How to Build a Saleable, Scalable, and Easy-to-Run Business with Sarah Victory

Tim Van Mieghem: Welcome to Shocking Profit everyone. And I am so excited about today and our guest, Sarah Victory. Sarah is the founder and CEO of the Victory Company, an international growth firm that helps leaders double their business, double their impact and change the world. Get this in a year. She's a best selling authority, uh, a globally sought after speaker and a trusted advisor to leaders at companies even like IBM, Ford, Avon and Mary Kay. Fun fact. Sarah's also my coach and she is the creative mind who came up with the title Shocking Profit. If you care about profitable growth, bold leadership, and unlocking what's already inside your business, but not yet fully realized, this is a conversation you don't want to miss.

Sarah Victory: You're listening to the Shocking Profit podcast, a show for business owners and leaders who are interested in finding new ways to claim and create value in their companies. Shocking Profit is a practical and endlessly fascinating study of how to effectively run a company and build wealth. Host Tim Van Megham has decades worth of business battle scars from working in the trenches with business leaders. He is here to share his experience to make your journey a, a bit less treacherous and a lot more profitable. Shockingly profitable. Now, here's your host.

Tim Van Mieghem: Please join me everyone and welcome M. Sarah Victory. Hi Sarah.

Sarah Victory: Hi. It's nice to see you. I'm lovely to be here. Thank you for having me on. I'm honored.

Tim Van Mieghem: Yeah, it's been a long time coming and it's a real joy to be able to do this. Uh, thanks. And have this conversation. Um, and I, I, I, there's a question that I, I've been excited to ask. I hear you talk about do something brave every day. Tell us more about that. What inspired, what led, you know, how did you, how did that become, uh, such a meaningful part of your life and your practice?

Sarah Victory: Uh, that's interesting. Um, that's a really personal story that I don't get to tell very often. Um, I spend most of my time as you know, doing everything possible to double businesses. And as you know, I'm over here in Europe doing that for a couple of really great companies here. Um, but the human side of what you are expecting your team to do or what you're expecting yourself to do in any given circumstances also comes into play. So I was uh, when I was living in, well, I was living in California a bunch of years ago and I was um, I went to this party and I had the off the shoulder green dress and it was this fabulous party. And so I'm going home quite late, like 2 in the morning, pretty late. And I'M driving down the Pacific coast highway, and if you've ever been down the Pacific coast highway, there's the ocean is right there. And it's the smell of the sea and the spraying ocean, and you could smell bougainvillea everywhere. It's like jasmine. Uh, fabulous. So I'm driving along and singing at the top of my lungs, probably badly. And as I get up into my driveway to my house, it's California, so it's always warm, even in the middle of the night. And so I'm about to just leave my car in the driveway and head on into my house. And, um, so I turned the key off, and I'd had. You know, I'd had the windows wide open because it was lovely. It's marvelous. And all of a sudden, out of the bushes comes this guy, and he's got a hand in his pocket, and he says, excuse me, ma'. Am. I need you to take me to Anaheim. And I'm like. I'm looking at this hand. Looks like it has a gun. I can't see his face because, you know, he's up above me. And I started to absolutely panic. I didn't do anything you're supposed to do. Hong K. Horn, scream, yell, turn the car back on, drive over him. No, I did. I just froze. And, um, the next thing I know, he's fast. He's around the car, and since the windows are open, he is in the car next to me. And I start thinking, where the heck is Anaheim? And how do I get there from my house? So I start driving on, um, the 5 freeway like it's this way. And I start driving and driving and driving. My palms are sweating. My heart is beating, pounding out of my chest. And finally I think, okay, I'm gonna look over. This guy hasn't said anything for, like, 10 minutes. It's a long way to Anaheim, and I don't know why we're going to Anaheim. This is very strange. And I look over and I see this. The guy has his hands out of his pockets, and there's no gun. And He's. He's about 15 years old. And all of a sudden, it dawns on me now. It dawns on me. He called me ma'. Am. I know I should have figured it out by the fact that he called me, called me ma'. Am. I'm like. And then I thought to myself, I'm so too young to be a ma'. Am. And I thought, may is not the time to be pondering such things. And then, you know, and then I. Then I look over him, and now he's. He's crying uncontrollably, and I'm like, oh, dear. Okay, wait, wait, wait. And so I looked at him in the most. You know, he's just a mess. And I was like, are you okay? Are you going to be all right? I'm thinking this is, like, totally codependent now. You all right? But you can't. He's a kid. I can't help.

Tim Van Mieghem: What a lovely way to react, though. Wow.

Sarah Victory: I'm not sure it was the right one. But anyway, so he's. And. And I said, do. Do you. I'm, um, driving. I was like, I'm driving us to Anaheim.

Tim Van Mieghem: We're going.

