Episode 205: Erica Lasan – A Journey of Self-Discovery and Fulfillment

Erica Lasan  00:02

For me, Making sales social means taking the time to really connect with the person and also not leaving from a position of “How can I get your business?” but really, how can I service you through what I do so well, let’s make the process fun. And I think that when you lead with conversation and curiosity, it takes the salesy aspect out of it.

And it really helps you lead with service. But when you’re clear on how what you do is correlated to your joy. It really becomes a matter of you just conveying how the thing that you do so well and that brings you so much joy can really just flow into servicing the need that they have.

Intro  00:48

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  01:12

Welcome back to Making Sales Social, I’m Brynne Tillman, and I am excited to be here with Erica Lasan, She is a corporate Joy strategist and founder of Journey to purpose. She helps companies engage joy, equity, and well-being for women and caregivers. One feel good thing at a time. Welcome Erica, to Making Sales Social. 

Erica Lasan  01:40

Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to dive into all the conversation today.

Brynne Tillman  01:47

Oh, absolutely. And so we met in person at a Chamber of Commerce. meeting we were sitting across from each other. And you just with your smile and your way brought joy to the conversation. And then when I found out that you bring joy to the world, I was like, “Oh, we need to talk, because I believe this is the one thing that is corporate America, America keeps getting wrong.” It’s about money. 

It’s about position. It’s about ego, we have one life to live. And for me, Joy wraps everything. If you have joy, your life is fulfilled. Exactly. So I want to. I can’t wait to jump in and talk to you about this. But before I do we ask all of our guests one question. What does making sales social mean to you?

Erica Lasan  02:44

Ooh, this is a juicy question to kick off with. But um, I think that for me, making sales social means taking the time to really connect with the person and also not leading from a position of how can I get your business? But really, how can I service you through what I do so well, let’s make the process fun. And I think that when you lead with conversation, a curiosity, it takes the salesy aspect out of it, and it really helps you lead with service. 

But when you’re clear on how what you do is correlated to your joy, it really becomes a matter of you just conveying how the thing that you do so well, and that brings you so much joy can really just flow into servicing the need that they have. So, yeah, I think making sales social, it’s really just a matter of connection, conversation and curiosity.

Brynne Tillman  03:41

I love that. I think that’s fabulous. And, I love the fact that you can get joy out of bringing joy for other people, like this is really a lot of fun. So how did you end up in this little niche of happiness? Like how what, just briefly, your background and how you became an entrepreneur that does joy for a living?

Erica Lasan  04:10

I love this question. I will start by saying that I believe that joy is everybody’s job. Actually. Joy is truly our number one job if we’re really leaning into the idea of the fact that we’ve been given gifts and purpose that we’re supposed to use while we’re here on this earth. But there were three key points that kind of brought me to this understanding and the first was graduating from college. 

And I graduated during the recession, so I could not find a job for the Life of me. and it was really hard. It kind of drove me to this depressive state. And at that point, I didn’t realize it. But looking back, it’s so obvious. Now. I was crying every day throughout the day, multiple times a day. I hated getting up for work. I hated it, I loved it, I would cry. knocked down the minutes. Every day, as soon as I could, I was out. 

But that was one period and kind of going on what I now call a joy class and taking the time to leave the things that I thought I was supposed to do, and really kind of embrace the possibility of what’s next. Even if I’m not completely clear on what it looks like, it led me down this path of going back into jewelry making because I started off my first job business when I was 13. As a jewelry designer, it led me to doing on air hosting and a whole career around video production and content creation for seven years.

When I was two, I did celebrity interviews covering New York Fashion Week, developed shows for people like all this fun stuff, and simply because I lead with the question of like, what if. And then the second point was where I thought I was going to have a big break. And a week later, I found out I was pregnant. I had a workshop with NBC Universal, and I thought, “Oh, my goodness, this is everything I’m working for.” 

And I found out I was pregnant, and I cried for three days, because I thought well, now my dreams are over, like, I have to buckle up and be an adult. And like, you know, get very serious with life. And that same thing kind of put me in that position of not being my most joy-filled. And I did the same process by going on a joy quest, which then the third point was when I finally came out of that state of self-sacrificing and doing everything that I thought I had to do as a new mom and a wife.

