From Singing with Celebrities to Sales with Sharleen The Vocal Alchemist

I think that no matter what you are selling, everybody wants to be loved. It doesn't matter what you're offering them. People want to feel supported, valued, and loved.

Welcome to Sales Made Easy, a podcast for business and personal growth. Join Harry Spaight, as he hosts sales experts and business owners who share their journeys of personal growth and business success now, here's your host, Harry.

The world renowned Charlene Linton is joining me for a great conversation on this live edition of the sales made easy podcast. Charlene and I met through a virtual speaking event and I was listening to her and her magical voice and the things that she was talking about. And I went, I need to get this lady on the podcast. And from that point on, we've been developing a friendship here. She's in the UK. And, um, so I'm very excited about having her on the show today. I'm going to talk about her journey. As I was doing research on her, you know, doing my little, uh, spying and trying to figure out what kind of conversations we could have. I found out that she was a professional singer and I sing in the shower and she sings professionally. So. I think her voice is going to be a little bit better than mine, and I can't wait to dive into her background and how she tied that in into her entrepreneurial journey. So Charlene Linton, welcome to the Sales Made Easy live edition podcast. What's a good word, my dear?

Oh man, any excuse for me to talk about the voice and I am on board. And I have loved our conversations behind the scenes preparing for this chat. And I'm ready. I'm ready for anything you've got to ask me. I'm delighted to be here, and thank you for having me.

Oh, it's amazing. Yes. I appreciate that. And so if you could give us a little bit of background, because I mean, looking on your YouTube channel and your website and seeing some of the professional singers that you have. shared the stage with doing the backup. Tell us a little bit about who you've worked with. And then let's get into like how you even got started in the music industry.

Yeah. So for those of you who don't know me, I'm Charlene, the vocal alchemist, and I help you to really use your confident voice to make sales, to make cash. Right. But you're absolutely right. That my background was definitely in the music industry and I sang with amazing superstars. I'm so honored to have sung with people like Adele, like John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, Smokey Robinson, people of that kind of ilk. I, I really had a great couple of decades doing that, you know, and I learned pretty quickly how to blend in vocally, how to be supportive with my voice and what it really takes to be somebody that gets referrals for that kind of work. You know, some of it worked in business, some of it does not work in business, but I'm sure we're going to get into all of that. Um, and then I decided to pivot just before the pandemic actually to start serving people with their speaking voices. And it's very fortunate that I did because as we all know, during the pandemic, the music industry shut down. And it's not something I've ever seen before. You know, you had singers that were retraining. You had artists that stopped going on tour. There were so many shutdowns on so many different levels that, um, It was, it was a lucky thing that I decided to pivot just before then. So just to fill in some gaps, I went from coaching superstars. I was, um, sorry, singing with superstars. I was coaching superstars, such as people like Rita Ora, and I was coaching a lot of aspiring artists as well, and then the music industry shut down. And then I was like, you know, I was kind of coaching singers and speakers at the same time. And I decided to go with the speaking voice route. And here we

are. Fantastic. And I'm grateful that you're here. And so your voice. I mean, has, I mean, obviously you have tons of experience and helping people and singing on stage and so forth. How did you get started with singing? Is this something that you started out as a little girl and, or what was the process for you?