Sarah Victory: Do you want to tell me what's going on? Maybe. Maybe tell me your name. And he says, I'm Ricky, and I can't do anything right. And I was like, oh, no, no, you. You were scary. You helped me up great. I. Once you're on motivations, you're stuck with this. I couldn't help myself. I was like, no, you did great. I was terrified. You were fit. And he cracks up. And I thought, if I could get anybody to laugh in any language, you know, now I'm all over Europe. Like, five different languages I have to remember in my head. And, uh, if I could get people to laugh, then usually, no matter where I am or what's going on, I'm okay. And so he starts to crack up, and I was like, okay, what is going on? And he tells me the most extraordinary thing I'd ever heard. He'd been in and out of foster care, and they finally let him out. It was Saturday. They let him out, and he goes back to his home, and they drop him off. And he realizes that in the living room, in the backside of the house, um, there's a meth lab that's been set up that for some reason, Social services just. They just somehow missed that route, Missed that. They just didn't figure it out. And so.

Tim Van Mieghem: Small detail.

Sarah Victory: Small detail. Well, I mean, they're so overrun. They do the best they can. And so he gets there, and he sees that, and he's like, I'm finally home, and this is what's going on. And there's. All of a sudden, there's banging at the front door. Loud banging. And he, um. They said, run, run, run. Go out the back. You go out the bathroom, out the. That little, small window. They'll never see you there. And they tell him to run away because the FBI are. He Sees FBI cars and trucks and. And ammunition and things, you know, uh, all this stuff and people in uniform, uh, 100 guys, all outside of his house, like a SWAT team outside of his house. And he starts running the opposite direction because there's an FBI raid on his house because it's a meth lab. And so he starts running and running and running and running. He's like, I'm never going to have a home. I'm never going to have a life. I'm. I'm. I'm no good, or I. Or they wouldn't treat me this way. And I'm just like, oh, my gosh, you poor thing. And, um, I said, you know, I did not have the easiest childhood either. And he goes, ew. And I said, yeah, I don't know why I get that every time. He's like, you seem so successful. Yeah, I see. I do see.

Tim Van Mieghem: I said.

Sarah Victory: I said, I hope I'm put together. And he said. He said, uh. He said, and you drive a really nice car. Yeah, it's pretty nice, isn't it? I said, I worked really hard for these things, though, and it didn't come naturally, and it didn't come easily, and I actually got a lot of coaching and counseling and help along the way. And, um. So the thing I figured out was if your parents are not well, it's not necessarily their fault, but they. They don't have the ability to help you get where you want to go. You're going to have to figure out where you. Where you want to go. Where do you want to go? And, uh. And, uh, he told me his name was Ricky. I said, ricky, where do you want to go? He's like, oh, if I could just work on old motorcycles and old cars and make them cherry, that'd be awesome. Cherry apparently means good, but whatever. And so I'm like, is that a fruit? I don't know. I'm like, so. I'm so not sure about that. And then I said, well, that's great. I said, is that something. A goal that you could actually achieve these goals? Oh, there's a special school I could get into, and there's a housing, and I've got this one social worker. She really likes me. And I think if I told her what was going on, she'd probably help me. More tears, right? And I was like, yes, yes, that's really good. What would be your first step? What would be the first thing you'd have to do? And he's like, I would call her on Monday. And so now we're in Anaheim. And I'm like, where am I going? He goes, go, turn left. Turn right. His cousin's got a place there where he knows he can go and be safe. And I said, are you sure? I said, can I take you to social? Can I? He's like, no, no, I want to stay with my. Oh, okay, okay. Not my. Not my job. And, uh, I said, I'm not sure this is the right thing to do, but okay. And we get there, and I see him pocket my business card from the. You know, the thing between the two seats. And then he says, um, you know what, ma'? Am? And I'm like, oh, stop calling me ma'. Am. But I didn't say anything. And he said, um. He goes, I'm 15 years old. I think you're the first person who ever believed in me. And I tried to steal your car. And I said, why did you try to steal my car? He said, why don't you just ask to take the car? And he goes, I'm 15. I don't know how to drive. I was like, oh, he's an intelligent kid. He's a really intelligent guy. Like, okay, I get it.

Tim Van Mieghem: There's a lesson in there.

Sarah Victory: I. I said, I would appreciate the creativity. I said, you're not going to choose this strategy next time, though. He's like, no, never again. Never again. Like, okay, okay, good. I'm just checking. So he gets out. He goes, this is a really bad part of the town. So, um, I'm going to watch you drive. This is a really bad area of the town. You go, go in there. And I see the cousins waving. Get, get, get, get. Go in there. So he gets up there and he's waving at me. We're bonded, you know, we're best friends now. And so I go, I drive home. I don't even know how I got out of there. I don't know how I got home. It's like 4 in the morning. And I think, this is the craziest thing that's ever. Is that real? Did this actually happen? And so, three weeks later, I keep thinking about Ricky. Ricky, Ricky, Ricky, Ricky, Ricky. And Pamela, who is my assistant for, uh, almost 18 years, um, she calls me and I'm going through the Cincinnati airport, you know, thing in my ear, and, uh, she says, we got. We got this call. We got d. She goes, get this call from this guy. He sounds insanely young. And I said, really? Who is it? And she goes, it said, his name is Ricky. Do you know a Ricky? I Said, I know a Ricky.

