The Perfect 100

Hello and welcome back to the Perfect 100.

Today I am excited to welcome Jennifer Wilkov.

She is a business strategist, bestselling author and a dynamic speaker who's built a
career helping professionals and entrepreneurs turn their ideas and expertise into

thriving businesses.

She's worked across multiple industries, guiding clients to align their purpose, presence
and performance so they can make a meaningful impact.

and she's also a passionate BNI member who understands the power of building
relationships.

She's gonna tell us all about that later.

I can't wait to dive into her journey and learn from her experiences.

Welcome, Jennifer.

Awesome, so let's go ahead and have you do your 45 seconds so everybody can hear all about
you and what you're looking for.

Sure.

So who do you know who needs help with their next step to complete their book, film, TV,
streaming or stage project?

My name is Jennifer S.

Wilkov and I know that your book is your hook.

How do I know?

Because I'm a multi-number one international bestselling award winning author and award
winning freelance writer, motivational speaker and business consultant.

My clients are writers and I'm a creative and story consultant supporting them with
writing, editing, marketing, publishing.

bestseller campaigns, Amazon ads and mysteries, and getting their projects produced in
Hollywood and Broadway.

So when someone you know says I have a book or a screenplay, send them to me at your book
is your hook.

Love it.

Love the energy also.

So you've built an impressive career as an author, speaker, and business strategist.

What does your current mix look like today?

What do you really focus on?

You mentioned the book is your hook.

So give me kind of the, give me the nitty or gritty or.

So for me, I like different types of people to work with.

So I love both professional people that I can collaborate with as colleagues in my
industries of literary and entertainment, such as PR professionals, intellectual property

attorneys, entertainment attorneys, sports managers, and also speaker trainers.

Most importantly, they all want their client to have a book.

And oftentimes a writer will walk into their office or be a part of their speaker trainer
program.

And that book is really something essential for all of those professionals.

also love to meet other people in the industry, literary agents, publishers, other people
doing other things that I do, editing, marketing.

It's a wonderful community, the people who do publishing well for others.

Of course I love writers.

Writers are people who, A, they want author as a credential.

They have something to say.

I work with nonfiction, fiction, and all the way down.

YA, middle grade, children's, but no board books.

Also people who write screenplays and people who write scripts for TV and streaming.

And I'm that person where

I'm a platinum member of New York Women in Film and Television where I lead the writers
group.

I've done that for 10 years.

I'm also very involved in my industry beyond that organization.

I'm a member of an elite group called the Women's Media Group, which is a bunch of
publishing professionals at the highest levels of publishing and other groups.

And I speak at a lot of conferences for writers and film festivals and things of that
nature.

And part of what I do is I

am a teacher as much as I am a private consultant.

I also work with people who say, people tell me I should write a book, but I don't have
time.

So I love the thought leaders, the business owners, the people who don't know how to put
it together, because I also help them with ghostwriting.

I'm not ghostwriting any longer myself, but what I do instead is a ghostwriter matchmaker
service that allows them

the opportunity to select the right ghost writer that actually can write their book well.

And I oversee that match.

I also help them match, but I also help them make sure the project gets written and done
because oftentimes people have no idea, Tammy, how to actually select a ghost writer.

That's saved a lot of a lot of money and headache and stress.

Okay, awesome.

So you're so you're based in New York, right?

I am, I'm in Brooklyn.

Okay, and so if I heard, if I could synopsize those things, it's anyone who is looking to
publish or needs to, wants to, needs that opportunity to get that word out there, or

anyone in the film industry for the same kind of thing that maybe has that interest in
maybe writing a movie or whatever kind of thing that would hit into the entertainment

industry or your kind of main things, is that right?

Yeah, it's books, films, TV streaming and stage.

And the other thing that's important, because it's going to be part of our conversation,
is I also help people who have published in other languages and other countries bring

those books and projects into the English speaking markets.

So US, Canada, UK, around the world.

Okay, awesome.

And you've also had some personal and professional challenges.

I was reading your About Me page.

ah So what is the key decision, do you think, that I know mindset is kind of, you work
with people with their mindset.

So what's a kind of key mindset shift that has helped you make the turning point?