And I launched a new project. And I was like, I’m back baby, this is it. And a week later, I found out I was pregnant again. So I’m like “God, I feel like you’re playing.” And the same thing I cried for three days. But at that point, it was really okay. Well, we know the formula, there is a formula here, and a system and a process. 

Let’s just follow this and see where it leads. And I developed a blog from that around motherhood that led to people asking questions around how are you living your best life with your kids? And from there, the business just kind of organically developed and bloomed.

Brynne Tillman  07:08

That’s right. That’s really cool. And I love that you came to this through personal experience, that you found the formula, you’ve figured it out, because you lived through it, you’re proof of success with this program, Right? And when you practice what you teach, when it’s so much more part of you, I believe it just resonates that much stronger. So thank you for your story. And I’m glad you’re enjoying it now. I think that’s awesome. So talk to me a little bit about why people aren’t in joy, what holds them back, what’s in the way of being joyful. 

Erica Lasan  07:57

There are many things that can come in the way of being like your best and most joy-filled self. But in my personal experience, right, because I started off with that. And then as I did the work, I started to gather data from my clients and the people that I was speaking with. But one of the key ones is feeling like you don’t have the time for joy. One of the things that I hear from my clients is joy and some luxury for me right now. 

Like I just simply don’t have the time to even think about joy, how could Joy possibly serve me in the work that I’m doing, and all of the tasks that I have to do and all of my responsibilities. But to that, I always say that joy is so much more than a feeling people think of joy simply as a feeling. But through my process, my system, the programs that I’ve developed, what I’ve come to understand, and in a lot of ways prove is that joy is a tool, it can also be a tool, and a resource if you’ll allow it. 

But you do really have to not just make the time for joy, but you have to take the time for joy. And one of the other things that I often hear is, are the reasons why they can’t do it based on things that have happened in the past, like our I don’t have the energy for it is just going to be too much to figure out how to do these things. But that’s why I’m here, you don’t have to figure it out because I would do it for you.

Or with you rather, because it really is a collaborative experience and understanding some of the things that have kept you from joy in the past but understanding how you can look and curate a vision of what a joy lead life looks like for you and they’re strategically that’s why I consider myself a joy strategist and not just a joy coach strategically we can begin to figure out ways to implement and integrate and infuse joy into your everyday life through joy lead habits. 

And then some people just think they don’t have the space for it. Like I don’t have space on my calendar. I don’t have space in my life. I don’t like physical space around me for joy because I’m like, people feel like this. But all of those things lead from a conversation of fear versus trust and faith in the possibilities of what could happen if you were to lead with joy. And the first thing that many women, many people need to do, and really consider this work is just understand that you are worthy and deserving of the joy. That’s what it comes down to feeling like you deserve it, and you don’t have to earn it in order to embrace it.

Brynne Tillman  10:34

So, I love this. Many of our listeners are entrepreneurs or sales professionals, people that are out there every day interacting with people. How can Joy actually help them professionally grow?

Erica Lasan  10:50

Oh, my gosh, this is such a good question. Because, okay, so in thinking about joy, and kind of coming back to the point of joy, not just being a feeling, but a tool and a resource. Entrepreneurs and people in business also have to see joy as a tangible metric of success. Because so often, that idea of joy is very elusive. I will have joy, when I get to point x, I will have joy once I’m able to do Y and Z. 

But really, it’s not just about arriving at the destination, that should bring you joy, the entire process should bring you joy. Because if you feel joy throughout the process, you’re more likely to create sustainable success. And you’re also able to better understand what’s required to create that sustainable success, and it feels good. So you’re more likely to actually do it. Versus if you arrive at, if you feel like you have to struggle and strive to hit the million dollar mark, if you’re not clear on the systems and the processes that it took to get there. 

And if they feel so misaligned, that it’s tiring and draining and overwhelming, you’re not going to want to do that for like 20 years, so when you begin to understand how joy is a marker of success, and that it’s measurable, then it makes you more willing to do what’s required. But the benefit is that you feel good as you get there.

And it benefits your entire life, not just your career, it benefits your relationships, it benefits the way you care for yourself in the process, because that matters, especially as an entrepreneur, because if you go down, everything goes down. So you really have to make sure you’re taking care of yourself and embracing the joy of the process, not just the arrival of the destination.

