Welcome to another episode of My First Stage! I’m your host, Sara Lohse, and I’m so excited to bring you a conversation direct from the NSA Influence Conference floor. Each week, I sit down with speakers and leaders to find out how they broke into the business, discovered their message, and built lives around sharing their voices from the stage.

This episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lon Graham—founder of LG Inspires, sales leadership expert, and co-host of the Grow Business podcast! Lon’s journey is a testament to resilience, listening, and reinventing yourself when life throws you some unexpected curveballs. If you’ve ever felt stuck, questioned your value, or wondered how to find your lane as a speaker, Lon’s story will absolutely resonate.

Here’s what we talked about:

• Finding Your Lane: Lon’s winding path from sales leader to fired employee, to recruiter, and finally to discovering his true stage as a sales leadership expert.
• The Power of Listening: Why paying attention to what others come to you for should inform your message—and how that guided Lon’s pivot in his content and focus.
• Overcoming Setbacks: How losing a job after 14 years rocked Lon’s confidence and made him question his expertise… and how he bounced back stronger.
• The Three-List Strategy: Lon’s practical exercise for finding your niche based on what you love, what you’re good at, and what people seek you out for.
• Letting Go & Leaning In: The difference between learning from the past and releasing it so you can truly move forward—and how ego and self-doubt can get in the way.
• Advice for Pivoting: Steps any aspiring speaker or professional can take to identify the right direction and thrive there.

If Lon Graham’s journey gave you food for thought, here’s what you can do next:

• Share Your Own Pivot: Have you had to switch lanes or rediscover your calling? Head to myfirststagepodcast.com and tell me about it!
• Connect with Lon: Reach out to Lon Graham on LinkedIn, check out longraham.com, and don’t miss the Grow Business podcast for more leadership gems.
• Do the Three-List Exercise: Set aside some time this week to list what lights you up, what you’re good at, and what people already seek you out for—then look for the overlap!
• Subscribe & Review: If you’re enjoying My First Stage, please hit subscribe, leave a review, and help us reach more future speakers and leaders.
• Get Involved: Whether it’s joining a conference, speaking up on a podcast, or sharing your thoughts online, every step brings you closer to your own first stage.

Thank you for tuning in! I can’t wait to bring you more stories and advice to help you launch your own first stage.

Timestamped Summaries

00:00 – We kick off at the NSA Influence Conference, introduce Lon Graham, and bond over the excitement of our first Influence event.

00:42 – Lon Graham shares why proximity to successful speakers and immersion in the community is essential to building his speaking business.

01:33 – Lon opens up about getting fired from a long-standing sales leadership role, experimenting with a recruiting franchise, and finally realizing that speaking was his calling—only to struggle launching during COVID.

02:38 – The power of feedback: Lon Graham describes listening to what people were really seeking from him and realizing leadership was his true lane.

03:26 – How Lon used feedback from leaders, friends, and nonprofit colleagues to realign his content, and why working “in the dark” prepared him for the spotlight.

04:53 – Why it can be humbling to embrace what you’re truly known for—and the mindset shift required after setbacks or career changes.

06:53 – Both Lon Graham and I open up about the aftermath of losing jobs, dealing with self-doubt, and relearning how to see our own value.

09:51 – Lon introduces his “learn and lean” framework: learn from your past, release it, and lean into your future.

10:51 – We talk about finding the lane you should truly be in and why forcing yourself into the wrong topic or role just won’t work.

12:10 – Lon Graham details his three-list exercise: what you enjoy, what you’re good at, and what people come to you for, and how the intersection points you to your ideal niche.

13:58 – Find out where to connect with Lon Graham: LinkedIn, lawngraham.com, and the Grow Business podcast.

14:53 – Final words and a reminder to share your voice, follow the show, and keep seeking your first (or next!) stage.

Welcome back to My First Stage podcast. We are here at the NSA Influence Conference. We are talking to all of the amazing speakers that are here at this event, including Mr. Lon Graham. We are so excited to have him. He is the founder of LG Inspires. He's a speaker, sales leadership expert, and co host of the Grow Business podcast. And he talks to sales leaders about leading to win in sales.

