Sandy Geroux M.S. of Wesley Chapel, FL on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Sandy Geroux M.S. and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sandy, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Write a novel. I have written several non-fiction books related to my business and have loved creating and sharing them. They’ve helped me build my business and continue the learning and lessons taught in my keynote and training programs.

However, I am so invested in a series of novels at this time, and it’s truly creating the desire to write a novel and help others become invested and lost in the characters and the stories I can tell. My family has an intriguing international past and, although I’ve never thought I could write a novel in the past, my family’s story is inspiring me to write and share it.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I have been speaking, training and coaching since the year 2000 and have been privileged to address more than 50,000 professionals from 41 countries across the globe. My passion is helping people create small everyday WOW experiences that add up to huge WOWs for everyone they meet.

I focus on helping Customer Service teams create WOW experiences for customers and each other, executive assistants become invaluable executive partners with their leaders, and leaders create higher engagement and morale on their teams. One of the best compliments I ever received was, “You don’t just teach us how to be better customer service professionals, you show us how to be better people!”

My programs are highly interactive and I enjoy delivering inspiring conference programs and working with large and small teams. Attendees tell me that my programs overflow with ideas to raise engagement and service and they describe my speaking style as dynamic, enthusiastic, engaging, energetic and extremely motivating!

For more information on my programs and books, visit my website (https://thewowplace.com); you can also call me at (407) 856-1188 or email me at [email protected].

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
One of my earliest memories of feeling “powerful” occurred during my sophomore year in high school when a group of us were on a bus, on our way to a joint program with another school. I had heard a story on TV called “Rindercella,” which was a funny way to tell the tale of Cinderella. Even though I had only heard the story once, I have a photographic memory when it comes to scripts, stories and music and I told the story to one of my seatmates. She laughed hysterically, which garnered some attention from nearby students. Soon, I was asked to re-tell it again and again, not only to my fellow students, but to the teachers on the bus. Everyone laughed harder and harder with each re-telling and I got a taste of the power of storytelling… and of what it was like to truly entertain others. I loved it!!!

It made such an impression on my English teacher that he actually signed my yearbook (two years later!) and addressed his comment to “Rindercella!” That also taught me the “sticking power” of stories. Since then, I have discovered that I loved entertaining others with stories, music and education and combine all of these elements in my programs to create higher levels of engagement, entertainment and mostly, application to people’s lives because they actually remember and understand my points better when those elements are present.

What’s something you changed your mind about after failing hard?
I changed my mind about prospecting and using scripts in business after failing hard during my first year of real estate. I had always thought that scripts were “lies” salespeople told or the robotic words that telemarketers used when cold calling people.

However, after going from making $45,000 in my administrative career (in 1994) to just $13,000 in real estate in 1995 that no one can ever hire a “secret agent!” So, I had to get the word out about my services. And when I called and began fumbling around to answer their questions, I realized that scripts are not lies or ridiculously rigid pieces of verbiage – they are simply a vehicle for you to identify your services and benefits and be able to communicate them without fumbling for the right words. They actually make you more confident, more experienced and much smoother when talking to people who don’t know what you can do (or have done). If you don’t know what to say in answer to even the most common questions, you either look like you don’t know what you’re doing or, worse, you’re lying.

Once I accepted the fact that I actually had to sell my services, and got comfortable doing so, my real estate business increased from merely $13,000 in 1995 to nearly $200,000 in gross closed commissions in 1999! I was on track for higher income in 2000, when I sold my business and became a speaker and trainer.

The same process happened when I became a speaker! I made very little for my first couple of years because I believed the people who told me that all I needed was a great speech and passion… in other words, “If you build it, they will come.” No, they won’t! If no one knows about you and your services, you can’t make it in any business. So, I learned that if I buckled down, accepted what I needed to do (even if it wasn’t my favorite thing) and learned how to do it very well – and become expert in my services, of course – success would come! And here I am, 25 years later, still speaking and now at a 94% repeat and referral business level, so I don’t need to do the cold prospecting that was once necessary.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
I think it’s critical for the public version of you to represent the real you. If people “put on airs” or try to be someone they are not, everyone recognizes that and no one truly connects with you.

One of the best compliments I have ever received was when one of my keynote attendees told me after my program, “You are the same on stage as you are off stage!” Thank you! I always tell people that “What you see is what you get.” I believe this leads me to be more effective because when I attract those who I consider “my people,” I connect better with them and can be much more effective in my keynotes and training. If you pretend to be someone else, when the “real you” shows up for a program, you won’t connect with those who have hired you – or with their colleagues… and no one wins.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
When I’m gone, I hope people will say that I was someone who always tried to make the world better by being in it. I want people to say I inspired them and helped them see things in a different light, which enabled them to do (or be) more than they had ever dreamed they could do/be.

I want people to remember to be kind and gracious to others… and that it doesn’t take much to do that. That’s what the WOWplace is all about. It’s about the tiny things we do every day to make the world a better place, or to make someone feel good about themselves and welcome in your presence, that creates the experiences that have the potential to continue to impact someone years after they meet you.

I want people to remember their humanity, no matter whether they believe they are “anonymous” online – and remember that our words can help people or hurt them. So, I hope people say that I always encourage people to CHOOSE to be positive and encouraging and human to each other.

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