So, yeah, I was singing, you know, pretty early. If you listen to my mom tell stories of my childhood, I was always singing. And. I was doing my psychology degree and I finished my degree, graduated, and I was about to do a counseling psychology master's and no disrespect to the field. But I was on the interviews, Harry, feeling a little bit like maybe this isn't quite for me. And I got into two out of three places to do my counseling psychology masters. I deferred my places and never went back into the music industry. And at first I thought I had wasted my time, but of course, you know, nothing is ever wasted. And so I was able to incorporate psychology with music and, and. So when I decided to really go for it, um, I was singing gospel choirs in the UK and I really wanted to break into the pop scene and I wanted to tour and, and, and work on that kind of level. And I'll never forget I was invited to a gig as a guest in the audience, but for some reason, I just knew that I was going to be asked to sing. No evidence, nothing. And I knew it so much, Harry, that I warmed up my voice and I did my makeup extra carefully because I was like, I am going to be asked to sing tonight. And sure enough, I was. The artist on stage gave me the microphone and I started to ad lib who knows what I was singing. But the, um, at the end of the gig, the drummer came up to me and said, well, I work with an amazing R& B artist called Craig David. And that was your audition. Come on the road with me. And then Went from singing with Craig David to Corinne Bailey Ray and Tasha Beddingfield. We went on tour, we supported Justin Timberlake and the snowball, the roll, roll, roll, just from that one decision to listen to myself. And so the way that I coach and teach people now is that it's not just about public speaking and pitching and, and, and sales and those kinds of conversations. Your voice starts from within, within your own head. There are voices in your mind, there are voices of doubt and insecurity and frustration, and there are voices of inspiration. And, and if you listen carefully, there is the voice of precise divine timing, meaning that you will get a heads up as to what you need to be doing. Before it happens so that you can be prepared and there is a voice that will give you a nudge. Talk to this person and say this and do it in this way. And in that way, you can really start making sales really quickly because I started to get a very clear understanding of which clients would sign with me before it happened. It's a whole journey. It's a whole thing. And I'm sure we're going to get into

it. Yes, I love it. And so what I'm hearing. Is that there was an intuitive moment, first of all, when you're going through these interviews and you're saying, I'm not feeling it. And you went with your intuition and this is I think is a huge thing to do because people are frequently they just they have doubts about what their intuition is telling them. So you went for and can you talk a little bit about that as to why you listen to that voice that intuitive voice to. Go down that path and even, you know, thinking about that, you're going to speak or sing on stage. I mean, that's incredible. So there's the intuit intuition at work. So let's talk a little bit about that.

I mean, first of all, it's crazy, but you have to get really comfortable with feeling crazy and feeling stupid. And feeling even sometimes irresponsible because this divine voice doesn't play any games. Like it will tell you to do things that you're like, that doesn't make any sense. But the way that I, and even reflecting back on that time in my life, I had really Had enough of being a graduate kind of temping or doing property secretary work, but I'm not in the field I want to be and things aren't working. I really wanted to change. I was so hungry for it. And I really, um, remember at that time, just deciding I made a decision to just trust myself. And I had no doubts about this feeling on the inside of me. It was just an is ness. It was just, you are going to sing tonight. And it made no sense, but I decided to trust myself because I was hungry for the voice of change. And that created, you know, I'll call it a 20 year moment because everything is just a moment, right? And I've returned back to that intuitive voice again and again and again, and I've developed it and I've cultivated it from a real space of trust. And, you know, now my clients get the benefit of that.

Yeah, fantastic. So, prior to listening to this voice, do you feel like you're living someone else's? Life for you, or was it like really your own? I mean, I think this is where sometimes we go through life and we're thinking, well, I'm doing what my parents wanted me to do, or I'm doing what is expected of me. And then sometimes it's like, you know, I, I've got to do what I was born to do. What's your thought there?

You know, I've been pretty stubborn to live life on my own terms, if stubborn is the word you want to use. And also I had, I had a I've got a mother who very much lives life on her own terms. She toured, she's a singer, she's a vocal coach, you understand? So I grew up listening to her coaching people. I grew up watching her on stage, watching her in the studio. So that kind of life, it wasn't foreign to me that I could do it too. Right. Yeah. But I think that I enjoyed my degree to a point, but even on the interview for this psychology, um, counseling psychology, it just, something was off. And I was like, it's like a four year diploma master's situation. And I was like, if something is off in the interview, I need to listen. Yeah. And I was at a fork in the road, it was psychology or music and I had to follow my heart and I'm, and I'm pretty much somebody that likes to take risks. And even if I fell flat on my face, I could always return back to school. You know, I could always do something else. Um, But yeah, life is life is about following those nudges and sometimes it's a feeling. Sometimes you're dreaming about things. Sometimes you're seeing things in what I call your, your spiritual windscreen, you know, in your mind. But I, I believe in, in following the breadcrumbs.

