"Strategically sacred" cocktail napkin clarity | Theresa Rose, CSP

Lack of clarity can hijack our dreams, plans, brands, and business -- making us feel stuck, fearful, desperate, and ultimately resigned.

But what if "lack of clarity" is deeper than that? What if getting clarity is sacred?

In this episode of #ThoughtLeaderConversations, V2's Roger Courville, CSP sits down with Theresa Rose, CSP. Theresa's a crystallizer and strategic co-creator who -- in addition to being a five-time author and two-time TEDx speaker -- has led senior marketing and product development roles, both at a Fortune 100 company and in the context of managing a global team managing $100+ million in revenue.

As you listen in to this conversation, with Theresa's help you will:

• Discover why achieving "cocktail napkin clarity" simplifies communication and amplifies impact in personal and professional contexts

• Learn how being truly seen and understood fosters trust, creativity, and alignment for brands and individuals

• Explore the concept of "strategically sacred" co-creation, blending economic strategy with heartfelt connection

• Hear why leaders and entrepreneurs often feel stuck and how clarity can unlock momentum

• Understand how to identify the three defining words or concepts that articulate your unique value

• Gain insights into why sales should be approached as a collaborative circle, not a hierarchical transaction

• Discover the importance of mindfulness and presence in creating meaningful virtual and in-person interactions

• Learn how clarity leads to confidence, enabling consistent messaging across all communication platforms

• Find out how to use your personal "spirit print" to align with opportunities that fit your authentic self, and

• Explore why clarity is essential not only for individuals but also for teams and organizations to thrive.

Learn more about Theresa at TheresaRose.com.

Series: #ThoughtLeaderConversations  

Sponsor: V2, LLC, expert virtual and hybrid event production, www.VirtualVenues.com  

Host: Roger Courville, CSP, https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerc/   

Keywords: #Leadership #CocktailNapkinClarity #StrategicallySacred #ClarityAndConnection #MindfulLeadership #AuthenticBranding #Collaboration #Communication

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UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Roger Courville, CSP: Lack of clarity can hijack our dreams and our plans and our brands and our businesses and they can make us feel stuck, fearful, desperate, maybe even ultimately resigned. But what if it's deeper than that? What if getting clarity is sacred? Well, that's what our guest today would argue. Hello and welcome to Strategically Sacred.

cocktail napkin clarity. My name is Roger Courville and welcome to another episode of Thought Leader Conversations where we can instantly scale your virtual and hybrid event production team with a crew that helps you focus on something other than tech and logistics. But we're not here to talk about us and I am excited to welcome to the virtual stage here Teresa Rose, CSP, Crystallizer, strategic co creator, but let me give you some context.

So Teresa has, uh, formerly led. in senior marketing and product development roles, uh, Fortune 500 companies leading the global team, managing more than a hundred million in revenue. Interestingly, I think more interestingly, two times a TEDx speaker, five times an author delivers cocktail napkin clarity for brands and businesses.

And the secret sauce I think we'll be talking about today is strategically sacred. Now, I want to point out one other thing, uh, Teresa is an award winning speaker boasting the highest earned award from National Speakers Association, the CSP. I can tell you personally, what becoming a certified speaking professional, uh, means, Teresa, means she's the real deal.

Welcome, Teresa. Glad you're here. Tell us a little more about who you are and what you do.

[00:01:33] Theresa Rose, CSP: Well, thank you, Roger. I appreciate it. I'm excited to be on your show. So what I do, it's always such a loaded question, what I deliver is cocktail napkin clarity for brands and businesses. And, uh, and, and then I speak about the power of that cocktail napkin to organizations all over the world.

Uh, you know, what I do, uh, in its essence is I see people for a living. I see their gifts, their talents, their value, proposition, their, uh, you know, their passions, their purpose, their, uh, their, their mission. And I wade through avalanches of words to get to the point where we can crystallize it down. to what you can doodle on a cocktail napkin.

So I kind of liken myself as, you know, a modern day feminine Michelangelo who creates Davids for brands and businesses on a regular basis, chipping away everything that isn't the art of who they are.

[00:02:38] Roger Courville, CSP: I'm just going to let that soak in for a moment. I love that. So you say clarity is your jam. And when you talk about being a brand and business crystallizer, and you do so in a way that's strategically sacred to both you And them.

I thought that was kind of an interesting way of putting it. How is your work together? Working with a client strategically sacred to them.

[00:02:58] Theresa Rose, CSP: Yeah, thank you for asking that question. So I characterize my work as strategically sacred for this reason. Uh, the process of crystallizing someone is not about you know, uh, adopting a methodology that is my own, that I'm going to put in as a recipe.

And then I'm going to give an output of, you know, here's what your new brand looks like. I don't operate from that perspective of what typical marketing agencies do, which is give you a huge, uh, Survey and ask you to fill out a 30 page document about who you are, uh, and, and, and really put the onus on them to see themselves because they're, they're in trouble because they can't see themselves.

So the work that I do, I really do, uh, hold with great reverence. Because what I perceive this work to be is that when you step into a space of strategically sacred clarity work, what that means is that I show up for my clients, uh, in mind, body, and spirit to give them all of the reflection and the, uh, the, the observation and the, the clarity that I perceive as I'm seeing them.

Really. Seeing them. And the reason why it's so sacred is people, whether you're a, you know, a big company or you're a solopreneur who's operating on, uh, you know, creating a thought leadership platform for yourself, no matter who you are, what you do, there is some reason that you are in that role and you have that mission and you have that company that is important to you.