Tim Van Mieghem: What did he say?

Sarah Victory: What did he say? What'd he say? And she says, um, uh, she said he has something he wants to tell you. So what do you want to tell me? He said he wants to tell you that, um, that he's gotten into a special school and he's got special housing and that he's working on old motorcycles and old cars, uh, and he's making them cherry. Do you know what that means? I said, yes, I do. Yes I do. Because, you know, I'm just so cool, I know everything, so not him. And uh, and uh, and she says she wanted. He wants to tell you that he's figured out the secret of life. And I said, what's the secret of life? Exactly. And he said, uh, to her that the secret of life he's figured out is do something brave every day. He said, that's it, that's it. Just do something brave every day. And I thought he could do my job. You know, I've spoken to 3,000 groups, three and a half million participants. He could have spoken to all of them and probably given a better message. I mean that was just unbelievable. And I said, did he leave his phone number? She goes, no. I asked four different times. He didn't leave it. And uh, uh, he's never gotten back to me. But I have this theory that if I tell the story enough times on stage and in podcasts, eventually Ricky's uh, gonna find me. And God willing, he's, he's doing great.

Tim Van Mieghem: If you are listening, if you're listening,

Sarah Victory: come, come talk to me. I miss you. You were like an inspiration. And it inspired, even though I couldn't find him specifically, it inspired us to uh, foster four different kids and um, adopt, Adopt kids. My husband and I, Steve. So it was, it was huge. But what I realized is that we tend to think as leaders that, you know, the answer is something very complicated and we need like a 14 page, you know, mission statement or vision statement. Sometimes it's as simple as saying we're just going to put in front of the other and do something brave every day. And that's y. That's what he taught. And I haven't forgotten it. And, and I've needed it, you know, I've needed it.

Tim Van Mieghem: Yeah, of course, yeah. And it's such a beautiful part of what we get to do as leaders, um, and business owners leaders is, uh, is mixing that kindness, seeing people, hearing them.

Sarah Victory: Mhm.

Tim Van Mieghem: Is a way that helps figure out, help them to become what they can be.

Sarah Victory: Yeah, yeah. And I think we have a tendency to make decisions about people based on how many tattoos they have or what they're wearing or what people did when they were young versus young. Now. Um, and I think that, that, you know, sometimes you can see somebody that's really, really special underneath behavior that may not be perfect, and that's, or, or when our, you know, when we're not necessarily at our best, we're hoping that we get the same grace from the people that work for us.

Tim Van Mieghem: Right. Yeah.

Sarah Victory: Yeah.

Tim Van Mieghem: When you can hear and see people, regardless of how they present themselves.

Sarah Victory: Yeah.

Tim Van Mieghem: Right. It's past the surface. Just.

Sarah Victory: Yeah.

Tim Van Mieghem: Uh, yeah, once you get there, there, it's so, it's so good. What a beautiful way to start. And thank you for sharing that.

Sarah Victory: Uh, thanks. Thank you.

Tim Van Mieghem: And, and now I, I, the big question.

Sarah Victory: Uh, doubling your business in one year or less. In one year or less? Yeah. I mean, you, uh, know, people always say, can you double absolutely any business in one year or less? And I say, I, I could. I probably could. I wouldn't recommend it. I mean, I spoke at IBM, you know, I spoke at IBM, I consulted for them, and they thought the idea of doubling all of IBM was hilarious. And I said, well, how about we start with this little division that is struggling? And they're like, that was good. And we doubled that and everybody was happy. So it's, uh. The other thing that I sometimes say to people is, if your infrastructure is not ready for it, don't double, because you're just gonna, you're gonna, you're gonna crash. So a lot of times now I, I bring in you, your company and proactive as, uh, you know, I bring you guys.

Tim Van Mieghem: That's a problem we can solve.

Sarah Victory: Exactly. And you fix the fact that they don't have the infrastructure they need, and then, and then we can pretty easily double it because we have this huge team that can do kind of anything from a marketing standpoint. Bring in, you know, salespeople, sales managers, you know, any fractional, anything they could possibly, possibly, possibly need. Um, but a lot of it is, you know, it's fairly simple stuff. And, and, um, the, the way that I got over here was I double, I doubled the largest business that I, that our team has ever been able to double. That's how I got to, got to Europe.

Tim Van Mieghem: Over here is in Malta.