Yeah. So good. Is this, uh, just hearing this, I'm thinking about the, the creativity that's in people. And many of us, I mean, I turned it down because I didn't look at creativity in the sense that where it's fully encompassing. I looked at it like I'm not an artist. I'm not a musician, so therefore I'm not a creator or I'm not a creative. Right. And yet, for anybody who's starting a business, I mean, this is where, when you start thinking about what does it mean to create, to make something, We all do it. We all have creativity in us. Some may more than others, but we still have this spark where we can, where we can make something. And sometimes we're making our lives without really giving any thought to it. And I love what you were saying is that you, you had to get with, I forgot exactly how you put it, but when you were going through these interviews, you had to sit with why the feeling wasn't. The feeling that you were expecting to have. Yeah. And this is where I think a lot of people just plow through and not necessarily give it any thought and then they go down this path. And then 10 or 15 years later, they're wondering why am I even doing this? I don't even I don't love doing this. So you, you made this switch and you went into the music industry, what was your thinking when you, I mean, was there a gap there between from where you started to where you actually started to, like, realize that you could make a living doing this? Was there a time period for

that? Yeah. So I was in gospel choirs and I was doing that a lot. Um, and I love the gospel. It's my first love. And unfortunately there just isn't that kind of infrastructure in this country to be able to support a musician or a singer that wants to do that full time. And, um, you know, I wasn't full time at that point, but I wanted to be, and I think. In my quote unquote stubbornness, I want to do what I want to do and nothing else will do. I am that kind of person. And so I had seen the model of other colleagues and friends of mine sing background, For these amazing artists. And I wanted that to, I, I wanted to make a living at it. I wanted to do it full time and I wanted to do it in an industry, a sector of the industry that would support that, which is pop.

Yeah. So did you do like side hustles or something along the way to support yourself? So

when I was in the gospel sector, not full time, I was, that's when I was doing the property secretary thing. Temping doing gigs, temping, doing gigs. But when I got into pop, I, I wouldn't have been able to have done a side hustle, to be honest. I was busy, busy, busy. I did one gig with an artist called Craig David here in the UK, and then it was a world tour. Then there was another world tour. Like I'm talking the far East, uh, UK States. It was everywhere. The way the music industry works is that you get recommended for more work, the more work that you do. So I just didn't stop working. Um, and I was very fortunate to be very plugged in with a great group of colleagues and associates and friends that we put each other forward for work, you know?

Yeah. Fantastic. Did you learn anything there when the world travels that You said, wow, this really is eye opening that you now are applying in your life.

Well, I, I have this little saying to myself that I've seen too much. And when I say seen too much, that's obviously in quotes, because seeing the world, understanding that your culture, your articulation, the way that you choose to language a thing isn't the only thing in the world, there are other ways to do a thing really opened my eyes, seeing how people live. And what they stand for, it really, really opened my eyes and I had the travel bug. Three weeks didn't pass when I wasn't on the road. I was always away. Wow. Yeah. No, and that comes with its own sacrifice, but I felt super, super privileged to see all of these different places experience new cuisine. It was just incredible.

Yeah. Did you find that you were, you became less judgmental of people? I'm not saying that you were judgmental, but in our little world, we feel like everything that we're doing is the way to do things, then you go out and you travel and it's like, Oh, this is, this is different. And then you'd be, I mean, what was your experience doing that?

Yeah. I mean, what I will say about that is that music is so powerful that it unites us together, no matter what. Language we speak. And I'm getting teary because I remember being in France actually. And I had done a gig with an artist and kind of like at the side of the stage, people were like greeting members of the band, including myself to say, you know, great show and all of that. And this little girl, uh, she couldn't speak any English and I've got like a very basic French. And I remember just. Telling this little girl how beautiful I thought she was. And she started to tear up because she had seen me on stage. I could see that she admired me at some level. So to hear that kind of affirmation, I mean, it was powerful for me. I can't speak for her. And so being able to just have access to people was really powerful. And thank you for that question. I've not reflected on that before.

Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I, um, you're, you're giving me the chills on that. So thank you. I remember we, we did traveling when we were doing our mission work and I was in a stadium with people that spoke all kinds of languages and there was singing going on. It was like, you couldn't, there was no dry eyes. It was just like, here is the voice. The music is a universal language. Everyone's singing in their own language was the coolest thing. Uh, but yeah, it's just, uh, appreciate, uh, you know, how beautiful that can be. And this, to me, it helps me in business and it helps me in sales. Because I'm constantly looking for the good in people. It's not like I'm always looking for the good, but it's, it's really, when I'm on my game is recognizing that we all have different backgrounds. We have different experiences, but there is commonality in us. And this is so good in sales and in business, because. If you look for the differences, it's really easy to find the differences in people. And a lot of times in the selling world, It's sales is viewed as taking from others, right? I've got to close the business. I've got to get my sales. I've got to get my revenue and it's nothing to do with the person that's across from the table, right? Where it's, I view it as serving the person and I know you do as well. So how this all can help is that And, you know, we think about the types of people we want to do business with. And if you're always going to look for the differences in people, not you, but if people are always looking for the differences and focus on the differences and say, well, their, their background is different. They don't get it and so forth. There's no real connection when we do that. And I think the connection comes when we start to see the commonality. And so when we relate to people that are like us in sales, we say, Oh, I love that person, they're going to buy for me. We're in sync. Well, okay. So that's a small percentage of the people that are in sync with us. How can we get the other people in sync with us? And I think this is where the real key is, is that you, we, we adapt to the person around us and start looking for the good in them. And that helps us to be, to build that trust and rapport earlier. What, what's your thought on all of that?

You know, I think that no matter what you are selling, everybody wants to be loved. It doesn't matter what you're offering them. People want to feel supported, valued, and loved. And, you know, I'm such a softie, and I used to think that that was something, uh, that I needed to toughen up and, you know, and all of that, and, and I've realized that I really just naturally care. You know, if you tell me that you have a flight on Thursday at 10 a. m., I'm going to message you at 9 55 and say, safe flight. It doesn't matter if we're close, I'm going to remember you. And so when it comes to my business, it's easy to reach out to DM people because I genuinely care about them. And it's easy to kind of sit with people and talk to them. And, and I just love people.

That's beautiful. And that works in sales. And I love what you're talking about here. And I was just reading, I was reading this book, um, recently, the only sales guide you'll ever need for Anthony and Reno. And now, and then I just, I want to refresh in my game. I've got a lot of respect. Anthony does. He is such a, uh, a bright individual. And in that book, I was just reading about caring and love for people. And he talks about this and he said something along the lines or wrote something along the lines. I know some of you might think. That this is soft. And if you, you know, and you think about corporate sales, fortune 500 companies that covers that, what you just said, love typically doesn't fly right where we care about people. It's. It's all about driving revenue and you know, it's, it's like, I can't even imagine me saying we've got to love people back in the day when I was in that environment, but long story short, what got me into sales really was, Was reading the book, The Greatest Salesman in the World and in one of the scrolls that Og Mandino wrote about is the scroll of love and he says each day I will greet, I will greet each day with love in my heart. Yeah, and if we bring that into sales, yeah, it's like people want to be around you. Yes, they do. Right. Right. So talk to me.

Yeah, they, they do. And to add on to that quote, you know, to start each day with love, I would expand it and say start each day as who you really are. Because that's who we really are. We are love and love. Isn't something that we do. It's who we are. And so I really have done the work and I continue to do the work to unhook from anything that doesn't support me and being me. And so I've been, I've been pretty ruthless actually, in regards to throwing out any habits or thoughts of mind that don't support who I really am. And you're absolutely right. Everyone wants to be around love and warmth and kindness. And there's something about a soft woman that seems to really light a lot of people up. Um, so yeah. Yeah.