What are the things that shifted when you went through those struggles that you were able
to kind of change?

So part of, m I have a couple of beliefs that actually are my guiding principles.

um One is everything is gonna be okay, because it is.

And if you spend your time worrying about why it's not, then you're actually not solving
the problem.

uh And the other one is,

Um, you know, what can we learn from this?

Is there something that happened here that basically can be changed?

I'm really a strategic thinker.

have over 35 years of strategic planning and business development, both in the corporate
environment and as a serial entrepreneur.

so part of, know, being able to not get lost in the sauce and actually being able to focus
and understand what is this, what's happened or what's happening.

And is it.

what we wanted to happen or was it not what we wanted to happen or did it surprise us?

And either way, there's a way to look forward to post-mortem that and say, okay, what can
we do better next time or what can we do instead?

And oftentimes when I work with clients, I've had them experience so many mishaps, Tammy,
that basically I'm also known as the dear Abby of publishing.

Okay.

comes to me with, my God, this or how do I do that?

Or, you know, all of those things.

And I've had that moniker for many, many years.

I've been doing this for 24 years.

And so it's one of those things for me that is very special about what I do.

Cause not only am I able to navigate on my own, but I'm also able to bring people off the
ledge and say, okay, what are we going to do here?

Yeah, I am a recovering serial worrier.

I really try, I spend a lot of time in my younger years worrying about, you know, what I
said or what I did and how that looked and all those things.

And I've realized over the years that it doesn't matter because it's all behind you.

So, you know, what matters is what you can control, which is in the future.

What is now or what is coming, not as, you know, you got to let that water roll under that
bridge.

Now you're also a certified uh NLP practitioner and I am a Tony Robbins person.

So I am very familiar with his practice, you know, through coming up through NLP.

For those that are listening that have not been exposed to NLP, tell us a little bit about
that because that makes them super excited to talk about NLP.

Sure, I'd be happy to.

I am a master practitioner of neurolinguistic programming, is NLP.

And NLP, the way I often explain it to people is it's very simply the way you talk to
yourself and the way other people have spoken to you or speak to you.

And those become tapes, if you will, that repeat over and over in your head.

And so part of NLP is understanding the neuro part, the brain part, the L part, which is
linguistic, which is language, and the programming.

If you think about programming, it's on the television, right?

So at eight o'clock is one show and at nine o'clock is another show.

That's programming.

And if you have a series, then it repeats every week at the same time.

Well, so do those tapes.

They actually play at the same time when you get what we call triggers.

And so neurolinguistic programming is a way of thinking about the world, your world,
personally, not everybody else's, and understanding what do you do when you actually hear

something?

So one of the things we often use as an example is if you take a child and you actually
tell that child that they're bad, bad, bad, eventually that child believes they are bad

because that's all they've heard.

However, if you tell that same child,

that they're good, good, good, and what's good in the world, then they'll start to believe
that guess what?

They're good.

And so neuro-linguistic programming is one of those things I actually integrate into the
book consulting that I do for writers who tend to be very nervous.

Oftentimes I'm the first person, Tammy, they've ever shared anything with.

Right.

they've written, so it's very daunting for them.

It's very exposing for them.

And it's one of those things for me that the more comfortable somebody gets with what they
have written, the better they're going to be at speaking about it or sharing it or doing a

book tour or they're a great client for a publicist, things like that.

But oftentimes, people get

you know, they stumble or they do this, they just chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter.

And it's like, well, neither one of those is good.

Right, right.

Yeah, you know, I work with a lot of small business people and I find that a lot of the
traumas of the past rear their ugly heads in, you know, when we start a new business, that

is a mandate to some degree on who we are when if it's going to be successful or not,
then, you know, that we start to tell ourselves all the things I'm not worth it.

And, you know, even what we charge, I have a lot of clients who

under charge for their services because they have a lot of limiting beliefs that they grew
up with about those things.

I love to bring those, you know, the way we talk to ourselves matters.

And I had a coach, you know, for many years who her thing was all about.

speaking to yourself in a positive way and, you know, kind of healing the past and moving
forward, forgiving those that have done things that were not so great.

