In this week’s episode of "The High Profit Event Show" your host, Rudy Rodriguez, brings on special guest, Patty Aubery, a highly respected figure in the industry known for her impressive track record and notable work. Patty played a pivotal role in the tremendous success of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" brand, which became one of the first book brands to generate over a billion dollars in revenue. With decades of experience in the industry and collaborations with renowned individuals like Jack Canfield and Scott deMoulin, Patty has made a significant impact. She also runs her own training organization, empowering women to achieve success in their personal lives and businesses.

In today's conversation, Patty Aubery shares her fascinating journey in the events industry, which began around 35 years ago when she responded to a job ad for a secretary position. Little did she know, the job turned out to be an interview with Jack Canfield, who was involved in self-esteem programs for classrooms at the time. Although Patty didn't initially get the job, Jack reached out to her a few months later, feeling a strong connection and belief that they were meant to work together.

Their collaboration marked the beginning of the immensely successful "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series, which expanded to include around 230 titles over an 18-year period. They even ventured into licensing deals for dog food, greeting cards, and large-scale events. Throughout their journey, Patty and Jack continued their work as speakers, hosting events of all sizes around the world. They experienced both successes and setbacks along the way. 

In 2008, they made the decision to sell the company, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and embarked on a new venture of training and certifying trainers to carry on their work. Their focus shifted to teaching people how to take responsibility for their lives, create visions, set goals, and take the necessary actions for personal and professional success. Today, they have approximately 5,000 trainers globally who continue to inspire and motivate others.

Reflecting on her early years in the industry, Patty acknowledges the numerous learning experiences and challenges she faced. It may take time, but understanding one's purpose and motivation, knowing why they are doing what they do, can help withstand difficult times and eventually lead to success.

Patty also opens up about the moments of doubt she experienced, which were rare, and jokes about not recalling ever questioning whether their endeavors would work out. They always focused on their goals and developed contingency plans. However, their primary energy was devoted to envisioning success and creating positive experiences for their attendees.

According to Patty, a significant aspect of the events industry lies in approaching it from a place of service. By maintaining a mindset of abundance and focusing on the desired results rather than dwelling on potential failure, one can avoid a scarcity mentality. Patty advises against wasting time and energy on thoughts of doom and gloom because what one constantly thinks about tends to manifest. Instead, she encourages individuals to let go of negative thoughts and worries about their events not taking off, as it is unproductive and detrimental to progress.

Patty shares her recent experience organizing a virtual event with Jack, which turned out to be a great success with 1,100 attendees. She highlights the significant impact of leveraging their existing connections and receiving organic endorsements from trusted sources. Patty emphasizes the importance of nurturing relationships and engaging with individuals who have previously shown interest and support. 

Patty also emphasizes the importance of focusing on service rather than solely on selling when it comes to maintaining relationships with customers. By approaching interactions with authenticity and transparency, she believes it is possible to provide valuable guidance and assistance without resorting to pushy sales tactics. 

Patty also discusses her work in empowering women and effective communication. She is dedicated to helping women overcome their tendency to hide and empowering them to show up, speak up, and be seen. Patty shares her personal experience of hiding behind her role in the Chicken Soup for the Soul empire and turning down speaking engagements due to a lack of confidence in her public speaking abilities. She emphasizes the importance of women honing their message, becoming visible, and maximizing their potential.

In addition, Patty offers the Permission Granted program, which helps individuals create a blueprint for effectively communicating their message to the world. This program guides people through a four-month process of clarifying goals, defining offerings, understanding their "why," and mapping out a clear plan of action. Patty compares this process to building a house, emphasizing the value of having a well-thought-out plan rather than piecing things together haphazardly.

Patty offers advice on overcoming self-doubt and taking action. She encourages individuals to tackle challenging tasks early in the day and follow up persistently. By pushing through fear and consistently taking action, Patty believes significant progress can be achieved in both business and personal growth.

To learn more about Patty Aubery and her work, visit her website at pattyaubery.com. She also mentions her collaboration with Scott deMoulin in the Engage From Your Stage program, where participants can improve their speaking abilities and gain clarity in their messaging. Patty expresses pride in the positive feedback she receives from her students and emphasizes the importance of serving one's audience by providing the support they need, even if it means collaborating with other experts.

Thank you for tuning in to this insightful episode of "The High Profit Event Show" with our guest, Patty Aubery. Stay inspired and keep pursuing your goals for high-profit events.

Want to connect with Patty?