The, the loving and the caring. I mean. I'm not the caring. I mean, those are just incredible traits. So what would you say? Like, not now your business, like, one of the things that I love about when I've heard you speak is that you were talking about really how we're serving people. And generally, Um, people are, I'm speaking very general terms, but when people talk about what they do, they assign a label or a title and they say things like I'm a financial planner or I sell insurance or I sell houses and so forth, you have a totally different approach to that, um, that I heard with you speaking, what do you mind sharing what that approach was? Yeah. So

for example, if you are a business coach, then you have to really look at what it is that you're selling. Because if you're a business coach helping people to make money, then you're also in the business of helping saving marriages from the brink of divorce. Because what is one of the big things that people argue about in marriage, it's finances. Right. And so then you have to understand that not only are you helping them. To pull back from the brink of divorce, you're helping them to set up legacy in the form of a college fund, and you're helping them to have autonomy over money in ways that seem to elude a lot of people. And so therefore, when you look at all of the things that you're actually adding to the person, now you can start to stand behind it. And say, well, yes, I am a business coach, but that's not all I do. These are the hidden benefits and the extras. And you can start to speak about those things. And there's a saying that is that say it with your chest. So you can start saying it with your chest with like, this is, these are all of the wonderful things that I do, you know? So, yeah.

Yeah. So how, where did that come from? Where you started to figure this out? I mean, it's magical in my mind

because I'm interested in the nuances of what people are not saying yet, and I'm interested in the communication trends because people are not saying it yet. Phrase adding value. Make sure you add value was not a phrase and now it is. And so now everyone is saying, add value, make sure you add value. There's nothing wrong with the phrase, but what I'm saying is outside of those trends. And outside of the things that you're told to say, there are things that you are not saying about what you offer that are diminishing your profits. And if you were just to be courageous and scratch underneath the surface of the language, the generic languaging, then you would see what it is that you have to offer. You could double, triple your profits in no time.

Yeah, I mean, so where I'm thinking, like, this phrase add value because it has gotten cheap over the years and people could say, well, I'm adding value by. I respond to my emails and within a couple of hours, I mean, I've heard some of these things where I've asked, what does it mean to add value? And the answers that come back are pretty funny at times because those are things we're supposed to do. Responding to an email is something you're supposed to do. Uh, answering to the phone or returning a voicemail is something we're supposed to do. Showing up on time is something we're supposed to do. Selling your product and following up is something we're supposed to do. So what comes to mind when you say add value? I

guess. I tend not to use that phrase to be honest. Okay. That's fair. I, I believe in, I talk about the gold of people a lot and the gold of a person is their wisdom, experience, knowledge, expertise, right? And so I don't talk about adding value, but I do talk about mining for gold. Okay. In that there is, there are things about your experience as a woman or a man that you think don't have anything to do with business. There is a way that you are so hospitable when people come around for iced tea and you don't realize how that. Nature of hospitality really helps you to plan the retreat that you're planning in your business and how easy you find it. But you wouldn't necessarily speak about the warmth of you or the hospitality of you if you are not aware of it, because to you, it's just, it's not a big deal. But it is a big deal as part of the gold of you. So that's what I mean when I talk about mining for gold, let's go within what's the gold. Oh, wow. There's more treasures and gems and diamonds. Okay. That's what you're selling. And that's what you talk about.

Yeah. Yeah. It's like, uh, So this is, I think, where we're questioning can really with individuals who are selling is that they focus on selling the product, not necessarily selling. What is the outcome of the product? And that's really what people are buying. People aren't buying coaching because they want to spend money on coaching there. They want an outcome. What is, what is the end game here? But if you dig deeper and it sounds like this is what you do is when, when you use expressions like mining, you're digging deeper to see what the real value can be. And if someone is struggling financially, as an example, and you say, well, I'm going to help you with your business. I'm going to help you increase sales. What will that mean for you? Right. And then it starts to take the pressure off. What will that mean for your family? What will that mean for your marriage? Right. And so now you're, you're mining. Uh, is that kind of what you had in mind when you're talking about mining?