And, you know, you have to release that and move on because you get stuck in that.

you can't stop that voice from, you know, hitting all the time, then you're never going to
break out of that.

it's the more you think about negative brings negative, positive brings positive.

So I love all of that.

um Now you've been in BNI for how long?

I have been in BNI for 15 years going on 16 in December.

However, I've been around BNI for about maybe near 20 years because I subbed for five
years.

And actually it was fun because the regional director here in my area sat me down.

She was actually uh overseeing nine chapters and said to me, ah you just so get BNI, why
don't you become a member?

And I said, well, I don't want to come every week.

she said, well, all evidence to the contrary, you're coming every week, subbing for
people.

Why don't you pick a chapter?

So for six months, I shopped and chose a chapter and joined.

all right.

So let's have a look at your Palms report.

Now, we typically at this point on this podcast talk about it's called The Perfect 100.

We talk about your power of one, because that's where the score comes from.

But Jennifer is in a franchise area, so it isn't something that they do in her area.

So we're just gonna talk about the Palms report.

Erin.

So I will just kind of run through this and I'm going to allow you to comment after.

this is a year's worth that is on the screen.

So you have zero absences.

You have 19 referrals given inside.

You have, my screen's a little small, sorry.

guys, let me just pop that back where I can actually see it.

Referrals given outside is 12, referrals received inside is two, referrals received
outside is 31, visitors is 10, one to ones is, is 80, And then your thank you for clothes

business given is about $9,000 and CEUs is four.

Now,

Because you and I have spoken about this in the past, I know that this isn't exactly
accurate.

Is that true?

All right.

so I know that you've had an experience where, let's just say, the framework for BNI
wasn't necessarily being followed.

um So that's impacting your numbers.

Is that correct?

It is.

And, you know, it's one of those things where um you know what you did, but when you have
other people like yourself looking at what you did and it's not the right representation,

it's impactful.

Right.

So you've been in a chapter where the folks responsible for making sure things get
recorded weren't actually making that happen and that impacted the way the numbers look.

as a, know, I take personal pride in, this is called the Perfect 100 because I have one.

uh And my goal is to help other people recognize how to utilize the framework to be
successful in their business through BNI.

What kind of an impact does that make to you personally do you feel when it doesn't?

You know what you're doing, but it's not represented.

Well, know, it's one thing to know what you've done and to know what you've accomplished
and know how much you've shared.

But if somebody is new and they come in and they start to look at who you are, then they
don't really get the full picture of who you are and what you actually do.

There's a reason why I've been in BNI for so many years.

And I was in a chapter for 13 years that did not participate in BNI Connect.

And those numbers just shoot the moon out of what we just talked about.

uh But they are, and when I transferred to the current chapter that I'm in, um I really
went to the mattresses on how important it was to somehow get those numbers to show up.

And I was told to not worry about it.

I understand that because of the way that I network in BNI, it's not representative of who
I am and what I'm able to do, which is, it's sad for me.

It's sad for me because it doesn't support me the way it was designed.

Right.

Yeah.

that, know, to me, I speak, I'm a chapter success coach.

I've been an area director over a lot of chapters and not all the chapters record all the
things.

um And I think that that's a, so uh it's a representation of, we're not going to play the
game because you you guys want me to, um is kind of how that reads sometimes.

But

I think what you just said is very important that when you're not, you know, if you're
given an opportunity, it's just like a business, right?

If you're given an opportunity to track what you do in your business, this is how I always
look at everything in BNI is if I, you know, when I have clients call me or I have

opportunities to potentially have prospects become clients, I want to know how I'm doing,
right?

I want to know how many did I have?

How did it go?

If I have employees.

I'm tracking all of that for them.

The success rate of everyone is a, there's data behind it.

And without that data, that becomes a challenge to make your business better.

It also becomes a challenge to make your chapter better, but more personally, it's an
indictment potentially on who you are.

And that is it.

I would be appalled if my chapter was not willing to record all of the wonderful things
that we all do to

better ourselves in BNI, because that's a personal front to me.

Because I take great pride in making sure I check the boxes, not because I just want to
check the box, but because I recognize the value in the action behind the checking the

box.

Right.

And I think, you know, when you are a member of an organization like BNI, that's global,
not just local.

um It's one of the things where it's something you just said, as business owners, we make
decisions based on data.