You, you care, you want it to succeed, you want it to thrive, you want to make an impact. There's something in their hearts that really drives them to, to, to do what they do every single day in a world that is challenging and overwhelming and fraught with all sorts of, you know, distraction and disruption.

So what I do in the work that I, uh, offer, uh, in my crystallization services is to approach it in the form of a master mind. So, and I'm really wanting to dive into what that really means. So just as a quick story, I, uh, I, I grew up very early on in my life with these, uh, uh, concepts of, uh, Sales and marketing.

I grew up in a, in a single, um, you know, from a single mother who was running her own direct sales business from the earliest of ages. I was taught about marketing and sales and leadership. And when you're. In a developmental stage as a child, it is so much of what we, who we are is impacted by who we were and who we were raised by, right?

That's the foundation of, of our, our, um, you know, our expression. So knowing that I was raised by a woman who, uh, you know, brought me along to dining room tables all over the Midwest to share her products, uh, you know, and, uh, seeing her doing, uh, you know, recruiting interviews in Perkins restaurants when I was six years old and seeing the things that she did to run her entrepreneurial business, uh, in, in, in, in, in this foundational way, I really.

Affected who I am and my mom's, uh, who passed away in 2006. My mom's most treasured, uh, uh, piece of content that she had with her was Napoleon Hills, think And Grow Rich. And she, I still have her 1960 weathered copy right over there, dollar 95. Uh, and on in chapter 10 of Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill, he has the power of the master.

Mind. And what does that mean? In my view, as a crystallizer, what I see the power of the master mind being is that you bring equally your gifts and talents in two fundamental areas in order to create exponential growth for someone. You create economics, And you create energetics. So the economics are when I'm crystallizing someone, I'm bringing, this is a great business model.

Why don't you, you know, you can expand into this line of business. Uh, here's your access points. Here's your resources. Here's, here's, you know, the branding that you can do. It's all about the, the monetization, right? The economics. And equally important in the power of the master mind is the energetics.

Thanks. That you bring, are you bringing your heart and soul to this mission to help someone get cocktail napkin clarity. Are you, are you really operating from that two or more people coming together in the spirit of unity for a single purpose, right? And so when I do my crystallization work, I'm not coming from a place of, uh, selfishness.

I'm coming from a place of seeing this person across the the table from me or across the the rectangle from me to really see them and and honor them and understand them because the reality is most of us are so so Utterly consumed with what we're doing that we have connection and we have conversation, but do we have what I call strategic co creation?

Are you advancing this connection to such a level that you will really see someone? in the way that they wanted to be seen. For example, uh, if I have a client who has a wealth of content out there, you know, she might share, uh, uh, you know, she's written books, she's done podcast interviews, she does speeches, she does executive coaching, consulting, uh, she's does all these different types of things everywhere, everywhere, you know, it's just, and the more brilliant you are, the more, you know, fractured you tend to be, uh, because you have so many opportunities to serve that you just serve no matter what.

And you have a toolbox that you can pull from. What I do when I work with people is The first step that I do before I dive into their content to crystallize them to wade through the avalanche of words to get to the essence of what can be on the cocktail napkin, I really, every single time. I sink into my heart, which is the most powerful part of me.

I sink into my heart and I think to myself that this person across the table from me is just like me, who wants to be happy, who wants to be safe, who wants to be free from suffering, who wants to live a life of peace, who wants to serve, who wants to make the world a better place. In this very dark and changing world, the person across the table from me truly genuinely wants to Contribute to the betterment of humanity in whatever way they're doing that, whether it's their products or services, big company, small company, it doesn't matter.

But I tap into that bigger mission and bigger reason of why they do what they do and, That connection from a heart to heart perspective, once that connection is established and I can get, I call it all squishy when I get all squishy in my feels and I can really feel like I want to help this person, I will help the world by helping this person help the world.

That two or more people coming together in the spirit of unity for a single purpose, is that sacredness. That I'm talking about that goes well beyond making more money right now is what makes that strategically sacred is once I've opened the doorway to this divine, uh, uh, witnessing. Of them. Uh, then I put the lens of the, uh, you know, the strategic marketer on top of it and say, okay, now when I see this person really see them, I read their books.

I watch their videos. I, you know, I read, I read their posts. I, I mean, I have clients that I've crystallized that have given me handwritten notes from their journals. Travel journals that no one has ever seen no other human has seen and they have given me the trust and the You know the belief that I will hold it with regard And I will hold it with with reverence.

So it's a tremendous honor to see someone in that most vulnerable state and even in a business, you know, show me you're ugly, show me you're half baked, show me your things that didn't work or that you really want that have been, you know, you know, that you've struggled with. I want to see all of it. I don't want to just see the whitewashed version of I'm going to show you the best of, and so I can impress you.

I really invite this very, very, uh, tender yet potent partnership in strategic co creation so that when I can see you good, bad, and ugly, And, and ugly is just a, you know, a, a judgment, a self judgment that we put on ourselves that it's not good enough, but to really give the space, the time, the breath, the energy, the, the heart, uh, and the care to see someone in that way, what, what magically starts to happen is, they relax, they trust, they open, and then we can really build this partnership together in a very potent way while understanding it's not just woo woo, airy fairy, cosmic muffiny, right?