Absolutely. And the gold of you doesn't mean anything if you can't articulate it. So you've got to know how to speak about it and what to say. Um, because like I said, with the example of the business coach that is helping marriages come back from the brink of divorce, I mean, who would put those two things together unless, unless, unless you speak about it. I'm seeing people. Um, hi, greetings. So yeah, I just believe in real advocacy for the gold within you and that it's so easy to even set yourself apart because there are many coaches. And what is it about your goal that makes you different? And once you start mining, Oh, the differentiation is easy. Very easy.

Yeah, totally. With your, so you're, uh, I don't want to say intuition, but it's kind of the word that's coming, but the way you pick up on the voice, uh, you mentioned something in one of our conversations. Uh, because you've been around the voice so much and you can, it's such a fine tuned instrument, what's, what's one of the gifts you have about voice?

I'm glad you asked. So, um, around six years ago, I was watching an interview with Kanye West on YouTube, and I'm watching him and I start seeing symbols. And I'm like, what is happening here? So if you remember being at the supermarket and picking up an item to put in your shopping cart, you will notice a barcode. Right. And when you scan that barcode, it gives you the price, the item, the name, the description, all of that. I started seeing these barcodes when I was listening to Kanye's voice. And I started to be able to get a full picture of the things that he wasn't saying, the things that he really meant. An entire profile of his character, his beliefs. It was wild. And I'm seeing these barcodes, you know, it's got like thin white line, fat black line. It's got all of these lines going down black and white. I knew what those, um, black and white lines meant in regards to the person's character. And I started to deliberately listen to people from then on. So I would listen to what they were saying, and I would listen to frequency. And I just knew what things meant. So it developed from there. I don't see barcodes anymore. I see different kinds of shapes, but essentially I can hear people's true intentions. Their true thoughts, their true feelings, what they really meant. And it's gets as specific as I can hear childhood trauma. Even if you were talking to me about your favorite doggie, um, I can hear, um, problems with relationships and issues. It's wild. The things that I can hear. And I started reading the voices of my clients. And if I really trust them to sell with, with a heart of, of love and integrity, I can read their prospective clients voices that they want to close to just give them an idea, give them a picture on a profile of who they're talking to, like a super specific avatar and, um, a client that I offered this service to, she closed a client for five figures, 10 days after the reading. And so it's been an incredible journey, you know, of really, really listening. And I've had so many testimonials of clients, voices that I've read and then give them the action they need to take to get to their goals. They go and do it. And they're like, Charlie, I've just made 11 K. I've just tripled my income. It's been fascinating.

Yeah. You know, it's interesting how a person like you who have been using your voice in a way that's very creative for your entire life, perhaps, and then you pick up on something else that maybe a lot of us are not picking up on. But, you know, in a sense. We all pick up on other people's vibes. Yeah. We don't necessarily have the, the intuition that maybe you have in some areas, but we might have it in other areas, but it can be a real gift. And we all have different gifts that we can offer people. And, you know, it's really, I think, fascinating when I hear this story and I'm kind of wondering, it's like, okay, so what's going on in my voice? And am I, am I who I think I am? It's like, do people ever get nervous around it? Because I'm starting to get nervous. Like, okay, so what am I saying here? And is Charlene figuring out I fell out of a tree when I was a kid and I've never been the same since? Or what's your thought on that? A little bit of humor.

Just to put your mind at ease, I deliberately, I'm not reading you. Good. And I deliberately don't read people unless they're in a session with me only because it takes a certain type of intensity or focus and concentration. Um, sometimes I'm listening, I'm closing my eyes and there's all sorts of things happening. Um, I mean, I can, I can pick up a few things here and there because sometimes it's just jumps out at me and it's undeniable, but I don't go around reading people's voices.

Yeah, okay. So you're good. Okay, good deal. So what would you say, um, as far as your experiences, your background, traveling, the music industry, and now your journey as an entrepreneur, how are all of these connected, would you say?