And so when, when you're doing, you know, your entries, but you're not the person who's
responsible for approving them or making sure the system accepts them.

then basically you are dependent on the people that are supposed to be doing that.

And so, um you know, as a chapter, we all are teammates to collaborate, to make us all uh
referable, reliable, and relational.

And, you know, from someone who's been in the organization long enough to understand and
know, and because I don't just...

network in BNI locally, um it matters.

Right.

Well, and it matters.

It matters not only just the numbers, but it matters that everyone participates in
everything because we have teams of people in our chapters that run them, right?

We have a membership committee.

We have mentor coordinators.

We have visitor hosts.

If any one of those teams fails, then we all fail because we are missing pieces and parts
of the business that are supposed to function in order for the next thing to happen well.

And you know, it's a learning process.

Sometimes you have people that are new to these positions.

There's also trainings and other uh opportunities for those people in those positions to
take advantage of.

And it's also part of the collaborative process of people who have been in BNI for a
longer period who are in those positions to nurture the people that

come into those positions to help them succeed for not just themselves, but for everybody
because that's really, you know, a position when you take it on, like I'm the mentor

coordinator of my chapter.

When you take a mantle on like that, um you do everything you can to help everybody win
because that's why you're on the team.

Right, for sure.

While you mentioned in there you work globally and I don't know if all the listeners know
that there are the opportunities to do global power teams which you are a part of.

So tell us a little bit about that for those that don't know what a global power team is.

Sure.

A global power team has a requirement that you are a member of a local chapter somewhere
in the world.

Global.

Right?

And so basically, once you do that, there is the BNI global power team, which I am a
member of, which basically has, I think, 75 members and um is from countries all over the

world.

The language that's spoken during the meetings is English.

So obviously that is a requirement.

um But people do all types of business internationally in that group.

There's another group, the global referrals team.

The global power team is in alignment with uh Mary Kennedy Thompson, the CEO of BNI, who
we met with in August and had a great meeting with her.

learned a lot about her and she was wonderful.

um And we continue in the global power team, which was founded by Mark Fields, who's an
attorney and Ramu Vedaraman, who's in India, who's also an attorney, who believed in the

idea, the spark of a global power team and that it could really exist and help.

other members connect because people look for people who are doing business, a certain
type of profession in another country because that's where they're located and that's what

they need.

um And I get that a lot and I also refer a lot in those global power teams.

So globally, when you think globally and that, you know, it gives you an opportunity to
really understand what do you do and what

who are the types of clients you want to work with?

Because if you certainly are in a particular city like you and I are, Tammy, we're not in
the same place, right?

You may have someone who knows somebody who's coming from the UK or from another European
country, or they want to move here and they need resources.

And those are the types of people where oftentimes if we don't know somebody right away,
we go into who do you know?

to someone in BNI that we know, like, and trust and say, who do you know that could help
that's in this country or this person is coming to this country, can you help connect?

And that's really what BNI is really founded on is the referrals and the value of being
able to refer someone that you do get to know, like, and trust.

And so globally, it's on a global scale.

It sounds super big, right?

But at the same time, the world is flat, you know?

It's very small and it really is about relationships and what you're willing to spend your
time on.

Yeah, I love that you all have taken that initiative to build that out because there are a
number of us that can work anywhere.

I'm one of them and having that opportunity to connect beyond, know, we do, BNI offers the
US, uh the speed networking and you know, that's an opportunity for people that can work

across the US.

But if you can work globally, you know, I'm sure Mark Field here is in the Greater Memphis
chapter for those of you that are local to me.

that have, you want to hear more, I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you and Jennifer's in the
New York area for those that want to reach out to her.

I'm sure she'd be happy to talk more about that.

So let's roll over into, I'm curious about your CliftonStrengths.

So you had not done your CliftonStrengths before.

uh When you first saw your report, what was your reaction?

Did it feel spot on, anything surprise you?

I felt spot on, life time learner, strategic, all about belief, very positive, yep, all
about it.

So we're going to show it and I'll speak it so everybody that's listening only can hear
what you're sharing.

So, sorry, your number one is strategic.

You create alternative ways to proceed.