Thank you for being with us.

Thank you. It's great to be here, Sara. Appreciate it.

We're so excited. And this is your first time at Influence?

This is my first time at Influence, yes.

Something we've got in common.

Yes, absolutely.

And what drew you to come here?

Well, I want to build a speaking business and this is the place to do it right. So this is the place to get in touch with the people that are already doing what I want to do. The is a place to get exposure and meet some people like we were talking about. Like, I came here and you were on the top of my list of people to meet, so. Of course. And. And so fortunately, we got to meet earlier today. For me, though, you know, this proximity, you know, being connected to people that are doing what I want to do, I can learn from them, I can be around them.

It's an opportunity to attract their energy, to learn from them and. And really to. To understand how different people do their business. This business can. Each person has their own approach to business in this world, and I can learn from all of that and really develop my own approach to hopefully be successful at it.

I love that. And if I remember correctly, because so many conversations happen.

Sure, yeah.

What I remember you telling me is that you have been in business for a while, but you're making a shift into the speaking space.

That is correct.

What inspired that?

Well, in 2018 BC, you know, before COVID I. I got fired from a leadership role that I was in that I'd been in for 14 years. And it was. I'd been representing this medical device company for 14 years, and I'd had tremendous amount of success. I'd been sales leader of the year multiple times. I was sales representative of the year, and we had some leadership changes. And like any new coach bringing people in, they want to bring in their own people. And so I wasn't part of that plan.

So I got fired. I tried a couple of things. I bought a franchise. I bought a recruiting franchise, realized that I am an outside salesperson and I like to shake hands. And recruiting is sitting behind a computer talking on the phone all day. So I got out of that, got exposed to speaking and I'm like, that's what I'm supposed to be doing. And so I gave it a start. I tried.

It's, you know, it's a hard business to be successful in. And I tried to launch a speaking business during COVID And so I made some decisions and invested in some things. Just didn't work the way I needed them to. So I went back to work, got back in the workforce and did that for a couple years so that I could rebuild my foundation. And now I'm relaunching. I changed my content. I started paying attention to what people were listening or were coming to me for. And people were coming to me for leadership.

Leaders were asking me to get involved in leadership with them and to lead them. And so. Okay, sounds like I should pay attention. Right. So that's me. I'm back in, you know, relaunching my speaking business and focused on sales leadership. And this is the place to get started and to meet you, of course. Absolutely.

Now, another thing that we talked about before that you kind of touched on was how you just basically decided what you were going to speak on because what you thought you were going to speak ended up not being what you were speaking on.

Correct.

And you found that that out because you started listening to what people were asking you.

Right.

And that is such a great way to use that feedback and really learn from it.

Thank you.

And I love that you were able to do that. But talk a little bit about how you were able to make that pivot in your content and really listen to your audience.

Well, I'm fortunate. I. I am connected to some speakers and I'm connected to people that are in this world. And I've got some friends that are willing to give me some very successful friends that. Well, let me say this. They're willing to tell me what they think makes sense and what they don't, but they also part of listening to what people are coming to me for. I have friends that were in career transitions. I have friends that were making decisions about leadership roles, about getting into leadership.

And these are some lawyers and bankers and financial people that are in big time roles and they would come to me and asked for my advice on leadership. I got involved in a couple of nonprofits. Well, I took some time away and the people in the nonprofit, a lot of them were leaders and business owners, asked me to get involved on the board and asked me to get involved in impacting some of the direction. I mean, and at some point I got to Listen to people. Right. So I started listening to them. And the beauty of taking a step back was I never stopped working on speaking. I never stopped working on my business.

But I did it in the dark. Right. You know what happens in the dark gets revealed in the light. So when the lights come on on stage, all the preparation that you've done to get there gets revealed in your presentation. I worked on my, I work on my content every day still. And for the two years I write, I've got lists of content and stories. And so for me, it never got away from me. I just had to get away from it so that I could create an environment where I could get back to it.

That makes sense.

It does, it does. And I think it's so important to be able to take part in that, like, feedback loop.

