Episode 256: Natalie Benamou – Empowering Women in Leadership: From Digital Transformations to Blue Ocean Strategies

Natalie Benamou  0:03  

People have this idea of social and especially social media as this one way of doing things, but to me, it’s about curating conversations and relationships. I have foundational relationships that last decades when you curate the right relationships and add value that to me is really what it’s all about. 

Intro  00:51

Welcome to the Making Sales Social Podcast featuring the top voices in sales, marketing and business. Join Brynne Tillman and me Bob woods as we each bring you the best tips and strategies our guests are teaching their clients so you can leverage them for your own virtual and social selling. Enjoy the show!

Brynne Tillman  0:51  

Welcome back to making sales social. I have a very special guest today. I consider her probably my newest friend in the world we just recently met. We were both on Meredith Powell and Mark Hunter’s saturday morning podcast live and commented and we connected and I absolutely love her and I can’t wait till she brings her insights today. So we’re gonna welcome Natalie Benamou, founder of Her C suite, A women’s leadership network focused on advancing women at every career level. 

I was blown away when we were talking about how she really impacts women with confidence as well as helping them in their next position and getting board roles and really elevating the female profession. Right, the permit itself is a female provision per profession for females. Anyway, I am thrilled to welcome you, Natalie. Thanks for being here. 

Natalie Benamou  01:59

Brynne, I am so glad to be here with you. And how fun and honored to have you say that we’re new brand new best friends, because I have enjoyed talking with you. So I can’t wait for this conversation today. 

Brynne Tillman  2:10

Yeah, oh, my goodness, I you know, every Well, we talked a couple times. And I’m like, I don’t want to end, I want to go have coffee. I want to go to dinner. Right? We’ll get there someday. I am sure that it is so welcome, welcome. Our first question that we ask everyone on this podcast is, What does making sales social mean to you? 

Natalie Benamou  02:30

That is one of my favorite questions that you ask on your podcast, because I feel like people have this idea of social and especially social media as this one way of doing things. But to me, it’s about curating conversations and relationships. And like you I have foundational relationships that last decades, and yes, I’m dating my career background a little bit. But when you curate the right relationships, and add value, that to me is really what it’s all about.

Brynne Tillman  3:06

I love that. I really do. So let’s kind of jump into your brilliance around advancing women at every career phase, in particular women finding their next board role. Talk a little bit about what inspired you to do this, and how did you end up doing this? 

Natalie Benamou  03:28

Well, I was in trade shows for 29 years. And when the pandemic hit, as most people know, trade shows came to a screeching halt. And I helped my company reinvent itself with digital platforms. And how do we connect when we’ve been doing everything in person, everything face to face? How do you do it digitally? This was before Zoom is what it is today. We were like, What are we doing? 

So I helped my team. I had a team of 19 people, I had a facility, we had a facility where we built stuff and built booths and things like that. And I helped my team do the transition. But during that process, I really started thinking as many did, what is our purpose? Where do we want to go? And I thought about how I can make an impact.

 And I really believe my purpose is to lift women up. And so I started reading, I’m a constant reader and learner. And I kept seeing over and over again that women are waiting to have a seat at the table. We’re waiting to be invited. And I believe that we are the result of the five to six people we surround ourselves with, that we can create our own seat at the table and our own board of advisors to make ourselves be wherever we want to go. 

Brynne Tillman  4:41

So I love that. You talk about Connect, Learn and Thrive when it comes to innovating new ways women can go to market really. So what does that actually mean: Connect, Learn and Thrive? 

Natalie Benamou  5:00  

Well, you know what we hear all the time is that women the further we go in our careers, the lonelier it gets. And the number one thing that women push off is their network, they don’t focus on it, they think that it’s always going to be there for them when I need it, it’s always going to be there. Well, guess what, we need it every day. And you have to keep building it. And so we make it easier by curating connections. And inside a mastermind setting which is based on the arc of a woman’s career, so that we can all thrive together. 