Website: https://www.pattyaubery.com/

Social: https://www.pattyaubery.com/social

Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.

Want to learn more about Rudy's work at V.E.S.T. Your Virtual Event Sales Team? Check out his website at https://virtualeventsalesteam.com/.

Hi, welcome to today's episode on The High Profit Event Show. We have a really special guest today, an acquaintance who really doesn't need an introduction. You'll definitely recognize her by her track record and the work that she's done. Miss Patty Aubery, welcome.e in.

Thank you. Thank you.

And Patty, just for our audience, for people who are just meeting you for the first time, a couple of things I want to highlight about you and why people should really lean in and tune into this episode and stop what they're doing and take notes. You are the female powerhouse behind one of the first book brands to a billion dollars, The Chicken Soup for the Soul brand. And you've been in the industry for decades. You recently did an event with Jack Canfield. You speak in training events with Scott deMoulin. You're world class and you run your own training organization with women, helping them grant permission within their own lives and businesses and step into their companies and their businesses. So really excited to have you here today as a guest.

Thank you. I'm excited to be here.

So Patty, love to hear from you a little bit about your background when it comes to events. And if you just want to tell the story of maybe a little bit about your background and what eventually led you into doing events. And then maybe we can talk about some of your recent experiences that you've had.

Well, I started in the self-help industry about 35 years ago. I literally answered an ad in the paper that said ‘secretary wanted $25,000 a year’. I just set a goal that I want to make $25,000 a year. I was working in tech and I had left tech and I was looking through The LA Times and I saw this ad. I'm like, I don't want to be a secretary, but I want the $25,000 a year. So I'm just going to answer that. So I did along with like 200 other people, because that was a lot of money back then. And it turned out that it was Jack Canfield. So I went to interview with him in this little condo, which was like hippieville and don't ever go, if you're listening to this, don't ever go to someone's house for an interview. I mean, it could have been a stalker who knows. And so I went in and interviewed with him. He was doing self-esteem in the classroom stuff at the time. So I just thought, I don't know if I'm going to get this job, but it seemed kind of weird and I didn't get the job. He called me, he's like, oh no, we went with somebody else. I'm like, all right. And then of course I wanted the job because now I got turned down. Like every woman that gets turned down, I know I got to get it. But he eventually called back a couple months later and said, I think we're supposed to work together. I don't know what it is. I can't get you out of my head. So we started this journey of working together and a couple months in, he said, I've got this idea. Like people keep asking me, do you have that story in a book? And he said, I think we'll just put these stories I tell from the stage in a book. I said, all right, let's do it. And so we embarked on what we didn't know the name of. We didn't know what we're going to call it, but it was 1989 that we started collecting stories from all the speakers that we knew and all the people that were holding events around the world.

What's your best keynotes? What's your best story? The beginning, the end, like what is your number one story? So we collected that from all the speakers. It was mostly speakers and finished it in ‘93, it took us four years. We edited that book to an inch of its life and got it published in June and hit a bestseller list 14 months later. And that was after we didn't know that when you publish a book you should have an agent or we didn't know we needed an agent. And we finally found an agent. The guy, after about nine months, gave us the book back and said, sorry, I can't sell it. Nobody wants it. We worked for four years on a book that nobody wants. We eventually got published. So that was the beginning of chicken soup. We went on to do about 230 titles throughout that 18 year period. And we did a ton of licensing. We did dog food. We did greeting cards. We did big events around it. We did all kinds of stuff. At the same time, we were still living our old lives of being speakers. So we were holding events at Holiday Inns at Fairmont and Scottsdale and Dubai and Oman and Qatar. We were traveling all over the place. So it's been a lot of big events. It's been a lot of little events. There's been a lot of nobody showing up for an event. You get the whole nine yards, but over this over three decades, we've done a lot of different things. We sold our company in 2008, chicken soup. And then we sort of sat down and thought, what are we going to do now? So we sort of reinvented the wheel and decided to go out and certify and train trainers around the world to do the work that we had done that built chicken soup.

So how do you take responsibility for your life? Create a vision, set goals, what actions do you need to take? And so on and so forth. So I think we have about 5,000 trainers right now around the world, which is great. And continue to keep inspiring and motivating people.

Oh, it's so cool. What a neat Genesis story, right? You answered and it happened to be Jack Canfield. And he said, no.

The scarier part was when I got the job, I was staying with my parents and my dad said, I sent you to college to go work for a hippie. I'm like, hey, the hippie went to Harvard and maybe, worst case scenario, I get a Harvard education for free. So he was not happy, but it all worked out for the best for everyone.

