Meet LaDawn Townsend | CEO Advisor

We had the good fortune of connecting with LaDawn Townsend and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi LaDawn, is there something you believe many others might not?
When you think about becoming an entrepreneur the moment you type the phrase into Google you are inundated with unlimited pages with articles, videos, and all sorts of advice on how to go about your new journey.

That was my situation in 2014 as I started to navigate the new territory of being self-employed after my Corporate America executive position was downsized. I remember the day as if it was yesterday. It was early November 2014 and I received a phone call that no one wants to receive. On the other end of the phone were my two managers letting me know that they had just been released from their positions along with all of my co-workers and I was the next person they had to call on the list.

Many people ask me what I felt at that moment and in all honesty, I was excited. This was the answer that I had been seeking about how I would move onto the next venture of my life.

However, the next steps were simple but not easy and my excitement turned to frustration. What complicated my early years as an entrepreneur were all of the articles, advice, videos, workshops, and the lists go on of well-meaning advice but for someone new in the space, it can set you back on your journey as you figure out what to do first.

Here is where I disagree with the majority of conventional advice that is in the entrepreneur space. And, that is before you work on your brand, marketing, or even a website you must learn how to sell.

Selling is the lifeline of your business and everyone within your company, even you to start with as a team of one, must know how to effectively communicate your offer and how to close the sale. When we learn how to sell it isn’t about the money, not at first, what selling is about is facing our innermost self.

Our innermost self is the part of us that we must confront as business owners because if you don’t you will see the very things you sweep under the rug in your personal life appear front and center in your business. Here is what else learning to sell is really about it is creating the foundation of the marketing for your business. When you can clearly and effectively explain your offer, overcome the objections from the buyer and then turn them from a no to a yes to become a new client what you learned in those dialogues will be the start of your brand message.

I didn’t do this in the beginning I invested time, money, and energy into what would appear to be the right decisions but looking back seven years later not mastering my ability to sell was the number one area of revenue leakage in my business.

What should our readers know about your business?
I founded the VOS Group in 2014 after being downsized from my Corporate position and it first started because of a vow I made to myself and that was that I would never, ever, be a woman again that didn’t have financial options and that I would help leaders to have sustainable companies so that they would never have to use laying people off as a method to save money.

The VOS Group is a corporate education group delivering strategy to C Suite Executives of Upper Mid-Market & Large Enterprises to lead purpose driven and profitable companies. We have clients throughout the US, India along with West Africa and more expansion is on the horizons.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Recently we opened our new offices in South Florida and I would say for a friend visiting from out of town I would take them to one of my favorite restaurants and that is the Baleen Kitchen at the Sole on the Ocean hotel in Sunny Isles.

The view is gorgeous it looks out over the ocean, the food is amazing and the staff is always friendly. The hotel is one of my favorites and we have hosted a live event for our clients there it was the perfect setting for them to break through in their business in an all glass-enclosed conference room looking right out over the ocean.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
As I navigated the turbulent waters in the early years of being an entrepreneur one of the first books I read to help me to become more grounded in my mindset and leadership ability was The Big Lead by Gay Hendricks. The book changed my mindset so much that I read it three times in two months.

The biggest takeaway was how the author explains the moments of fear that come to us when we are about to make a big decision in our lives. Once I read that book I never turned back from setting big audacious goals and going after them.

Website: www.vosgroup.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladawntownsend/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ladawntownsend/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ladawntownsend

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vosgroupllc

Youtube: http://bit.ly/VOSTelevision