But that barrier seems to be a pretty big one where women don’t know who to turn to for advice. They’re kind of looking around at their companies. And they’re like, especially in sales, where the, you know, you’re, you’re driven by results, right, you’ve got these KPIs you’re supposed to be doing. And if you’re not sure about a deal that you’re about to make, are you going to go to the CEO or the President say, “Hey, I’m nervous about this, or who do you go to?” So that’s really what it’s about is making it so women can have an authentic space, to meet, connect, engage and thrive together.

Brynne Tillman  6:07  

So I love that. You know, one of the things that you talk about is putting clients first, you’re putting clients first approach, right? And you help them to create this blue ocean strategy that large companies need to stand out and align their goals, particularly by ensuring that they’re optimizing the female talent that they have. So can you talk a little bit about that?

Natalie Benamou 6:33  

You know, the Blue Ocean Strategy book came out years ago, and I still use it today. And for the listeners who don’t know what it is, this idea of the Cirque Cirque du Soleil is the best example. So when you think about Cirque du Soleil, they went into a market that was basically fading away, right, the circus with the live animals, and they couldn’t get people in the seats, and they couldn’t charge money for it, you know, they were charging discount tickets and, and so Cirque du Soleil reinvented the adult experience at a circus, there’s no animals, it’s entertainment, they charge premium pricing like six to 10 times what you used to pay to go to Ringling Brothers. 

Right? And they create an experience. And so that is reinventing an opportunity where it exists, it’s a new opportunity, you’re inventing a new opportunity. And so I had a client once that we did all types of trade shows for them. And they were very siloed by the product. And she came to me and she’s like, I have to, I have to reduce pricing, which happens a lot, right? When you’re in a big volume or a high ticket sale. Companies are looking for ways to economize, well, rather than like looking at that as the directive, we got together, and I said, “What if you could create this brand identity that went across all therapeutic areas it was a healthcare client,” 

And reinvented it so that instead of the hidden costs of agency after agency having to reinvent things, that you would spend less time in meetings where there’s 50 people involved, and you would, you know, start to quantify these costs where then you’re really saving money. And it was an interesting process, because I like to talk about winning leadership buy-in, and not everybody was on board. 

Brynne Tillman 8:34

Really? 

Natalie Benamou 8:35

So no. So you know, people have their budgets. And they’re like, Well, I want to do my own thing. I don’t care that you want to save money. I got my budget, I want to do my thing. So we went on a road show and created this whole massive project. And what it did for her was gain thought leadership, because we put her in front of the senior leaders. So she was presenting, she was advocating for this big idea. And we gave her all the data, all the tools, everything she needed. 

And we supported her with those people that were like, forget it, I don’t want to do that. And we kind of worked all the areas and you know, in sales, you got to go around, you have to go up down sideways, right to get consensus, And in the end, she got promoted, and they want to Stevie Award, and it was and they save, they saved about a million dollars. So there was a benefit, right? But the best part was that she got recognized and got promoted. It was her Stevie Award, right. So, you know, while it was the companies too, but it was really rewarding to see her evolve in that process and take ownership and step into leadership and all the things so.

Brynne Tillman  9:51  

I think that’s amazing. And I have to say winning that award. I understand ROI as typically money in companies but The elevated reputation. I mean, you can put a price around that. Right. I think that that is just absolutely phenomenal. And she has that forever.

Natalie Benamou  10:14  

She has forever. Yeah. Plus Promotion. So there’s that. Right.

Brynne Tillman  10:18  

Right. Yeah. But all of that matters. I’m not discounting the money or the promotion or the other. But I have like, just everyone that I talked to that wins a big award or, I mean, one of the greatest things in my career is when LinkedIn acknowledged me as a sales influencer, right? It was no money. In fact, in some ways, it costs me a lot of money because I had to travel places on my dime. And while the, but it’s okay, because that award will live with me forever. It’s what I worked for, for my career, and no money could buy it. 

Natalie Benamou  10:57  

No. And congratulations, I was so excited to see your announcement. I’m so thrilled for you well deserved, well deserved. 

Brynne Tillman  11:04

Thank you. And I didn’t mean to.

