciated. If you are a small business owner and you are ready to build out your business playbook, and you're ready to document and delegate what takes place in your business so it can grow beyond you. Make sure you visit me on my website, the 516 collaborative.com and let's schedule a time to talk. I'll see everyone next time. Bye
Meet Kiva Slade - the Founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background in high-power politics on Capitol Hill and sixteen years as a homeschooling mama, Kiva found her calling in the online business world as a trusted guide for entrepreneurs looking to build the business of their dreams.
Kiva's work began behind the scenes, orchestrating the back end of businesses and managing teams. But her inner data diva couldn't help but notice that small businesses needed help harnessing the power of data for growth. So she and her team set out to uncover and tidy up the data required to enable clients to grow their businesses confidently and easily.