I know there's definitely a lot of learning and challenges that took place in those early years. I remember you shared with me on a call that we were on. When you calculate all the hours that you were working to what you were earning, I think it was like a couple of dollars an hour or something.

Two bucks an hour. Jack's like, just clarify that I wasn't paying you two bucks an hour. It just so happened to be that you were working so many hours that averaged out to that. I'm like, I know, I know. But, sometimes, especially in this industry, when you're doing events and you're writing books and doing different things, it's the persistence that pays off. It takes a while, but you've got to know your why and your what, what do you want and why are you doing it? And if you have those really strongly, in your body and you really own it, you can survive the famine.

And you not only survived, but you thrived. Helping build it to one of the first billion dollar brands.

It paid off in the long run. There were a few days that I was thinking, what if this doesn't work? But I mean, very few. I joke with Jack all the time. I say, I don't remember us ever thinking, what if this doesn't work? And everything that we've ever done, that's huge. We just go, okay, plan A is this, we're going to do a minimum target outrageous number for the event or for sales on the backend or whatever it is. Plan B is it didn't work. And plan B is, what do we do if it doesn't work? And then we shelve it away. We don't think about it. That's about 5% of the energy. The other 95% stays on, what do we want? How do we want it to play out? And also what do we want to do? How do we want our attendees to leave? What do we have? What feelings do we want them to have when they leave? And how are we going to serve them in the future? So it's, I think a big part of this industry is really coming from a place of service. And when you can do that, you stay out of that lack mentality or what if this doesn't happen? There's so many ways to go down that rabbit hole. It's a total waste of time to think about doom and gloom because what you think about you get. So stop thinking about it. If you're thinking about, oh my God, my event's not going to take off. Stop it. You know, it's not worth it.

What we think about is what we get.

True. Law of attraction.

So, you recently did an event with Jack just a couple of months ago, a big virtual event. Would you be open to sharing with us a little bit about that recent experience as far as what were some of the wins or some of the lessons learned, what might you've done differently now that you've gone through that?

I think it was a great event. We had 1100 people. It was the most we've ever had virtually. We shot it from Sage studios out in Charleston. And one of the wins was, there's such a big thing right now with hype of how to market and funnels and all the crap and the noise that's out there. One of our friends, Marcy Shyamov about four days before the event, was having Jack on her miracles program, where she's got about 7,500 people, and Jack went on and he offered for all those people that if you want to come to breakthrough success, we'll give you the VIP ticket for $49. We had 600 people sign up for breakthrough success from that one interview. I mean, you know, Rudy, what it takes to get 600 people in a room. It was an hour of teaching with a friend that we've known for 30 years, who was willing to endorse what we were doing. And we got 600 people. That was a huge win. So, it made me think, okay, so where am I not asking for support when I'm running an event? Why don't I, why don't I do more interviews or have Jack do more interviews so we can organically bring in people that are already kind of in that space that they already want the work. They already have raised their hand to somebody that we know, love and trust. That conversion rate was really high as well from the people that came to that event. So we had record sales. It was just good all around.

What would I do differently? The only thing that I would maybe have done differently if we could have is I would have done a live version with the virtual, maybe had some live people in the room. But it didn't work out for that. I probably would have done that differently. And then also maybe done like a VIP evening the day before, 20 people that want to come in live and do something and charge a higher price for them, much higher. But if you think about it, if you break down your costs of what it runs, what it takes to live left, what it takes to run a live event. And if you can think, if I just did something over the top or outside the box and I could make back half my money just from that live piece, that it's going to cost me to run the whole event overall, or four days. I like to try to think of things like that. How can I chunk this down to know that I'm going to cover my costs and everything else is going to be profit. So I probably would have done a little bit more thinking around that, but overall it was great. It was great.

1100 people in attendance is a phenomenal opportunity and 600 came from one interview. That's remarkable. That's how it was more than half of your opportunity there.

So often we just get caught up in having to do Facebook campaigns or ads or all this other stuff. When, if we just went out to the people that have already raised their hand to us in the past and looked at how we can leverage that relationship more to serve, we're serving Marcy's people. And I said, do you want an affiliate? She said, no, I just want to know that they are served. So it's much more cost-effective. I think for a lot of us, when we're planning events, we just forget to reach out to all the people that we know, make phone calls, send out a card, do something different for people. Remember the people that have been there with you before, because if something worked once, it can work more than once. And I feel like in today's world, because it's so noisy that we do something that works and then we just go on to the next thing. But it's like, wait a second, stop. If that's working, keep doing what's working. So keep a list of everything you're doing to market to the people that put their butts in seats and remember what worked and keep doing those things. Then add on new things. We're always testing. We're always trying.