Natalie Benamou  11:06 

No, no. It’s a really big accomplishment. And that’s the thing we don’t ever celebrate. Women always just count and I was so happy the way you recording, you recorded how it made you feel and how you’ve won other things. But this one really meant something to you. I thought that was beautiful. So for Listen, for our listeners today, go check it out, check out Brynne posts.

Brynne Tillman  11:30  

This is about Natalie’s not about Brynne, but anyway. But here’s the thing, you help people achieve that. You work with really talented women and work in positions to uncover their brilliance and get it out there to win these awards. I mean, that’s not it’s not just to win these awards. But this is a big piece of what her C suite does. Am I? Did I get that right? 

Natalie Benamou  12:03  

Yeah, no, you know, I feel that women oftentimes don’t feel valued in what they’re doing. And so if you can, to quote Chat GPT unleash their full potential, the most overused phrase and yet GPT. But in truth, if you can help them gain clarity, navigate the waters and understand their power and their superpowers, then they can progress wherever they want to go. Some women discover in our program that they don’t want to go to the C suite, they want to retire, that’s great. But then they do a 3.0. Well, what does that look like? So it’s never the end, it’s the starting point of another direction.

And it’s all about really understanding all of the gifts that we have to offer. And in sales, I think sometimes we’re focused, sometimes people are focused on the thing that you’re selling, like, you know, the whatever it is, it’s an enterprise solution or whatever, instead of the people and how you can help them gain visibility in their organization, elevate their position, and then return it’s going to come back, it’s going to come back and rewarding ways to know that you help them other than just benefiting the company with what you offer, you’re helping the people that you’re working with.

Brynne Tillman  13:22  

That is so important. So I kind of want to dive a little bit deeper in the dynamics between women that are headed to the C suite, maybe their vice presidents, you know that they’ve been promoted a few times inside of the organization. And they’re really, I hate to use the word competing with other men in with men in the organization. That’s probably not right. But they you know, they’ve got peers that probably are up, they’re up against for the next promotion that are met. 

What can women do to ensure that all of their talents are seen without coming across bragging? I’m just gonna say when we’ve seen this in political years, men can do it. Women are berated for doing it, right? Men can talk about all their achievements. And everyone goes, “Oh, yay.” And then women do it. They’re like, “Oh, she’s cocky.” She’s you know, she. So what? How do women balance that? Maybe that’s the question.

Natalie Benamou  14:37  

Well, I think at every level, whether it’s VP to C suite, or we see it a lot at the director level that they’re stuck, they cannot get to that vice president level. And some of it is a mindset shift in not sitting on your hands to let people know. A lot of times women eat for the tap on the shoulder like, “Hey, you’re doing a great job.” Because we’ve been sent, you know, you were just saying it like, we’re kind of positioned that we shouldn’t say, “Hey, you know what, I just I just sold $4 million.” Yay. Right? Like, we’re surprised. “Oh, it was nothing.” It was everybody like I didn’t do it right, like, and I’m letting the team because I had a huge team. 

So I’m not just counting that in the least. But you have to first not wait to get the tap on the shoulder, you have to make it known what it is that you want. Because a lot of times people are not teens. They don’t know, sometimes people will be like, “I had no idea that you’ve been wanting that promotion.” Well, why? Why wouldn’t you? Well, you never said anything about it. We’ve never had it in one on one. So that’s part of it. And the other thing that’s indispensable is having a sponsor, and a sponsor is someone to level up. So if you’re a VP, then it should be someone in the C suite.

It should be someone that scares you. Go to that person with an agenda and say, “I am interested in joining the CC.” “I’m interested in getting promoted.” “What is it that I need to do?” I would like 10 minutes of your time, and I’m going to tell you the things I think and we can talk about it and have an agenda. Those are the things that women don’t do that men just do in conversation, right? They’re like, “Hey, you know, I’m on board.” 

Brynne Tillman  16:24  

I’m at the golf course.