Brynne Tillman  12:43

So let’s just dive in a little bit to what you said a few times, Which I love is, It’s measurable. Measure joy.

Erica Lasan  12:52

Oh my gosh, on a scale of one to 10.

Brynne Tillman  12:56

How much joy do you have? 

Erica Lasan  12:58

Yeah, Right, There’s that. But I’ve also developed a really wonderful quiz or assessment. And initially, I did this as a lead generation activity, Right? But what I found through the results, and the responses that I was getting was that it really spoke to where people were, but then they would take the quiz again, and they would get a different result, which spoke to the nature of what they were doing in that process and how much joy they felt. 

So there’s actually a scale that the results give. So in my work that I do with organizations and individuals, that’s one way that we measure it, to see how they’re moving through the journey cycle. But in addition to this, there are metrics about how you feel in the work that you are doing, and the output that’s being created. So like actual results, when you really put the pedal to the metal, and you’re constantly working, how many like clients? 

Are you actually able to close? Or how do you feel with the business that’s done in that time? How much revenue are you able to bring in? You know, are you able to think of new and innovative ideas that allow you to bring in additional profits, you know, all of these things are measurable if you begin to track what’s being done, how you feel in the process, and over a span of time, how effective those measures are, when you like as you’re feeling them.

Brynne Tillman  14:29

Yeah, I think that’s fantastic. And the one message I keep hearing because you know, as salespeople, entrepreneurs, business leaders, we have KPIs, we have key performance indicators. But the interesting thing that you keep putting in there is how do you feel when you’re doing this? And I think that is a gap currently across the board in almost every conversation and every accountability, conversation and every sales leader conversation in every mentoring conversation is, how do you feel when you do this.

And one of the things I think about, I’ve been pretty successful in sales for my whole career. But the first part of my career, I did a lot of cold calling, and I needed it. And I was counting down the days to promote the days to get to the field where I could, because it was cold calling, originally setting up appointments for the field. Right? I wanted to be in the field, I wanted to meet the people.

And although I had enough success to get promoted, my nine-to-five was not joyful. And one of the reasons that I teach LinkedIn now is that it brings me joy, that is a prospecting method, that makes me happy. I’m kind of ranting a little on this, but I think that this is really important. You know, a third of our lives are working. Right? And if we are not happy at work, we’re not going to be happy when we get home to our kids, to our spouse, to our parents, whatever it is. 

And if and so that will take you to now two thirds of your life. And then the other third, you’re sleeping. So I love this. And the last thing I’ll say, before I ask you, the next question is often, when we work with new folks in sales, they’ll say, “Well, I worked with another trainer coach, and they said, I had to get outside my comfort zone, in order to be successful.” And I come from a different perspective, which is, let’s take a look at all the things in your box that you love to do that are productive. And let’s start there. 

Because if you love what you’re doing, you’ll do more of it. And I think that bridges to joy, I think, bridges if I love this, I’ll do it better. I’ll do it more, and the way I feel is felt on the other side of the conversation, Right? If I’m doing it just to get to the next thing, then they feel that you’re not present, you’re not there. So I think this is incredibly powerful. So you comment on that.

Erica Lasan  17:13

Oh, my goodness, thank you. Um, so I completely agree with you. I think that especially in this age that we live in. Where everything is like toted on social media, like this is what you have to do one way to make a million dollars, like, immediately, everyone has this, like, get rich, quick idea of how to do things. And it’s like, okay, that’s a way that’s the way you did it. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s the way that will work for this particular person. 

But we are so kind of like, as a society, bought into this idea of constantly learning new skills, which is great, Right? But I also think we have to take time to evaluate ourselves. Because there is an inner knowing, Right? And the more you know yourself, the more you know how you fit into every situation like any picture, any place, any scenario. And then you become very clear on the fact that you’re exactly who you are, where you are, and how you are meant to be in order to do the thing that God has placed you here to do.

And I think that the moment people get very comfortable with that, and they lean into the idea of seeking joy, first they will find and this is a part of my program process, but you’ll find that your joy is actually correlated to your purpose. So you need to be clear on what your joy is, in order to understand how to best execute what your purpose is. But not enough people take the downtime to figure that out, because they’re chasing the idea of what they’ve been told is required for them to do in order to attain success. 