It's also strategically sacred. So by, by entering the door through the sacred lens of, I'm going to see you like no one has seen you. And I promise to people, I say, I, I will know you by the end of this process better than anybody knows you professionally, guaranteed. There is no one that will know you better than me because I give the time.

I put the, I turn off all the machines. I turn off all the, the notifications. I clear my head. I make sure I feel good. I, I do all the things that I need to do personally to be able to put myself aside so I can fully show up in mind, body, and spirit. And then what happens is, the strategy comes in and goes, Oh, but I know that this is also marketable.

I also know that this is something that you can leverage an entire business model off of so that you can have content marketing that works, that you can have successful sales calls, that you can have downstream monetization, that's all aligned. There's all reasons why I do what I do, but it comes through the doorway of being this sacred witness and strategic co creator.

[00:14:05] Roger Courville, CSP: I love that. And you know, it's been, I don't even know how long, how many years it's been since you and I've chatted, but, but, uh, one of the things that, uh, so parallel, uh, you know, I just hit my 25 year anniversary in the virtual events business, right?

[00:14:20] Theresa Rose, CSP: Congratulations.

[00:14:21] Roger Courville, CSP: That kind of stuff. But I'm also at the very tail end of my doctorate and role work is in relational spirituality.

And how that relates to attachment theory. Interestingly, uh, one of the things that even just bubbled up last year, this was in July of last year in scientific American, is that our brain waves begin to synchronize when we interact with others. Like when we connect and interact and trade stories, we actually move into a place where Scientifically, we are in a place where we would be co creating and to your point, and this was something you said a little bit back, but, and I want to be careful not to put words in your mouth, but, but one of the points that you made was, you know, um, more than once it was about, in a sense, our need to, to see and be seen.

Right. And the reason we put up fronts or whitewash things is because the creative process is messy, right? Ugly. Oh, more hits the cutting room floor than actually went through to the other side. And, you know, we don't want to look like a failure. And we, many of us, if not most of us, have been in some kind of an environment where, where someone has not given us grace for some little piece of mess that hit the cutting room floor.

And we. Begin to put up walls to go back to Pink Floyd in one of the best albums in rock and Roll history. Right. One Brick at a Time, another brick in the wall. And next thing you know, um, we we're hiding away to some of the best part of ourself. So,

[00:15:54] Theresa Rose, CSP: exactly. I'm

[00:15:55] Roger Courville, CSP: curious, so you, um. You started, you started by talking about maybe the process sinking into your own heart and, and, uh, and, and challenging, if not examining your own motives and being preparing yourself to, to, to see when you, when someone comes to you, even before you get to that place where you've agreed to, in a sense, enter into a relationship, what are the symptoms or challenges they are often feeling, meaning if somebody is listening to this and, and, uh, and they're going, well, is this, is this the right kind of thing for me?

When someone comes to you, whether it's, uh, they're coming to you for a speaking engagement because they want you to, to speak to a team or facilitate some offsite time, or, you know, the many things that you do, what is, what is being experienced? What are people feeling or experiencing maybe felt or, uh, or even unfelt or, uh, unnamed.

Um, issues that you observe when they come to you going, I think I need some help,

[00:16:58] Theresa Rose, CSP: right? Great question. So the first thing is just from an overt standpoint, they come to me because they are bottom line experiencing less sales. Then they, they know they can have, they know how good they are, they know how good their products are, their communities are, their services, they, and they know there is something wrong, because their sales are wrong.

aren't converting. So that's the, the, the bottom line of why they come in is the bottom line. Right. Right. And that when I do is I really reverse engineer, what is the issue of that and what they're also feeling is not just the, I'm not having the sales that I want. I'm not creating the traction that I want in the marketplace.

But there's more. So the emotional thing that I continue to hear is. I know something is wrong, and I just can't see it. I know something is wrong, and I just can't see it. I keep trying, I keep, uh, doing all the things that everybody says you should do, uh, to execute all the various, you know, uh, tactics and have all the, the strategies in place, and they know something is wrong.

off. That's the word they tend to use. Something is off and I can't see it. Okay. Every person. And so what I do then is say, you know, this, Hey, number one, it's not your fault. And it's not a flaw. It is, it is how I, in my second, second TEDx talk, uh, doodle your dream, how a cocktail napkin will save the world.

I talk about the power of visuals as a method of communication in an increasingly distracted and traumatized world and that when you can draw a picture, you can sell it anywhere, anytime to anyone. That's a, that's an element of the TEDx talk, but the, the larger, Message in that TEDx talk is about the power of strategic co creation, which is every single time I see these brilliant people, these executives, the leaders, the, the thought leaders, every single time, they all say, I can't do this.

There's something I'm doing wrong. I just can't see it. And what I always tell them at the very beginning is, I know it's because you're not designed to, you You're not designed to. And I, here's something, Roger, that I, that I often share with people that I think is very potent when you start to think about it from a philosophical perspective.

Do you know that you will never, ever, in your whole life, see yourself? You will never see yourself. Ever. You will see the world. Aspects of yourself. You could look down and look at your arms and look at your belly and judge yourself for the drooping, wrinkling, not perfectness of an element of your body.

So it's all going through distortion, right? Or you can look in a mirror, which is a reflection. And a perspective of it, which of course, again, is run through these visual lenses of our eyes with so much programming and so much trauma and so much self judgment that you will never ever see in glorious three dimensional 360 realms yourself.