Natalie Benamou  16:26

Yeah, on the golf course. Exactly. And women believe that we have to have every box checked. Every box is checked, and I’m gonna give you a funny story. So I once got a call from a recruiter. And he said, “Hey, my name came up. And we have this really big client. It was like a $250 million company at the time.” And we’re looking for a president. And we’d like to have your interview. It’s a true story, Brynne, I said, “Oh, you must mean someone else,” right? Like, you don’t mean me. And I literally said, “Let me think about who I know. Are you calling me for a connection?” And he was like, “No, you were recommended?” And I was like, “Oh, okay, well, I’ll get back to you.” And I told my friend, and she’s like, “What did you do? Call him back right now.” So I did, I ended up going through the interview process. I did not make it. I was one of five women, I was the only woman considered for this role. And they hired from within, but I’m really proud of the fact that I was asked to interview for this huge job, they want to go to 500 million. And I was viewed as the person that could have, you know, potentially taken on there. But I was like, “Oh, no, you must mean like, do you want me to give you some names?” So how many womens are like nodding their heads? Like yeah, I would. I would have been like, you know, instead of like, “Oh, yeah, let’s interview when can I meet you?”

Brynne Tillman  17:58  

Rocky. Oh, my gosh. And then they come on? “How can I negotiate that?” This is like a man. That’s so interesting. And I’m sure it has so much to do with women. Be you know, we’re new in the workplace in the history of the world. Right?

Natalie Benamou  18:13  

Leadership for sure. And leadership, for sure. Yeah.

Brynne Tillman  18:17  

Yeah. Other than family leadership, we rock that one for a minute. Or two or three. Yeah. But yeah, it’s interesting. And I don’t know if it’s self esteem and self worth, or just the way we’ve been raised to think. Yeah, and I don’t know the answer, but you change that. And, what you do is just amazing. I have a couple more things that I just wanted to mention. You talk about now, I don’t remember exactly the line to cook. You’ll correct me because a little bit about collaborative innovation. And I don’t know if those are the exact terms you use. But when I’m talking about that.

Natalie Benamou  19:06  

Yeah, I think that the thing is, when you have peer advisors, right, when you can learn from someone like you that comes in and gives an idea and then you can meet with other women and appear setting and you’re like, “Okay, let’s solve this,” right? “Let’s solve this problem.” So you bring a case study or an idea. And then we do breakouts where women are solving real world problems together.And you’re getting that outside perspective and peer collaboration, but from across industry, so it’s not internal to your company. 

It’s across industries. And then you can take that information back to your organization or wherever it’s going to serve you. But it’s that peer collaboration that really makes a big difference in feeling safe like you, you know, you can be authentic and share like, I don’t know the answer. What do you think and people? We’ll be like, “Oh, let me tell you what I think.” Instead of like, “You have to always know all the answers, which is a terrible feeling.” So you do not have to go it alone. And you don’t have to know the answers and collaborate together and gain that outside perspective is really powerful.

Brynne Tillman  20:14  

That’s very cool. About 10 years ago, I was a speaker for like, 30 minutes in a group that was all women. I think they were all seat CEOs of emerging companies. And so I did a little talk, but they invited me for the whole day. And they focused on one of the members who had a challenge, where they’re number two person, or number one, their top next person knew everything operationally. And her, I don’t remember exactly, but came into an inheritance. And she gave her three months’ notice. 

And she’s like, I have absolutely no idea what she does. Like, she runs my company, I just show up. And so it was really interesting. And as they went around, a lot of the women said, you know, I went through something like this, it’s a blessing that she gave you three months. Here’s what you need to do, right? Like, and they talked about the E-Myth strategy and recording everything and doing all these things. But she went from paralyzed to empowered. And I watched that. So that’s similar to what you guys do.

Natalie Benamou  21:29  

It is similar. And in fact, in our board circle, we had a case study about what do you do if you have to replace a CEO and sadly, right after they and this was a real case study, but not the case study that we thought it was going to be about. And like a week later, the Walgreens CEO, which is really sad to me, got like oh, basically was asked to step down Roz Brewer, and she was one of only a very, like, 1%, of a woman of color and a CEO. 