Sarah Victory: I'm in Malta. And then I'm gonna be in Spain next month. So, yes, I'm like, I'm feeling, I'm really very, I'm feeling very fancy right now. Yes, Right. Excuse me. I've been in five countries, and I had to learn five languages, and they're all terrible, but I'm making. Making my way through. Through Europe. Yeah. I had this. I was speaking. I did double your business in one year. Lasted, As I said, 3,000 groups, three and a half million participants. And one of them was to this. This wonderful group. And this gal came up to me, and she said, I would. You know, she has beautiful British accent, and she's 9ft tall. She's always say she's like a gazelle that speaks like Downton Abbey. Abbey. So she said, you know, I would love to double my business. And I said, you know, there's 3,800 people in the room. I would love, absolutely love to do. I think that's the reason I have a job. And she said, no. Want to. I said, oh, okay. So we had tea because, you know, we're both British ancestry. Sure. And, uh. And she said. And I said, tell me about your business. And it turned out her business was larger than we. We tend to work. Tend to work with businesses from 5 to 50 million. And hers was 75 million. U.S. is. And I said, oh, wow, okay. I'm gonna have to bring in other people that are, you know, experts in. In doing that. And I said, you don't really want me to do that in one year or less, because I don't think anyone should double a $75 million business in one year or less. That would be called stupid. And she goes, oh, no, no, no. Five years is our goal. And I said, five years sounds lovely. I bet we could do it faster, but whatever. And so start somewhere. You got to start somewhere. And I found out she'd acquired her way to this position with all these smaller companies, and they were all doing just fine. And their infrastructure was. Actually, I did. The only time I didn't need to call you, their infrastructure was fantastic. We brought in some overseas, uh, virtual experts for a few things. We got some fractional HR department, but, I mean, aside from that, it was pretty flawless. But they had no sales department, and they had no marketing department. So we became their fractional marketing department and brought them in a bunch of salespeople, found people who could train them and treat people who could coach them. Um, and she said, if we could just get into Coke and Pepsi and Quaker, uh, we would double in a month. And I said, well, let's get into Coke and Pepsi and Quaker, darling. And she said, just that would be good. And I happened to have connections where I needed to have connections, and she happened to have connections that she needed to have. And she just. They just. Nobody could explain what they were doing at their company because they were doing multiple things. With all these different mushed together companies, it would take 45 minutes to explain what they were doing. And so all. It was really so simple. All I had to do was get her in front of the right people because she was, you know, as one of the primary rainmakers, she was in front of all the wrong people. And then make sure that everybody in the company, including all the new salespeople, weren't just trained, but could actually explain what the benefit was of what they did. It was really fairly easy. And then, obviously, there's lots of hoops you have to go through, and you have women on businesses and certified this and that and the other. You got them on this list and that. So, you know, uh, but because of some things they had already done, we got into Coke in eight months. We got into Pepsi at 14 months, and then Quaker at 22 months. And absolutely, the projections were right. Went to 156 million, uh, eight or ten weeks later. Um, and it did not implode because that was the one thing they couldn't do. Sales and marketing, but that's why they had us. But they were extremely good at the, like, you guys are over there. Making infrastructure was really, really their thing. Um, and then she stopped by in Chicago and said she wanted to do it again. And I said, what? I, uh, said, you realize that you nearly killed me the first time trekking me all over Europe to do this. Uh, and, uh, she said, oh, but, you know, you have all these great people. You know, you can bring them in. It' was like, okay. As I brought in another. Another different team of people who could do the different things. And so now we're heading for, you know, going from 1:56 to 300. But everybody in the world wants to buy her company now, so. Company, you know, the conglomerate of them.

Tim Van Mieghem: That happens.

Sarah Victory: So it may. So we may not. Yeah. But meanwhile, until that happens, uh, she keeps giving me, uh, more referrals. And we now have. We went from. I spoke to 3,000 groups. I had probably a thousand clients over 30 years. And I had one European consulting client and two speeches in Europe. So I went from that to now we have. Our company now has as many clients, um, as many clients in Europe as we do in the U.S. thanks. Thanks to her, which is really, really great. Uh, but I learned a lot from it. And, uh, there's a lot of Things that I don't personally do, but I know people like you that can come in and make those things. That's how we did it.

Tim Van Mieghem: And, you know, something that's screaming out at me from your story, and it really connects with us as well, is it was already a great leadership team. They had grown from, um, wherever they were to 75 million.

Sarah Victory: Yeah.

Tim Van Mieghem: And yet you found something that you're describing as simple. Right. And same thing's true after 30 years.

Sarah Victory: After 30 years, it's simple. Right. Well, it's like with you. Yeah. My favorite story of yours is the fishbacking story where you went in and all those simple things that you were able to. You know, you looked at it and you said, wait a minute, does this machine. Why is this machine on medium? Could it go on high? It goes on high. Can you get it on high? Does it work on high? Yeah.

Tim Van Mieghem: Yeah.