You're going to walk through this whole world never seeing yourself. You're gonna project, right? You're gonna, you're gonna see some absurd, some element of it, but you'll never see the glorious being that you are. And that's where having a strategic co creator, having someone else outside of you, then gives you that full perspective.

And when you do that in a trusted environment, when you can really be seen without the judgment, and with full support of somebody, because I won most enthusiastic in second grade for a reason, so I bring the mojo, okay, every single time, so you're not only creating this safe, nurturing, co creative environment, but you're also infusing them with energy, and you're infusing them with clarity, so they go, oh, it's not me, I'm not broken, right, it is just the very nature of how do we excel, so coming back to think and grow rich, Right.

So you had, this was a hundred years ago, you had men that were a small group of men, essentially, you know, the barons of the world, uh, getting together because they realized that it isn't an inside job. If you're really going to take it to the highest of levels, you will do this with pride. Someone else, there will be others that are a part of this sacred practice for you.

And that's really what I like to do. You know, I, I, I imagine myself as a conduit of that, uh, of that practice of how do I serve as a strategic co creator for others. And to bring up the speaking, Roger, I mean, I, I, From the earliest of ages, I wanted to be a performer, right? I mean, I had the stuffed animals by the mirror.

I wanted to do a variety show. You know, Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett were my heroes. And I'm, you know, I'm funny. I've done stand up comedy. I've done improv. I, like I said, I'm a walking exclamation point of energy. I can be on stages and chomp them up for breakfast. Okay. I freaking love being on stage. I love being on stage.

And, It pales in comparison to the personal satisfaction that I get when I see someone and unlock them and, and crystallize them because my impact and maybe it's my age, but now I'm looking at legacy. Right? What does the rest of my life look like and what is the impact that I'm making? I find that while I still love being on stage and chomping it up and lighting it up and giving them the tools that they can use to have their own cocktail napkins, that's, that is highly rewarding to me and when I can do it for brands and businesses, the impact that I now have as a crystallizer as opposed to merely just being a speaker is in the millions.

is in the millions because of being able to be that sacred witness and strategic partner.

[00:23:26] Roger Courville, CSP: Yeah, I relate to exactly what you just described. I mean, obviously we both done a lot of speaking to a lot of people. For me, it was, it was It was more about being an introvert slash ambivert, but of enough of a character with a heart to serve.

And I just want to give, right? And as it turns out, in some contexts, giving to 500 people is just a different context than if I'm, you know, working with a team of eight in a conference room and a whiteboard, something like that. And, you know, I mean, there is nothing that I love more than, you know, you get to the end of whatever time you had and they come and say, you just changed how I see the world like that, right?

I don't care about the money. I want to I want to help people get from point A to point B. But to your point, when you've got that little more one on one time or small group bp. You can facilitate change in a much deeper level and deeper

[00:24:23] Theresa Rose, CSP: level and more rapid,

[00:24:25] Roger Courville, CSP: right? And it's not a right or wrong. It's just a different.

It's just a different context But I also Rather ironically even as you're you're talking. I'm I'm this is firing off in my head relative to my doctoral research because Let me just affirm what you're doing, maybe from a different angle, just to use some different language. Um, part of my work is the relation, the, the intersection of the spiritual and the psychological, right?

Adult attachment theory. And in attachment theory, we, you know, with children, You connect or attach or don't attach to a caregiver beginning at the youngest of ages, right? Yes. And we are securely attached. We're insecurely attached to, won't go too, too deeply into that. And of course, what they found is that we as adults carry that into.

into adulthood as part of our, as part of just how we expect to connect and interact and relate with people. Now, interestingly, the function that I hear you serving, which I think is beautiful because I could just see how you would be so awesome at it, is that, is that all of us not only have that with regard to how we might relate to others as caregivers or in attachment, but we are also that for others.

You don't have to be a therapist, you don't have to be a professional, you know, coach or consultant to, to actually function in a way that at the most basic level is being a secure base. Or, um, being, offering the opportunity to, to, uh, explore from, meaning you are a secure, safe place to come back to, regardless of whatever their, their relationships might be.

You even just announced and put up front that intentionality to be that secure, safe haven that someone can come back to. should they experience something, particularly if you're working with them over time, doing some discovery. And then that becomes the secure base from which They can go explore.

[00:26:36] Theresa Rose, CSP: Exactly. Explore and grow because once they're in that safe space and they have the clarity, I call myself a claripist. I'm a clarifier and a business therapist all together, right? So once they have that safe space and they have the clarity of what they're doing, it is remarkable. It is truly magical to see someone get that level of clarity and then have the safe space in which to advance.

I've just never seen anything like it, the amount of expertise. exponential growth that happens so quickly. It happens so quickly because we get out of that, uh, that if it is, my mother used to talk, you know, it's funny because our, our parents, uh, I love that you bring up attachment theory because I myself am working through my own personal, uh, traumas, uh, you know, and, uh, and, and growing through them.

She used to say a lot of catchphrases, uh, that she would read, you know, I mean, I, I knew about Zig Ziglar and, uh, and you know, Tony Robbins and all the people, uh, growing up and she would say, if it is to be, it is up to me. And, and that, that, that, Mindset of if it is to be it is up to me is actually it was detrimental because it isn't it's if it is to be it is up to we it's the two of us it's the it's a group it's the connection and I believe Roger when you're talking about relational spirituality is that what you called it relational spirituality is is I believe that we are divinely designed to to reach our fullest potential only when we are in partnership with another.

