Mindy Gibbins-Klein is an International Speaker, Multi-Award-Winning Author, Entrepreneur and REAL Thought Leadership Strategist.
She is the founder and director of ‘REAL Thought Leaders’, ‘The Book Midwife’® and “Panoma Press” business publishing. She is a highly sought-after Speaker to executive audiences and she also develops and presents workshops and training programs for top business leaders. She has presented to over 50,000 people in 18 countries.
In addition to speaking, Mindy also maintains a small list of private consultancy clients who use her services to develop their writing, publishing and speaking strategy, and to plan, write and publish specific books and articles that raise their profiles as REAL thought leaders in the market. In this interview, she shares her experience of international speaking, her progression into a leadership role and lets us know in more details about her everyday life.
Who is Mindy in everyday life?
I am a joyful soul who aims to share wisdom and encourage others to live their truth. I am a wife, mother, daughter and friend. I am an entrepreneur, Coach, Trainer, Speaker and Author, but mostly I’m someone who approaches life with a sense of adventure and excitement, looking for and finding opportunities everywhere! I run three businesses: a book coaching and thought leadership training business, a publishing company and I’m also Director of ‘Global Woman Club New York!’ Life is certainly busy and exciting at the moment!
How do you remember the beginning of your career in speaking?
Actually, I became a trainer first. I was given an amazing opportunity to move from sales to a sales training team working with sales people all over the U.S. I was blessed to have some brilliant mentors who believed in me, supporting and challenging me at the same time. When my first book came out, I launched my career as a speaker on the topic (epilepsy and self-development) and I never really looked back. I’ve learned so much from my fellow professional speaker friends around the globe and I’m always looking to improve myself and my speaking business. I mostly speak at business and entrepreneur events and conferences, but I like speaking for charities and young people too.
What are the secrets behind your success?
It’s not really a secret, but optimistic people see possibilities where pessimists sometimes don’t. For some reason, I always see the positive and if I have a ‘wobble’, I get myself back on track really quickly. Sometimes that requires patience and creativity, but I always feel better when working towards a solution, even if it takes longer than expected. I’m quite determined, but open to change as well. It’s a balance. I also take time to acknowledge and celebrate my success and the success of others in my network. As busy women, we can be really good at moving onto the next project without fully appreciating the good work we have already done.
How do you market your business? How are people aware of your business?
I’ve been steadily building my business and my network for 16 years. These days, nearly all of my clients come from referrals. Social media has opened up so many opportunities to share my message more widely and to connect with even more people. I am not naturally a ‘techie’ but I do my best with as many relevant platforms as possible because I know that is how people connect and learn, and search for solutions to their challenges. You can always find me on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, and sometimes YouTube and Instagram. I also do some paid advertising (pay-per-click) to supplement the organic results.
In your opinion what are the best ways to be a successful business woman?
Keep your personality! If you are a feminine business woman then stay that way! If you tend to use ‘masculine’ traits and you have been successful, don’t listen to people who say you should be different. We are all unique and that is what’s so great. So there really isn’t any competition if you are being yourself in business. The right people will be attracted to you, and get to know and trust you, and then buy your products and services. I’ve found you really can’t push, at least not sustainably. My other tip is to look for ways to promote others. It’s not just a nice thing to do, but it’s the right thing to do! I especially look to help women-owned businesses and those run by people from other minority groups such as disabled people, African-American or BAME, migrant women and men, people from the LGBTQ+ community. It makes you feel good when you help and support others, and it tends to come back to you. Not always directly, but it does come back to you.
How difficult it is to build a new business and make it successful?
It certainly takes time, effort and money to set up a new business. Often, we underestimate how long things take and we can get frustrated when we’re not getting the results we want as quickly as we want. In my case, running a book coaching company and a publishing company, I experienced the industry going through some big shifts and had to adjust my strategies accordingly. This kind of change can be challenging. So my best advice to start-up entrepreneurs is to keep digging in and be persistent. And keep your eyes open for change in your market or industry and be willing to adjust as necessary.
How do you feel attending the new experience at ‘Global Woman Summit 2018’?
I’m very excited to be attending and speaking at the Global Woman Summit 2018! As Director of ‘Global Woman Club New York’ we are the ‘hosting’ Club, and many of my members will be there. We are looking forward to welcoming all the professional women from all over the U.S. and around the world. It is going to be a very special experience and I encourage every ambitious, entrepreneurial woman to be there!