Sarah Victory: And it's. I think it's fish don't see water or it's even. Brain surgeons are smart people, but they're not allowed to do their own brain surgery. So part of it is expertise, and your expertise at Proaction and our expertise at the big tree company. Uh, but part, you know, and part of it is you are not them. You can't see outside the box, um, from inside it. And I think that there, um. I used to downplay that and think everybody could do what you could do, what I can do, but I couldn't do what you do. And now I realize that, you know, every company has a special magic, a special sauce that is. Is genius, uh, that they are probably not tapping into. And from an operations standpoint, they're probably leaving millions on the table, uh, that you. That you can. You're shocking amounts of profit, if I may use your, um, that they could use to bring, you know, bring. Bring that. Bring that out and make them more profitable, but they're probably too close to it. And most people, um, I think our egos get in the way of thinking, um, well, I should be able to do this because I'm smart. And I think one of the problems with being smart is you don't realize that it doesn't matter how smart you are. Again, brain surgeons aren't allowed to do their own brain surgery. Let somebody else see it from the outside.

Tim Van Mieghem: So, uh, and the story you just shared, it sounded like it was a bit of a messaging issue in the. Having the clarity, being able to describe what I know when you worked with

Sarah Victory: me, one of them. That was one of the many, many things. Yeah. And not having a marketing department and not having a sales team and, you know, I mean, if you don't have anyone to sell and you don't have any marketing and you don't have any social media, uh, um, yeah, that's gonna be a problem. But the main problem was you can't bring a bunch of salespeople in and then get them to sell something. It takes you 45 minutes to explain. That's just not a thing.

Tim Van Mieghem: Absolutely, absolutely. So let me ask this to kind of pull the two topics together so far. What's the first, like, brave move leaders need to make to double their business in a year.

Sarah Victory: One of the things that I say to leaders all the time is if you even have the tiniest amount of charm and charisma, we are hitting an era. We are hitting an era where you cannot hide behind your company. Really. People want to buy from not just people they know, they like, they trust, but people at the top of every company that they know, they like, they trust. Like, why do I try to seek out Lyft? Ah. And, um, there's a Lyft versus Uber in Europe. And there's. In Europe, there's another. They have a. They have free. Ah. Now, like, why do I. Why do I seek them out, even if they might be a dollar or a pound or a euro more? Well, I, you know, I love their. I love their leadership team. You know, women owned leadership team. They believe in their people. I mean, every story that comes out about them, and they're high visible, and I couldn't tell you who's running Uber. I have no idea and I don't care. Right. So, um, and some of the stories that come out on some companies are more positive than others. And then you have even more reason, if it's not so positive, to step out of the shadows of, you know, I'm all important, the grand poobah, you know, of the universe over here. And make sure that people know, to quote Simon Sinek, you know, why you guys do what you do? Why is it important? What is the benefit of what you do? What is the human side of it? How are you treating people? You. You can't treat people poorly and treat customers poorly and not have people notice. Nowadays, that's just not a thing that you can do. So what I say to them is, you know, write a book or have a podcast. Oh, everybody's got a podcast. Yeah. But the people who follow you want yours, and you owe it to them to show them the humanity behind and the voice and the Strength and the vision and the mission. Let them get involved. Let them, uh, you know, enroll them in whatever the next mission is, no matter how big it is. And most people are too scared. That's their, you know, that's the. Do something brave every day for founders and owners that, that need to. That need to scale to that next level that most people don't even, they don't even think of. Yeah. And it's super important. It can double that business in a year or less.

Tim Van Mieghem: Just that, uh, that was, that was part of my, my journey that you,

Sarah Victory: you, you tripled the first year though all we did. You were one of those. I would use the example 45 minutes for you to explain to me what you did. And I still love you to pieces. And you know I do. I would do anything. I give you a kidney, honey. But I did not understand what you guys did at Proaction. And finally you told me that, you know, you told me the story about the fishbacking plant and I was like. And you said something like, yeah, I found shocking amounts of profit over there. And I'm like, maybe you should tell people that part again. It's like you're a little too close to it. And I'm like, maybe we should lead with that. I don't know. You're burying the lead, as they say, right? You're just burying the lead. Uh, and you said just the fact that you could go to your clients, your past clients, you know, your potential clients, and you know, as one of the lead rainmakers. So I know you have a lot of sales replacement. Um, and say, you know, I'm writing this book called Shocking Profit with the great sub. What's your subtitle? It's wonderful. What is your subtitle? I'm plugging your book for you. What is it?

Tim Van Mieghem: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much. So it's, uh, cash in on your company's hidden value. Grow leaders, which is my favorite part, and spark a transformation that changes everything. And you know, I'm going to give you a plug. I would like a shout out on this to Sarah, um, that I would not have guessed if the, the only thing I got out of writing this book is the clarity that I had to get to write. Would have been worth it.