Yes.

And embrace it. And honestly, part of it is being able to admit when you're wrong.

I didn't say I was wrong. I just said I was going the wrong direction.

Okay, you're right. My apologies. I put the words in your mouth.

No, I'm kidding.

No, that, that, that really is a powerful thing. And I think a lot of people, they get set, set and zoned in on one thing and they think this is what I want to be known for when they're actually known for something else.

Right.

And being able to embrace that is really important and almost like humbling.

Yeah, very much so. It is. And I will tell you that part of the reason that I didn't start with, with sales leadership is because I had a very short sighted view of what just happened. Right. So I'd spent 14 years building two regions, helping a company grow wildly, you know, having wildly successful teams because I had great people on those teams and they were willing to do great things and were willing to help us get to where the direction that we wanted to go. But getting let go regardless of the environment made me question my ability to lead and made me question what I thought, what I thought I knew and what I don't know. And so I didn't lean into that direction because I felt like, well, if I got fired, that means I don't know what I'm talking about. So I had to get away from it.

I think you're the only one who's ever felt that.

I think you're absolutely right.

I, I was in that position as well. I, I quit. I quit a job that I had full job security in. And just because I wasn't happy living where I was living in Maryland. And I wanted to just Start somewhere new. And Texas. So I quit my job. I moved to Texas, and I got a job there, and I hated it.

Okay?

I hated the job. I was miserable, okay? And I had been sitting on a job offer, but I didn't want to. It was like the busy season for this company. They were. It was a board game company, okay? We're coming up on Christmas, okay? So like retail. That is their busy season, right? Want to just walk, Walk out, Understand that? So I didn't.

Right?

Then I got kind of kicked out right when I got fired and was. Even though I knew it was, like, the right decision because I was not right for that position, right. I was. I don't want to say in over my head, right? But I didn't have the confidence to be assertive enough, okay. And I was being told what I should be doing and what goals I should be reaching. And I'm like, none of these are adding up.

This isn't right.

But it's your company. I'm gonna do it your way, and I'm gonna fail, right? I'm just failing over and over again because I was trying to do it their way when they didn't really. I don't think they really understood what I was trying to do, right? But naturally I'm like, well, now I'm worthless, and I. I don't know what I'm doing. I know nothing about marketing. I know nothing about anything. Two days later, I get a position as director of marketing, Perfect for a larger company.

Perfect.

And it was kind of difficult to make that mental transition right back into, like, I do know what I'm doing and convince myself that I am capable of this. I just kind of talked myself into thinking I wasn't right. And that's a hard position to be in.

It really is. And one of the things that I've learned from my experience and, you know, a lot of what I talk about, I stand firmly on the ground in front of a mirror, because I'm talking to me as much as I'm talking to you. But there's an element of ego. Um, and it's. And it's not good or bad. It's just an element of we're hurt because we feel like we needed. We feel like we were good at something and somebody else didn't think we were good at it, and we were just in the wrong role. So when somebody made you an offer for marketing, they said to you, I believe in you, and I believe in what you can do.

So let's get together and do that. So it's hard, though. You're right. You got to step back. And one of the things I talk about is learn and lean. Right. And the. You've got to learn from your past.

And the difference between learn and lean, it's easier when I draw it on a board. The only difference is an R. And so you learn from your past, and then you remove the R. And that R is for release, and you release it so you can lean into the future.

I like that.

So thank you. Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. But you're right, it's hard, and we all go through that. And the big piece for me was dealing with it and not just keep going, because I have a tendency to keep going. And so to take a step back for a couple years allowed me to repurpose content to allow me to do things a little bit differently, and now I'm ready to start again. And this as, like, you felt valued when you got this new job as director of marketing. I feel like this is my lane, and this is the lane I'm supposed to be in, so I'm excited about it.

Thank you.

I'm excited for you.

Thank you.

That's really awesome. I love what you said. That it wasn't that you're not great is that that's not the position for you.

Right.

And it makes me think of. There's like a. Like a. Not political, but like one of those cartoons.

Right.