And that’s just not true. It really is a journey of self-knowing first, and then you can begin to build on that with the skills that are required and needed to take you to the next level. But when you’re clear on yourself, you’re also clear on who to go to, and like, which avenues would be best suited for that versus feeling like you have to pick and take at everything that’s thrown at you and given to you because there are many ways to do a lot of things. But that doesn’t mean that it’s always the right way for you.

Brynne Tillman  19:19

Interesting. So I’m going to kind of throw a little curve boil in here. Okay, which, well, I have kind of two. The first one is as a sales leader, How do you create a culture of joy?

Erica Lasan  19:35

As a sales leader? How do you create a culture of joy? Oh my gosh. So I think it kind of goes back to what you started to share even in your own personal experience. As a sales leader, you have to know your people, Right? But your people also have to know themselves and there has to be some type of an understanding across the board. Right when everyone is clear on what needs to be done when everyone is clear on how it’s been being done. And also, more importantly, why it’s being done.

That’s how you begin to create the culture of joy because that leveling brings understanding that improves connection, Right? Both between management and the salespeople, that creates a safe space for them to maybe articulate, “Hey, this method that is a part of our process doesn’t actually align, Can I try it this way?” or if you don’t feel completely comfortable with something, being able to communicate with that with your manager, but it also gives the person freedom to authentically embrace who they are, and leverage that in their sales process.

When they’re speaking with prospects, if it’s no longer a matter of coming off as a robot or trying to be something that you’re not because who you are is perfectly awesome, you got the job for a reason, Right? And I think it also then helps improve communication and collaboration. So it’s not just a matter of doing things the way that it’s always been done. With this, you can better understand how, as a team, as an organization, you can develop new ideas to help further the core objectives and the vision and the mission of the organization. 

But first, everyone has to be on the same page about what the vision is, they have to be very clear on what the mission is, and what the values are. And as they’re clear on what that means on an organizational level, then they as an individual can understand how their personal vision values and mission can align with the corporate vision, values, and mission. So it really becomes a matter of everyone understanding the value of showing up exactly as who they are, and not something or someone else.

Brynne Tillman  21:50

That authenticity thing is really important. And as managers, we give them scripts. And I love the idea that you’re not going to get joy from someone else’s script, you’re not going to portray joy from someone else’s script. 

Erica Lasan  22:06

All right. So because we’re talking about sales, Right? I think there’s a need to understand the value of a script, right for someone who may have really awesome potential, but they’re not sure of a sales formula. And not to make it come off. Like where everything about sales is formulaic. Because it’s not, I think the people that have the best success are probably people that are leaning in to who they are and their gifts, Right? 

But I think that if someone shows a lot of promise, but they’re not sure of how to move through that process, the script can be great as a guide, Right? But I think that what could benefit a lot of sales leadership with the scripts is to give, give the script but like, have a training or have a part of a course where you give the person freedom to kind of embody the script in the way that feels truest to them, and then looking over with them. 

Walking them through the process of like, why it’s okay for them to like, shows up as themselves in that script. So taking the script, so you have the process, you’re touching on all the necessary points. So you’re able to get the data that’s required to figure out if somebody is the right person, and you can document all of that, but then also giving them the freedom to embrace, like, their special sauce and bring it to the processes well.

Brynne Tillman  23:27

Brilliant, I love it. Okay, my last little curveball has nothing to do with sales. Okay, how do you bring the journey to purpose? As a mom? What do you do to get your kids to live a joyful life?

Erica Lasan  23:44

You exemplify a joyful life? Like, that’s oh, my gosh, this. I’m like, obsessed with this question. Because the reason I shared earlier in this conversation was that I cried for three days, Right? with both pregnancies, and it wasn’t because I didn’t want to have a family at that point. Like my now husband and I, we’ve been together eight years, I didn’t want the family. But it was this idea of self-sacrifice that I thought, well, this is gonna be my life. Now, I won’t have any joy, I won’t have any fun for myself, my whole life is gonna have to revolve around my family. 