Sarah Victory: Oh, wow.

Tim Van Mieghem: Mhm.

Sarah Victory: It's so true. It's so true. Yeah. And you have to make sort of a stand of who you are, what you are, what your company stands for. And if that title does its job, you don't have to brag anymore. So what do you do, Tim? Oh, we help with operations. And I'm really handsome and I'm a great guy and have you met my cat? And I mean, like, come m on, you know, that's all true. But yeah, no, no. All of a sudden you say, uh, you know, oh, yeah, I'm right. Yeah, I'm right. I'm writing or now I wrote this book called Shocking Profit. Fantastic subtitle. And that tells you everything we need to know about what proaction can do. Those three things under there tell us exactly what you do. And then, you know, and then the fact that you use that so that you could talk to every past client, present client, future client that you wanted and say, oh, yeah, I'm writing this book. And explain what you do in 25 seconds in a way that they could then say to other people. Because salespeople and owners have a tendency to think that they're going to be there to talk about themselves. Your business, 80% of your business comes from other people talking about you to other people. If you don't have that clarity, it's not going to happen. And I know your business nearly tripled that first year just because finally even people like me that were like, explaining people. Yeah. Ah, he's amazing. I love him. You should have talked to him. Why? Just because he's great. Oh, yeah, That's a reason. I was able to say I was able to tell the fishbacking story, which everybody remembers. And then I was able, you know, taking, you know, uh, again, I love that story. The fact that you were able to take a company and say, you know, they thought they need a new factory, they thought they needed new equipment. They were working seven days a week, they thought they needed a bunch more people. And in 48 hours, you and your team figure out how they can get it down to five days a week. Week. And, you know, get Sam's club there, you know, whatever they want. I think I still had like 20 left in case Sam's club came back and said they wanted more fish. Yeah. So that, I mean, again, lead with Shocking profit. Lead with your subtitle, that is, that tells exactly what you do. And then lead with a story like that and get all your salespeople. Don't give them stats and boring charts and graphs. Give them the stories of what kind of benefit you. You've made. And as soon as you make that switch, you know, your business, which was not small when we started working together and now is enorm, um, you know, that makes such a huge difference. But I love that story. You tell it better than I do. I shouldn't have told it because you're great at it. Uh, but it is. I do tell other people.

Tim Van Mieghem: It was fun to hear it.

Sarah Victory: I didn't get it right, but I got the basic amazing. The fact that you were then able to triple because you knew what stories to tell, your sales team knew what stories. Stories to lean on for what kinds of clients. And they could say, yeah. Our boss is writing a book called Shocking Profit. We help people find shocking amounts of profit that are sitting right in their business, whether in help that, you know, helping, you know, finding that cash in their business, finding leadership and, you know, making that huge difference that, that really makes. Makes it all worthwhile.

Tim Van Mieghem: So.

Sarah Victory: Yeah, you're one of my favorite success stories. I'm, I'm very, very proud of you and proactive and your. Your company and love, um, working with you and it's really been a privilege, so. And I, like I said, I give you a kidney if you need it.

Tim Van Mieghem: Yeah. Hopefully I don't.

Sarah Victory: Hopefully never.

Tim Van Mieghem: Hopefully not necessary. No. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sarah Victory: No.

Tim Van Mieghem: And, And I'm happy that I've some of my best friends that. People that I. Very dear to me in business. I've, uh, brought them in, uh, to you as well, like, for the same.

Sarah Victory: Thank you so much. My favorite. All my favorite clients. Yeah, all my favorite clients have come from many of my. Lots of favorite clients, but many of my favorite clients have come from you because of your enthusiasm. So thank you so much.

Tim Van Mieghem: Yes. Oh, sure, sure. Very grateful.

Sarah Victory: I love everybody.

Tim Van Mieghem: It'll be, It'll be neat to see Profit. Profit Rainmaking come out next month.

Sarah Victory: Yeah. John. Yes. Yes. The only two titles I ever came up with that had profit in the title. Yeah. Shocking Profit and Profit Rainmaking. But you guys really do a lot of business with private equity. And what did you know? The benefit has to match your market. It can be. I always say to people, you know, if you're coming up with a brand or I'm titling a book or I'm. Or I, um, do a lot of naming of companies and stuff like that. Name your company. Uh, if you're rebranding or branding this for the first time, name your company the biggest benefit to your. To your. To your clients. And sometimes people will name it something that is a great benefit, but not to their actual customers or clients. So you have to be really careful there. And you both did, you know, a really good job with, with explaining what your market was and what they wanted most. Um, yeah. And John. I think it took three hours to understand what John Lanier did when. When we first, uh, just got him. But, uh. But you know, what a genius, both of you. I mean, no wonder you guys work together oftentimes on projects.

Tim Van Mieghem: Yes. Oh, we do. Yeah. One of my dreams now is buy both books.