I think that it's connected. I think there's a reason why, because we are so potent as, as individuals that if we need that other person, that is because it was supposed to be that way. We're supposed to have that safe haven, that person to talk to, uh, and to feel safe with that you can be ugly in the creative process.

you know, and not be judged. And I take that as a great honor that you recognize that in me, because in a world that is not, uh, not feeling safe, right? And, and people are being triggered. And frankly, we all went through in the pandemic, global collective trauma that we just ignored once it got over, right?

Um,

[00:29:06] Roger Courville, CSP: we're documented by the Surgeon General of the United States as a loneliness pandemic. like, like record, cultural, historical levels of loneliness and disconnection.

[00:29:18] Theresa Rose, CSP: Exactly. So we've, going through the, the, the, uh, you know, the outgassing of that, the echo of that is, is why I feel like I'm so drawn and compelled to do it because I don't want people to go through this alone.

It's too hard. Roger, you and I both know because we've been in this business a long, long time. I have spent a Hundreds of thousands of dollars, uh, on things that didn't work, things that, uh, people, you know, it was the magic bullet. If you buy this, if you do this program, if you attend this event, everything will start to open up for you.

And I realized that it was never working. It never really worked to the degree. I knew something was wrong. I knew that I was as good as, as I am, but I wasn't seeing the results. It was only until I really realized that it is not about buying it or implementing it. It was about somebody seeing me and how I could be that then it started to unfold and flow in the way that it's designed.

So I see it as a great honor and privilege and, and my service. that I can do, uh, to help brands and businesses crystallize themselves. Because when you get that level of clarity and I mean, literally draw it on a cocktail nap, right? Drawing, doodling your brilliance on a cocktail napkin. I not only see that you can do Uh, create empires, and I've seen it, uh, empires off of cocktail napkins, but also even just personal, uh, branding.

So I like to do in my presentations and on my podcast, I have a new podcast coming out called Crystallize. And clarity is of conversa, of conne, uh, of clarity and connection. What I do is in every one of my podcast episodes, I do a little, uh, uh, individual cocktail napkin for each person that I've interviewed and say of, of all of the things that you are, here's how I see you, and I just use three little words, but those three words when you can get to your three little words, because that's the smallest, clearest way of creating.

Clarity on a cocktail napkin is to have three when it's one. It's one word. It is just a word when it's two words. It's a coincidence or it's an, you know, an accident. And when it's three, it's a pattern. When you have three, when you have the brain loves three. That's why we teach our Children with threes.

the rhythm, the cadence of three. So if someone in your audience is thinking, how could I use cocktail napkin for myself? What I encourage them to look at is of all the things that you are, all of the adjectives that you could use to describe yourself professionally, what are the three that are your touchstones.

I'm going to give you an example. One of our colleagues, Meredith Elliot Powell, who's the chair of the National Speakers Association this year. She's an incredible leader. She has a huge, huge business as a sales, uh, uh, speaker and expert, uh, very well regarded and highly esteemed. And she was on my show and I did her cocktail napkin and her three words that I crystallized for her were, uh, expertise and effort and excellence.

[00:32:36] Roger Courville, CSP: Hold that right there. Hold that right there. So I know most podcast listeners are just listening, even if they've got the video on because it's on YouTube. Um, but if you're just listening, turn around and look at the video right now and you'll Teresa's talking about. Okay, keep going.

[00:32:52] Theresa Rose, CSP: Right? So, so knowing your thing, three.

So let's say that that's you, right? You are, if I were to lean into what, you know, my top gifts are, I'll give you my three just for fun. Actually, I have a five pointed star. I don't have three, I have five because I'm extra. Uh, but my five pointed star that I have done deep work with and I've meditated on and I've explored and I've said, how can I justify these five words?

I'm five things like a five pointed star. I am. creative. I am powerful. I am courageous. I am brilliant. And I am inspiring. And I can prove it. Okay. I know that I'm those five things because people tell me that I'm those five things and that I've had a lifetime of just demonstrating that I'm those five things.

Now, am I those five things at a level 10 all the time? No. But I do know that that's who I am inside. That's like what I call my spirit print. It's like a fingerprint, but it's my right? So I know that I am in this world to shine that five pointed star of being creative, powerful, courageous, brilliant, and inspiring.

And so when I walk into any situation, if I were in a corporate role and I wanted to, uh, make a bigger impact, have more influence, get a promotion, whatever it might be, that is my next, step of growth. If I know my five pointed star, then every conversation that I can be in, I can demonstrate one or more of those things.

Every email that I send, I will use those words. I will share in my presentations that I am those things. I will demonstrate. my star to you over and over and over again. When I have my performance review, I will use my star to say, I would like to share what I did this last year through the lens of these five things that I think I offer.

Number one, here's where I was creative. Number two, here's where I was powerful. Number three, here's where I was courageous. Number four, here's where I was brilliant. Number five, here's where I was inspiring. See, you're starting to, Communicate your truth through the lens of this picture in your mind. You can see the five point star right in your head.

So when I know that that's my, my touchstone, my grounding and who I really am, then I demonstrate that through every place that people read, listen, watch, and interact with me. And it doesn't take very long, Roger, before you start amplifying. My cocktail napkin is clarify, amplify, monetize. Once you're crystal clear and you can draw it on a cocktail napkin, you've clarified yourself.