And it's a bunch of different animals lined up, and one is like a fish and a bowl.

Yes.

And it's like, okay, everyone go climb that tree.

Right? Yeah, same thing.

I don't think that fish in the bowl is going to be able to climb the tree, and that does not mean they're not capable of doing something else.

Right.

So if you're not in the role that you're supposed to be in, you're not going to succeed if you're not talking about the topic you should be talking about on stage.

You.

You're not going to connect with your audience.

Right.

So it's. It's so fortunate that you were given all that feedback and were given the opportunity to pivot.

Thank you.

And find that new space and get yourself into that role you belong into, because this is the one that you're going to really thrive in.

Thank you. Yeah. Thank you so much. It's awesome.

Yeah. And if you had to give one piece of advice for people that are kind of at that position of I need to really find that perfect role, I need to find my niche Find that one thing and make that pivot. What would you tell them?

Well, the reality of it is never just one thing. There's lots of things you can do. Find the thing to light you up. Find the thing that fuels you. And then pick a lane. I call it picking a lane. And pick a lane and go forward in that lane. Listen to people.

There's. When I do some coaching, I talk about three things. Write down three lists, and you separate the list by a day or two. First list is the things that you like to do. And it doesn't matter what it is. It could be being with your kids, it could be speaking on stages, it could be the greeter at Walmart, whatever it is, talking to people, enjoying. Write down the things that you. That give you energy and that you enjoy.

Second thing on the list is what are the things you're good at? And so what are you good at doing? And this is where you have to remove your ego and say, I do this well. I do this well. I do this well. And then the third list is what do people come to me for? Because that's where you can make money. And this is the piece where I was. I was listening to what people were coming to me for. And so I knew I wanted to speak. I know I can communicate.

I know I can connect with people. I enjoy speaking. I enjoy being in this environment. I enjoy being at conferences. I enjoy being with people and the energy that comes with it. The third piece is what I had to figure out. What are people coming to me for? And that's what they're willing to pay you for. When they're coming to you for something, they're willing to pay you for it.

And so if you're willing to do those three list and create some space because you want to, you tend. If you're doing back to back to back, you tend to want to. You want to create things that overlap. And what happens is create a day in between or a couple days in between, and then do the second list and then do the third list. What happens is, is there's common themes on all three, and when you find something that's on all three of those lists, that's your lane. That's something you can pursue and pursue and do. Well, does that answer your question?

I think so.

Okay.

I think it does. I like the answer regardless.

All right.

Well, thank you.

I appreciate that.

I think that's great advice, and that is something that I know I should follow well, and I should definitely do that. And it's going to be very difficult because I want to do the second way, which is just do them all at once so that you make sure you put the right answers right.

Well, we tend to. We tend to guide the answers on the second and third list and creating space and putting it away and not looking at it and then doing the second list and putting those two away and not looking at it and then creating the third list and then putting them away for a couple of days and come back and look at where the circles overlap and where the information overlaps. That's where you get the most value out of it.

Yeah, I definitely can see that. And it's really great advice. How can people get in touch with you? Find out what you're doing? I know you have a podcast that people can go listen to, tell everyone how to learn more about you.

Thank you. So the best place to connect with me is on LinkedIn, Lon Graham. That's where I'm the most active. If people want to see information on me speaking and what I talk about, you can go to lawngram.com and that's got, you know, my highlight reel, so what it looks like, and then the podcast. So thank you for, for letting us talk about that. It's the Grow Business podcast, and I do that with Corey Mosley, who's a friend of mine who's a csp and he's got a studio that we get to sit in and sit down and talk, talk to business owners and small business owners and leaders. You know, about how to be successful run business.

I love that. So everyone go check out all of those places, LinkedIn website and that podcast. I'm sure they are all fantastic, just like you.

Thank. Well, thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

And thank you guys so much for tuning in. Go ahead and hit that subscribe button so you can keep hanging out with us and these awesome speakers and come back next week for another story about a speaker's first stage.

That's awesome. And they are awesome. So follow them and get involved. If you're looking for a way to share your voice, get involved with them.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it. Thank you. Enjoyed it.