Sarah Victory: Buy both books.

Tim Van Mieghem: That's right.

Sarah Victory: They're both really good.

Tim Van Mieghem: And I. I dream of collaborating on the next book, which be shocking profit rainmaking

Sarah Victory: you guys to do it together. That sounds. I'm sure he'd be up for that. I'm sure he'd love that. Yeah, exactly.

Tim Van Mieghem: So, uh, before. I've got another big question I'd like to ask before I get to that. Um, Sarah, you know, if there is someone listening, like, uh, your English, uh, client and friend. Uh, now, Cecily.

Sarah Victory: She's amazing.

Tim Van Mieghem: Cecily is energized to double their business in a year. How would they connect with you?

Sarah Victory: It's pretty easy. You could find me. I'm Sarah Victory Everywhere. I mean, it's a word at the end, so it's really easy to remember Victory. Um, I'm really lucky. It came with a very cute husband. And, uh, yeah, I scored on the name and the husband. It was fabulous. Uh, so I'm Sarah Victory on LinkedIn and on Instagram and. No, on Instagram, I'm not. I'm inspiring Victory because I was taken. Uh, and on Facebook and on YouTube, you can find us, um, our podcast is the, uh, inspiring Victory Show. You can write to us there, but also you can just get us@sarahevictorycompany all spelled out.com, and, uh, have a chance to get any help or support that you need or, you know, all my connections or, uh, some, you know, whatever it is that you're looking for, you know, support anybody, just to be my buddy.

Tim Van Mieghem: Story about being brave. Yeah, exactly.

Sarah Victory: What is the next brave thing they want to do with their company? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Anybody who's a friend of yours, a friend of the show. Um, I will find a way to give them a half hour of my time, I promise. Yeah,

Tim Van Mieghem: there'll be something special for someone who knows Ricky that's working on motorcycles and sons in that connection. Wouldn't that be a joy?

Sarah Victory: Wouldn't that be amazing? Yeah. He changed my life forever. Yeah. Thanks for asking. Nice to see you.

Tim Van Mieghem: Of course. Of course.

Sarah Victory: Aside from your family, biggest fan. Yeah.

Tim Van Mieghem: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Every. I wish everybody had someone who's a biggest fan. It's, uh, so energizing. And thank you Sarah, uh, always a privilege.

Sarah Victory: It's an honor.

Tim Van Mieghem: So here, you know, the whole team. Thank you. Thank you.

Sarah Victory: Um,

Tim Van Mieghem: they're so good to work with and, uh, make. They make it easy.

Sarah Victory: M. But.

Tim Van Mieghem: And this has been powerful, you know, on a couple levels, the idea of doubling, um, your business. And I'm so glad we spent the time for people to hear the background and do something brave every day like, um, that. That's going to sit deep. Um, but if there is a list, a leader today listening, and they know there's more profit and profit, whether it's, you know, financial profit or the. The, uh, actualization of their team to, uh, how well people get to express themselves and. And be who they can be and just potential in their business. But they're not sure where to start or if they should start or if it's time, what direction to go. Yeah.

Sarah Victory: How do they get started for a year and then call us back? Um, how do they get started with us or in general with us?

Tim Van Mieghem: Yeah. Either way, decide to commit to this, whether it's to call you or to do however they go about it.

Sarah Victory: Uh, one of the things that's neat about us is we, you know, we do have 20. We have a bunch of people that work at the company and that do fractional marketing and sales diffractional stuff. But we also have 26 consultants we work with, and then I know hundreds of other people that, uh. So I'm more than happy if somebody is serious about this. If they contact us. I will find a half an hour. An hour usually takes about eight weeks to get an appointment with me. But I will. I will find some. Yeah, I'm cool now. But I remember the first five years we didn't get. We got like three referrals in five years. Now I get, you know, more referrals in a day than I used to get in a year. I don't know how that happened, but anyway, so, uh. But yeah, moment. I know talking to people and helping people, getting good at this stuff only took 30 years to be an overnight sensation. Look at this.

Tim Van Mieghem: That's right.

Sarah Victory: Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, if they contest, we will. We will fit them in and I will talk to them and I will find out, you know, here's. Here's people. You, you know, you want to get into this company or like, oh, I know this person. Talk to them, connect to that. Or you need something specific for your team, or you got to hire sales people and you don't know, or you need fractional this, you know, HR or fractional COO or cfo. I will connect people to whatever they need to do to, uh, get where they want to go. If they tell. If you're clear about where you want to go, I could always find a path there. It may not even include us. You know, I'm. I get very obsessed with seeing people get to the goal that they have. I'm absolutely passionate about that. And I'm not necessarily, you know, uh, it doesn't. I'm not attached to whether it has to be with us. As long as they speak well of us forever.

Tim Van Mieghem: Yes.