Faced with any given scenario, you can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Number two is belief.

You have certain core values that are unchanging.

out of these values and merges a defined purpose for your life.

Number three is positivity.

You have contagious enthusiasm.

You are upbeat and can get others excited about what they're going to do.

Number four is learner.

You have a great desire to learn and want to continuously improve.

the process of learning rather than the outcome excites you.

And number five is a new one here, finally, we haven't had a new one in a while, is self
assurance.

You feel confident in your ability to take risks and manage your own life.

You have an inner compass that gives you certainty in your decisions.

So I am also number one strategic.

So from one strategic to another, I hear you.

But let's talk a little bit about your

uh So, and Erin, you can take those off the screen for me.

So for me, uh self-assurance plays out.

I want to hear how yours plays out and then I'll allude to mine.

But how do you feel like, because self-assurance can be paired with your belief.

It can be paired with your strategic.

But tell me how self-assurance for you is, how that comes into your day to day, so to
speak.

Well, one of the things about self assurance that's really important is the self.

And so understanding who you are, that every day you are doing the best that you can on
that day.

And it may not look like the next day or the day before is also about the self.

And so being, you know, the other word, cause I'm a wordy, I'm a wordsmith, obviously.

um Assurance is one of those things where do you feel comfortable in your skin?

in your own skin, you know, and yes, I'm a risk taker.

I'm one of those people who like skydiving, scuba diving, elite hiking, things of that
nature that tend to have more risk, right?

But also at the same time, there are strategic, if you will, risks that you take because
they have the potential if you do all the right things and you build them in the right

order.

um, to pay off.

And so all of that really comes back to the self.

What is it that you want?

And so for me, I'm one of those people who not only I'm confident and get clear each time
I'm doing something, what is it that I want to be able to do or give or provide or teach

or whatever.

And the other side of it is when I started, uh, I didn't start out being a consultant.

I did.

other jobs in corporate before I did.

And one of the things that makes me a really good consultant, Tammy, is when I started, I
really had four questions I asked myself, which I still do these days when people come to

me for help, which is literally, do I understand what they are asking me?

So I don't just assume, oh yeah, yeah, I know what they're asking me.

I just listen.

And I really actively listen.

And then I can answer that question correctly.

Right.

And then I actually say, well, can I do what they're asking?

Am I capable of doing that?

And the question has its norm, its, you know, rightful answer, I'll call it.

And then my question is, do I like them?

In other words, can they hear me?

Right.

Do I like talking with them?

Is there a rapport?

Is this something that's a building relationship?

Does it have those qualities where I'm the knowledge they just need in order to get to
where they go?

Can they hear me?

Are you saying can they hear me?

we have a rapport so they're open to hearing me.

Okay.

Because the last piece is, you know, do I like their project?

You know, and oftentimes I flip those last two because if I don't like their project, I'm
not going to help them.

Right.

But if I like them, but it's not a project I would work on, then I can also refer them
because I know a lot of people in the business.

Right.

So that'd be me.

Right.

ah And so oftentimes

It's all about coming back to do I understand?

And so that self-assurance is I'm confident that I can listen, I can focus, I can
literally bring that assurance of this is how the industry works.

This is what you need to do.

This is the order you need to do it in and blah, blah, you know, that kind of stuff.

That's where self-assurance really comes together for me because I'm that kid who
basically said when I was a little kid,

Why does it have to be that way?

Who made that rule?

Do we have to do it though?

Well, what if we did it this way and I was uh like, but you know, right.

Yeah, same.

I think, yeah, so I have strategic number one and my self-assurance is number seven and I
have command and significance in my top five.

I have all of that and then some.

Self-assurance for me has always, the risk, you mentioned the risk factor and that's,
know, a lot of people are risk averse and I don't tend to be uh

I take things in before I do them and I make strategic choices, but I will take the risk
that others aren't willing to oftentimes because I trust that I can make it work.

That's a confidence level that just comes from experience.

And it also comes from how I talk to myself, right?

As I know I've done this before.

I know I can, you know, I put challenges in front of me, I can make things happen.

And so, you know, I don't, I'm not unwilling to try something because it's risky.

I tend to be the one that's going to charge the hill and try it out.

