Behind the Scenes of Kelly McCormick’s Companies
How the whole thing REALLY got started!
Just out of college, at age 21, with less than $3,000 in cash and family loans clutched in her hot little hands, Kelly McCormick and her 22-year-old business partner opened their first company. With great pride, the young entrepreneurs nailed the OPEN FOR BUSINESS sign onto the door of their retail sporting goods shop.
When the door swung open, Kelly was one of only a handful of female entrepreneurs operating a business in a then male-dominated industry. Adding to that tricky situation, the budding entrepreneurs quickly discovered that the economy was in recession. (They had yet to discover how to do market research.)
Against the odds, Kelly and her partner learned and earned enough to stay afloat. Then six and a half years later, to the amazement of all including their parents, they were able to sell their company—which had expanded into two locations!
Super-Duper Lessons Learned
Operating that first company became the foundation of Kelly’s business knowledge. She discovered the ins and outs of building a business, branding, targeting, and marketing to customers. Plus, she found out that there were BIG gender differences when selling to men and women. (Those stories and examples of how to sell to men and women are in her book, OutSell Yourself: Ethical Business and Sales Techniques.)
A Property Mogul is Born
Not one to sit still for long, Kelly quickly jumped into her second business. She soon became the proud owner of a four-unit rental property.
However, by age 30 the charm of being a landlord, who fixed leaky pipes and wrote rental agreements that were often ignored, had worn off. The solution was to sell the building and move on. FREEDOM!
Talk About a Great Break
A series of networking calls landed the next big break. Kelly became a business trainer and coach. She educated emerging entrepreneurs at colleges, business centers and at training programs for consultants.
Kelly was also contracted to develop a variety of business start-up programs. This included entrepreneurial programs for low-income women and several immigrant and special interest groups. She then taught industry professionals how to teach her content and do one-on-one business coaching.
After helping hundreds of entrepreneurs and consultants, in almost every sector of business, Kelly had even more knowledge to share. She was ready to take her message on the road.
Time to OutSell Yourself
In 1994 her third company, OutSell Yourself, was born! Kelly branded herself as Business Growth Coach, Consultant, Speaker and Author. (Yes, you can brand yourself.)
Onward and Upwards
Kelly was ready for the big stages. Like everything she’s done, Kelly quickly educated herself on how to break into the speaking market. She also joined the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS). It was time to learn from the speaking pros. They had a lot to say.
Speaking Out
As a Keynote speaker, Kelly travels internationally presenting talks to corporations, businesses, and associations. Popular topics like Marketing Above the Noise, Selling Skills to OutSell Yourself, Having Gender Specific Sales Conversations, and How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough, continue to boost her frequent flyer miles.
Kelly is also a guest speaker on social media lives, at virtual business, sales, and marketing boot camps and on Zoom events. (She says she likes working in her pajamas.)
Sharing the Pot of Gold
As a Business Growth Strategist, Kelly works in partnership with her clients. Powerful business growth, branding, marketing and sales strategies are developed. These strategies get results.
Kelly LOVES helping people to gain clarity and move their businesses forward faster!
Some Things Done on the Side
The President was in the House
In 2004 Kelly became President of the Toronto Chapter of CAPS. It is the largest chapter in Canada. Working with an awesome board of directors, Kelly and the team doubled the existing chapter size. A new ‘Financial Infrastructure System’ was then developed to manage the growing revenues. In addition to booking speakers, marketing and putting on the monthly education events, an AGM (Annual General Meeting) was held.
The chapter also went Virtual in 04’. Kelly led the team in seeking out innovative solutions to grow and manage the chapter. As a result, an interactive website was built. The antiquated Excel spreadsheet database was replaced with an on-line contact and email management system. To replace many of the burnt-out volunteers, a virtual admin team was also hired.
Given a Chapter Leadership Award, Kelly thought it important that she also thank the previous Presidents. Many had passed on some great advice. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Kelly managed all of this while growing her OutSell Yourself speaking, coaching, and consulting business. (She doesn’t recommend keeping this pace as a long-term lifestyle.)
Human Dynamics Rocks
Human dynamics and business have always fascinated Kelly. So, in the early years of OutSell Yourself, Kelly was certified to do personality testing. She incorporated information about personality differences into seminars that she developed. The programs included, Working with Different Personality Types and Selling to Different Personality Types.
Based on her faulty record-keeping, Kelly estimates that she delivered between 2,000 and 1.5 million (give or take) Personality Assessments in her workshops.
Today, when working with clients, Kelly draws on her information to develop personality specific marketing approaches. Everything is of value in Kelly’s world!
Daring to Dream – Again
Yes. There was another dream to realize. Live by the ocean and write a book, while running her business. This is exactly what Kelly did. She moved from Toronto, Canada to California and set up shop for over ten years, before returning to Canada.
OutSell Yourself Goes to Print
Trading winter boots for flip flops, Kelly adjusted her beach chair and typed until her first book went to print.
A drum-roll please. OutSell Yourself: Ethical Business and Sales Techniques was named a TOP TEN SALES BOOK by Small Business Trends!
Directions Are Included
You can read more of Kelly’s story and many of her success tips in her book, OutSell Yourself: Ethical Business and Sales Techniques.
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Email: Kelly at OutSellYourSelf.com
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