Definitely. Remember what worked and keep investing in those relationships. You mentioned this whole idea of service. And we talked about this in the green room before the show, service as a way to, instead of focusing on selling, focusing on service and also helping continue the relationship, even though it should be on the event. Can you talk a little bit more about that? I know that's really important for you.

I think a lot of us get into this mode of, I've got to meet my numbers and I've got to do all these different things. And if, when I go into that space, I start to go into the space of lack. Again, that's a downward spiral. So if I can just get out of my ego and think about, okay, how do I want these people to feel? What do I want them to have at the end? What awareness do I want to bring to them? How can I help them choose the best spot for them, the best path for them to go on. Then I'm coming from a place of service. My vibration is high. I'm more into my body. I can talk from a place of authenticity and transparency and not in a yucky space of let me just sell you the next snake oil. So it's, and I think for many people in the industry, it's if you know your customer well, and you can see or foreshadow almost their problems, how can you help them not go off the deep end or how can you help them from wrecking the train? So for me, I'm always looking at, all right, here's my audience. And what else do I see are their problems? In my world, mostly authors and speakers, I see a lot of people that want to do what they want to reinvent themselves. They're looking to write a book or go to the next level. And then they run out and they're like, okay, so I need a podcast and I need a website and I need an online course. I am like, hold on, not yet. What you really need is to learn how to speak your message. And so I say to people, if you get on my train, I won't let you off in a bad neighborhood to get mugged.

If you don't, I can't help you, but I'm an expert in the field. I know the best of the best. I can guide you on the right path to do the right things in the right order. If you do that, you're going to save yourself time, money, sanity, and all kinds of things. So I'm always looking at what am I hearing? I'm hearing, oh, I spent all this money on a website and I didn't use it. Or, oh, I was in all these vanity books and they didn't do anything. The list goes on. It's sort of the same thing that Jack did in the very beginning of chicken soup. He said, all these people are asking me if that story I told on stage is in a book. That's why we created the first book, because so many, especially women were saying, do you have that story in a book? And Jack's like, no, they're on my tapes. I don't listen to tapes because I'm driving my kids around and going, I’m not in the car long enough. So that was the whole inception of chicken soup. It was just from so many requests. After that, when we said, hey, if you have a story, send it in. We started getting all these stories in the mail, like 10,000 stories a month in the mail, insane when it got crazy. But those stories were showing me the way. I noticed that I'm getting a ton of stories from women. I'm getting a ton of stories that love their pets. I'm getting a ton of Christian stories. It's like, oh, there's Christian soul. There's a pet lover's soul. There's chicken soup for the women's soul. The market just revealed itself as long as I was willing to listen. So I didn't make up. I didn't make up titles. They started to come in. I started to know my audience more. So anyway, that you can really know who your audience is on a higher level, the higher you can serve them.

Awesome. I'm taking away from that a few things. One, just staying curious about the audience and where they're at, what they need, how you can serve them. And also allowing things to reveal themselves. Like you mentioned, you just had all these requests coming in for a book and then all these stories coming in. Eventually, you just fulfilled those requests over time and became the brand that it became today, that it is today.

Absolutely. I think a big part of it too, is really staying present because when you do that, if you're just like a rat on a wheel with your head down working and you're not looking up to say am I conscious of what they need? You can get off on the wrong track if you're just making stuff up in a vacuum. So I don't know. Curiosity for me has always been key to my success.

Awesome. Very wonderful. And for our audience and people who are really enjoying what you're sharing here, can you tell a little bit more about some of the work that you do and you've started to talk about it. You help people with clarifying their message, you help people with their book. Can you just share a little bit more about what you do and how people can learn more about you?