You know, I want to, I want to say this, that being a background vocalist and a lead singer, and then going into business, I fell flat on my face for years, because there are things that work as a background vocalist, staying in the background, um, um, singing to blend perfectly with the artist and the other background singer, all of those nuances, they don't work in business. In business, you have to toot your own horn, toot, toot, toot, toot. You have to say, I am this, and you have to even name dropping in the music industry, it's just, it's not a thing. It's very frowned upon, you know? Um, but in business. You have, if you don't say it, people don't know. So I had to really learn how to traverse from one thing that was diametrically opposed to the other, you know? And, um, but what I will say is that behind the scenes of the music industry, where I did have to advocate for myself, for things like pay, I had to learn how to get equal pay. I've doubled my. Income in one conversation before I've, I had to learn on my feet, how to negotiate, how to pitch, how to sell myself. I had to do those things. Now that prepared me for business. Yeah, absolutely. And it. It fosters within you a courageousness and a boldness that is necessary. Because when I first started out in the music industry, Harry, I was a shy girl. And that's the reason why I wasn't getting any work. I was, wasn't booking any, any jobs because I would go to open mic nights and I would be too shy to sing. And I had to have a word with myself. I was like, in the Caribbean, there is a saying that says, don't be shy and die. That's the saying, and it's this thing of closed mouths don't get fed. And I had to say, okay, I have to develop a persona. It didn't quite feel like me at that time, but I had to develop a persona where I would start taking those actions that would support my life financially. And now I'm, I'm just, I am that person. I am bold. I am courageous. Um, but it wasn't always that way.

Beautiful. Uh, I just did a, uh, Live event a few weeks back with this fellow by the name of Chris Padgett. And he was taught cause we're having a very similar conversation about you had to take on this persona. I've taken on a persona and I've, I was, we're talking about being authentic and this persona and he brought up this book called, um, I'm not sure the complete title, but it has alter ego in the title. Yeah. Yeah. And when I started exploring that book, it's like, it's, it really brings out that we're not changing who we are in a fake sense, but we're really finding our best self. We're finding the traits that we need to stand out more. So in pursuing the dream that you are pursuing, you had to call on these traits and say, I can't be the shy girl here. I've got to go make it happen. And you had to pull from within and maybe from without a little bit to some degree, but you had to pull from these qualities within you and make them come to the fore. Uh, and then there you are. And you say now here, this is who I am, which I think is really cool because you might've said, well, I got to fake who I am for a little bit, but it's not, we're not really faking. No, and you know, there's these expressions. Fake it till you make it. Maybe in some cases people are really faking, but if you're working on these traits that we have and we just need to magnify them and expand upon them, then that's really who we are. It's just we're working on ourself. What's your thought?

You know, I really feel like the self is playful. Meaning that you can be what you want to be, honestly, you can develop anything. Yeah. And I just really believe in life and yourself being a playground and whatever you practice, you get good at. Right. I just, I was, I was not practiced that being bold. Um, I wasn't practiced at being secure. That's where my shyness came from insecurities and you can practice anything. You can let go of anything. I just feel like the self is so malleable. You can be in whatever shape you want it to be for it to serve the iteration of life that you are in currently. Everything's up for grabs. I just, I really feel like everything's playful.

I love it. Yeah, it's great stuff. Charlene Linton, where can people find more of you? This has been a real treat to have you on. Um, so if people want to get in touch with you, where's a good way to do it? What's a good place to do that?

So the best place to do that is to go to speakwithmastery. com. I've actually got a free gift on the homepage called five communication tips to make sales. It's a free download. It's an audio class. If you follow these tips, baby, your closing rate is about to go up. And if you may not want that gift, but you want to sign up to my email list, then go ahead and have at it. And, um, my email community get the first dibs on everything. And so I speak with mastery. com. And that's it. Thank you for putting that in the chat.

Okay. My pleasure. We'll put it in the show notes. This has been a real treat. Thank you for joining me today, Charlene. It's been a blast. Oh,

thank you for having me.

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