But in that group, they were talking about the real world like you have a CEO. That’s not meeting the expectations. What are you going to do as a board? And they talked about real world scenarios and things like that. So we do do that, where we bring in either a personal experience, like you were describing, or case study real world experiences where you can talk about, you know, how to do succession planning, like you’re talking about? What do you do for that?

Brynne Tillman  22:28  

That’s awesome. I love that. I love this. Okay, you brought in boards. So this really helps women to get prepared to get on boards. What does that look like? What is that journey? From executive to board member? 

Natalie Benamou  22:45  

You know, being on a board and I’m on a nonprofit board, it’s really different from a privately held company, board and advisor or a publicly traded board. And it’s not at all you don’t have a resume, you have you have a board resume aboard narrative, you have to know the questions, you have to do what we talked about in your network and say, “Hey, I’m looking to land a board role,” because people aren’t mind readers, you know, and board roles actually generally happen behind the scenes. 

And that’s why for her one of my favorite organizations exists to create the opportunity for women to have that connection and introductions. So we talk about all those things and take a woman through all the thing, all the all the steps, but also in a peer environment where they can have those conversations, here’s what I’m doing, here’s what’s working, here’s what’s not working, where are you stuck, where you know, I’ve got a big interview, we’ve had those conversations, you know, and talk through.

Well, what should you be saying? How do you show up? What is this? What do you need to ask the company, do the due diligence, there’s all this all these things that you have to consider. And you may not decide to go with the board, because you might find stuff out you didn’t want to do not do but like the company might not be the right fit, which is okay. So. 

Brynne Tillman  24:05  

Yeah, when you’re on the board, you have to truly believe in that company deeply. Being an employee, right, like you are truly committed to the future of the company. If you’re not, you know, “Hey, I’m showing up for meetings.” So I love that. So my last question I can’t believe is what question Did I not ask you that I should have?

Natalie Benamou  24:29  

Oh, we covered so much. We covered so much. Well, I think we should talk about our program that we’re going to do together on the 29th. That we’re I don’t know when this is coming out. 

Brynne Tillman  24:40  

But yeah, so guys, go back.

Natalie Benamou  24:43  

Go back and see the replay and, you know, reach out to us. I am so excited to be doing a program with you, Brynne.  I can’t even stand it. I’m so excited. 

Brynne Tillman  24:55  

Ah, well as people are listening to this. I’m so excited that we got to do that together.

Natalie Benamou  25:01  

We are. We had such an awesome conversation. It was an amazing event. Yes, and so you know, I’m on LinkedIn like you. If people want to find me, they can find me on LinkedIn, Natalie Benhamou, it’s pretty easy. I’m out there. And I’m learning from you of all the strategies they can do to become a fraction of a fractional. 

Brynne Tillman  25:24  

You are using what you do. And you know, we all have our little, you know, our specialty, and mine happens to be LinkedIn. But man, you are making such an impact on the future of women at work. And I’m very grateful for that movement, that you’re such a big part of.

Natalie Benamou  25:43  

Thank you. Thank you. Wonderful.

Brynne Tillman  25:45  

So guys, go follow Natalie, on LinkedIn. Engage with her content. To remind me of the name of your podcast.

Natalie Benamou  25:56  

Oh, Her C suite radio.

Brynne Tillman  25:58  

Oh, that would have been. Yeah, Her C suite. We go find Her C suite radio. I think it’s everywhere and all podcasts ways.

Natalie Benamou  26:09  

All the players. You can find it on HerCsuite.com as well. So you can listen to it in all kinds of places. And we’d love to have you listen.

Brynne Tillman  26:20  

Yes, please. And then and, and I’m just going to share. If you like something, grab the link and share it. And mentioned Natalie. Mentioned the podcast, because we should be supporting each other in the growth of our business and awareness and the future is women. 

Natalie Benamou  26:41  

That’s right. Thank you.

Brynne Tillman  26:41  

Well, thank you. To all our listeners. Thank you very much for being here. And don’t forget when you’re out and about make your sales social.

Outro  26:51

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