Well, that's one of my monikers actually is the make it happen girl.

People come in and they're like, this is what I want to do.

How do I make that happen?

I love that.

that's amazing.

So uh belief and assurance together are conviction based strengths.

So how do you how do they help you hold your ground in challenge when you have a
challenging conversation or a high stakes decision?

Would you say?

Well, you know, a lot of those things often start with my core values and those core
values are very grounded for me personally, because I've actually done the work.

I understand why I'm doing what I'm doing and what my ultimate vision and mission is, you
know, for my own personal contributions to the world I live in.

And so for me, my conviction really comes to, you know, if something is coloring outside
the lines, Tammy.

then that's something where I may not do that.

Because I think that that's something that I don't want to lend my name, my image, my
voice, or my efforts or energy to.

And that's not a good use because it's not in alignment with what I said I wanted to do.

And that's really where a lot of that conviction gets grounded.

And then it makes it very easy.

actually, to make that decision.

If things are, you know, very blurry, I'll call it, um then it's a matter of time, ah
understanding, you know, urgency on someone else's part and whether or not I believe I am

the right person to do that.

And sometimes, you know, I really, I get all kinds of things, m

Over the years, I've gotten so many different people with so many different issues.

And then I get people, which I'm getting a lot of right now, well, you have to speak to
Jennifer.

She's the person that will know what to do here.

it's like, you know, okay, but I've also structured my business now in such a way so that
I can help those one-off people in a way that actually gets them.

moving forward so they're not stuck or know treading water.

um But I may not always be the only or the right person for what they need.

And so that's really one of the things that makes the most difference.

Yeah, I noticed in the blend of things, the top five are when you get your assessment,
they are blended together.

So your report, your assessment looks different than even though you and I have several of
the same things, yours reads differently than mine because all of those things make up

your unique DNA, so to speak.

And not wavering from outside the lines was one of yours based on all of your blended
things together.

one of mine too.

I tend to not, know, if it looks funny, smells funny, it's probably funny.

So let's just, you know, move on.

right.

know, so positivity is also one of yours.

Have you ever felt where positivity was maybe waning when, you know, you had a setback
because you've had some personal setbacks?

How has that played out for you?

positivity.

Well, you know, I've had eight near death experiences, which I know you saw, there's no
other explanation than that positivity.

um The medical community can't figure it out.

um Nobody else around me can figure it out.

One of the things I hear from a lot of people is I'm one of the most positive people they
know.

And that positivity really is one of the things that I feel is a propeller of moving
forward.

And it's not moving forward and saying, okay, that didn't work next.

You know, it's really more of that blending, as you called it, of being strategic while
being positive.

You know, there are so many opportunities I've been given because I was really

that positive person who said, well, I think, yeah, I know we can do this and we need to
do one, two, three, four, five.

I've created prototypes for companies in the past.

Um, you know, I, that basically I said, I really think this can work.

And then that prototype actually got implemented in the company and ran the whole company.

I mean, things like that where I just, you know, had the foresight and that positive
outlook and less of that negative, this is never going to work kind of stuff.

Right.

where it's more about finding solutions, doing problem solving when you're in those roles.

Active listening combined with positivity is really a powerful combination.

Yeah.

Are there any of the ones that popped up for you that you felt like, really need to lean
into this more now that I'm seeing it in front of me?

Yeah, there are definitely, you know, everybody can't be positive all the time because
we're human.

you know, a lot, always tell people every time 10 % is what happened.

90 % is how you're going to handle it.

And it's not the opposite.

And so basically from the minute something occurs, you have the right to remain fabulous.

Whatever it is, you have the right to remain fabulous.

Any situation, any circumstance, anything that 90 % kicks in the very next second after it
lands.

And that's one of those things where it's almost like following the yellow brick road.

It's one of those things where if you put one foot in front of the other, you may start
slowly, but you may find yourself skipping down the road at some point.

because there's something bright and shiny ahead of you.

And keeping your eye on that bright, shiny piece might be much better than kicking
yourself over and over again for something that's already done, that's already passed.

And you're never gonna be able to change that.

The turning point is about being positive and asking, what can I learn from this?

What is there about this?

there's that famous saying, you know, there is no fail, there's only learning.