So basically I have a couple missions, I guess, I would say one is for women. I wrote a book called permission granted, and it's all about showing up, speaking up and being seen because I think a lot of women are professional hiders. I was for sure. I hid behind Jack for years. I ran the entire empire and it was like, who's Patty Aubery? No one knew. I literally turned down speaking engagements, like 10,000 people in a stadium when I did chicken soup, the Christian soul, because I didn't know how to speak. I'll lose my space. I won't know where I'm at. I'll get confused. And so I would say, oh, I'm sorry. I'm the president of chicken soup for the soul and I just don't have time. Then after we sold the company and I realized I was hiding, I started to speak a little bit. I called my friend Marcy and I said, hey, Mars, you read chicken soup the women's soul. How much money were you making as a speaker? When I was too busy being busy. And she said, you don't want to know. I'm like, no, I do. Several million dollars. So I thought, okay, no more hiding. I had to get out there. That's how, it's not how I met Scott. Scott and I've been friends for years. And Scott deMoulin called me and said, hey, you should come to Engage from Your Stage. And I thought, this is ridiculous. Scott always says two things. Do you want to think enough or do you think you can't learn it? I had, before I went to engage, I literally thought I should know enough and I should already know it. So, can I really understand this?

So I had all that stuff going on, but I went to Scott and I realized, oh my gosh, this is so simple. So that's kind of a big deal for me to get women honing in their message, getting out there being seen. And then once you are from there, go write your book or from there, go create a product or whatever it might be. So that's a big one. The other one is what I was talking about earlier, which is just helping people create a blueprint for what they want to communicate with the world. Before you go build all these things, what do you want to do? So I run a really simple marketing program. It's all on paper. I call it the adult coloring book. Here's your photo. This is what you really want. Are you sure? Cause we're not going to change it. Here's your bio. Here's what you have to offer. Here's your why. Here's what you have to sell. Here's your call to action and I map out the entire thing, like a blueprint, just like if you're going to build a house. I always say to people, would you just go to the contractor and say, hey, start with the bathroom. I'll get back to you. No, it would not be pretty. And I feel like people are doing that in this industry right now. They just kind of are there. It's like Jimmy-rigging these things together without a clear plan. It's not going to make sense. Also I think it's important to run the plan by several people while they're in, give your elevator pitch, talk about what it is you're doing. If people look at you like you have three heads, then you're probably off base or you're not articulating it correctly. So I really help people over four months just get really clear about what it is you want to do, say, be.

And then once you do that, then you can go to your website. Then you can go to something else, but try to keep people in a pretty succinct lane, because I know what happens when you don't. It's not pretty. So all that stuff is on my website at pattyaubery.com. Anyone interested can check it out.

That's exactly what I was going to suggest for audiences to check out your website, pattyaubery.com. We'll be sure to include it in the show notes as well. Your program is called Permission Granted. That's a program for women to help them clarify their message and also Engage from Your Stage with Scott deMoulin. I know you and Scott have been doing these programs in tandem together, and I got to participate in one where you and I got to connect. I've never had any formal speaking training before in my life, but I'm glad that that was my introduction to it. I can't even imagine a better speaking training opportunity. It's phenomenal. And it's probably the best kept secret out there. So if you're listening to this and you are someone who wants clarity with your message, reach out to Patty, find a way to work with her. And if you're ready to improve your speaking abilities at your next event, definitely get your name in the hat for the next Engage From Your Stage event.

It was great when we finished this last workshop that we did. And these people have been working with me for years. All of them, there were 13, actually, we kind of went over, we cheated a little bit. We usually take 10. They all came to me and said, this is the best training I've done in 20 years. This is the best money I've ever spent. I love it because I know they're my students and I see them struggle. And when they can walk out of the room saying, this is the best thing I've ever done, that just makes me so happy.

It's great, raving fans and great relationships. And they keep coming back because you serve them and bring it full circle because you've served them well. It's true.

And it's not just like I couldn't do that training without Scott. But I can still serve my audience because I can bring Scott in. So don't miss out on your audience and what else they need, because you can always just be the conduit. You don't have to be the provider. But again, you're serving them at a higher level from a relationship standpoint. They don't forget that when you help save them.

Thank you for that. Any final comments or words as we wrap up today's episode?

I would say a lot of us get in the space. It's very competitive. We're all doing what we're doing. Don't let your self-talk get in the way. The one thing I always tell people, when you get up in the morning and you jump in the shower and you get some new crazy idea that you want to do for your business, get out of the shower, put your clothes on, because most of us are on zoom, and go do that one thing. Make that scary phone call, write that scary email, go to that meeting and have that one big ask because at five o'clock in the afternoon, that idea is going to feel crazy. So do the scary stuff in the morning, follow up, follow up, follow up, and it will take you further faster than you've ever been.

Awesome. Thank you for that. Thank you, Patty, for being a great guest on our show today. This is a really special episode. I'm really grateful that you're here with us and for our audience, be sure to subscribe to today's episode and share it with someone who you feel would resonate with Patty's message. So thank you again. And we'll call it a wrap.

All right.