Then you amplify that strategically across all the ways people take you in. So they're all taking in the same information every single time, no matter where you are, you could be at a neighborhood barbecue. You could be on a stage in front of a thousand people. You could look at my LinkedIn, you can go to my website.

everywhere, everywhere, everywhere is all the same stuff. I'm amplifying the same energy out there into the marketplace so that I can monetize. Then people understand who I am no matter where they come from and they're magnetized to me and they say those three magic words that you need for sales. I need that.

If you are not, clear and you're promoting your products and services out there to the world. And you're not immediately hearing those three words or even better. The three words are sign me up. But if you aren't hearing, I need that, then you have not landed on something that has grabbed them emotionally where they can understand it.

And they say, Oh my gosh, this is what, what I, what I need to do right now. And so, That even personal branding of what are my three words or five or whatever, but no more than nine. Don't get into double digits. Right? We want clarity like a child could understand it. Uh, when you have those three words as your foundation, then you can be confident in any situation because you always know you can answer any question through the lens of that cocktail napkin.

[00:36:53] Roger Courville, CSP: I love it. I, I got to my words. Uh, on a very long and winding and sometimes painful road. And in a way, I'm, I'm, uh, I'm affirming again, the power of working with someone on the outside. So for me, I read all those books, you know, think and grow rich mastermind and whatever, spent lots of times, a lot of time trying to figure out why certain things worked for me and certain things didn't.

For instance, if you go back enough decades, it was like, okay, I really succeed in this selling situation. And I don't in this selling situation, isn't sales, just sales. And the answer is no. Right. And over a lot of time, you know, I came up with this pairing of six words, which can be three of three words, three patterns of, you know, three, of two, you know, or two of three, et cetera, collect, reflect, connect, create, relate, respond, and for me, not unlike what you're talking about, I'm thinking about your like corporate clients because sometimes we think, oh, okay, well, this is me and I, but I, I work at Microsoft.

What am I going to do? Start bringing my words to work? And I'm thinking, well, yeah, actually, yes, because where and how you fit into a system, you can either entirely lose yourself and just become some cog in the machine, or you can go, ah, why, where am I going to work and thrive and flourish within this system?

And I think you could do that at an individual level, but you could also do it at a team level going, Hey, where does our team? fit in this world, right? We realize our, our, our, our direct line reporting, reporting relationships are dotted line reporting relationships, how we do or don't relate to the external market.

But at the end of the, at the end of the day, a team's got an identity, just like I've got an identity. And the question is, am I going to be clear on where and how this touches down where we succeed and create value for people? Maybe where we don't succeed and create value for people so well, because it's not who we are.

[00:38:49] Theresa Rose, CSP: Right, right. And, and getting that level of clarity at the team level, at the product line level, at the marketing strategy level, all those things, uh, will make that organization more successful. So it isn't, it's a both and, it's not just for the individual to be able to shine their light as, uh, as authentic people.

It also has an impact. I mean, one of the models that I, that I use, I, I love using models. I love using visuals because people understand it. Uh, I just finished an, uh, a virtual, uh, presentation with a longstanding client. And I was talking about, because everybody wants to know how do I work better with my teammates.

Right. That's, that's just a, the fact of the matter is that the, the struggle is real. Uh, and what I tell them is a model. I show them a model and I say, it's about personal. Then goes, and we cycle through personal thoughts, feelings, actions, and growth. And then, and then we hit the organizational. And then we hit the global.

So we make an impact in the world by making an impact in our businesses, but we make an impact in our businesses by making an impact in ourselves and getting clear in ourselves. So there, it's a both and situation. It will not only help the individual employee succeed in their role, uh, or frankly, even get a new role.

Because again, if you know, you're three, you know, your three facets to your crystal or what I use as a five pointed star. Then when you're out there in the wild, because that's where the opportunities come, right? We, we both know that you're not going to find the next job through the chances are you're not going to find the next job through, uh, you know, the LinkedIn jobs where you're going to just put in and you're going to fight the AI to try to get noticed.

This is about real connection. Jobs often are created for people. Opportunities are created for people after you recognize we have a problem. You have skills that can help us. Why can't we figure out a way that you can do that for us? When you know that level of clarity of yourself, then when you go into the wild in any kind of networking event, social event, uh, business, uh, you know, business conference, anything, opportunities happen everywhere.

When you know that you can lead with that. And it's true. And you can, like, I will go toe to toe with anybody about my cocktail napkins. And, and the power of that from a sales standpoint is very potent because what it does, uh, I know I'm going to nerd out a little bit, but I love talking about sales because I think it has such a bad rap.

It has such a, like a stink on it. that people don't want to do it. And what I share with people in my, in my presentations about this is it's because the old school methodology of sales is hierarchical in nature. It's like a triangle. The person on the top is the buyer. And then there's a bunch of sellers on the bottom that are hoping and angling to get the buyer's notice.

The buyer's dominant, the seller's submission. The buyer has power, the sellers have commissioned breath. Okay. And so that's the old school way of doing it. And the reason why we so are resistant to sales is because we don't want to be submissive. We don't want to be rejected. We don't want to be judged.

We don't want to be cast aside. We don't want to be in fear. We just don't want that as people. So we resist putting ourselves in situations like that. So that's triangle, old school, patriarchal, different way of looking at life way. I invite people to consider sales in a circle. And that circle is you and I are equal.