And we can't all do something perfect the first time.

And so it's really about learning, understanding, and understanding that life is not a
solo sport.

You're gonna have to play with other people.

uh

Strenght in a vacuum don't really matter because you need other people for this to work.

So when you think about your clients, if you look across kind of the breadth of all the
different things, what is a recurring challenge that you see business people struggling

with today the most?

Well, there are three things.

One, oftentimes people say, I can write it myself because I write motions as a lawyer.

I write business briefs or I write venture capital proposals or whatever.

And I always say to them, that's not writing.

That's a different kind of writing.

That's not the kind of writing that you sell on a shelf that people read.

And so same thing on the fiction side where basically people sometimes when they isolate
themselves, then they're basing everything that they're writing on what they've read,

which is a part of the formula, but it's not as good as actually getting some additional
support, going through some classes, maybe going to a conference, what have you.

Structure is really important.

The next thing is often

people don't think about the reader.

They are so busy writing that they don't think about who's reading.

So that's really important.

I always start with people with know your audience and they're like, well, let's start
with what I wrote or let's start with what I wanna pitch.

And I'm like, well, who's your audience?

What kind of words do they use?

And I tell my writers this all the time.

So I'll share it with you, Tammy, really quickly.

The New York Times used to be written at a 10th grade level and was actually read in
schools at 10th grade.

But now it's actually at an eighth grade level because you didn't want to lose
subscribers, right?

So you can't write with all those fancy SAT words and look smart in your book when nobody
can understand what you're saying.

And the last piece of the puzzle is writing is only 10 % of what happens with a book.

Writing the book is 10%.

Actually marketing the book and getting it out to the people that you wrote it for is the
other 90%.

There's a whole lot more to the business side of books than there is just writing it.

Yeah, there's lots of little nuggets in there.

uh The speaking to your audience also has those same caveats, I try to be a student of all
the things I do to make them better.

And one of the things about podcasting is you have to speak at a level at which everyone
can understand.

I want to say fortunately, but also unfortunately, I grew up in a household where we
literally were

quizzed on words at, you know, high, we might, when I went to college my freshman year, my
friends used to say, oh, there's a 25 center, you know, cause I was coming from a

household where we were constantly, you know, this word isn't the best word, here's a
better word.

And we'd have to re-state the sentence with the better word that was a bigger word, you
know, a more all encompassing word, but.

My so for that helped me in certain ways, but in speaking, you have to speak to people in,
you know, that all audiences can understand.

so it was a kind of a, you know, I got an education going to college when my friends were
like, okay, seriously enough of the big words there sister.

Um, so it's interesting how that, how that plays out is we want to, but it's also because
we want to include everyone, right.

And if I don't understand what you've said, then that's not including me.

So, you we have to make sure to be all things to all people.

ah So you have run multiple ventures and global collaborations.

What are your personal systems or habits that keep you grounded and effective amongst all
that activity?

Communication is my pet peeve.

It's my biggest pet peeve.

So keeping people apprised of what's going on is really important.

And I really appreciate communication tools, ah people understanding what their primary
communication strategy is for themselves, whereas one person might use text more and one

person might use email more.

Other people use Slack.

or they used other types of communication devices, WhatsApp, other things.

um The understanding of not only yourself, but your clients is really important because,
and your colleagues, if you're going to collab with somebody, then what you need to

understand is how to best do that.

Because if they're doing something over here,

and you're not communicating about it, you have no idea what's going on.

And so it's very hard to do things together.

And quite honestly, you both want to feel good about it.

And so it doesn't mean that everybody has to do everything, but it also means that
everybody doesn't have to duplicate everything either.

And when you have great communication, that's what you get, is you get great opportunities
for everybody to work in their strengths.

But doing it all together, I call it, we basically all hook arms and we run out into the
world together doing what we're doing and doing it well.

And that quite frankly comes from communication.

I like it.

Have you found because you're dealing with writing and the world as we see it today, AI
has kind of crept in everywhere, right?

So have you found that that's created an impact to your business?

Well, know, AI is one of those things in writing.

We had the writer's strike with the Writers Guild of America here in the U.S.

and we also had the Screen Actors Guild that uh tagged on to that.

um So AI has been making a huge impact in writing and also in acting and in people who are
doing things on social media.

positively and negatively.