And I did it for 16 months, and I meant to say was miserable, but I was not my most happy and fulfilled self. And so resentment began to creep into the picture. Dissatisfaction began to creep into the picture. But then on top of all of that, there was guilt because I’m like, “Well, what do I really have to complain about?” “Like, my kid is awesome.” “Like, she’s so good.” “She sleeps through the night.” I have this amazing partner like, he’s like, “He’s so wonderful. Why do I feel this way?” 

And when I really got down to taking that space, not making the time for it, but taking the time, I realized that I was the problem. I was the problem. I was not giving myself permission to do things that bring me joy. And it wasn’t that I didn’t have the time. And it wasn’t that I didn’t have the energy. And it wasn’t that I didn’t have the space, it was that I was allowing other priorities to take my time, energy, and space. And none of those things necessarily brought me joy. So the moment I began to get clear about that. 

I made a very intentional and conscious effort to do things to the point where my life revolved around joy. If it didn’t bring me joy, I didn’t want to do it, if it was something that was going to keep me funky. but I don’t, I don’t have time for that today. I’m sorry, getting a grip on my calendar, understanding but first really understanding with clarity what joy meant to me, like what that meant for me, what it looked like, what it tasted like, what it felt like, and then understanding how I could bring more of that experience into my everyday life, career, and relationships. 

And let me tell you, Brynne, the moment I began to do that my relationship was not with my child, Right? Because that was good, she probably wouldn’t have known any difference, because she was so young. But my relationship with motherhood changed. And I began to see it as an adventure, because it isn’t, it’s like one of the most awesome adventures and jobs you could ever have. But once I let go of all of these, like preconceived ideas of how I had to be in motherhood, how I had to operate in motherhood, what my career had to look like, in motherhood.

It became this amazing ride, and my kids reaped the benefits of it, they got tsunami all the time. Like, there was not a need to drag a whip around differently even around learning, like, learning became an every everywhere activity. My kids started reading it two and a half. And that’s because we made it fun, like we would go to museums and outdoor trips. My marriage also shifted, because at that point, I really liked your hands and changed my life. 

And so I began to like to rediscover myself as a person. And so my husband got that too. And its joy benefits everybody. If it’s something where people are putting their joy on the backburner because it’s like, well, I’m doing this and sacrificing for you. That’s not going to help your relationship, it will only create resentment and animosity towards the person and everything you’ve had to give up for them, rather than bringing them along for the adventure of getting to understand you and know you, in every season of life. 

And that’s a part of my mission. So I really love that you asked this question, but that’s how it transforms your relationship with motherhood, you exemplified joy, your children don’t hear you talk about it. Because a lot of parents tell their kids you can be whatever it is that you want to be, the world is your oyster. But then they themselves are not living that truth for themselves. So it’s one thing to say it, it’s another thing to do it and do it. So when your children actually see you living a joyful life, they understand what that means and what it takes beyond words.

Brynne Tillman  28:06

Fabulous. I had high expectations for this conversation and you blew those away.

Erica Lasan  28:13

Oh my god!

Brynne Tillman  28:14

It was really fabulous and absolutely needed everywhere. But in particular, I do believe in the world of sales that this is a real gap. So you have graciously and you mentioned this earlier offered a quiz for our audience. So we will have that in the show notes. But it is an ericalasan.com/quiz.

Erica Lasan  28:41

Yes, for the individual that wants to start their journey they can take the joy gem quiz and understand their joy gem type. And for the leader of the sales leadership team or management that would like to understand how joy can benefit their workplace and which experience will help do that they can take our team quiz, which is ericalasan.com/team-quiz.  

Brynne Tillman  29:07

Well, thank you so much for your amazing insights. I have so enjoyed this conversation. And I know that it’s going to bring huge value to our listeners. So for everyone else as you’re listening today, make sure when you are out and about that you’re making your sales social.

Outro  29:28

Thanks for listening and joining us again. For more special guest instructors bringing you marketing, sales, training, and social selling strategies that will set you will park don’t forget to subscribe to get the latest episodes from the Making Sales Social Podcasts, Leave a review down below. Tell us what you think, what you learned, and what you want to hear from us next. You can also listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play. Visit our website socialsaleslink.com for more information.