We are humans. We are humans with hearts that have, that beat and that we want to live a life of meaning and purpose and health and, and, uh, uh, you know, enjoyment. And what I do in my sales is I turn it into triangulated sales. So that means I'm bringing a third energy into the conversation, which is the cocktail napkin.

So I'm not selling myself. What I'm doing is I'm full body listening to you because that's the first step that you can do in sales is just Be fully and completely present with someone to hear them, see them. What are they saying? What are they not saying? What's their pain? Can you recognize it just as a human, right?

Really seeing them fully while not having in your mind, well, when am I going to do my sales pitch or, uh, how am I going to solve this problem? Right? You just, you are really, really open and relaxed and you're creating that trusted space with them. And people know it and they feel it right away. right?

Even on, on over Zoom, they feel when you're with them. And so when you're in that space and they invariably then turn it back to you and say enough about me, what about you? Right? And I don't care when you do that. You could do that in the last five minutes. I want you to keep talking and talking and talking and talking and talking so I get to know you better.

And then when you invariably turn it to me and say, what about you? Instead of me telling you about me, what I'm going to do is I'm going to I'm going to divert your attention as a buyer, potential buyer, from me to my idea on the cocktail napkin. And I go, I'm so glad you asked me that. I cannot wait to tell you what lights me up every single day.

What lights me up every single day is giving cocktail napkin clarity. And how I do that is through Clarify, Amplify, Monetize. And then I tell 30 seconds of why this is amazing. And, and I literally say, Roger, in these conversations, this is the hill I'm willing to die on. This is how important this is to me.

Because I've seen it work and I know the power of strategic co creation and I know that drawing on a cocktail napkin will pierce the veil of noise and distraction so that your buyers can pay attention to you and that you know what you're doing every single minute of the day. You know what you're going to be working on and invariably I hear those three words.

Now I haven't once offered anything. Right. I've triangulated the energy. So you're no longer paying attention to me as a buyer. Like I'm going to judge you, evaluate you, reject you, but you're, you're a peer and potential partner of mine in this circle to look at this triangle or this, this cocktail napkin.

Right. And then your attention is that invariably will say, We need that. And then it's like, great. Okay. Let's talk about what that looks like. Right? It just feels completely different than I'm getting evaluated. Right? You already know what you're going to say. And if they like it, they great. If they don't, that's great too.

Right? Move on to the next person. That's the power of that from a sales standpoint.

[00:45:34] Roger Courville, CSP: A little bit ago, you mentioned that this works even in a virtual environment, like a, you know, like a zoom meeting. Take that to the next level. I'm curious, uh, and I would agree, you know, probably my own biases that we can actually form actual connection even in a remote environment, whether that's a one on one meeting via zoom or you're presenting to a thousand people.

In a web. Mm-hmm . From your perspective, take that level of your way of seeing connection and, and that clarity, napkin clarity that you bring to someone and how they might apply it as they're communicating in a different or unfamiliar environment, like something virtual .

[00:46:15] Theresa Rose, CSP: Well, I first say to everyone when we're talking about a virtual, uh, container, I, I'm a big fan of talking about containers, uh, and, and so this is a container, a sacred container, whether it's on rectangles or it's a, you know, face to face, to really appreciate that, that we are in a container and that past this kind of Camera is a human being, right?

And to really, like I said, the part of the process of crystallizing every time I do a virtual before I start the virtual, I will, uh, I know, again, sounds a little woo woo, but I, you know, I take a few moments like I light a candle. Okay. Before I do it, uh, I have rose oil that I use that just kind of reminds me of just, you know, groundedness and, and, and beauty and sacredness.

And it just puts me in my heart. So before I turn on the, okay, here we go, we're going to talk about this and we're going to do this activity and everybody light up the chat and who is, you know, raise your hand, digital hand, let me take you off mute. All the things that happen, getting into our hearts first and remembering that these are people just like me who want to be happy, safe, free of suffering, and at peace, that helps me open my heart up.

And then I also do just kind of tactically specific things. Like I will always put the camera. The person that I'm talking to right under the camera, their, their image right under the camera so that I'm talking to you, Roger, right? I'm not looking at does my hair look bad, which I know I can already feel, yes, it does.

So, you know, I'm not worried about all that. and I'm more connecting really to that person and being in the heart space to be able to hear them fully. And so sync, my mindfulness training, you know, I ran an, uh, an alternative healing center after my corporate background and, uh, you know, was teaching, uh, meditation and Reiki, and I had a private practice and I was all in it.

About the mind body connection and energy management and intuition and all the things and that level of really being present with someone deeply present with someone is really the key right to have the discipline and to have the skill to put aside the noise. Even when things are blinking at you and, and, uh, you know, nudging you to truly be with somebody in a virtual environment and, and that's what COVID, I mean, I, I knew how to do this work because again, you've been doing this for 25 years.

Um, you know, I've been around my fair amount of virtual work, but the, the, the work that I did during COVID was instrumental because I had to really, really get good. at making that safe space in virtual land right away. And I find honestly just, just body, full body listening, right? Looking at them and, and present with them is what is the key.

[00:49:29] Roger Courville, CSP: If you're not looking at the camera, Roger right now has the proverbial poop eating grin. I want to, no, I couldn't agree more, and I'll share with you, here's my own story for answering, doing, affirming exactly what you're talking about. I was speaking at a conference in Atlanta, which is a good long way from the Pacific Northwest where I, where I live.