AI is one of those things for us in the writing world where we tell everybody don't write
your book with AI, don't record your audio book with AI.

The quality and teachers today, quite frankly, in high schools, they can tell when
something has been written by AI.

So um we're the same and we've had a lot of

lawsuits that have come about with AI.

And we've also had people, you know, who have tried to submit things under the radar, you
know, built by AI.

so AI is one of those things.

And I think now they even have an AI sort of filter where they can sort of see what you're
doing with AI.

But AI, you know, as far as it's a great research tool.

And it really does speed up a lot of the research that we were doing manually as writers.

And that's a good thing.

And other things that it can help with is understanding, you know, if you're going to do
something that you've never done before, it's a good way to, how would I do this?

Not how would I write a book like this person um or instructing it to do something like
that.

But it's more along the lines of,

Well, gee, I've never used a particular software before.

How would I use that as a writer?

Right.

And things like that.

And that's extremely helpful because it would take you a long time to find that
information where these large language models, artificial intelligence can gather that

rather quickly and lay it out for you step by step.

So those types of

uses of AI, Tammy, have become very useful for writers if they're thinking about it as a
business.

Yeah, I've been listening to some things that talk about it's a creative field, you know,
and I come from a creative background.

I was a photographer full time and that's, know, now AI has crept into all the things, but
it's making implications that it's dampening creativity to some degree because we're

asking it to do the things that we would have thought to do ourselves.

So we take that creative process, you know, and sort of take that out a little.

Do you, do agree with that?

It depends.

I think that people who tend to be more dependent on AI, for example, I tell people AI is
not an attorney.

You can't have an AI basically do all of your, what do I need to know about this contract
base?

It's not that you may not do that.

um You may, but it also helps to actually discuss that with an attorney that points you're
concerned about.

not to just go back to someone and say, well, know, this, this it's well, maybe not, you
know, it's also one of those things when you're actually looking at the creative process,

where can AI be helpful for you?

Sometimes it's about research.

Sometimes it's about tropes.

Is there, for example, a particular way or options for how to construct a story arc for
this type of project?

Well, you could do it this way, you could do it this way, or Tammy, you could spend the
next three months reading 30 books, trying to understand the same thing.

And you can also follow up with your trope question, for example, and say, what are the
top three, five books I should read to see this trope in action?

well now I'm actually, what am I doing?

I'm learning, right?

I'm using AI to actually learn so I can spend my time efficiently and effectively to do
what I said I wanted.

I want to make that trope, right?

love that and I do that.

yes, I know our time is running short.

So I want to get to, we have a thing here where the last guest leaves a question for the
next guest.

And so the person that was last left you this question.

If you were to go back to the beginning, would you start the same business you have now or
something different knowing what you know today?

actually start the same business.

This business came to me, it wasn't one I sought out and the marketplace has told me
everything I need to offer so I'm a good listener.

Okay, great.

And what's coming up on the horizon that you're excited about in your future?

Well, I'm working with some very exciting clients right now.

ah My business is expanding um into decks of cards and writing retreats, which are really
exciting, including one that is for the total eclipse of the sun next year in August.

those are things em I...

again, have never done before, but I have done decks of cards for people and now we're
expanding that just that particular service.

the uh doing a in-person retreat, um I like those and I'm excited because that's a really
big one.

And it's if you don't know this solar eclipse of the sun is not going to happen again for
50 years and I don't plan to be here.

So I'm excited about that for everybody.

yes, yes, yes.

That's one to behold, as they say.

So I'll ask you one last question.

If you think about, when you think about the next generation of business owners, what's
one lesson that you would want to pass forward based on all of your experience?

Doing business is a team sport.

Build the right team.

When you build the right team, you can do anything.

And love, love, love your team.

Yes, that's perfect.

You can't do all the things well, so you've got to have the right people to help you do
all the things well.

Love that.

Well, Jennifer, thank you so much for uh telling us all about all the good things and
giving us some great advice on things to think about for ourselves, but not just in

business, but in life.

I appreciate having you here so much.

Thank so much Tammy, it's been so nice to join you today.