Sarah Victory: The Victory Company's fantastic. I love that. Sarah Victor. Have you seen how her hair looks good? I mean, I just. As long as they say something complimentary my way. Um, but I. I think it's more important to find the right fit and for people to get their company where they always wanted to go. You know, that. That magic of saying, you know, if we could do magic, where would you be five years from now? I've never found a company that I couldn't reverse engineer how they would get there. And oftentimes it's not with us. Uh, it's. It's with some other great vendor that or series of vendors that'll get there. And sometimes it is with us. But if they can tell me clearly this is. This is the dream I have for five years from now for my company, I can. I can always find them a way to reverse engineer that and be the architect of the dream that they have for them and get them there with or without us.

Tim Van Mieghem: I love that.

Sarah Victory: Yeah, that's. I mean, that's. That's what I was born to do. That's what I was put on the planet to do, and I love it.

Tim Van Mieghem: Every second you're superpowered.

Sarah Victory: It is my superpower. That is my superpower. Yeah. And I literally, uh. You're probably the same way. You literally thought, well, everybody can do that. Can everybody see, you know, how people could make millions, Millions more dollars in their company? Like, you know, and then you find out, not so much. Not everybody can do this. Like, really? Huh?

Tim Van Mieghem: Yeah.

Sarah Victory: Okay. And you realize it is. Everybody has a superpower. Everybody has a magic thing they can do. Everybody has a genius within them. You know, maybe baking bread, uh, whatever it is, everybody has something special and unique and some genius in them. Um, every member of your team, uh, every. You know, every. And certainly that person at the top, you have to start leveraging all of that to be able to. To, uh, double your business in one year or less, or you Know, fix the infrastructure with Tim first for a year and then off, and then we can double it. Yeah.

Tim Van Mieghem: You know, it reminds me, uh, you know, the idea of profit and shocking profit that if. I don't know if you remember this, but we. We kind of had an. We argued back and forth about the idea of calling it joyful profit. It. And. Because I know it doesn't work, but the idea.

Sarah Victory: Adorable.

Tim Van Mieghem: The. I think about it like this. It's like you don't chase happiness. If someone tells you they can help you be happy, they're selling something. The way you get happy is by serving people. Living your life, you know, having a good. And it's the same thing that I have found. We are not going into companies, uh, and directly going after profitability. What we end up doing is, uh, our employees are stressed, they're not focused. They don't know, uh, their, uh, mission. They don't have good, uh, authority, the right resources, clarity. Um, our processes are in the way, whatever it is. But addressing those things lead to people finding. Like the Ricky story. In one conversation, you changed his life. And that happens on, um. It's my favorite part of projects is when you find the person who's got such a gift to give, but it's been covered up for so long, and you get to find it.

Sarah Victory: Yeah, yeah. And I mean that. And they get to do something brave every day by. Every day by stepping into what. What that is for them. But, uh, I think Ricky changed my life more than I changed his. Um, uh, but there's a magic. There's a magic to everybody. Everybody being on board, everybody looking in the same direction, and everybody trying to achieve some really big, exciting goal. And I remember I got to meet Mary, uh, Kay of Mary Kay Cosmetics. Mary Kay Ash.

Tim Van Mieghem: And she saw the speed of.

Sarah Victory: Oh, yeah, she was lovely. Lovely smart. Read her book M. She knew leadership invented a whole industry, too. But she said the speed of the leader will be the speed of the pack. So if you find that you're looking at the people under you, like, why aren't you doing more? You may have lost your enthusiasm. You know, your next brave thing may be what inspires them to step up. And you're not necessarily doing it. So it's tough to say sometimes we're the problem, but as leaders, and I am one too, and guilty of it, as we all are. Um, the speed of the leaders, the speed of the pack. And you have to figure out what's that next level of leadership for you and clarity for you so that you can move forward and that your team can be inspired by that. Because if you're like, eh, they're gonna.

Tim Van Mieghem: You can't phone it in.

Sarah Victory: You can't fake that. No, you can't fake that.

Tim Van Mieghem: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What a powerful way to wrap up this episode. Thank you, Sarah.

Sarah Victory: Thank you. Thank you. It was real privilege to be here. I'm honored to be asked. I. I love the name of the podcast, too. I think it's really good.

Tim Van Mieghem: I hope you do.

Sarah Victory: I better. I know. Joyful was good, too. It has the right meaning, but, uh, there's not much more, uh, much more power than the fact that you guys can do what you do is always a miracle to me. And you as a person are a real miracle in my life. I'm very grateful for you. Thank you.

Tim Van Mieghem: Thank you. No, of course. Thank you so much, Sarah. And thank you, everyone, for tuning in. And be sure to tune in for the next episode. And in the meantime, please tell your friends about us. And if you have a question, a challenge, or a life hack, reach out to us@elwoodshockingprofit.com and remember, everyone, m do something brave every day and focus on what matters to shock your profit. See you next time.