And, you know, I've been teaching professional, you know, uh, virtual presentation skills for decades, obviously now. And I know all of the frequently asked questions and at the top of the list is how do I engage an audience that I can't see, right? So this conference, that question comes up and I said, and I'm in person, but we're talking about virtual presentations.

And I said, you know what it is? Now I'm gonna pause and then come in from the side here. Theresa's a professional speaker. She's a real pro, right? So what's a couple things that you can do when you're on stage to draw in your audience? You can pause, You can lower your voice. Right, so, so here I am. The question comes up, How do you engage an audience that you can't see, you know, when you can't see them in the same way?

And I said, you know what it is? You really want to know what it is. You love them. Yes. And I just said, you love them. And the looks on their faces were just like, you know, some people like, Oh, I get it. And some people like, what the heck?

[00:50:52] Theresa Rose, CSP: Absolutely. I a hundred percent agree. Love, love, love is at the core of all of it.

And I, you know, I've done presentations, virtual presentations for organizations and it's a sea of names. of black screens with white names, right? Because nobody's on video. And, and sometimes they're not on video because that's the nature of it. They're in the field and they just don't have it, right? So what I do to keep my energy up and to have it still have the potency and the, um, and the, the vitality through it is obviously, um, uh, asking, uh, you know, meaningful, relevant, uh, questions that they can answer on, uh, on chat.

Right. Like I have one Roger that's really easy and simple, but it really helps is at the beginning of a virtual, I will ask people, uh, Because much of the work that I do is it's foundational element as you've heard multiple times in this conversation is about being present and it's about really, uh, you know, arriving fully in mind, body and spirit.

And so I will have them arrive. With me and say, just take a moment now to really, before we dive in, cut off them, cut off what happened beforehand. Don't think about what's happening after. Breathe. This is where my meditation, uh, you know, background comes in. I, I give them almost like a mini visualization, right?

To get in fully into their bodies, mind, body, and spirit. And then I'll say, just go to the chat and give me an emoji of what you, what you're, who, where are you right now? Where are you right now? Without judgment. And you'll see crying faces, and you'll see anger balls, and you'll see sad faces, and you'll see some smiles, right?

But what I'm doing is just having them start to, to be a part of the virtual container to voice where they are now. And it's, it's just an amazing and simple thing to see all these kids. emojis of how people are, because it's a testament to where we are in humanity, that we are all a kaleidoscope of emotion at any given time.

But B, it's like the, the attendees know that I care about them. And they aren't just a nameless faceless sea of rectangles, right? So that's that's what I like to do is bring old school stuff of let's get present with each other

[00:53:19] Roger Courville, CSP: All right, two final questions as we bring this in for a landing number one I know you've got a cheat sheet on your website Teresa Rose calm Tell us a little more about what folks are gonna find there how they can get in touch with you Why they should go get that cheat sheet

[00:53:33] Theresa Rose, CSP: Yeah.

So people often ask me, well, how do I do this for myself? How do I crystallize myself? And I will say that again, the caveat is it's always better to have someone else help you and to help you be seen. But I did want to give them a, you know, a 10 point, what are the 10 steps that I do when I crystallize somebody?

Uh, and so that cheat sheet will help them walk through, uh, what are those steps that I do to immediately start crystallizing a brand, a business, or a big idea?

[00:54:00] Roger Courville, CSP: All right, TeresaRose. com, just in case you're listening as opposed to watching because it's on the screen as well. Final question for you. What question would you have loved to be asked today that I haven't asked you?

[00:54:16] Theresa Rose, CSP: What question would I love to be asked today? I would have loved to have been asked who inspires me to be better. And, uh, and I would say, I know it's, uh, could be perceived as being, uh, kind of trite, but honestly, Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift is someone who inspires me to be better. Uh, and I wasn't a Taylor Swift fan per se.

I mean, there were a couple of songs that I, that I enjoyed over the years, but I wouldn't, I wasn't a Swifty in any way. And, uh, in, in this last tour, I unfortunately didn't get to see it, but I saw it on a million times on Tik TOK. And I also saw the video and the movie, but I really am truly in my heart, uh, impacted by her and how she, how she runs a business.

billion dollar business, uh, how she creates, uh, you know, raving fans is an understatement of what she creates. And, and, and purely the word nerd in me loves how prolific she is. I mean, she is, she is the poet of a generation. She is the modern day Shakespeare. She is Shakespeare wrapped up in the Beatles with some Elvis thrown in and, and a little Michael Jackson.

And, uh, you know, production value is she's truly a remarkable, uh, creator. And again, creativity is one of my five pointed stars. So, uh, so that part of my star, uh, in that creative, uh, realm, that's who I think of. And so I'm really inspired to, uh, to think bigger and do more of the gifts and talents that I have so I can, um, make the biggest possible impact.

[00:56:09] Roger Courville, CSP: Well, thank you. I love that. I bet we can talk for another hour about that as a fellow creative. But thank you again to our wonderful guest today, Teresa Rose. You can learn more about her and connect at TeresaRose.com and of course, plenty of other places like LinkedIn. And thank you again to our sponsor today, VirtualVenues.

com, where you can instantly scale your virtual and hybrid event production team. We will catch you on the next episode of Thought Leader Conversations.

[00:56:37] Theresa Rose, CSP: Thanks, Roger.